by Janice Lynn
Much less been to a Christmas tree farm with someone like her.
That she found the place enchanting was evident in the way she hadn’t been able to sit still as they drove up the long drive. Trees of various shapes, sizes, and shades of green went on for as far as the eye could see on both sides of the truck.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” she asked as he parked in a marked-off area.
She had no idea. But that there weren’t more cars was a plus. Being around a lot of people wasn’t his thing. Maybe they could get in, find a tree, and get out.
“Wonderful.”
“Just wait. You’ll see.”
Bodie’s gaze cut to her. She was putting her hat, scarf, and gloves on. Once she was properly bundled, she turned and flashed a full wattage smile at him that had his own lips twitching. How did she do that?
Rather than opening the truck door, she dug around in the mini-suitcase she called a purse and pulled out lip balm. Popping the lid off, she rubbed it over her lips.
“You want some? Can’t have you chapping on my watch.”
Eyeing her, Bodie shook his head. “No shiny lips for me. Thanks anyway.”
She dropped the tube into her bag. “Ready?”
“As I’m going to be.”
Laughing, she climbed out of the truck, Harry jumping out with her, and motioned for Bodie to get a move on. “Come on. Someone may be buying my tree.”
“Wouldn’t that make it their tree?” He grabbed Harry’s leash and got out of the truck. He zipped up his jacket as he walked around to her side of the truck and hooked the leash to Harry’s collar.
“Bite your tongue,” she ordered, grabbing his hand and leading him and Harry toward a gated area where there were a variety of cut and live balled Christmas trees.
As with everything to do with Christmas and Sarah, there was nothing quick or easy about tree shopping with her.
They wandered around the farm as she inspected tree after tree. They all looked good to him. A tree was a tree was a tree, right?
Sarah had other ideas. None passed her inspection. She moved on from one tree to the next, taking them further and further away from the barn where most of the other visitors seemed to be enjoying the mini-shop/restaurant with a deli-style menu. There had only been a handful of tables with chairs, but they’d all been full when they’d peeped into the room to fill out a form and had been given a tag to put on the tree they wanted.
Sarah had been on a mission ever since. And it wasn’t going well.
“None of these are going to work.” Her forehead furrowed beneath the edge of her toboggan. “We’re going to have to go out in the field and find the right tree.”
Not surprised since she’d barely paused at any of the trees readily available, he asked, “Is there something I should be looking for to help you find the right Christmas tree?”
“We’ll know it when we see it.”
She meant she’d know it. They all looked the same to him. Still, she was right in that he was grateful to stretch his legs outdoors with Harry on a leash at his side.
“There,” she breathed, pointing to his right. Her tone was full of awed wonder, as if she’d just spotted something spectacular.
Bodie looked, but just saw more trees.
She ran up to one, made her way around it, then clasped her gloved hands together as she turned to look at him. “Isn’t it perfect?”
No, but Sarah was close.
The excitement on her pretty face was more enchanting than any tree could ever be.
Her long brown hair was tucked beneath her hat and the matching red scarf was wrapped around her neck and tucked beneath her thick white coat. Her eyes glowed as warmly as the hot cocoa she sometimes served him before he left for his hotel room each night. Her nose had turned pink from the cold December air and so had her cheeks.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. Her lips were pink and shiny from the lip balm she’d put on before they’d gotten out of the truck. He’d told her the truth. Shiny lips weren’t his thing.
Not on him. On Sarah? Shiny lips were downright kissable.
He looked up, met her gaze, and realized her attention was no longer on the tree, but on him, on how he was studying her.
The enchanting twinkle in her eyes from finding the tree was gone, replaced by something new, something foreign and exciting. Something alluring that beckoned him to move closer. He stepped nearer, his gaze dropping back to her shiny lips, before returning to her eyes.
Something tightened in his chest, making breathing difficult as he stared into her eyes, seeing things that could make a jaded man believe in Santa Claus and Christmas miracles.
Because Sarah made his chest flutter. Everything seemed possible—seemed magical—when she was near.
Her lips parted. To tell him he was crazy?
He was crazy. This was Sarah. Sweet, good Sarah.
Her eyes searched his, questioning, tempting.
He took a deep breath, the cold December air sticking in his throat.
“Bodie,” she said, her voice a huskier tone than usual, as if maybe she was struggling to get her breath, too.
Just as he was on the verge of giving in to the urge to touch his lips to Sarah’s, Harry barked and jerked against the leash in Bodie’s hand, pulling him back to reality and toward Sarah’s tree.
Whatever magic was swirling in Sarah’s eyes dissipated, and common sense returned.
What kind of Christmas spell had come over him to almost kiss Sarah? To convince him that she wanted him to kiss her?
“Harry, stop barking,” he ordered, surprised the dog was pulling against the short length of the leash. But the dog kept barking, getting louder and more persistent.
Bodie frowned. “Quiet, Harry. You’ll get us thrown out of a Christmas tree farm. I wouldn’t mind, but Sarah might not forgive us.”
Harry stopped barking, but he didn’t seem happy about it. Standing at attention next to Bodie, he gave a low growl toward the tree.
“Maybe there’s a squirrel in the tree,” Sarah suggested, moving to check around the tree.
The penny dropped when he spotted a flash of brightly colored hair. Bodie shook his head. “More like a butterfly.”
“A...oh,” Sarah exclaimed as a bright green bundle peeked around from the other side. “Rosie!”
A red-faced Sarah jumped back, almost bumping into Bodie. He reached out to steady her, but she shook off his hand.
“Imagine bumping into you two here!” the older woman said as she tucked a stray blue hair back under her olive-colored hat.
Harry gave a low yelp, reminding everyone that he’d known this person was there and that he’d tried to warn them.
Annoyed with himself that he’d been so caught up in Sarah that he’d not realized they were being watched by one of Sarah’s spying friends, Bodie stooped to pet his dog, glad for the chance to clear his head of the Christmas spirit that had him acting a fool.
“What are you doing here?” Sarah asked.
“Same as you, I imagine. Looking for a tree,” the woman, Rosie, said from deep wine-painted lips that stood out sharply in comparison to her neon green ski pants and pea-colored jacket.
“Mr. Lewis, too long no see.” She held out her gloved hand. The green of her gloves matched the deep olive of her scarf and hat, but that was all that matched about her ensemble. She was like fifty shades of green.
He straightened and took the woman’s green glove, meaning to give her hand a quick shake.
“Oh,” Rosie exclaimed as she grasped his bare hand and didn’t let go. “So big and strong.”
As delicately as it was possible to wrench your hand free from a very green older lady, Bodie pulled his hand from her gloved one.
The woman batted her eyelashes, looking overly impressed. “Have you noticed how big and
strong his hands are, Sarah?”
Sarah made a noise that went from sounding as if she were clearing her throat to an outright cough.
Bodie winced. An awkward situation was growing more and more awkward by the second. He’d had enough.
“Sarah must’ve been out here too long,” he told Rosie, injecting a lot of concern into his voice and keeping a tight hold on Harry’s leash as the dog still hadn’t decided if Rosie was friend or foe. “I’m going to find someone to let them know we want this tree so we can have it loaded onto the truck, and I can get Sarah back home before she catches a cold.”
“I saw that,” Rosie accused Sarah the moment Bodie walked away. The older woman did an excited little green shimmy as she gave her an I told you so look.
Still a bit dazed from what had almost happened—from what she’d wanted to happen—Sarah fought to keep from going after Bodie to demand answers.
What had it meant, that almost-kiss they’d almost shared? Anything? Had he gotten caught up in the magic of this place, or did he truly feel something for her?
“Saw what?” she asked Rosie, trying to keep her voice calm and casual, even though she knew the odds were against her. Especially when she turned to see Maybelle and Claudia had joined them.
“Phew!” Claudia seemed a bit breathless beneath the green floral scarf she had tied around her head. “I didn’t think we were ever going to find you.”
Maybelle elbowed Claudia, then smiled at Sarah as if their being there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Both women also wore multiple shades of green—all of them either ugly all on their own, or never meant to be matched together. Usually the women were decked out in full style and never dull, but today must be Ugly Green Outerwear While Tree Hunting Day. Sort of like an ugly Christmas sweater party. If so, the trio were shoo-ins for a three-way-tied win.
Claudia’s get-up was putrid green pants with old olive rainboots and an even older camouflage jacket. The scarf around her neck was a faded green knit number with lime polka dots that had seen better days. Maybelle wore tight lime green pants, green riding boots, a dressy green jacket that Sarah had seen her wear to church in the past, and a bright green scarf that she’d tied around her head. Apparently, she hadn’t had any green gloves as she had on black cloth ones that she’d pinned a green ribbon to.
She loved her friends but would admit they made her eyes hurt.
“Don’t go getting distracted by their nursing home camo, you know what I saw,” Rosie warned, drawing Sarah’s attention back to the grinning woman.
Sarah didn’t know. Had Rosie seen…what, exactly? Nothing had actually happened, even though for a moment she’d thought Bodie was going to kiss her.
Yet she hadn’t wanted him to kiss her. Not really. Had she?
Hadn’t she learned anything from her ex leaving her?
Besides, a kiss probably didn’t mean a thing to someone as worldly as Bodie. She shouldn’t read anything into something that hadn’t happened anyway. Bodie was no more destined to stick around in Pine Hill than Richard had been.
As much as she enjoyed Bodie being around, as much as she’d wanted to lean toward him moments before, she was grateful Rosie had shown up when she had. A kiss between her and Bodie would only further complicate things that already felt more than complicated enough.
“We lost sight of you,” Claudia said, still sounding breathy as she ignored Maybelle’s jab and Rosie’s description of their outfits, “and had to split up to cover more ground. You and that man sure can move fast when you’ve a mind to.”
Maybelle glared at her floral-scarfed friend.
“We were looking for a Christmas tree,” Sarah defended. “This tree.”
The perfect Christmas tree for Hamilton House’s Grand Opening.
Eyeing the three women, she narrowed her gaze. “Why are you here?”
“What most people do when they go to a Christmas tree farm?” Maybelle told her with her usual dryness.
How the woman could produce sass in so much mismatched green was beyond Sarah. Had they really believed they’d blend with the trees?
“See, I told you that’s why we were here,” Rosie added, still looking at Sarah with a smug smile. “But then we spotted you and needed to come talk to you.”
“I’ve talked to all three of you at different points this morning. Has something happened that you needed to talk to me right now?” She looked back and forth between them.
“Aren’t we allowed to spot a dear friend and want to say hello?” Maybelle tsked.
“Yeah,” Claudia agreed, rubbing her gloved hands over her camo jacket sleeves. “Didn’t you want us to come over to say hi?”
Even knowing it was a deliberate guilt trip couldn’t stop Sarah from automatically replying “Of course I wanted you to say hi.”
“Yet you practically ran away from us,” Claudia accused, still rubbing her hands back and forth over her jacket sleeves as if she were trying to warm herself.
“I didn’t run from you. It’s not like you said my name or tried to get my attention.”
“And we blended in so well with the environment that you couldn’t see us coming?” Maybelle asked drily, gesturing to the clothes that almost looked as if they would glow in the dark.
“I was looking for a tree and didn’t even know you were here,” Sarah reminded them, eyeing the cartoon turtle embroidered onto the backs of Claudia’s hands. Was she wearing one of her grandsons’ gloves?
“Because you were distracted?” Rosie practically danced with excitement as she regarded Sarah.
Flustered, Sarah blinked at the trio. “Of course I’m distracted. I’m working on getting Hamilton House ready to open, and next weekend is the On-the-Square Christmas Festival.” Plus, Bodie had almost kissed her. “There’s just a little bit going on that might have me distracted, don’t you think?”
“You’re distracted, all right, but not from any of those things.” Rosie giggled.
Sarah looked around to make sure Bodie hadn’t returned and wasn’t in hearing range. She couldn’t see him or Harry at all beyond the trees.
They had ventured out further into the field than she’d realized. And, although there were other shoppers, none were easily visible as far out as they were.
No wonder her friends were out of breath if they’d been trying to find them.
Because no matter what excuses they made, she knew that was exactly what they’d been doing—trying to find them. Trying to spy on them.
All that was missing was green paint smudged across their guilty, spying faces. But that did remind her—why were there only three of them? Was it possible the fourth was there too, just better hidden?
“Where’s Ruby?” she demanded. “Perhaps hot on Bodie’s trail?”
“What?” Claudia sounded offended as she raised her turtle gloves to her chest.
“Ruby is with Charlie this morning. They had other plans. As for us, we’re watching out for you,” Maybelle corrected, not looking one bit ashamed at having been called out. She even maintained her characteristic dignity in spite of her uncharacteristically mismatched outfit.
“Watching him for you,” Rosie revised. “Easy on the ol’ eyes, isn’t he, Sarah?”
Sarah’s cheeks probably matched her scarf, but she stood her ground. “I can’t believe you three came here to spy on Bodie and me—in all of that ugly green.”
Horrified at the thought of being a fashion miss, Rosie sucked in a loud, indignant breath. “We’re camouflaged, not in ugly green.”
“We needed to blend with the trees, so you wouldn’t spot us,” Claudia added, earning another scowl from Maybelle to which she mouthed, “What?”
“You and Bodie were so caught up in each other that you wouldn’t have spotted me, either, if that blasted dog hadn’t given me away when I came in to hear what was bein
g said,” Rosie pouted, not hiding her disappointment at having been caught.
Sarah closed her eyes, counted to ten forwards, then backwards. Lord, help her.
“I want you three out of here pronto,” she ordered them. She hated to send them away like they were misbehaving children, but she did not want them playing spy or Cupid, or whatever other trouble they came up with. “Go home and never ever wear those clothes together again.”
“What?” Claudia’s brow rose, disappearing beneath her green toboggan. “Since when have you ever wanted to get rid of us?”
“I’d say that’s obvious enough,” Rosie pointed out. “Since she started wanting to be alone with Bodie Lewis. And who can blame the girl?”
“I’d say it was more like since you started spying on me and Bodie.”
“Not on you,” Maybelle corrected, waving off her concerns in a wave of ugly greens. “You’re just an innocent bystander. It’s Bodie we’re keeping an eye on. Just in case.”
“I volunteered to do the job without backup, but they insisted,” Rosie informed her, seeming to think that if it had just been her then everything would have been fine, and Sarah wouldn’t have minded.
Sarah gave Maybelle an imploring look. “You’re the one who said he was squeaky clean. Just… just stop spying on him. Please.”
“Oh, all right,” the older woman gave in. “Girls, let’s go get coffee and warm up. We’ll look for our tree later and leave the lovebirds to themselves.”
“We’re not lovebirds,” Sarah insisted as the older women walked away.
They weren’t.
And, despite that almost-kiss, she and Brody weren’t going to be, either.
Chapter Eight
While their tree was being dug up, Sarah and Bodie had gone to Mrs. Harvey’s café to get a late lunch.
“Okay, I’ll admit it,” Bodie said. “You were right.”
“About?” Taking a sip of her hot cocoa, Sarah glanced at him from across the small wooden table where they sat.
“This.” He gestured to the renovated barn with its country store and deli. The owners had even had a fireplace built complete with a large stone hearth, and a braided rug and rocking chairs in front of it.
