Page 10 of All I Want for Christmas

“No, you’re right,” she said, her voice breaking. She darted a glance to Jed and Joe who were about ten feet in front of us, then turned back to me. “I can’t talk about it here.”

Now I was really worried. She obviously didn’t want the guys to hear her, and I was pretty sure she didn’t keep secrets from Jed. “You’ll tell me later?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She picked up her pace and caught up to Jed, grabbing his free hand in hers.

Joe glanced over his shoulder at me. “You doin okay back there?”

“We’re good.”

But he slowed down until we reached him then started talking to Hope, telling her he’d try to make sure we didn’t bring home a tree with a live squirrel.

“Mikey would like it if you did,” I said with a grin. “Alvin and the Chipmunksis one of his favorite movies.”

He grinned. “I was keeping with theChristmas Vacationtheme. I’m sure a squirrel in the tree would top his grandparents’ sad ceramic Christmas tree that they stick on a table in their living room window, but I think I’ll make sure the wildlife sticks to their natural habitat.”

“I’m all for leaving the wildlife behind.”

When we reached the end of the farm, Neely Kate walked around the trees in that section three times, before she finally picked out what she called the “nearly perfect” tree. While it was full, it was barely five feet tall.

“Jed’s right about the box for a stand,” Joe said. “I can build you one when I get home. I have some spare lumber out in the garage.”

Neely Kate sighed. “It still won’t be tall enough.”

“What about a tall tree topper?” I suggested. “Maeve ordered some in for the nursery gift shop. There’s one that’s over a foot tall and it’s pretty too.”

“There you go,” Jed said. “Problem solved.”

It obviously wasn’t what she’d wanted, but she seemed to accept Plan B, then moved on to the tree-cutting part of the expedition. “Do I get to watch you chop down a tree now?”

Jed laughed. “You know it.” He handed Daisy over to her and winked as he took the ax from Joe, flexing his muscles. The veins on his forearms stood out.

I pretended to clear my throat. “Uh … maybe Joe and I should go find our own tree and give you two some privacy. Want us to take Daisy?”

Jed burst into laughter. “I think she’s safe with us. We’ll keep it PG.”

Shaking his head with a grin, Joe then nodded toward the opposite direction. “Rose, what do you say we head over there?”

“Good idea.”

We started walking in the opposite direction, and Joe fell into step beside me. “Got a particular kind of tree in mind?”

I shrugged. “Not really. We don’t have a lot of space in the living room, so something not too bare but not too fat either.”

He wrapped his free arm around my shoulder. “Now you sound like Goldilocks.”

“Too bad I don’t like porridge.”

Since we weren’t nearly as picky as Neely Kate, it only took us about thirty seconds to find a tree we agreed on.

“What do you think, Hopey?” Joe asked her as he pointed to it. “It’s a pretty good tree for your first one, don’t ya think?”

Hope looked up at him and waved her arms, excited that he was giving her attention.

Joe laughed as he squatted next to the tree with the saw. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

I glanced back at Jed and Neely Kate. Jed was swinging the ax at the tree trunk while Neely Kate watched his every move. “I bet you’re wishing you had your own ax now.”

“Nope, I’m more comfortable with a saw.” I believed him after all his home improvement projects.

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