Page 2 of A Christmas Spark
“You’re sure it’s secure?”
George returned the frown, his brow creasing. “This is the second tree you’ve bought from me this year, after you decided that you needed two for the bed and breakfast.”
“One for the entry and one for the common area,” Christopher agreed, nodding.
“Hmph,” George grunted. “Did the first one I sent with you fly off?”
Christopher chuckled. “No, it got back home just fine.”
“Well, I think that means you don’t need to pester me about this one.” George tugged on one of the cords, and Christopher, grinned, clapping George on the shoulder.
“Thanks,” he said, digging his keys out of his pocket. “Appreciate you staying to help me load this one up.”
“No problem.” George ran a hand down his graying beard. “If you decide you need to putthreetrees up at Hearthside this year, you know where to come for the third one.”
Christopher laughed at that. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he promised. “But I doubt I’m going to be back for a third.”
“Last year you said one was enough.” George shrugged. “Guess you never know.”
“Well, I’m no Nolan,” Christopher said with another laugh. “I love the holiday season as much as everyone else around here, but three trees might just be too much for me.”
George chuckled gruffly. “The day Nolan comes to buy a tree from me, I’ll declare it a Christmas miracle.”
For years, Nolan McCoy had been quietly known around town as the resident ‘grinch,’ in a lighthearted sort of way. George wondered if the man even knew that was the case. He didn’t get into the holiday spirit the way the rest of Fir Tree Grove did, not bothering to decorate his house or invest in flashy lawn displays. He was quiet, kept mostly to himself, and seemed to be even more so during Christmastime, when everyone else in Fir Tree Grove was at their most festive.
“Well, I better be getting back. See if there’s anyone who can help me unload this beast.”
George waved as Christopher drove away, and then walked back toward the log building where the office was to finish closing things up for the day. As he walked, he savored the crunch of the snow under his boots, the fresh pine smell in the crisp clean air, the cold of the winter night biting at his cheeks. For all that he’d given Christopher a bit of a genial hard time about buying a second tree, there was that sense of satisfaction at having sent another one home with a happy customer.
He loved growing and selling Christmas trees. He always had, for as long as he’d worked on and run the farm. But there was another feeling there, he realized as he opened the office door and walked into the warm, woodsy-scented interior, one that shocked him.
There was a small pang of fear in his chest too, tightening his throat a bit, at the thought that this Christmas would be just like every one that had come before. He’d wake up and head to the farm, fill pickup orders and sell trees, close up and go home. He’d go to a few town events and enjoy the seasonal food atthe diner and the tavern, and Christmas night he’d celebrate at home by himself, with a home-cooked meal and a quiet night in by the fire. Just like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.
He rubbed at his chest, as if he could wipe the feeling away, but it stubbornly lingered. He had great friends and neighbors, he thought, but that wasn’t the same as having someone special to spend the holiday with. And it was getting a bit lonely, year after year.
It wasn’t just the jolt of fear that surprised him, but the sentimentality of his thoughts. He shook it off, finishing up his closing tasks around the office before shrugging his heavy coat back on and heading back out into the frigid night.
Before leaving, he headed over to the structure next to the office building that he’d been working on—the start of a gazebo. He’d left some tools out there earlier in the day, he recalled, and didn’t want to leave them there overnight.
As he put them back into the tool bag and hefted it over his shoulder, he looked around the unfinished structure, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He had a vision for this place, and he was excited to see it become a reality.
For years, he’d had an apple cider and hot cocoa stand at the farm, selling hot drinks to customers as they walked around and looked at the trees. He wanted to add the gazebo as an additional part of the customer experience, to make the farm even more pleasant and festive. He’d long liked the idea that customers would have a place to sit by a heater, sipping their drinks as they waited for their tree to be prepared. This time of year, the office was often overflowing with customers waiting to purchase and pick up their trees, and as of right now, they had to simply wait out in the cold, standing in line. He had a system devised in his head where he’d hand out numbers, and customers would have a pleasant place to sit and enjoy themselves while they waited.
Besides, it was a good hobby for him. He was an excellent handyman, he wasn’t afraid to admit that, and he enjoyed a good do-it-yourself project. The gazebo had kept his hands and mind busy when he wasn’t working, and he was looking forward to finishing it.
Glancing over the gazebo once more, George smiled, before walking to his car to head home.
CHAPTER TWO
Saturday afternoon, Vanessa was practically running from one side of the toy shop to the other, helping customers as her grandmother rang them out.
She swore that it was busier this year than it had been the year prior, when she’d come back to Fir Tree Grove, but as far as she was concerned that was only a good thing. She loved the thought that her grandmother’s shop continued to be popular and thrive, and she loved the joy that it brought to everyone who walked through the doors.
At the moment, her primary customer was a mother who had brought her three children in to let them pick out Christmas gifts for each other. The three of them were weaving in and out of the other customers, and Vanessa found it incredibly entertaining to watch them each sneaking up to the counter to hand over what they wanted to get for their siblings without the others seeing.
She smiled as she watched, feeling a happy contentment that somethings still surprised her.
A year ago, she would never have imagined being this happy in a small town like Fir Tree Grove. She’d spent most of her adult life in San Francisco, working at a fast-paced office in management as soon as she’d graduated college. Her parentshad passed away in a car accident just before her graduation, and she’d thrown herself into work from the moment she’d landed her first job just days after graduating. Her boss had been demanding, micromanaging her and everyone else in the office and never giving her a moment’s peace or time off, but she’d happily let her work consume her, preventing her from ever being distracted or thinking about her grief.
