Page 81 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“No. I wasn’t sure if you were ready for that, so I didn’t cut the trunks again. I brought a chainsaw just in case, but they’ll be fine for a few days since they’re all sealed over now.”
“Didn’t you cut the big ones down for me?”
He nodded. “Yes, but they came down a couple of days ago so they could seal over just in case. They’ll be fine.”
I eyed the stacks of trees. “I’d really rather get them in water as soon as possible.”
“I’ll grab the chainsaw, then.”
“You can leave it with me. I’ll do it if you have somewhere to be.”
Thomas stopped and fixed his intense blue gaze on me. “I am not letting you loose with my chainsaw.”
“Why not?”
“Quite frankly, I don’t trust you with a chainsaw.”
I frowned. “What on Earth do you think I’m going to do with it?”
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem wise to give you a potentially deadly weapon while I’m in the same room as you.”
That was a fair point.
“Come on. I might not like you, but we’ve moved beyond me threatening you bodily harm.”
“Didn’t you just threaten to beat me with a crutch?”
“Well, I do owe you one.”
He dropped his head back as he spun around. “I knew you hadn’t forgiven me for the cricket ball.”
I laughed, leaning against the wall, and waited for him to come back with his bright orange chainsaw in hand. “Of course, I’ve forgiven you for that,” I said, letting my lips tug up into a little smile. “Sure, there’s a scar I’ll never ever get rid of, but it is what it is.”
He grasped the chainsaw in both hands and eyed me. “You’ve forgiven me?”
“Did you really think I hadn’t? I might tease you about it, but it was twenty years ago, Thomas. We were kids. You just happened to be an exceptionally stupid kid with the worst aim in the world.”
He stared at me for what felt both two seconds and an entire minute. I couldn’t describe the feeling—it was as if that moment of our childhoods played out in both slow motion and super sped up all at the same time.
Until he finally blinked.
“Well, why didn’t you fucking say so?”
I shrugged, dipping my head as I picked up one of the tree stands to examine it. “It didn’t seem like information I needed to share. In all honesty, I was hoping to spend as little time as possible with you, but that plan seems to have been thwarted by circumstances out of my control.”
“That was a long-arse way of saying you’ve forgiven me, but you don’t like me and unfortunately find yourself stuck with me.”
“I was trying to be polite, Thomas.”
“You suck at it.” He removed a battery from the chainsaw and pressed a button, then with a nod, put the battery back into its slot and checked the chain. “Right, where are we getting started?”
I hesitated. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do. I wish I’d asked you before I came because it would have made my life easier. Now tell me where to start.” His voice was short and snippy, and my stomach twisted a little.
“The big ones,” I said quietly. “You cut all the bottoms, and I’ll find something to fill the stands with.”
Thomas jerked his head in a nod and walked over to the first pile to cut them.
