The Christmas Tree Guy

by Railyn Stone

  “Hi, ma’am, can I help you?” Quinn watched Jack intercept her as she walked up and he quickly made a beeline to where they both stood.

  “Actually, I’m looking for a young man named Quinn. Oh, hi.” She grinned, looking at Quinn as he approached.

  “Hello. Is everything okay with the tree?”

  “Oh, yes, of course. It’s fine. Thank you again. I just wanted to return these.” She held out his gloves and he smiled as he reached for them. “Thought you may need them. Out in the cold.” She added, referring to the catchy motto he’d made up the night before and he nodded, noting how cute her upturned nose was.

  “Thanks. I was looking for these. Um, where are your sidekicks?”

  “Oh, they are with my in-laws. They’re giving me a little time to get some things done, and I figured I could just drop off your gloves too. Well, thanks again, and Merry Christmas to you both.”

  “Thanks, you too,” Jack glanced over at Quinn with a sideways grin.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?” Quinn started after Sydnee as she turned to walk away.

  “Oh no, please. No ma’ams. It’s Sydnee.”

  “Sorry?”

  “My name…it’s Sydnee.”

  “Oh, okay, Sydnee. I’m actually getting ready to go on my break; could I buy you a cup of coffee?” He may have let her get away the night before, but he didn’t intend on letting her get away again.

  “That’s sweet, but I don’t think so.”

  “Wow. I don’t know if I’ve ever been rejected that quickly. I could be scarred for life.” He beamed, clutching at his heart and looking into a set of deep brown eyes he knew he could get lost in.

  “Something tells me you’ll be okay,” she giggled and he was hooked. She had the most infectious laugh and he was prepared to do whatever he needed to do to keep hearing it.

  “It’s just coffee.”

  “Look, Quinn, it was really nice of you to deliver my tree last night, even though I know that’s not a service this tree lot actually provides. But I just can’t go out with you.”

  “Hmm, so it’s not that you don’t want to go out with me? I mean you said you can’t so, technically, I still have a chance?” He could only hope he was making progress as her giggle turned into a full-blown laugh.

  “You are an optimist. I have to go.”

  “Hey, you didn’t say you weren’t interested. You just said you can’t go out. There’s a difference.” He continued to walk alongside her as she strode to her car.

  “If you say so.”

  “So what does a guy have to do to get you to say yes?”

  “Goodbye, Quinn.” She paused, smiling at him before she turned to walk off.

  “See you later.” He grinned and she spun around to look at him quizzically. “Hey a guy can dream can’t he?” His eyes danced and she could only shake her head at his persistence. Quinn could still hear her melodic laugh as she got in her SUV and pulled away. He smiled as Jack approached him, slapping him on the back.

  “Shot down huh? Maybe you should stick to females your own age. I can see why you delivered the tree last night, but son, that’s a real woman there, and I doubt you have a snowball’s chance in the devil’s house with her.” His uncle laughed.

  “Uncle Jack, you so underestimate me.” Quinn winked, walking away to help a customer.

  ###

  Sydnee was still grinning after she changed her clothes and took her spot in her Pilates class. She was meeting her best friend, Sara, who suggested she join the gym after Matt left to help her relieve stress and to fight off the depression she was slowly sinking into. It was the best thing she could have ever done. It didn’t make the pain go away, but it helped her deal with it a little better. She even managed to lose about twenty-five pounds and was back at her pre-twins weight, which wasn’t a bad trade-off.

  “Okay, spill it.” She looked over to see Sara taking her place beside her.

  “What are you talking about?” They still had ten minutes before the class started, other women started to arrive and find their spots around the two.

  “You’re smiling like a Cheshire cat. What’s going on with you?”

  “It’s funny, but I got hit on today.” Sydnee couldn’t help giggling at the thought of the young man asking her out for coffee.

  “Are you serious? Was he cute?”

  “Okay, puppies and babies are cute. But, yes, he was very attractive. I mean, he was tall and even with his jacket on, you could see he was pretty well built. His eyes were what really caught my attention. They were almost, like, transparent or something as bright as they were and, crap. Sara, why am I even telling you this? I guess in a way you could say he was cute, because he looks a lot younger than me.”

  “What! You got hit on by a baby cub, you cougar.” Laughing, Sara sat and started stretching. Sydnee had always loved Sara’s quick wit since the day they met. Sara was one of the first people she met when she and Matt moved to Louisville. They met at the apartment complex Matt and Sydnee lived in for the first six months before their house was finished. The day they moved into the apartment, Sara had walked across the hall and been the first to introduce herself. From that day on, the two formed a fast friendship and Sara became the sister Sydnee never had. “Sounds like a delicious little one too.”

  “I know, isn’t that crazy?”

  “Well, no, I mean, honestly, Syd, I can see it.” Sara stopped stretching to look at Sydnee with a serious face and Sydnee laughed at the thought. “You’re a beautiful woman.”

  “It was flattering, but I turned him down.”

  “Okay wait a minute. He asked you out?”

  “He asked me to go get a cup of coffee with him.” Honestly, she was flattered he asked her out and she couldn’t lie. The man was definitely good-looking and after talking with him, it wasn’t just the way he looked, but the way he carried himself that was even more intriguing. Had she been younger and things a little different, she may have considered his offer.

  “How old is he?”

  “I don’t know. He’s probably in his twenties, maybe twenty-five, twenty-six.”

  “Well, that’s not bad.”

  “Sara. Are you kidding me? He’s too young.” Sydnee dismissed her comment and continued to stretch her legs.

  “Well, just think about it. You’re thirty-four.”

  “Hey, shhh, not so loud.” Sydnee giggled.

  “Whatever, you’re thirty-four; he’s possibly twenty-five. That’s less than a ten year difference.”

  “Yeah, by one year.”

  “Still, you should feel good about it. It means you still ‘got it’,” Sara added, snapping her fingers and rolling her head back.

  “Oh, I got it all right. I have two five-year olds I’m raising alone. Instant family for any guy that comes along.” Rolling her eyes, Sydnee shook her head and stretched her arms above her.

  “Hey, look at it this way, he doesn’t know that and to him, you’re a single hot older lady.” Sara added in a sultry voice, nodding her head.

  “Actually, he does know that.”

  “Okay, what are you not telling me? Suddenly I feel like there’s a lot more to this story than you’re letting on.” Sara straightened up and looked over at Sydnee.

  “No, what I mean is, I met him last night. You know I told you I was taking the boys to get a Christmas tree.”

  “Yeah?” Sara urged Sydnee on.

  Sydnee proceeded to tell Sara the whole story of Quinn delivering their tree and how happy the boys were. She continued on about taking the gloves to him and how he was so persistent about taking her out.

  “Hmm, sounds like he had a point.”

  “What? How can you say that?”

  “You didn’t say you didn’t want to go out with him. Even when you were telling me about it, you never said you didn’t want to go out with him. You said can’t, and it’s different.” Sydnee stared at Sara and the smirk gracing her face with disbelief.

  “Sara, you’re crazy
. I can’t go out with him. How would that look? I’m practically ten years older than him. I have two five-year olds, and I just don’t think that looks good.” Sydnee dismissed Sara’s crazy thought process. She could only imagine the looks they would get, and never mind the comments people would make.

  “To who? Seriously Syd, more and more women are doing exactly what men have done for ages. What’s so wrong with it? Obviously he doesn’t have a problem with you being a single parent of five-year olds. And you said yourself the boys seemed to be in awe of him, and he even let them help with the tree, so he’s good with kids.”

  “Sara, you’re just a silly hopeless romantic.”

  “Hey, it could work.”

  “There are other factors that I don’t think would work,” Sydnee confessed slowly.

  “Like? C’mon, Syd, what’s the problem?” Sydnee paused before starting to list the issues she felt would present a problem.

  “He’s…he’s white.”

  “So?”

  “So? Sara, really? That just makes it even harder.” Sydnee didn’t have a problem with race. She got along fine with people of all backgrounds and she had no problem with interracial relationships. If someone loved someone, that’s who they loved. It was just something she’d never experienced.

  “Whatever, Syd. Obviously he doesn’t care about the race issue, so why should you?” Sara stopped. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, before a grin the size of the Mississippi River spread across her face. “You’ve never gone out with a white guy before, have you?”

  “Well...no. I haven’t. You know that.”

  “Gurrrrrrl. You better get with the program. Don’t limit yourself.” Sara laughed at Sydnee rolling her eyes. “I’m serious. You never know, he might be what-cha need.”

  “I guess we’ll never know because I probably won’t ever see him again.”

  “Well, maybe, but he does know where you live.” Sara laughed, looking at the face Sydnee made as the instructor started the class.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Hey guys.” Sydnee opened the door and laughed as the twins rushed towards her at their grandmother’s house. She was barraged with tons of “Mommy guess what’s” and “we got to do this” as Leanne came to hug her.

  “Hi, sweetheart, how are you?”

  “I’m good. Thanks again for watching these two. I know they can be a handful at times.” She mussed both of their heads before they took off down the hall. “Hey, get your stuff and stop running.”

  “Oh, they’re all right. Did you get a lot done?”

  “Actually, I did. I was able to get some cleaning done, grab a quick work-out and get a few gifts, now we can bake the cookies and put the decorations on the tree.”

  “Well, sounds like you’ve got everything in order. They are more than a little bit excited and couldn’t talk about anything else.”

  “I know. They are all ready for the holiday, but it’s still kind of hard to get into it.” Sydnee was thankful for her in-laws. They were so helpful, and when Matt had left her for another woman instead of them turning their backs on her, they had stood beside her and helped her with the boys. It was a little awkward at first, but they let her know when Matt married her, she had become their daughter too and they would always be there for her and the twins.

  “Honey, it’s okay. I’m sure the boys’ excitement will help.”

  “I know, it’s just so hard to…I’m sorry. This isn’t fair to you.” Sydnee felt tears spring to her eyes. “Man, I’m so tired of crying.” She took the tissue Leanne handed her and wiped her eyes. It had almost been three years since Matt walked out on them and it was still hard for Sydnee to fathom how any man could just walk away from his family. She had shed too many tears over Matt leaving her, and it broke her heart mostly for the boys. She wanted them to have a strong family unit. To grow up with two parents who loved them and supported them. Children needed their mother and father. A stable environment was something she had growing up and she wanted the same for her children.

  “Sweetie, I know. It can’t be easy, but it’s okay for you to cry.” She offered up a weak, watery smile as Leanne folded her arms around her. “You can’t be strong all of the time. Sometimes you have to let go and give yourself a break.”

  “I just want the boys to have a great Christmas and not be sad, or see me sad, you know.” She quickly wiped her tears upon hearing the twins running down the hall behind her. Turning out of her mother-in-law’s arms, Sydnee knelt down and smiled at the boys. “You two ready to go?” Instinctively, she reached to tie Charlie’s shoelace.

  “Mommy, I can do it.” Charlie voiced with pride and stooped to tie his laces.

  “Okay, okay.” She stood, proudly watching him tie his shoes with the same precision she taught him.

  “Are we still baking cookies, Mommy?” Travis looked up at her and placed his tiny hand in hers and her heart swelled with love at the small gesture. To an independent Travis, it was nothing, but Sydnee cherished the times either of the boys would hold her hand or snuggle.

  “Yes, we are. And we had better get going so we can do that and get the tree decorated. Tell Grammie goodbye so we can go.”

  “Bye, Grammie!” Both boys yelled in unison, running to hug Leanne before they ran out the door to head to the car.

  ###

  It had been a few days since she and the boys decorated the tree and soon they would be out of school for Christmas. Sydnee was looking forward to her much needed two-week vacation. It was going to be wonderful to spend time with the boys without the worries of deadlines hanging overhead. Since Matt left, she had returned to work full-time, cutting into the amount of time she could spend with Charlie and Travis. Sitting at her desk, she looked over at a picture of their angelic faces from last Christmas and smiled. It was amazing how resilient and strong children were. They were a lot stronger than she was.

  “They’re so cute.” Sydnee heard her co-worker passing by her desk and noticed the woman staring at the picture. “I hope you’re ready for the holiday.”

  “Oh yeah, they won’t let me forget it. Every day they’re counting down the days until Santa comes.” Sydnee chuckled, thinking of the countdown calendar stuck on their refrigerator. It was barely visible amidst all of the twins’ artwork, but the red slashes on each day of the month of December, popped out against the crayon stick people and kept track of the days until Santa’s impending visit.

  “That’s so much fun. I remember when mine were that little. Enjoy the time while you can, because it goes by fast.”

  “I know. I can hardly believe they are five.”

  “Well, look at it this way, they’re five and getting older, but you don’t look old enough to have five year olds.”

  “Julie, you just got added to my shopping list.” Sydnee joked as she saved the last edit to the ad she’d been working on for a new local restaurant opening. Making sure all of her emails and voicemails had been handled and all ad specs and mock-ups were submitted, she started to shut down her computer for the day. She stopped when her cell phone rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi Sydnee, it’s Monica.”

  “Monica, hi, is something wrong?” She couldn’t imagine why her next-door neighbor, Monica, was calling her this early. Her son, Sean, was best friends with the twins and Monica kept them after school until she came to pick them up.

  “Syd, everything’s fine, but Charlie had a little accident.”

  “An accident? What happened?” For Monica to call her, she knew it had to be something more serious than just a ‘little accident’.

  “He and the boys were playing in Sean’s room and Charlie fell and hit his head on the edge of the table beside Sean’s bed. He’s okay, but I had to bring him to the emergency room. He needed a few stitches.”

  “Stitches! I’m on my way.” Sydnee hurriedly grabbed her purse and her coat and scarf. Driving to the hospital felt like an eternity to Sydnee and she tried to stay calm parking the car in
the hospital parking deck. Her chest hurt just thinking of her child in pain, and the fear of what could possibly be wrong with Charlie made her grab her things and sprint into the building. All she could think about was Monica’s voice saying, ‘he needed stitches’ and ‘he hit his head’. The most serious injury either of them had ever had was the proverbial knee scrape or the imaginary boo-boo she would kiss and place a bandage on just because they wanted the attention. She moved quickly past people milling around in the lobby and made her way to the front desk.

  “My little boy was brought in here by my neighbor. She said he had to have stitches.” Sydnee was nearly beside herself. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably and she could feel her heart pounding against her chest. Her little boys were everything to her and there was nothing in the world she wouldn’t do to keep them safe and happy. Monica had told her over the phone Charlie was okay, but she just needed to see him for herself. Finally getting past the reception area once she found out the information she needed, Sydnee hurried to find them.

  “Sydnee.”

  “Monica, where is-” Sydnee was about to ask where Charlie was before she looked over at the little table that held puzzles and games and saw Travis, Charlie and Sean coloring. “Charlie! Oh, my baby.” She hurried to his side and knelt to see the wound near his temple. “Honey, are you okay?” She kissed his forehead and hugged him to her; inspecting him from head to toe and reassuring herself he had no other injuries.

  “I’m okay, Mommy.” She couldn’t believe how nonchalant he was. Here she was about to fall apart and it was almost as if he was trying to comfort her instead of the other way around.

  “Mommy, Charlie fell and hit his head, but he didn’t cry.” Travis proudly let his mother know how brave his little brother was. He was only a few minutes older than Charlie, but sometimes he acted as if they were years apart when his protective nature would appear.