Page 48 of Redemption Ridge Vol II

“Nope,” Owen said as he stepped over the sorted branches. “This will be great. If nothing else, we can match these up by size and create a new system.”

Maggie snapped her head up and looked at him with a smile on her face. “You’ve become quite the problem solver.”

“I don’t know about that,” Owen said dismissively. “Just seems like the natural thing to do.”

Owen deflected praise like an Olympic champion, and Tyler was determined to change that.

“Are you just going to stand there and look adorable, or are you going to help?” Owen’s voice snapped Tyler from his musings.

“Help, of course,” Tyler said as he joined the fray.

It took them at least ninety minutes and a couple of rounds of drinks to group the branches and create a new sorting system. There were six rows of limbs plus the top of the tree. Maggie brought out her nail polish, and they painted new vibrant colors on the metal rods and jotted down the order on a piece of paper she put inside the tree bag.

Maggie brushed blonde curls off her forehead, then put both hands on her hips as she surveyed the carnage. “We still have to put this beast together. I probably should’ve just invested in one of those pre-lit trees.”

“Nah,” Tyler said. “These types last longer.” He picked up a branch and started fluffing it. “The pre-lit ones go up fast, and the lights are evenly spaced, but they’re a pain in the ass to troubleshoot when the wiring goes bad.”

“Oh man,” Owen groaned. “Remember last year when only half the lights worked on the twelve-footer Harry puts up in the great room?”

“I’ve never seen that spitfire get mad enough to…well…spit fire,” Tyler replied. He picked up a box of miniature, colored lights. “These babies are a cinch to troubleshoot, and my mom taught me a fun trick to make stringing the lights a breeze. Want me to share?”

Maggie had watched him with rapt attention and a smile on her face. “Absolutely.”

“I’ll show you.” He handed a box of lights to Owen. “Would you unwind these for me?”

“Sure.” Owen looked just as excited as Maggie to see him in action. Harry wouldn’t let them anywhere near the ranch trees, and they’d never decorated their cabins.

Tyler held up one of the longest limbs that would notch into the bottom row. “Start with the bottom and work your way up. Fluff each branch as you go, plug in the lights, and string up each row to make sure they work and are evenly spaced before moving on.”

“Now, that just makes too much sense,” Maggie said.

Tyler laughed. “There’s still plenty of room for chaos.”

“Only because you have perfectionist tendencies,” Owen said as he unwound the first strand of lights.

“I do not,” Tyler said, then proved the exact opposite over the next hour. He fluffed, locked the branches in place, fluffed some more, and then stepped back to take a better look. More fluffing would ensue before he arranged the lights in precise inner and outer circles for each row.

“Wow,” Maggie said, though he couldn’t tell by her voice if she was impressed or felt bad for him.

“You will have the prettiest tree in Trinidad.” Owen’s feelings for Tyler were as obvious as his sparkling eyes and smiling lips.

“You probably wish we’d wagered a bet on my fussiness,” Tyler teased.

Owen’s grin stretched larger. “Maybe.”

“And I bet you wished I’d thought to order pizza sooner,” Maggie added.

“Definitely,” Owen replied with a teasing grin for his mother.

“I’ll call it in now,” she said, then looked around the room for her phone. “Ah, I think I left it in the kitchen. Be right back.”

Owen crossed the room once they were alone and kissed Tyler hard on the mouth. “I want to buy a small tree for our cabin so I can see the lights reflecting on your bare skin when I’m loving you.”

Tyler’s heart raced from the heat in his voice. “Best. Christmas. Ever.”

Maggie reentered the room suddenly and called out Owen’s name. They jerked apart like guilty teenagers, and she grinned. “They’re only taking orders for carryout right now. Would you mind picking it up?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said.