Page 8 of Wedding Bells in Silverwood

Vivian laid a hand on Holly’s arm. “You sure have.”

“I agree.” Nick crossed his arms and lifted his chin.

Vivian made her way over to the seven-foot tree in the living room, decorated with ornaments she and Holly’s father had bought when they were newlyweds.

“Jake always loved a good Christmas tree.” Vivian gently caressed one of the branches. “And this tree is gorgeous.”

Holly touched Nick’s arm. “Nick picked it out for you.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Vivian turned to Nick. “You work on a tree farm.”

“He owns it, Mom.” Holly looked between her mom and Nick.

Nick wrapped his arm around Holly’s waist, waggling his brows once. “She’s right, though. I work on it, too.”

Vivian winked. “I like him. He’s clever.”

“Mom, you should come take a look at the sleigh.” Holly indicated toward the garage with her head.

“Yes, let’s take a look.” Vivian straightened her blouse. “Tell me again how your father saved the Christmas festival tree decorating contest.”

Though they shared the story many times over video calls, Nick began telling it again. “We entered the state tree decorating contest to win the grand prize.”

“Nick’s father needed the money to cover the treatment of his Wilson’s disease,” Holly added.

“That’s the copper buildup in the body, right?” Vivian asked.

“Yeah.” Holly gestured for her mother to follow as she made her way to the door that led to the garage. “The whole town was in on it.”

“But the night before the judges arrived,” Nick continued, “a storm knocked down the beautiful, fully decorated, twenty-five-foot Christmas tree right into one of the festival stands.”

“It caught fire.” Holly opened the connecting door. “But Nick extinguished it.”

Vivian and Nick entered the garage, and Holly and Cupid followed.

“So we needed a new tree,” Nick went on.

“We drove through the dangerous storm to Nick’s farm,” Holly said.

“And we got a new tree. But my truck got stuck in the snow.”

“There was no cell reception.” Holly waved her hands back and forth.

Nick shook his head. “We were in a pickle.”

“But Dad’s sleigh was in the back of his truck.” Holly gestured at the tarped form in front of them.

“It was big enough to transport the new tree in the snow.” Nick stuffed his fists in his pockets. “All that was missing was a team of dogs to pull it.”

Holly smiled. “So I got Cupid to howl to call his siblings to come to the rescue.”

Vivian chuckled. “And there were nine of them, all named after the reindeer from the song?”

“Yep,” Holly answered.

Vivian clapped her hands together once. “That’s incredible.”

“And they saved the day.” Nick snaked an arm around Holly.

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