Chapter Nine
The silvery flakes of frost on the windows of Amy’s car alarmed her. She hoped she was dressed warm enough. To her way of thinking it was too cold for this time of year. They shouldn’t have a frost until Thanksgiving, but then what did she know about weather conditions? Not a whole lot, she decided as she climbed into her car to head to the Coleman site, where the tent people would be erecting the tents three days ahead of schedule. Nothing was working right. Everything had a glitch. Even her mother was under the weather. Sometimes, life wasn’t fair.
She had to find some Christmas trees or she was going to fizzle like a dead firecracker. She’d been talking a good game to her mother but it wasn’t working for her. Someone, somewhere had to have some Christmas trees they were willing to sell for a discount for a worthy cause. She’d beaten the bushes, banged the drum, and the tree growers had laughed at her. None to spare, she’d been told. Orders were placed months in advance, not weeks like she was doing. If push came to shove, she might have to resort to dealing with the crook her mother had signed on with. If she didn’t pull this off, she’d be a failure in her eyes, and her mother’s as well. Amy thought about her bank balance as she drove to the Coleman site. It wasn’t exactly robust, but it was healthy. She’d dipped into it for deposits, and now it looked like she might have to do more than dip the second time around.
She thought about Gus Moss and how nice it had been sitting in the kitchen at Moss Farms. Everything had gone so well until she told him what she wanted. Such a scrooge. Why couldn’t people be more generous? Money wasn’t the answer to everything. Christmas was supposed to be a time for giving, for helping one’s fellow man. What was it Gus Moss had said? Time is money, business is business. Maybe that was her problem, she was taking this personal. The tired old cliché of all PR people came to mind. Fight fire with fire. Preempt your opponent. Strike first. Amy shivered. Was she a match for Gus Moss? Probably not. What she knew about Christmas trees would fill a thimble, whereas Gus Moss could write the book on the subject. One of the sharpest PR people she’d ever come across told her she had to subscribe to his credo: dazzle them with rhetoric and baffle them with bullshit, and you win the game. Like she was really going to do that? Not in this lifetime.
Amy swerved into the vacant lot and was surprised to see three trucks and men hustling about, driving stakes into the ground. She was pleased to see that the tents were made from a shiny white plastic that would lend itself well to the red and green Christmas colors, colors that would stand out and draw attention. Another plus was the site, which was a corner property with an entrance from both roads and more than ample parking. She would have plenty of room to line up her trees if she ever got any to line up.
Amy watched the workers for a few minutes before she drove off down the road to a Burger King, where she bought a honey biscuit and two cups of coffee to go.
Back at the site she opened her laptop and logged on. Time to find some Christmas trees. An hour later, Amy was jolted from her search by a knock on the car window. She looked at the bill, winced, and wrote out the check. She went back to her search as the men drove off. She looked at the tents and was impressed. At least she’d done one thing right.
It was midmorning when a whoop of pleasure echoed in the car. A man named Ambrose McFlint had trees for sale in McLean, Virginia. The banner ad running across the flat screen said the trees were reasonably priced, and free delivery went with the deal. Within minutes, Amy had the car in gear and she was headed for McLean.
Ten miles away Gus Moss was tagging trees he judged ready to be cut in two weeks’ time. Orange tags were tied onto the branches for the first cutting. Red tags meant the second cutting. Purple tags were balled trees to be dug out with the backhoe, but only when the trees were paid for.
As Gus tromped from the Douglas firs to the Balsam firs to the Virginia pines, he let his mind run wild to the young woman he’d shared dessert with last night. Even though he was bone tired, he hadn’t slept well, tossing and turning all night long. He couldn’t get Amy Baran’s expression out of his mind. She’d been shocked, dismayed at his callousness. Then she’d added insult to injury and called him a scrooge. Would it kill him to sell her a few trees at a healthy discount for the Seniors’ cause? All his life he’d been a generous person, so why was he suddenly turning into a skinflint? He didn’t have to prove anything to anyone except maybe his father. The why of it simply eluded him.
“Jack, Bill, come over here,” he called to two of his workers. See this grove of Virginia pine? I want you to trim the trees, cut away the brush and tag them with these red tags. We’ll cut these trees the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and deliver them after dark. Don’t look at me like that and don’t ask any questions. Just do it.”
“All of them? There must be over two hundred,” Jack, his foreman, said.
“Yeah, all of them. We’ll stagger the deliveries, fifty at a time. I’ll pay you overtime.”
Gus felt his shoulders lighten a bit as he prowled his fields. An anonymous donation of two hundred trees should take him out of the scrooge category.
Every so often Gus glanced over his shoulder to look for his father, but he was nowhere to be seen. He’d had to make his own breakfast that morning. He felt a grin stretch across his face. His father must have had a really busy night. He’d heard him come in, heard him going up and down the stairs all night long. Obviously he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t had a good night’s sleep.
As he worked through the day, all he could think of was Amy Baran. He suddenly loved the color purple. Where is she? What is she doing right now? He wished he knew.
He wondered what she would do if he called her up and asked her out to dinner. He nixed that idea as soon as it popped into his head. He knew in his gut Amy Baran would never go out with someone she considered to be a scrooge. So why did I even think about it?
It was noon when Gus made his way back to the farmhouse. He needed some hot soup and a cup of strong, black coffee. He looked up when he felt something brush his cheek. Rain? He was stunned when he realized what he felt was a snowflake. Thick gray clouds scudded across the sky. Snow this early? He hoped not.
Gus almost swooned at the delicious scents that assailed him the moment he and Cyrus entered the kitchen. A fire was roaring in the fireplace. The only thing missing is the girl with the purple hat and scarf, Gus thought as he washed his hands. He ladled soup into a bowl, cut a chunk of crusty bread and fell to it. He was careful to only eat two bowls of soup; otherwise, he’d be sluggish all afternoon. The strong, black coffee made his eyeballs stand at attention. As he sipped the brew he walked around the house calling his father’s name. He craned his neck to stare out the window. His father’s truck was gone. He must have gone to town for something. He shrugged.
Gus set his dishes in the sink, gave Cyrus a rawhide chew, put on his jacket and hat and was out of the house, all within five minutes. Instead of walking out to the white pine field, he climbed into his pickup. If the weather held he could clear at least two rows of the beautiful white pines that would bring him top dollar. As he bumped along the rutted fields his thoughts returned to Amy Baran. He felt like a sixteen-year-old again with his first crush.
On the seat next to him, Cyrus growled as he fought with his chewie, which wasn’t crumbling to his satisfaction. “You see, Cyrus, you have to work for everything in this life. There’s no free lunch, even though Miss Amy Baran seems to think there is.” Cyrus ignored him as he continued fighting with the rawhide bone.
Gus stood in awe as he gazed at the white pine grove. How beautiful, how pungent it smelled. Suddenly, he didn’t want to cut the trees. They were just too majestic. Even though his father hadn’t fertilized or irrigated the beautiful trees, they had survived. All the grove needed was to be thinned out. Maybe he would cut every third one instead of all of them. It broke his heart that once the magnificent specimens were cut, decorated by someone in a house that was probably too warm, the tree would slow
ly die and be discarded. You live, then you die, he thought bitterly.
Angrily, Gus walked among the stately trees, tying long, yellow strips onto the branches. Long strips of the bright yellow tape meant the trees were not to be touched.
Why, he asked himself, was he so angry? Was he angry that his mother died, that his father let everything go to hell, that he’d killed Gus’s birth tree by cutting it down and donating it to the White House? Or was he angry at the young woman in the purple hat and scarf for calling him a scrooge and hurting his feelings? All of the above, he decided as the chain saw in his hand came to life. He worked then like there was a devil on his shoulder, cutting away the thick undergrowth and dead branches. He broke a sweat but continued until it was too dark to see what he was doing. He was sweating profusely and every bone in his body ached as he drove back over the same bumpy fields. He looked down at his watch and was surprised to see that it was six-thirty. His father would be waiting dinner for him.
His father wasn’t waiting for him when he opened the kitchen door. The table wasn’t set either. The huge pot of soup was still simmering on the warming burner. The oven showed a golden roast chicken dinner complete with stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy. Cyrus barked.
Gus shed his outer clothing, and that’s when he noticed the red blinking light on his father’s answering machine. No voice mail for Sam Moss. Gus pressed the button to listen to the message. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline when he heard the sweet, melodious voice of his love. “Mr. Moss…ah, Gus, this is Amy Baran. I’m…ah, calling you to apologize for calling you a scrooge last night. I was upset when I called you Scrooge. At the time I meant it because I was angry. I don’t mean it today because I’m no longer angry. Even though we’re competitors of sorts, I hope you sell all of your trees and that you make a lot of money. Again, I’m sorry for my rude behavior.”
“Well, hot damn! Did you hear that, Cyrus?” Gus slapped at the kitchen table as he danced a little jig while Cyrus nipped at his ankles. His love apologized. She wasn’t angry with him. Maybe now he could call her for a date. He played the message again and listened to the end of it. A frown built between his brows. She hoped he sold all his trees and made a lot of money. She thought this was all about money. She thought he was a money-hungry Christmas tree salesman. How could she think that about him? It was never about the money.
A niggling voice whispered in his ear, a voice he didn’t want to hear. Sure it’s about the money. It’s about proving to your father you can do in two months what he didn’t do in the last ten years. This is your way of getting back at him. It all translates to money—$$$. Who are you kidding, Gus Moss?
You didn’t put it behind you. You’re kidding yourself if you think you’ve moved on. You haven’t. You are a scrooge.
The phone found its way to Gus’s hand. He dialed Information and asked for the number to the Baran residence. His shoulders slumped when he heard the voice mail click on. “This is Gus Moss, a.k.a. Scrooge. I just want to say I accept your apology and would like you to know I’m really a stand-up guy. I’d like to invite you to dinner if you have some free time. If you’re agreeable, we should probably schedule it before we both get busy selling Christmas trees. The apology wasn’t necessary. I would have said the same thing if I had been standing in your shoes. I think you should give me an opportunity to defend myself. I hope you have a nice evening.”
Chapter Ten
It was eight-thirty when Amy Baran dialed Gus Moss’s phone number. She hated herself for what she was about to do but she had no other choice. Ripples of anxiety raced up and down her arms. “Gus, this is Amy Baran. I just got your message. I appreciate the return phone call. Listen, I was just about to go out to Tony’s to grab a pizza. Would you like to join me?” Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Gus looked down at his worn sweatpants, then at the oven where his dinner sat. He’d been in no hurry to eat earlier. “Well, sure. Thirty minutes?”
“That works for me. I’ll meet you there.”
“Wear that purple hat and scarf, okay?”
Amy laughed, a jittery sound, but Gus didn’t pick up on her nervousness. He was beyond excited as he raced upstairs to change his clothes, with Cyrus right behind him, nipping at his heels. It took him four minutes to change into acceptable clothes for a pizza date. He used up another five minutes filling a plate for Cyrus. Two minutes later he was out the door. It only took a minute for him to realize how cold it was. He cranked on the heater and sailed down the road.
Gus was ten minutes early when he parked his truck and headed for the pizzeria. It was warm and steamy, the rich scent of garlic and cheese wafting about. The place was full of chattering customers chomping down on Tony’s pizza. He looked around at the red leather booths for a sign of Amy. He saw her in the back. She waved. He grew light-headed as he made his way to the booth.
She smiled.
He smiled.
She motioned for him to sit opposite her.
He obliged.
“I took the liberty of ordering. I got the works except for anchovies. If you want them, now’s the time to ask. I hope you like Corona.”
“I do. Like Corona and no, I don’t like anchovies. I guess we have something in common. I love pizza. Three food groups you know.” He needed to stop acting like a young teenager and act like the successful man he was. He struggled for something to say that sounded intelligent. “It’s cold out.” Wow, that was brilliant.
“I felt some snow flurries when I got out of the car. Usually it doesn’t get this cold this early. How do you handle this cold coming from California?”
“I bought a lot of warm clothing. The truth is, today I was so cold I was numb. How was your day?”
Amy picked at the napkin in her hands. It was almost shredded. Here it was, the question she’d been dreading. “Listen, I want you to know something about me, Gus. By nature I am not a devious person. I have ethics. I’m pretty much up front and in your face if anything. I called you back…under false pretenses. I was sincere about the apology the first time I called you. I’m not going to beat around the bush. I need your Christmas trees. I went out to McLean to a guy who said he would sell me some. It didn’t work out. I’m asking you to help me. Well, not me really, the Seniors.” She was so frustrated, so embarrassed, her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away. She squared her shoulders. “I was wondering…hoping you would consider the two of us pooling our efforts to help the Seniors. I know you want to make money, so here is my proposition. I’ll take on your loss as my own personal debt. It might take me a few years to pay it off, but I will pay it off.”
Gus stared at the agitated woman sitting across from him. Whatever he’d been expecting, this wasn’t it. Her eyes looked luminous with unshed tears. He wanted to bolt over to her side of the booth and wrap his arms around her. He grappled for something to say. “Why is this so important to you?”
Amy brushed at the corners of her eyes. “I’m not sure. If you absolutely need an answer, the only thing I can say is I’m trying to…to…prove to my mother that I turned out okay even though she was never around when I did things she should have patted me on the head for. I suppose that sounds silly to you. I don’t know, maybe it’s a girl thing. I never got…what I mean is…I always wanted her approval. I never got it. So, while it is about the Seniors, it’s all about me, too. Does any of this make sense to you?”
Well hell yes, it made perfect sense to him. Wasn’t he living through the exact same thing? Maybe they were soul mates. He nodded, his eyes sober as he handed her a paper napkin. “It makes sense,” he said quietly. “I’m doing exactly what you’re trying to do. So, do you have an idea, a plan?”
Amy leaned across the table. Her eyes sparkled with hope. “Does that mean you’ll help me?”
Gus didn’t trust himself to speak. He nodded.
“Well, I thought I could…I have a campaign all worked out. That’s my speciality. It’s what I do for a living. I’ll have to get rid
of the tents, suck up the deposit, and relocate to your farm. People, according to Mom, don’t know you’re back in business, so I can make that happen. I’ll work alongside you. I’ll do whatever you want. You don’t have to worry about me carrying my weight. I’ll work around the clock if that’s what you want. We can draw on the Seniors to set up your store. I can make the wreaths and grave blankets. This will free up your people to handle the trees. Does…do you think…?”
Gus leaned back in the booth to allow the waiter to set a steaming pizza in the middle of the table. “Okay.”
Amy’s face lit up like a neon sign. “Do you mean it, Gus? What…what about time is money and business is business? Are you sure?”
Was he? Suddenly he realized he’d never been more sure of anything in his life. He nodded. “Let me ask you a question. What happens if when this is all over and done with, your mother and my father don’t understand what we’re all about?”
Amy sat up straighter in the booth. “Then, Gus Moss, it’s their loss, not ours.”
Ah, his love thought just the way he did. He nodded again. He stretched his arm across the table. “Okay, partner, let’s put our heads together, but first we eat this pizza.”
His love laughed, her eyes sparkling like diamonds. She squeezed his hand. Gus felt like he was on fire. He watched as she loaded her pizza with hot peppers, just the way he liked his. He said so. They both laughed in delight.
Gus Moss was in love. It never once occurred to him that Miss Amy Baran might be using him for his Christmas trees. He told himself his heart would know if that was the case.
Amy Baran tried to still her pounding heart. It never once occurred to her that Gus Moss might be using her and her PR campaign to sell his Christmas trees. If that were the case, she told herself, her heart wouldn’t be pounding the way it was.
At one point, Gus moved to the other side of the booth, where they talked in low whispers about everything and anything. Without realizing it, he reached for Amy’s hand. She exerted a little pressure to show she didn’t mind this closeness.
The Christmas Stocking Page 7
