Page 2 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
“My family always gets a white pine. The needles are long, but so soft.” Emberlee was the first over to the barn and grabbed a neon green flag on a long plastic pole.
“I think my family gets a Scotch pine?” Lyla shrugged. “What about you, Mari?”
I walked beside Miss Eloise as I tried to block out the holiday pop music from the barn. Artemis was looking at everything, but she didn’t pull on the leash or try to yank me in any direction. “If my parents remember to put one up, they have a fake one.”
“A fake one,” Miss Eloise tsked. “Nothing makes a home smell more like Christmas than a real tree. And while the pines are lovely, I’m particular to the Fraser Fir. We’re going to search for one eight feet tall with thick branches for all the decorations.”
I bit the side of my tongue knowing how expensive a Fraser Fir of that size would be. We didn’t have a big tree at Primrose House last year. I had a feeling that Miss Eloise was doing this for me, one last big celebration before I left the state, and because I’d miss her just as much, I didn’t protest.
“Excuse me!” My landlady waved down an employee who had elf ears on. “Hi. Which part of the farm will we find the Fraser Firs?”
The woman smiled and motioned to the north-west. “If you take a left out of the lot and follow the road nearly a mile, you’ll find the section. There should be someone out there ready to help you when you find your tree.”
“A mile?” Emberlee gasped. “How big is this place?”
“We have over seven thousand acres. We’re the biggest tree farm in the state.”
That many acres dedicated to growing just evergreen trees? Oh, I had opinions. Many strong opinions. But no one wanted me to go on an environmental tirade.
We were looking for a Christmas tree. It was festive and fun.
It was a farm set on destroying the land with monoculture!
“Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas.” Miss Eloise clapped her hands together, but it was muted by her thick gloves. “Let’s get back in the van, girls.”
“I think I’m going to walk.” They all turned to me as I said it. I motioned to my dog. “Artemis needs a walk.” And at their continued incredulous looks, I added, “I’m warmly dressed. I’m used to being outside all day. You know that.”
Miss Eloise sighed and stroked Artemis’ head. “It seems like a long way to me, but I know it isn’t for you two. I know this sweet baby needs her exercise or she’ll be running laps around the yard like a crazy pup. But we’re not deciding on any tree until you get there. So make it a speedy walk.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded. I needed this walk as much as Artemis. I wouldn’t ruin this outing for any of them, but I had a habit of launching into fight mode on environmental issues. The walk would calm me and zap me of that ready-to-battle energy. “It’ll take me twenty minutes tops.”
I walked through the lot with them and waved to them as they set off. Rolling my shoulders to ease some tension, I followed down the road they disappeared down. As soon as I rounded the first bend, the noise from the busy lot disappeared and I was embraced by the soft hush of winter.
This is what I loved. The quiet of a forest. Winter songbirds chirped and water dripped from branches under the afternoon sun. My boots crunched on the snow while Artemis stuck her nose everywhere she could reach, sniffing at every other tree.
Neat rows of evergreens lined the road on either side of me. The farm sat on gently rolling hills and looked like it went on forever. It was pretty covered in snow, if I ignored my moral objections to this type of tree farming.
I worked as an environmental technician for the county’s wind turbine fields, and I spent the majority of my days outsidedoing surveys on site. My studies produced results that the energy board didn’t want to spare the money to fix, and so I submitted them to the biggest wind farm in the States. They appreciated my work and forward thinking, and offered me a job. In the new year, I’d finally be in a place where my colleagues would listen to me.
A gust of wind whooshed over me, and I pulled my beanie down over my ears. Feeling the warmth of the thick knit cap had me smiling. Lyla made it just for me. No bright colors or frills or puffballs on the top. My heart ached with how much I’d miss her, Miss Eloise, and the other girls in Primrose House. We joked around and called ourselves the Primrose Pack, because the closeness we felt was that immense.
And I was moving away. As excited as I was about my choice, as much as I rationalized it to be the best thing for my career, it tore me apart to know I was leaving them.
Behind me, the purr of a motor grew louder. I moved off the road and reined in Artemis, telling her to sit. Another blast of wind blew up snow, and I covered my face with my hands.
Peering through my gloved fingers, I spotted the snow machine as it came around the corner. I had to blink a few more times because my mind was comprehending who was riding it. A monster of a bear became a monster of a man. I’d never seen any man as huge as him.
Or as ruggedly gorgeous. The snow dotted beard, the black coat barely containing his muscled arms, and long lashed eyes as green as fresh pine.
Too bad I was moving away later this month. That was a mountain of a Beta, and one who looked like he loved the outdoors as much as I did. And I did enjoy mountain climbing!
The wind whipped up over him and toward me. My hands covered my face, but it didn’t stop his musky masculine scentfrom slamming into me. It traveled with a shiver down my body to light all my nerves on fire.
Oh God, an Alpha.
Though it wasn’t typical of Alphas to do the grunt work, it was stupid of me to assume he was a Beta. So absolutely stupid. Alphas and I didn’t get along.
And he was slowing down to stop right in front of me.
