Page 21 of Delivered to My Elves

“They’re your assistants?” Misty asked. “Don’t they have their own business?”

“They do, a greenhouse, but if I don’t send them to do something, they’ll just sit here and cramp our style. Boys?”

We knew better than to go against anything Wendy had to say, but if she liked Misty, our female would be in with the whole town, so we had to do what we had to do. Standing, we went into the kitchen and filled bowls with the last of the stew, sliced a loaf of bread, and generally killed time while soft voices and laughter rolled in to surround us.

“Sounds like it’s going well,” Aerin said.

“I think so, hope so.” I peeked through into the dining room. “She’s the social leader of the whole village. But what’s not to like?”

“Nothing.” He loaded the soup bowls on a tray. “Do you think they’re talking about us?”

“Oh, 100 percent. But it’s okay. They’re both smiling.”

We gave them another minute or two and then carried our lunch in and set it all on the table. Wendy hugged Misty and stood up. “I hope you know what you’re getting into with these two.”

“I know more now.” Misty scooted her chair in and grabbed a spoon. “Everything smells so good.”

“You’ll get better food than this at home, but I am a better baker so be sure to have dessert.” My sister headed for the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “See you soon.”

Chapter Nineteen

Misty

The rest of the day passed pleasantly enough. After lunch, we emerged back out onto the village green. It was colder than earlier, and I shivered at the temperature change from the warm cottage. But filled up on rich stew, freshly baked bread, tea, and the best chocolate cake I’d ever eaten, I was warm from the inside out. “Where to, guys?”

“We need to go by the greenhouse for a while,” Callon said, “but we can take you home first if you’d like to rest awhile.”

Everything about the village made me feel like I’d stepped into a magical world. Wendy’s little restaurant with its charming decor made me so excited to think of visiting to have a meal in her garden in the summer. “I would prefer to come with you and see the greenhouse if you don’t mind?”

“Mind?” Callon gave me a big kiss on the cheek. “We’d love to show you what we do. It’s not as busy in the winter, but we have to make sure the temperature stays even or we’ll lose stock. We sell a lot of baby plants in the spring, but we also have some Christmas flowers going that will need to be delivered soon.”

When we got to the long, tall glass building, I followed them inside and stopped. Outside, my breath was visible in the chilly air, but inside was tropical, the air laden with the scents of tropical blooms. I drew a deep breath. “Is this how you make Christmas happen? All the most beautiful flowers for people’s homes?”

Walking from section to section, I was amazed at the poinsettias, roses, gardenias, Christmas cacti, cyclamens, amaryllis. Mistletoe and rosemary and holly. I didn’t even know these things grew in the same type of conditions. “Are those orchids?”

“Good eye.” Callon came to my side. “And that one is called a Christmas orchid.”

“Wow. It’s all so beautiful. And one of you wanted to work for Santa, making toys? I think this is even better.”

They followed me around, telling me the names of the various flowers and plants and some of their history with the holiday. They were getting ready to ship them out all over the region. I had thought at least some of these grew only in tropical regions and told them so.

They both shrugged.

“What’s the secret?” I nudged Callon in the ribs with my elbow. “Tell the truth. You got these plants from other growers and just hold them here until you get orders for them.”

“No,” he said, “we grow them from seeds, cuttings, various propagation methods, but they are all ours. We’re very proud of them and when we almost lost the stove recently, it was very scary.”

“I’ll bet.” I’d for sure be proud if I could grow anything. “It’s extraordinary in here. Why didn’t you tell me before about all of this?”

“Well, we haven’t had too much time yet, and I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested in workish stuff,” Aerin said. “But in truth is really important to us. We built the structure by hand with some help with our friends, and started the business from the ground up. It’s our way of contributing to the celebration of Christmas and all the other winter holidays at this time.”

“I think I said wow already, but I have to repeat it. This is extraordinary and magical.”

I swore they both puffed up at the compliment, and I took a seat on a high stool and watched them work on their plants, making sure they were all properly moist and I didn’t know what all. Then we strolled on back to the cottage and had those sandwiches we’d talked about earlier for dinner. In this case, itwas grilled cheeses, but the grown-up version with three kinds of cheese and caramelized onions and so yum! They even whipped a small vat of tomato bisque out of the fridge to complete the meal.

This time, I helped clean up. Then we cuddled on the couch for a while, talking and nibbling on sugar cookies Wendy had gifted them until it grew so late, we could no longer ignore the big question.

“Time for bed,” Callon said, standing. He offered me a hand up as well. “Can we escort you to your door, Misty?”

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