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“Hi.” He grinned, oozing charm that only added an extra layer to the bundle of nerves and excitement that already consumed me. His dark eyes were nearly black as he slowly looked me over. Seth dressed up a little in black jeans and a light grey sweater. Casual, but date-like all at the same time as he stood there confidently. The man knew he looked good.
“Hi.” My response was way too shy. It was like we were strangers meeting for the first time ever. It was like the kisses we shared hadn’t happened yet and we were at the very beginning.
It was amazing how I had already kissed him a couple of times, cuddled with him, and even slept in the same bed, and yet there we were, about to start our first official date, and I was reduced to a shy scared girl unable to form a complete sentence as my tongue tripped over itself. Things felt a little backward with us, but also as it should be.
Seth’s smile widened. “Well, since I won’t be able to spend Thanksgiving with you, I thought we could celebrate now. Share with each other what we’re grateful for.”
“How do you suggest we do that?” I asked.
He held out his hand for me to grab and instead of answering said, “Come on.”
Seth escorted me to his truck and opened my door. I climbed inside and let him close the door while I buckled in. He went around and got into the driver’s seat and then we were off.
“The only thing I don’t like about this time of year is how dark it is so early,” Seth said. “But for today, that makes it all the better.” He leaned over and opened the glove compartment and pulled out a pen and small slips of paper. They were just like the size of the ones you get from fortune cookies.
“What are these?” I asked.
“For you to fill out. Try to write about fifteen things you’re grateful for. Can be as simple as something like having fuzzy socks to as serious and complicated as having a job.” He shrugged. “Anything you want. Silly or small or super serious. All up to you.”
“What are we doing exactly?” I asked, eyeing the paper suspiciously.
Seth pulled out a small notebook and put it on my lap so I had something hard to write on. “Well, what is Thanksgiving without sharing a little holiday spirit? And what better way to share some holiday spirit than to buy a tree together.”
“In November?” And that didn’t explain why I was writing things I was grateful for.
“They like to open early since so many families like to put their trees up after they eat Thanksgiving dinner.”
“That’s a tradition?” I asked. “Isn’t there some kind of rule to respect the holidays? Now it’s time for Thanksgiving to shine.”
“I think it gives families something to bond over. Everyone is together and it gives them something to do together. I like it. When my parents lived here, we’d have dinner with my aunt and her husbands, with some of the guys who weren’t busy. We’d decorate our house while listening to music and stories. They’re warm memories.”
“You miss it?” I asked.
“I’ll still do it when I go see my parents. My aunt is already gone. She flew out early, turned it into a huge vacation to go see my mom and dad and explore a new state. Last text I got, she was dragging Uncle Jordan through a Christmas maze.”
I laughed. That actually sounded really fun. And I already proved to Toby that I was great with mazes when I led us to victory through the one we did for Halloween. I wouldn’t mind doing something like that again.
Seth told me more about the traditions they did for not just Thanksgiving but also for Christmas with the family. It all sounded so beautiful and fun. While he drove and talked, I wrote, trying to wrap my brain around what I was thankful for. It was actually pretty hard. I had a rough year. A rough few years, really.
I had nothing like the traditions Seth described so it was all fascinating to me to learn how others celebrated something I never really took part in for too long. Sure as a kid, I did the holidays as a family, but they weren’t elaborate like everything Seth described. And of course, all that ended when my dad left. Holidays became a time of year where I was overworked with jobs and performances. I kind of thought this year would be much of the same, but meeting the guys had changed everything for me.
Seth brought me further away from the towns. He was right in terms of people already prepping for Christmas. Some lights were up, sparkling in the darkness as we drove by. He pulled into a rocky parking lot.
“Oh wow.” The whole place was already lit up with Christmas lights. Massive fir trees bordered the property, all of them decked out perfectly in lights and twinkling ornaments. The open space by the entrance to the barn-like building had a massive wood sleigh with Santa, reindeers, and presents all around.
It was breathtaking.
“Neat, right?” Seth asked.
I nodded, still a bit speechless as I took in all the lights and decorations.
“They officially opened on Saturday so people could start getting their trees. Come on. We need to find the best tree of them all.”
We got out and headed inside, hands locked together. He had to lead the way since I kept getting distracted by all the decorations. I truly felt like I was walking into a snowy wonderland. How had I never known about this place before? Was I so disconnected from holidays that I was blinded to the existence of places like this?
“So how does this work?” I asked.
“We go in, they have a bunch of already harvested trees and we pick the one we want and buy it. There are some farms that allow us to cut it down ourselves, but I figured this would be easiest for you.”
