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“Well, everything is done for today, so, I talked to Melinda and Cici. They said they’d look after everything so we could take off early and go find you that perfect tree,” Tristan said, smiling.
I looked around skeptically. There was no way everything was done already.
“It’s okay, we’ll finish everything up,” Melinda and Cici said in unison.
I glanced to Melinda as she smiled and nodded. “Off you go,” she said, pushing me gently toward Tristan.
* * *
Two hours later, crutches in hand, we pulled into the Willow Valley Christmas Tree lot. “Mindi Potts, she always has the best trees, and she has my favorite type as well—Colorado Spruce!”
“So is that what you want?” Tristan asked, grabbing his gloves from the console.
I nodded, exclaiming, “Yes!” What kind do you normally get?”
“Well…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t get one. I’m single, live on my own, and it’s not like anyone ever visits.” He shrugged.
I looked over at him, suddenly feeling a little sorry for him. Was he all alone, all the time. Where was his family? “So, just because you’re alone doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate. You could get a fake tree, a small one, just for yourself.”
“Ah, it’s not a big deal, really. Let’s go.”
I watched as he got out of the car and made his way around the back to get my crutches out. I couldn’t help but notice the sadness in his face. Tristan was really alone, and in my opinion, no one should ever be alone, especially at Christmas.
He helped me out of the car, and once I was steady on my crutches, we slowly made our way over to where the Colorado Spruce trees were, and he began picking up one at a time and bringing it forward for me to see. Almost instantly, I’d found the one I was sure I wanted, but he insisted on looking at more. The more he looked, the more he became like a little kid, picking up one after the other. When I’d disagree, he’d agree with me, and when I would pause and look them over, he would do the same, then he’d pick the one up that I’d pretty much decided on so I could look at it again.
Finally, after an hour, we took the first one I’d wanted over to the binding station. While I waited with the tree, Tristan went over and got each of us a hot chocolate.
“Here you go,” he said, handing me my cup.
I smiled and took the steaming cup of hot liquid and took a sip. “Thank you. Did you have fun?”
“I did. This was the first time I’ve ever done this,” he said, looking around at all the other people who were getting their trees, at the kids with large smiles on their faces as they ran around with excitement.
“The first time, like ever?” I asked, trying hard to hide the shock that I was sure lined my face.
“Yep. My parents always had a tree delivered, it wasn’t there one moment, but it was there the next.”
“Did you at least get to decorate it?” I questioned.
“Nope. Mom had a professional come in, normally while we were in school. However, she always had the most beautiful tree, but it was like a showpiece. Nothing on our tree held any sentiment. They were rented decorations and rented lights.”
He grew quiet. His eyes grew glassy, and when I was just about to say something, Mindi’s husband, Greg, approached us to get our tree wrapped.
As we made our way over to the car with the wrapped tree, I couldn’t help but feel bad that Tristan had never had a Christmas like I had growing up. We stopped at the car. Tristan laid the tree against the side of it and turned to me, taking my crutches from my hands and helping me get into the car.
“Tristan, I was wondering, would you help me decorate the tree tonight?” I questioned.
Tristan nodded. “I’d love to.” He smiled, then shut my door.
* * *
We left Mindi’s lot and drove down the road, coming up to Willow Valley Park. Tristan slowed the car, looking out at the gazebo in the center that was filled with Christmas lights. People were off on the pond, skating around, while some walked and looked at all the additional lights the town had put up.
“Do you feel up for a little walk?” he asked, his eyes still glued to the park.
“Sure,” I replied.
Tristan pulled into the first available spot we could find and jumped out of the car to grab my crutches. Then, once again, he helped me to the car.
