A male voice broke their collective fixation on the tree. “I know I’m treading on my competitors’ playing field here,” said Tucker. “But I wanted to stop by and say good night before I headed out.”
Tucker admired their tree appreciatively. “Very well done.” With a lazy smile and the lift of his eyebrow, he eyed Natalie. “Even better than I imagined.”
Natalie’s head swung toward Sheila. “You told him our theme?” Then she playfully added, “You tree traitor.”
“He showed me his first,” Sheila defended herself.
“Mm-hmm.” Amanda and Natalie nudged elbows.
She glared at them and grunted out a quiet “Stop.”How embarrassing.Mortified, she avoided making eye contact with Tucker. Trying to keep the conversation on the tree, she smiled in his direction. “It truly is a beauty of a tree, isn’t it?”
His scan started on Natalie, then went to Amanda, and stopped on Sheila. “It looks like it was taken straight from the heart of a fairy-tale winter forest. I’d say it would be considered a very desirable neighborhood in a really good part of town if we asked a real estate expert.”
Oh my gosh, he’s trying to speak my language.“An affluent enclave, for certain.” Sheila spoke in her most convincing Realtor tone. The one that people seemed to react to the most. “And in the very best school district.”
“Of course,” Tucker agreed. “We might even say ‘topflight,’ right?”
“Ha, see what you did there.” Sheila laughed a little too heartily. “Yes. Topflight.” She pushed her fingers through her hair, and the glance that just passed between Amanda and Natalie didn’t go unnoticed.Oh gosh. I’m flirting?
“Seriously, though,” Tucker said, “this is a very nice tribute to the area. The craftwork from the natural materials ties in really well.”
Sheila watched the sense of accomplishment wash over her friend. Their tree was a testament to Natalie’s creativity.
“Doesn’t look like y’all will be pulling an all-nighter after all,” Tucker said.
Natalie agreed. “Good teamwork like ours is hard to find, but we nailed it.”
“You did.” Tucker shoved his hands in his pockets. “My team is slower going, but then it’s not easy balancing heavy construction trucks and roller skates on a tree, and putting hangers on tiny Matchbox cars is sort of work for daintier dexterity than I have.” He lifted his large hands, splaying his fingers. “And our tree is more than twice the size of this one.”
“Are you asking for our help?” Sheila asked.
“No, we’ve got plenty of help. But Iamoffering to driveyouback to Orene’s if you’re done,” he said to Sheila. “I have to go right by her house on my way home.”
A wave of panic slid through Sheila, but before she could politely decline his offer, Natalie answered for her.
“That would be great, Tucker,” Natalie said. “I’m staying with Randy tonight and Amanda is riding with me, so if you give Sheila a lift I wouldn’t have to backtrack.”
“Oh?” Sheila was caught off guard by Natalie’s comment, but there were worse things that could happen. She turned back to Tucker. “If you don’t mind. Sure. It would be great if you could give me a lift.”
“Done,” he said. “We should take Miss Orene a snickerdoodle back, don’t you think?”
“That would be great,” said Sheila. “She’ll be asleep, but she’ll enjoy it with her tea in the morning.”
“You drink tea too, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Well, then we’ll get plenty for you both.” Tucker looked at the stacks of boxes and supplies lying around the tree. “How about we help pack up, and I’ll put the cart in the back of your truck?”
Natalie started putting empty boxes one inside another to get it down to a manageable move. “There’s nothing heavy left. Amanda and I can manage the wagon.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”
“I know you don’t. Y’all go get your cookies before they sell out.” Natalie already had the boxes in the wagon. “See. We’re done.”
“Are you ready then?” he asked Sheila.
“No. Not until we get pictures with our tree. Will you take them for us?” Sheila handed Tucker her phone.
