Page 2 of Daddy’s Little Candy Cane

CHAPTER TWO

Ethan

"Mom! Dad!" exclaimed a child as he raced across the snowy lot to his parents. "I just found the perfect Christmas tree!" The parents smiled apologetically at me before turning to face their son.

"I thought we asked you to stay close," the mother said, her voice kind yet firm as she spoke to the child. "We don't need you getting lost out here, especially with how close it is to the woods." The little boy, probably about seven or eight, lowered his gaze and shame as he nodded his head.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he apologized as he looked back up at her. "I was just so excited to get to pick out our Christmas tree." The mother smiled as she nodded at her son.

"I know, Zach," she said as she patted him on the head. "We just want you to stay safe so that you don't get lost. Please try to stay close so we don't lose you." Immediately, the little boy nodded in response, and I couldn't help but smile at the scene playing out before me.

This was a common situation at the tree lot that I ran every Christmas season, and I couldn't help but feeling a sense of nostalgia every time I saw it play out the way that it had for the little boy. My family had owned this tree lot and farm ever since I was born, and it had been passed to me whenever my father died twenty years ago. I remember how, as a kid, I would play among the trees and even got lost a time or two thanks to how close the trees got to the rest of the woods surrounding the property. As a child, it frightened me, and I did everything I could in order to ensure that it didn't happen to anybody when they visited my tree lot.

Every year, as a way to ensure that there were trees for the following year, I would fence off a section of trees and allow people to shop from that area. In order to ensure the freshest and safest of Christmas trees for the people in town, I didn't cut the tree down until it had been selected by the customer and was ready for delivery. Of course, because of this method, there was always the chance that people would try to look at an area that I had yet to fence off in order to look through a Christmas tree, but, usually, the only ones who ever did that were kids. That's why I always requested that parents monitor their kids no matter what.

"Do you mind if we see the trees that my son picked out?" asked the father, seeming to already suspect that his son had been in the area that wasn't fenced off. After seeing how polite the boy had been when rebuked by his mother for wandering off the way he had, I decided that there was no harm in hearing the boy out.

"Not at all," I replied before turning to the young boy. "Lead the way, good sir." Seemingly proud to be called something so grown up, the boy nodded and started back in that direction from which he came.

As I expected, he had wandered out of the fenced area and into the open yard where the trees I had planned for next year currently resided. It took us a few minutes, especially with the mother, who was pregnant, puffing behind us and struggling to keep up. Before long, the boy stopped next to a tree and pointed.

"This is the tree I want," he said as he turned to smile at us. "Isn't it perfect?" Looking at the tree, I couldn't help but smile.

The boy had chosen one of the healthiest looking white fir trees I had to offer in this section. The tree is at least 6 ft tall, and the blue pine needles on it shined in the sunlight, giving off a healthy glow from under the snow that covered the branches. Seeming interested in the tree, the father picked up one of the branches gently in his hand to examine it before nodding in agreement.

"It is a very nice tree," the father agreed as he turned to look at his son. "However, I don't think it's for sale just yet." All three of them turned to look at me, and I tapped a finger to my chin as I considered it.

This happened more often than people thought, especially since I usually kept people within the fenced-off area so they could choose from the selected trees, but, on occasion, children did wander out to look at the other trees in the field. Since it took seven years to grow the tree to the proper height after I had planted the saplings, I usually prefer to stay within the fenced off area so that I had more than enough trees the following year, but I wasn't completely unreasonable. After looking around at the trees surrounding us, I shrugged.

"I don't do this very often," I informed the father as I gave him a coy smile. "Even though this tree wasn't supposed to be for sale until next year, I'm willing to give it to you for a discount." The

father's eyes widened as he stared at me in disbelief.

"Are you sure?" he asked, sounding uncertain. "I can pay full price for it." Laughing, I shook my head at him.

"There's no need," I reassured him. "The discount is for your son having good taste in Christmas trees. You should be very proud of him." The little boy smiled as he turned to look at his father.

"Can we?" he asked, and the father looked at the mother, who smiled as she touched the soft needles of the pine tree.

"The discount could go towards any emergencies that we have between now and Christmas," she pointed out as she studied the branch she held in her hand. Unable to argue with both the son and the mother, the father nodded his head as he turned to smile at me.

"You got yourself a sale, sir," he said as he offered me his hand. Immediately, I shook his hand and nodded towards the warehouse that doubled as my store.

"Let's head back and get you rung up while I send someone out to cut the tree for you," I suggested. "There's hot chocolate inside as well in case you guys need it to warm up." Without hesitation, the son nodded his head as he bounced up and down.

"Yes, please," he cried out, his excitement overcoming him as he did so. "I would love some hot chocolate."