Jack laughed, falling into step beside me. “The two of you are very particular in your tree qualifications.”
“Well, it’s important,” I mumbled, feeling the warmth from Jack’s body as he blocked the wind.
“The perfect tree won’t change anyone’s mind,” Jack said under his breath.
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and scanned the rows of trees. The snow kept falling, fluttering gently around our feet. Becky hiked a few rows parallel to us, but I still felt like Jack and I were in a world of our own.
“I couldn’t help but notice there seems to be a bit of tension between you and the villagers,” I said with a cautious tone.
“Was it because they were all carrying pitchforks? I’m surprised you didn’t grab one and march with them.”
“I don’t hate you, Jack.”
His steps slowed. “You don’t?”
I shrugged and side-stepped some overgrown branches. “It’s amazing how you can see things differently when you’re not being chased out of your accommodations.”
“Yeah, well, I needed a break. Being a small-town villain is exhausting.”
Walking backward, I skimmed my fingers over a pine branch and wiggled my eyebrows. “I wouldn’t know. I only spread cheer and joy wherever I go.”
Jack’s gaze glinted with humor. “You’re pure evil dressed up in tinsel and you know it.”
“Tinsel is for amateurs. I prefer long garlands of popcorn and cranberries. It’s vintage. Like my boots.”
My cheeks ached from trying to suppress a grin, and I had to pull myself back together. Flirting with Jack while strolling the tree farm was not part of my plan! Where was Becky? I searched between the trees for her, and that’s when I saw it.
There it is…
The tree stood like a beacon among its neighbors. It was beautifully shaped with even branches, reaching at least eighteen feet tall. A bloody miracle considering most of the trees we’d seen were mediocre at best and much shorter. But this was what we were searching for. Anticipation thrummed through my veins as I imagined it strung with colorful lights in the center of town.
“Over there!” I shouted, gesturing for Jack to follow me as I took off running toward the tree.
“Delia, wait! The grounds uneven, don’t—”
Jack’s warning reached me at the same time the heel of my boot plunged into a shallow hole. Off balance, I tried to catch myself, planting my other foot on the ground, but the surface was crusted with ice, and I slipped. Not even magic could save me as I fell forward, sprawling face-first into a mound of fluffy snow.
Chapter 9
Jack
Delia lifted her face from the snow and pulled pine needles out of her mouth. I knew those boots were trouble, and under any other circumstance, I would have said, ‘I told you so’, but the wisecrack flew from my mind when Delia winced and grabbed her ankle. I kneeled by her side, worry twisting knots inside my stomach.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere else?” I asked, startled by the rasp in my voice and the tremble in my hands as I checked her calves for broken bones.
“No. It’s just my ankle. I think I twisted it when I fell. But it’s fine. See?” Delia tried to rotate her foot and ended up sucking in a pained breath.
It was not fine. She’d likely sprained her ankle. I brushed snow off the side of her face and turned her chin up so she met my gaze. “What were you thinking? There are roots and rocks, and areas that are sheer ice out here.”
“I found the perfect tree,” she said as if that made up for her injury. Looking over her shoulder, she pointed at the towering pine a few feet away.
My eyes widened when I spotted it.That tree grew on my farm?It was a classic. The kind you see in glossy home and garden magazines. I blinked, thinking it would shift back to a mangy, unkempt fir like all the others. But it didn’t. It remained jaw-dropping.
“See, I told you so.” Delia nudged my shoulder, her smile as dazzling as the tree in front of us. And for a moment, I had the baffling thought that this amazing tree grew especially for the woman dusted in snow and pine needles at my feet.
“That was my line,” I said, returning my focus to her injury. “Let’s get you back to the inn and put some ice on that ankle.”
Becky stepped into view, and her features contorted in concern when she saw Delia on the ground.
