Mason frowned, tilting his head. “It’s no hassle at all. But it’s probably better if you pick it out yourself. Picking out the right Christmas tree can be very personal.”
Huh?Did one type leave fewer pine needles than another? This was her biggest requirement, considering she was being forced into this tree-hunting situation in the first place. Getting a Christmas tree wasn’t the same as getting a puppy. There was no way Natalie was getting attached to a silly tree, especially one that would only be hanging around for a few weeks.
Her negligence of houseplants was the reason she had earned a reputation for being a plant killer. The one plant she’d kept alive was a tiny potted cactus Carla had brought from her job at the florist and gifted as a joke. She made sure to inform Natalie the cactus type was called Old Lady.Ha, ha, Carla.Regardless, she named the plant Thorny, and, at three years, it had been her longest committed relationship. Maybe the cactus started off as a joke, but Thorny and her got along great. Neither enjoyed being fussed over, preferring negligence to smothering. Maybe instead of a Christmas tree, she could bring Thorny in and spear its spines with colorful pom-poms. That was the type of holiday festivity Natalie could get behind.
Except it was becoming clearer she wasn’t going to be able to weasel her way out of this, not when Enrique had already made the decision and had his mind set.
*
“Are you kiddingme with this whole Christmas tree farm thing? You and I both know I’m not the most bubbly person,” Natalie said to her uncle as he was gathering his items from the manager’s office.
“It’ll be great for business. Andyousaid you really wanted to do it,” Enrique replied, slipping his arms into his jacket sleeves.
“Oh, stop. You know I don’t. You just tricked me into it. Besides, I can’t do it, because I have my state-line vacation set for the week after Thanksgiving, so I’d be missing at least two big weekends.”
He slid her a flat look. “You’re really gambling right before Christmas?” Enrique and Tía Sonia were more religious than her own immediate family. They never bluntly told her gambling was a sin, but they had no qualms implying it, usually disguising their opinion as either a joke or an invitation to join them for Mass at St. Anthony’s.
Except Natalie only took two vacation weeks a year, one in April and one in December, when tourist season was less busy. Also, she wasn’t actually gambling. It was a little white lie that started as a joke and then stuck. She thought it was funny, so she never corrected her family’s assumptions regarding her Tahoe trips. She even owned a T-shirt readingQueen of the Machinewith an image of a slot machine. There was no way something this hilarious could bite her in the ass, and it was better if the family (especially the really religious side) didn’t know the truth.
“Of course. Gambling might be the only way I’m ever going to get enough money to buy Pony Expresso from you,” she replied.
Enrique rolled his eyes. “You should come to Mass with me and Tía.”
“If I go with you to Mass, can I skip out on this whole Christmas tree lot scheme? Diego has a better personality to fit in with that whole scene anyway.”
Her uncle’s thick brows pushed together as he studied her. “Look, I love you like you were one of my kids, but sometimes I don’t know what you’re thinking. What exactly do you want, Natalie?”
“I want to go on my damn vacation and not have to work at some damn Christmas tree lot.”
He shot her a look, translating tocut the bullshit. This, and the fact he didn’t say something about her swearing, indicated his seriousness about the situation. “No, what do you want from all of this? Do you still like working here?”
She took a deep breath because though she joked plenty of times about being the true heart-and-soul owner of the coffee shop, she’d never had an honest and open conversation about it with him. “Yes, I do. I want to be like you. I don’t want to be a manager of a coffee shop, I want to be an owner. You know I could do it too. I’ve been running this place for almost ten years now. I know everything about it. I just don’t have the money to do it.”
His expression softened. “You want to be like me?” He studied her while tapping the keys in his hands, taking longer to think about what she had said. “You talked to my brother about this before?”
Natalie shook her head because her parents only cared about her having gainful employment and possibly settling down to start a family. She took care of the first one, but they’d been waiting a long time for the latter. While she didn’t mind kids, she was convinced it wasn’t worth chaining herself to someone in order to have one.
“I want you to do Poinsettia Paradise.”
This wasn’t the response she was hoping for, but she didn’t know what she had expected. Her family could be supportive in their own way, but they weren’t exactlyLet me give you a coffee shoptype of support system, nor did they necessarily have the financial means for it. Even so, it was annoying. “Tío—”
“No, I’m serious. I really do think it would be good for you.”
“But my vacation—”
“I think it’ll be worth it for you to skip your vacation this one time.”
Natalie held her breath. “Worth it?”
“This coffee truck at the lot, I don’t think this is going to be a one-time thing. This is just a test run. Understand?”
It finally clicked. She did understand because she was the one who suggested possibly having a mobile coffee shop, for festivals and fairs, a year ago. In fact, she went as far as putting together numbers to support her business proposal and gave him a whole presentation. At the time, she believed her uncle had blown off her idea. He wasn’t one to rush into decisions. It took her forever to talk him into the occasional specialty drink like Nutella lattes. He was the type of man who took a lot of convincing because if he didn’t like something, he assumed no one else would. “You’re going to invest in my coffee truck idea?”
“Maybe it’s time for me to invest in you . You do a good job. I don’t want to lose you to another shop someday.”
Her hope rose. “Really?” Was this it? Was her hard work about to pay off?
“Neither Diego nor Peter are interested. They want to do other things. And you’re my family. I think you would be a good partner.”
