Page 29 of OMG Christmas Tree
Lost for words. That was me. Words with no sense of direction.
She turned back to the Sawyers. “Don’t you want to close shop? Liquidate your stock, call it a day, and hang out at Checkers? It’s the night before a big holiday. The place will be crawling with college students home for the holidays.”
Oh, she was good. Ethan had the math going in his head. Rob already abandoned the math and jammed to his own soundtrack.
“Give her the deal, dude,” Rob told him over the music in his headphones.
Ethan stroked his beard. “What are we talking here?”
“Well, the benefit is under budget because...reasons.” She glanced at me, sparing further judgment how I had under-spent because I’d under-planned. “I see you have a generator and lights strung around your shack.”
Ethan folded his arms. “It’s an outpost.”
One wood-slatted wall sat beneath a heavy-duty tent over top. Two sad wreaths hung askew on the wood part.
She held up a hand. “Sorry. Since we’re taking all the trees off your hands, you’ll give us a bulk rate. There should be room in the budget to buy more string lights. We need this all set up by two p.m. tomorrow. Deal?”
Ethan looked at me. “You’re asking us to do the set-up?”
“I’m not asking you to do anything,” I answered. “But if you’re smart, you’ll listen to Megan.”
“You’re getting the night off early to go to Checkers. Or don’t go out and have the trees all set up tonight. Your call.”
Ethan laughed despite himself. “Nick, you’re cool with this? I mean, is she working for you now?”
“You gave away my tree.” I threw up my hands. “This is the best solution I can think of.”
“We’re paying you for your inventory,” Megan reminded him. “The manual labor is a bonus to make right the damage to my car. I’m sure the Sawyer family would appreciate a full-page ad in the program how you supplied all the indoor and outdoor Christmas trees.” She turned to me again. “I was thinking we should bring a couple more into the house. Like that skinny one over there could work in the dining room by the built-in china cabinet, and that scrubby one? It has personality. That could go at the top of the staircase looking over the guests. Tinsel and a tree topper would be cute, like this one in the brochure.” She showed me page three with the photo caption:A Mid-century 1950s Christmas.
A call back to historic decor at the mansion. “Dang, you’re good.”
She looked at Ethan. “Deal?”
He held out his hand for a shake. “Deal.”
Rob guided Megan farther into the lot to inventory the trees.
Ethan clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what you got yourself into, but hang on to her.”
