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The light came on and I grabbed his other hand and forced his attention on me. “You want to get a real tree now that you can, but you feel like that’s betraying her when her tree is in the basement.”
His breath whooshed out of him with a sigh. “How do you always see right through me?”
“It’s human nature, Lance. Here’s the thing, everything in your life has changed and nothing feels the same anymore, right?” His nod was immediate. “The way I look at it is, you can put up the artificial tree out of guilt, but not enjoy the beauty it represents, or you can start a new tradition and get a real tree.”
“But what about Mom’s tree?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I wonder if the hospital would have a use for it? Maybe they could use it on one of the floors to cheer the patients. Maybe Audrey could use it as an angel tree.”
A smile lifted his lips. “Those are great ideas! I’ll check with the hospital first because Mom would love that, but if they don’t want it, I’m sure Audrey will take it.”
“Sounds like we need to look for a tree, Mr. Garland.”
He leaned down and kissed me in the noon day sunshine. It started out tender and turned hot quickly, and his moan had my jaw dropping open as he teased me with his tongue. When he slid it alongside mine, he reminded me why I had crushed on him for so many years.
“Ahem,” came a voice from behind us and we jumped apart instantly.
My breath was heavy in my chest when I turned to see Cameron standing behind us. “Hey,” I said lamely while he smirked at us.
“Hey,” he answered, still smirking. “Sorry to interrupt. I just needed to squeeze on past you there.”
We both stepped aside so he could get through with his wheelbarrow.
“Sorry, we didn’t hear you coming,” I stuttered and he just laughed.
“I can’t imagine why. Stephan is wrapping up the story, so you have about twenty minutes before the next group starts arriving. You can use those twenty minutes however you see fit.”
I noticed Lance was trying to hide the grin on his face so I didn’t see it. He was failing miserably.
“Actually, we were thinking about finding a tree for the house. I’m just not sure how to get it home since I have Coop today.”
“Not a problem,” Cameron said immediately. He pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote on a piece of pink ribbon before he handed it to me. It read, ‘love birds.’
“Really?” I asked with feigned disdain.
His smirk grew when he pointed to it. “Once you find the tree you want, tie the ribbon to it. You can come back and cut it down after the event. Then I’ll net it and we can easily tie it to the top of Coop. It won’t be a problem.”
I turned to Lance. “Do you want to cut down our own tree?”
“Not even a little bit,” he said while he laughed. “Can we choose an already cut one?”
“Sure,” Cameron said. “But if you find one you like in the grove, just tie the ribbon to it and I’ll cut it down and prep it for you during the event. Just send me a snap of it before you go back inside.”
“That sounds great. Thank you,” I said, giving him an impromptu hug. “But just so you know, you aren’t funny,” I whispered in his ear.
That only made him laugh harder as he grabbed his wheelbarrow and soldiered on through the trees.
I turned back to Lance who was grinning as much as Cameron was. “Should we find us a tree, my little lovebird?”
“Honestly,” I said, shaking my head. “Everyone thinks they’re a comedian.”
Lance put his arm around my shoulder as we headed up a few rows to walk among the smaller trees. “Aw, it’s okay, Gumdrop. People are just happy that we’re happy together. Let them have their fun.”
“Is that what this is? Being happy together?” I asked with curiosity.
“You aren’t happy?”
“I am. Happier than I’ve ever been and I don’t want anything to ruin it.”
