Cozy Hometown Christmas, page 2
The quaint downtown area of Pinecone Falls was always a riot of Christmas decorations once the season arrived, and there were even several events in which business owners competed to make even more Christmas decor they could display around town. It was always in good fun, and in the end, the mishmash of decorations looked charming and homey, authentic rather than artificial.
“I didn’t notice Tinseltown.” Kristen opened and closed several cupboards in succession, looking for the storage containers. She’d been away too long to remember where her mom put everything. “How’s…” Business didn’t seem like the right word. The Woodward Christmas Tree Farm was more than a business. It was a community pillar. It was the foundation of her family’s life. She cleared her throat and tried again. “How’s the farm doing?”
“Fine. Really fine.”
Kristen frowned. Her mother’s tone didn’t sound fine. There was definitely something going on, but by the way her mother said it, she knew now was not the time to ask. Hopefully, her mom was just finding it challenging to try to run the business without her father. She wouldn’t have to worry about that now that Kristen was here.
She found a container that would hold at least some of the cookies and pulled it out from the stack. When she turned, she found her mom staring out the window, a wrinkle in the middle of her forehead. She opened her mouth to say something comforting, but what fell out instead was “We should decorate the porch.”
Dorothy turned away from the window, frowning. “What?”
“We should decorate the porch. Show that we can still compete with…that.” She gestured vaguely across the street, toward the other house.
Only now, it wasn’t only the older man out on the porch. He was speaking to a second man, one much younger. From this distance, it was hard to make out any detail other than the fact that the newcomer was tall and lean.
“Who’s that?”
This time, her mother smirked. “Mr. Hale’s son. He’s your age.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe you should consider going over to say hi and find out if he’s cute.”
“Very funny.” Kristen looked at her mom, and they both cracked up laughing. Kristen’s spirits lifted. Her mom wasn’t worried enough not to try to turn the tables on her. That was a good thing.
She’d almost managed to catch her breath when her brother strolled into the kitchen with a scowl on his face. He filched a cookie on his way to the window to join them.
Dorothy protested, “Not those. We were going to add icing to those. They’re plain.”
“S’good like this,” he said through a mouthful of cookie. He nodded at Kristen as he stepped alongside her and gave her a half hug.
This was her welcome home. It was a good thing she hadn’t expected much from him. Ethan had once been less reserved with his emotions but not by much. The death of his wife had closed him off entirely.
“You look good,” Kristen said. Her way of trying to get him to open up.
Ethan grunted. He still wore his winter jacket, a quilted green coat that was opened to reveal the checkered shirt he wore beneath. He needed a shave and a haircut, but overall, he seemed in good health. Judging from their scattered emails to one another preceding her move home, he was doing well. Maybe not great, but at least well.
George stretched and, leaving his catnip toy behind on the windowsill, reached out to try to catch a string hanging from Ethan’s coat. Ethan glowered and stepped away. “What is that?”
Dorothy scooped up the cat and cuddled him close. “That is your new brother, and he has a name. It’s George.”
Ethan glanced at Kristen as if to question whether their mother had gone nuts.
Kristen shrugged. “Mom was just telling me about that new Christmas store in town. What do you think of it?”
Ethan gave one last frown in George’s direction and took another cookie. “Haven’t been inside it.”
“Well, of course not, but you must know what the community response is to it. Do you think people are warming to it, or will it flop this season?” How will it affect our business? Business was what Ethan was always most inclined to talk about. His entire life had become about the tree farm, much the way their dad’s had been.
Had it been the business that had put the strain on her dad’s heart? Should she be worried about Ethan too? Maybe she should just keep her big mouth shut.
Not that her brother seemed inclined to speak much at all. She could have been shouting at a brick wall for all the change she got in his expression. In answer, he shrugged and turned away. “Don’t know.” He stole another cookie from the rack, this time one of the frosted ones.
When Dorothy stepped closer, George squirming in her arms, Ethan held out a hand. “You can keep that over there.”
“You used to love cats when you were a kid,” she said.
He only grunted in response and bit into the cookie.
Kristen decided to change the subject. “So what’s going on in town? Have things changed much? I know I come back for the holidays every year, but now that I’ll be living here, I was wondering what the opportunities for socializing are.”
In the city, there was always a new restaurant or bar to go to, but Kristen knew there wouldn’t be much of that in Pinecone Falls. She was actually looking forward less to partying and more to reconnecting with her old friends. She made a mental note to call Ivy and let her know that she had arrived. She’d gone to school with Ivy, and they’d remained in touch all these years, always taking time to catch up whenever Kristen visited her family. Another friend, Julie, had just returned to live in town, so hopefully, Kristen would find plenty to do when she wasn’t busy with the tree farm.
Her brother shrugged. “I don’t leave the farm much. You know I like trees better than people.”
In a soft voice, Dorothy asked, “How are the trees looking?”
Kristen whirled around to face her mother. Why was she asking it like that? There was only one reason: something was wrong with the trees. The trees that were the central core of their business. She’d suspected something was wrong with the farm from her mother’s cagey response earlier, and now this confirmed it.
Ethan sighed and finished the cookie before he answered. “Good. We have another couple of weeks before Christmas.”
“What’s going on? Is something wrong with the trees?” Kristen asked.
“It’s nothing.” Her mother shoved another cookie at Ethan. “Just the usual.”
Kristen didn’t think it was nothing, but she also knew by her mother’s tone that she wasn’t going to get any more information. She’d have to wheedle it out of her over time. “Anything I can do to help?”
“No,” Ethan said, turning away. “I’ve got the trees. You handle the rest.”
Why did Kristen suddenly feel as if she had bitten off more than she could chew?
Chapter 3
“Do you think maybe you’re overdoing it a little bit?” Mason asked as he watched his father drape a layer of gold garland over the silver garland he’d just wrapped around the porch poles.
Kent turned to him, looking surprised. “What do you mean? We need to show our wares. Walk the walk. Show people that we’re using our own products. That’s important for business.”
Mason bit his bottom lip. He agreed with what his father was saying, but he thought maybe his father was attacking the problem a little too eagerly. He didn’t want to say any more, though, because this was the first time he’d seen his father excited about anything since his mother had left him for her yoga instructor several years ago. It was good to see his father getting back on his feet.
His father had always been ambitious and had started several business ventures over his lifetime. He had once worked as a salesman, and Mason had followed in his footsteps, becoming one of the top sales and marketing people for a giant fertilizer corporation.
Kent came down from the ladder and stood back to admire his handiwork. “I think that looks good. You know, I carry twelve colors of garland in the store. Maybe I should add some more colors. People have asked for yellow and light blue too.”
“I think maybe twelve colors is enough.” Mason watched his father pull another sparkly garland out of the bag. This one was magenta. “Maybe you could do the magenta down by the mailbox post.”
“Good idea,” Kent said. “Though no one drives down this road too much. Still, it’s important for us to get in the spirit. Especially in a small town.”
“I’ll bet. Seems like you’re settling in pretty well. Do you really like it here?” Mason asked. They’d always lived in more urban towns, but his dad had chosen to settle in Pinecone Falls because it was the quintessential Christmas town, which was perfect for his new business.
“It’s great.” Kent set the garland aside and picked up the hammer to bang a nail into the trim on top of the porch, this time to hang an oversized Christmas ornament. “Small-town life is a slower pace. I need that.” Kent turned his steely blue eyes on Mason. Sometimes, those eyes could be cold, but right now, they radiated only love and kindness. “Might not be a bad idea for you to think about settling down here too, you know. You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you want. All that travel gets to a man after a while. Aren’t you ready to settle down?”
Mason wasn’t ready to settle down. He thrived on the fast-paced life of traveling and sales. Okay, maybe the last year had been a little hard. The constant travel wasn’t as exciting, and the long hours had been taking their toll on him. And his boss had become more demanding.
Mason headed up the trade show division at Hardy Fertilizer, and his job consisted of going to trade shows and setting up booths in which they could show off their product to potential clients as well as other businesses. The problem was that lately, his boss had been asking him to make discreet observations about any weaknesses in their competitors’ products and strategies. He’d even suggested that maybe Mason could do a little spying. Mason was all for making a superior product, but he drew the line at spying. Spying just wasn’t fair.
Right now, Mason was on vacation. Helping his dad get settled in his new house and set up the store was a good break from his job, and hopefully, he would be ready to hit the trade show circuit again after the holiday. After all, he couldn’t stay in this small town for too long, or he’d probably go stir crazy. But Mason wanted to be sure his dad’s business was all set up before he left. Which reminded him, they had plenty of business to talk about.
“What other marketing things have you got going on besides decorating your house?” Mason asked.
“Well, this business is a little different than my motor parts businesses, and I guess I’m going to have to get involved in some town activities.” Kent gestured for Mason to hand him an ornament from a pile on the chair.
Mason picked one shaped like a snowflake.
“Town activities?” He tried not to laugh. His dad wasn’t exactly the town activity type.
“Yeah, they’ve got things like wreath building and tree lighting, but the biggest thing is this skating party. Lots of people come from all over, and one business gets to decorate the skating pond. It’s usually that Christmas tree farm across the street.” Kent tilted his head toward the road.
Mason glanced over. He’d noticed the big old house but hadn’t realized it had a Christmas tree farm.
“That’s a Christmas tree farm?” Mason craned his neck to see around the house.
“Yep. They have acres of trees back there.”
“Huh. Kinda weird that you bought the house across from a Christmas tree farm when you sell artificial trees,” Mason said.
Kent chuckled. “I guess. But I sell my trees in the store, and they sell theirs from the farm.” He held his hand out for another ornament, and Mason handed it to him. “Anyway, I guess I need to go down to the town hall and find out more. I have a meeting to talk to this Irene Sanders lady about the skating pond. I’d like to try my hand at decorating it. Plus the fact that you get to put up a big sign advertising your business doesn’t hurt.”
Mason frowned. “But if the Christmas tree farm usually does it, won’t that cause a conflict?”
Ken shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard some folks at the diner say they were looking for someone to decorate it. Maybe the tree farm doesn’t want to do it this year.”
Mason handed his dad another ornament. “Hey, while I’m in town, maybe I could help you make some of these connections. You know, be the face of the company? It’s what I do all day, and I’m pretty good at it.” Not to mention that sometimes his dad’s gruff demeanor could work against him.
Kent looked relieved. “Would you? That would be a huge help.”
“No problem. Consider it done. Just let me know what time you’re meeting this lady, and I’m sure I can schmooze her into giving us an opportunity to decorate the skating pond.”
Chapter 4
Kristen had a cozy night with her mom. They enjoyed some wine and conversation around the dinner table before relaxing in front of the fire in the den while discussing plans for the tree farm.
Once her mother went to bed, Kristen went to her own room and unpacked her clothes. It felt strange setting up in her old room again, but her mother had rearranged things and put out some of the items Kristen had sent ahead. Not everything though, which was good, because it meant that her mother understood that Kristen would only be living in the house until she could get settled and find her own place and that she wasn’t trying to push her to live in the old farmhouse forever. Dorothy had said she just wanted her to feel at home as an adult and not like she was in high school again, so she’d put a few things in the room and had Ethan store the rest in the barn.
The day had been exhausting, and Kristen had slept like a log, awakening to find a fresh dusting of snow outside her window and someone staring at her inside: George.
The smell of bacon and coffee wafted up. Kristen got dressed quickly and padded down the stairs in her thick wool socks. George beat her down, and he was sitting on the floor at her mother’s feet, watching her cook.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” her mother said. “I thought you might like a big breakfast this morning.”
Kristen’s stomach grumbled, and she realized she was starving. “Thanks, Mom,” she said, kissing her cheek. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“Nonsense,” her mother said. “I wanted to spoil you now that you’re home for Christmas.”
Kristen filled her mug with coffee and sat down with a sigh of contentment. Her gaze drifted across the street, and her eyes narrowed. Had the neighbors put up even more decorations on their porch? It was looking a bit overdone.
“Eggs over easy?” her mother asked.
“Yes, please,” Kristen said, her mind still on the decorations. It was beginning to look like Santa’s workshop had exploded on their front lawn. Surely they weren’t going to try to outdo her family this year. The Christmas decorating competition was a tradition in their small town and one that she took very seriously.
“So,” her mother said, sliding a plate of bacon, eggs, toast, and pancakes in front of her. If her mother kept feeding her like this, she’d gain twenty pounds by New Year’s. “What are your plans for today?”
Kristen dipped the corner of a piece of toast in the egg yolk. “I called Ivy last night, and I’m meeting her and Julie Green for lunch. Julie just moved back to town too.”
“I know. I’m glad you’ll have some friends to catch up with,” her mother said, drenching the pancakes on her own plate in maple syrup. She’d already frosted them in butter. Kristen wondered, not for the first time, where her mother put all those calories. The woman ate like a lumberjack but still remained thin.
Kristen took a bite of bacon and nodded. “Yeah, me too.” It would be good to see her friends and start to feel like she belonged here again.
George hopped up on the hutch, looking as if he was going to try to smash more knickknacks.
Dorothy jumped up from her chair. “Oh no, you don’t.” She picked the cat up and deposited him on the floor.
“Meow!” George glared up at her then trotted off down the hall.
“What’s that on the hutch?” Kristen used her fork to point toward a pile of notebooks and day planners.
“I dug out your father’s planning books for all the Christmas events. Figured it might help you out.”
“It will.” Kristen grabbed them and brought them back to her place at the table. “I didn’t realize he kept such good notes.”
“He did.” Her mother watched her with a sad smile. “That’s how he was. Organized and neat.”
Kristen nodded and swallowed a bite of toast. It still hurt to think about her father and all the Christmases they’d had together. But looking through the books actually helped her to feel closer to him and to carry on his traditions.
“There’s pictures too.” Her mom flipped open a notebook with some photos pasted inside. “This is one of the gingerbread house contests.”
“Oh, and here are some drawings for the skating pond.” Kristen’s father had decorated the pond every year. She remembered him poring over designs. Each year, he’d done something different. Last year, no one had done it, and the skating-pond events had been pretty drab. “I guess I’d better talk to Irene Sanders to let her know we’ll do it this year.” Irene was the head of the Christmas planning committee.
“That’s a good idea. I think you can get the schedule of events from her too. I know you just got here and won’t have much time to settle in, but it’s important for the Woodward Tree Farm to participate in the town events.”
“I know, Mom. That’s why I came. I like to be busy anyway. And don’t worry. I’ll make Dad proud.”
Her mother squeezed her hand. “I know you will, sweetie. Now eat up before your food gets cold.”
Kristen dug in, flipping through the book as she ate. Running the tree farm was different than managing a department like she had before, but she could apply some of the same management techniques even if she was the only one on the team.
