“Pardon me for budging in.” A woman decked out in candy cane leggings, a big poofy red jacket, and Santa hat placed her hand on Linda’s shoulder. “But do you have any porch pots?”
“Yes, just a moment.” Linda pulled me into a hug. “Customers, you understand.”
I nodded.
“Help yourself to some pie, Maggie. I made it special for my boys. Oh,and if you should happen to see that Graham, tell him I’ve got something just for him in the fridge.”
“I will. Thanks, Linda.”
I made my way over to Katie and watched for a minute as Linda’s grandsons ogled her skills in awe. The older boy was probably thirteen or fourteen based on his height and acne. The younger couldn’t have been more than eight, but his height made him seem older.
“I hear you two have the biggest tree on the farm for me,” I said, startling the youngest one.
“Oh yeah!” the older one squeaked, making him blush. He cleared his throat. “You must be Maggie.”
“I am.”
“I’m Jake, and this is Nathan,” he said, keeping his voice calm so as not to let it crack again.
“Grandma Linda said to save it for you,” Nathan said, teetering on his heels before grabbing my hand and tugging me back into the maze of trees.
We wound round and round until the scent of fresh-cut evergreens filled my nose. Finally, we made it to the center.
“Here she is! Big Bertha.”
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered as my eyes trailed up the pine’s boughs. “Well, one way to make a party feel cozy is to shrink the size of the room—this tree’s definitely going to do that.”
“At least you’ll have lots of space underneath for presents,” Nathan chimed.
I gave a pleased smile. “Jake, do you think you and Nathan will be able to wrap it and get it on top of the Gremlin?”
“Sure thing. I’ll go get the guys.”
“Maggie, what’s a Gremlin?” Nathan asked.
“Technically, it’s a little monster you don’t get wet or feed after midnight.”
Jake snickered before prancing off to collect the other scouts.
“But in my case,” I said, “it’s my car.” I pointed over the lime green car by the wrapping station.
“Cool! Can I see it?”
I nodded and Nathan darted off through the maze. “Geez, Kates… how much do you think this tree is?”
“Probably close to $500,” she said like it was nothing, still finger knitting the twine.
It’s for a good cause… It’s for a good cause…
We watched the boy scouts and their leaders work with ease to get this monstrosity of a tree shaken and wrapped. It was like watching an assembly line of caffeine-drunk squirrels turn a poofy Christmas tree essentially into a neatly bundled green telephone pole. Nathan ran from station to station trying to find something to do, but by the time he got to the next one, the task had been completed.
“Where do you want this big one, ma’am?” the stocky scoutmaster called out just before the tree shaker started again.
“The lime green car, that’s mine!” I shouted back.
“There’s no way that car’s gonna handle that tree.” Graham’s deep voice shook me from behind. “I’ll bring it over after my shift.”
I spun around and everything slowed. He was in full uniform, leg holster, utility belt, vest—God, I’d never get tired of how good he looked.
