Cozy Hometown Christmas, page 3
Her gaze slid out the window to the overly decorated porch across the street. Managing the tree farm had always been hard work, but now she was up against the new Tinseltown store with its fake trees and a potential problem with their own trees to boot. Even though Ethan had brushed it off as a minor issue, Kristen had sensed that he was more worried than he let on.
She couldn’t let those things get her down though. She’d just have to work extra hard to ensure their success. She didn’t have much of a choice. Everyone was counting on her.
Chapter 5
Irene Sanders’s office was the typical no-frills small-town office… except for all the plants. Spider plants hung from the ceiling, Swedish ivy trailed over the bookcase, and several philodendron dotted the tops of the five metal file cabinets that ran along the wall beside the windows overlooking the snowy town common.
The same old, dark wooden desk and Naugahyde chair had been in the office for decades, much like Irene herself.
“Kristen! I heard you were back in town. How nice!” Irene was in her early sixties, a pleasant-looking woman in a crisp blue blouse and tan slacks. Her shoulder-length gray hair was clipped back, and a navy jacket hung over the back of her chair. “How can I help you?”
Kristen took a breath. “As you know, my dad took part in all the Christmas festivities to help promote the tree farm.”
Irene’s eyes misted with sadness. “Yes, we will miss him. He was always so cheerful and helpful. He did so much for the town, I don’t know how we’ll fill his shoes.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Kristen said. “I’m taking over where my father left off.”
Irene frowned. “Taking over?”
“Yes. I’m moving back to town to run the tree farm, and I’m going to do all the things my dad used to do. All the town events as well as decorating the skating pond. That’s actually why I dropped in to see you. I know he decorated the pond every year, but I’m not sure of the specifics. I found his old plans at home, and I was wondering when I should start. I know the skating party is not that far away.”
“Oh. Umm. I had no idea you were planning on doing that. No one did it last year, and I just assumed we needed to do something else, so when another party expressed interest…” Irene fidgeted in her chair, pressing her lips together. “I know. We’ll have a contest.”
“A contest?” What in the world was she talking about?
Irene nodded, the idea appearing to grow on her. “Yes. You see, I didn’t know that anyone from the Woodward Farm would be decorating it, and as you know, the skating party is very important to the town. Brings in a lot of tourists.”
“Yes, I know. And it’s a fun event.” Kristen was trying to seem bubbly and upbeat, but she had a bad feeling.
“Right. So when this other party expressed interest, naturally, I thought it would be a great idea to meet them and hear them out. But now that you are interested too, the only fair way is to have a contest.”
Kristen wasn’t too sure she liked that idea. Who was this other party? And what would this contest consist of? But before she could open her mouth to ask, a knock sounded on the door.
Irene glanced at her watch. “That must be him now. Come in!”
The door opened, and a man poked his head in. He was about Kristen’s age and tall with broad shoulders. He was not too bad looking, either, with a strong jaw and wide-set gray eyes. He seemed kind of familiar. Maybe he was someone she had gone to grade school with who had moved away before high school?
“Am I interrupting?” the man asked.
“Not at all.” Irene stood, motioning him in. “Have you two met? You must have by now; you’re neighbors.”
Neighbors? Kristen’s heart dropped. It was the guy from across the street! He was the other party that wanted to decorate the skating pond? Visions of horrible artificial trees strewn about in the beautiful area near the pond flooded her brain. Oh, no, her father would not have liked that at all.
“Hi. I’m Mason Hale.” His smile was charming, but Kristen was not to be fooled. He held out his hand, leaving her no choice but to take it.
She plastered a smile on her own face and gave him the firmest handshake she could. She didn’t want to show weakness to the enemy.
“I’m Kristen Woodward. Nice to meet you.” Not really, not when he owned a store that competed with her family’s business, and certainly not when he wanted to take away her opportunity to decorate the biggest holiday event in Pinecone Falls. An event that her family had been in charge of decorating for as long as she could remember.
Irene shoved aside the branches dangling from a spider plant and pulled a molded plastic chair over beside the one that had been in front of her desk. She gestured for them both to sit. “Have a seat, and we’ll talk about the contest.”
Kristen eyed Mason warily. Images of his decorated porch bubbled up, and she pictured how that would translate to the skating pond. As her brain conjured up images of what his design might look like, she felt much better. Irene wouldn’t want a lot of fake wreaths and trees around the pond, and Kristen had years of plans from her father. Mason probably had no idea how to even decorate a skating pond. It wasn’t exactly a skill one learned anywhere else.
She settled back in her seat, feeling much better. This contest was going to be no problem. All she needed to do was put together the best of the best from her father’s designs, and she would beat Mason easily.
Mason hadn’t expected someone else to be in Irene Sanders’s office. When he’d talked to her on the phone, she hadn’t mentioned anything about a discussion. In fact, he’d gotten the impression that decorating the pond was wide open. He glanced at Kristen and wondered if she and Irene were up to something. He couldn’t imagine what that could be, but he’d encountered all types of obstacles in his job, and he could handle whatever these two intended to throw at him.
“You live at the Christmas tree farm?” Mason had heard the owner had died two years ago, and it was just the widow and her son. So who was this? The son’s girlfriend, maybe.
Whoever she was, she was cute with her long, wavy chestnut hair and sky-blue eyes. But what was with the stiff smile and handshake that felt like she wanted to break his hand? For a tiny woman, she had a strong grip. He’d be smart not to underestimate her.
“I grew up there, then I moved away, but now I’m back.”
Not the son’s girlfriend, the daughter.
Mason sensed a challenge in her tone. But why? He glanced at Irene. Then it hit him. His appointment with Irene was to talk about the skating pond. He’d been puzzled when Irene had invited them both to sit. Hadn’t his father said the people that owned the tree farm usually decorated the skating pond?
Well now, this was awkward. He got the impression that his offer to decorate the skating pond wasn’t entirely welcome by Kristen. And if her family had decorated it for years, maybe he should bow out.
But his father was so happy now that he had the new store. The extra advertising from decorating the skating pond would really help him get up and running, and it was a perfect venue to show off their stock. He couldn’t let his father down.
“I was just talking to Kristen about decorating the skating pond,” Irene said. “And since you expressed interest too, I thought it might be fun to have a contest.”
Mason was about to protest, to tell her that Kristen should carry on her father’s tradition. But then he glanced over at her. She was looking at him, her chin tilted up, eyes slightly narrowed. She didn’t look as welcoming as she had when they shook hands. Now she looked defiant, with a gleam of challenge in her eyes. If there was one thing Mason couldn’t back down from, it was a challenge.
“Okay.” Mason looked directly at Kristen, letting her know that he wasn’t intimidated.
“Sounds good,” Kristen said.
Irene looked pleased. “Great. But as you know, we don’t have a lot of time. This skating event is in less than a week in order to gear up tourist interest for the holiday season, so I’m going to need those plans in five days.”
Five days? Mason was used to working with tight deadlines, but skating-pond decorating wasn’t anything he’d ever done before.
“Okay then, sounds like a plan.” Kristen pushed up from her chair and headed to the door without even a backward glance at him. “See you in five days.”
Mason said good-bye to Irene and left. Kristen seemed confident that she’d win. She had the benefit of her family’s years of experience decorating the pond. But Mason had experience too. He had beaten plenty of competitors in his job. All he had to do was come up with a great design in five days. No problem. Hopefully, Kristen Woodward living across the street from him wouldn’t prove to be too much of a distraction.
Chapter 6
Kristen headed straight to the Pinecone Falls Café from Irene’s office. Truth be told, she was a little miffed that Irene was making this into a decorating contest. Her family had been doing it for decades, and all of a sudden, some newcomer got to horn in? She could tell that Mason had wanted to strike up a conversation as she left, but she’d hurried out of there as quickly as possible. He was the last person she wanted to get friendly with.
Not that she was worried. She’d win the contest, of course. She had to. Getting the gig to decorate the skating pond was a big deal because of the advertising. Her dad had always said that the billboard crediting them with the decorating had brought a lot of out-of-towners to the tree farm. Those vacationing in town for the festivities brought home wreaths and small trees, and they’d even secured several repeat customers from neighboring towns who had discovered how nice their trees were and came back year after year.
The Pinecone Falls Café hadn’t changed in as long as she could remember. Though she hadn’t lived in town in a long time, she still came to the café when she came home to visit. The smells of comfort foods and coffee calmed her as soon as she walked in. She stood just inside the door for a second, taking in the familiar sights and sounds.
Ivy waved from a booth in the back. Kristen navigated past the round tables up front to join her and Julie. She barely recognized Julie, since she hadn’t seen her since high school. The two women stood up, and the three of them hugged.
“Julie! I can’t believe you moved back to town too. How are things going?” Kristen hung her winter jacket on the back of her chair and sat.
“No one was more surprised than me when that happened.” Julie laughed. “I came back to help Gram have one more Christmas Eve party at the old inn and never left. I heard you recently moved back yourself.”
Kristen tried to keep her smile from slipping. She was truly happy to be back in town but hated explaining about the big breakup and losing her job because she had been engaged to her boss. Luckily, Ivy and Julie were polite enough not to ask why she’d moved back.
“Looks like you’ll both be running your family businesses,” Ivy said. “And I couldn’t be happier to have you both back in town.”
“Aww, thanks!” Kristen felt all warm and fuzzy inside, further proof that moving back had been the right move. She was exactly where she should be, and everything was working out perfectly. Well, except for the skating-pond problem. And the tree problem. But she didn’t want to ruin her lunch by thinking about problems. She turned to Julie. “How do you like running the inn?”
“I love it! My other job was so stressful, and this is nice. Gram is thriving. She’s started a knitting club in the big living room at the inn. Coming home was a good move.” Julie was practically glowing.
“It doesn’t hurt that she’s dating Nolan Miller,” Ivy said.
That explained the glow. Kristen remembered Nolan from when they were kids. He had been cute then, and though she hadn’t run into him on any of her visits home, he was probably just as good-looking now. “Doesn’t his family own that big old lodge?”
Julie nodded. “Barrington Lodge.”
“So how does that work out, since you guys are sort of in competition?”
Julie laughed. “It’s actually perfect. We work together now to make sure every guest gets the perfect experience. Some like the inn; some like the lodge. Works out pretty well. So what about you? Ivy mentioned that you’re going to be running the Christmas tree farm.”
Kristen told them how she was taking over her dad’s duties running the tree farm, attending the events, and decorating the skating pond. “Have you seen the new store in town with the artificial wreaths and trees?”
Ivy wrinkled her nose. “Tinseltown? Yeah, but don’t worry. We only have a live tree.”
“Us too,” Julie said.
“Well, looks like I’m going to be in competition with someone, just like you.” Kristen glanced at Julie. “Except I doubt it’s going to turn out as friendly as yours did.”
“What do you mean?” Ivy asked.
“It turns out we aren’t the only ones who want to decorate the skating pond this year. The Tinseltown people also want a chance. So Irene decided a competition was in order.”
Ivy’s left brow quirked up. “Competitors? Kind of like Julie and Nolan. Maybe you’ll start a romance with Mason.”
Kristen snorted. “Doubtful. Do you know him?”
“A little. Malcolm has worked with Mason before when ordering supplies for the farm.” Ivy’s husband, Malcolm, worked on a large farm in the next town.
“He has? Why would the farm need fake Christmas items?” Kristen wondered.
“Oh! Mason doesn’t work at the store. At least he didn’t used to. He’s a sales guy for the big fertilizer company they use at the farm.”
So Mason wasn’t even part owner of the store? That made things even worse. Or maybe it made them better. He was likely just passing the time by helping his father out, so maybe his heart wouldn’t be in the project.
“He doesn’t live here, does he? I don’t think I’ve met him.” Julie looked up from her perusal of the menu.
“Nope. Lives away from here but is helping his father get set up. He’s not a bad guy. Kind of cute.” Ivy’s gaze returned to Kristen.
“He seemed average to me.” Kristen pretended to study the menu. She didn’t want to admit that Mason was attractive. He was her competitor, and it might not be wise to get too friendly. Besides, she’d just gone through a big breakup and wasn’t really ready to get involved with anyone, and the fact that he didn’t even live in town sealed the deal.
Lucy, the café owner, came over, and they ordered. Kristen got her favorite: grilled cheese. No other restaurant made it as well as the Pinecone Falls cafe.
As they settled in with their meals, discussing town gossip and what they’d been doing in the past years, Kristen felt right at home. Everything was going to be great from here on out, she assured herself as she pushed away the gnawing worry about issues with trees and skating-pond competitors.
Chapter 7
Dorothy set the wreath on the nail sticking out of the middle of their front door. Charlie had put that nail in decades ago. Last year, that thought would have started a flood of tears, but now, it made her smile. She was making progress, and that was a good thing.
The wreath was one of the most gorgeous they had for sale at the farm. Luckily, the smaller pines were pretty healthy, and Ethan had made up dozens of wreaths, which were selling well. This one was adorned with gold-trimmed red velvet ribbon and clusters of small gold and red ornaments.
She ran her fingers along the needles just to make sure none of them fell out too easily. They didn’t. But while the smaller trees were doing well, the balsam firs, their most popular for Christmas, were suffering.
Dorothy sighed. If Charlie were here, he’d have known exactly what to do. It was all up to Ethan now, and she had the utmost faith that he would figure it out. They still had a bit of time before the rush for trees would start.
She stood back, breathing in the crisp, cold air mingled with the scent of pine from the wreath, which looked good on her red door. A simple white spotlight on the door would be perfect. Maybe some candles in the windows. That would be elegant, not overdone like the house across the street. Earlier in the day, the man who lived there had put up more garland and a fake tree!
He hadn’t decorated the tree yet, so the artificial green of its branches stood out like a fly on a Christmas cookie. In Dorothy’s opinion, it looked horrible.
“What do you think, George?” She glanced down at the cat, who was sitting at her feet, staring up at the wreath.
“Meow.” George glanced over at the house across the street. Then he looked back at the wreath then up at Dorothy.
Suddenly, he sprang off the porch and started running toward the other house.
“Oh, no, no, no, no.” Dorothy ran down the steps and scooped him up. The road wasn’t busy, so she wasn’t worried about traffic, but she didn’t want George wandering over into the neighbors’ yard. Perhaps she would have to keep him inside.
She cuddled George in her arms as she looked back and forth between the two porches. Come to think of it, hers did look a bit bare compared to the one across the street. She wouldn’t do anything as garish as that, but a few more decorations wouldn’t hurt. She didn’t want his house to get all the attention. Maybe some nice twinkle lights and garland—made out of fresh evergreen boughs, of course. Perhaps she could put at least one tree out… once the problem with the trees was solved.
Kristen’s car coming down the road caught her attention, and Dorothy waited in their driveway, holding George.
“How was your lunch with the girls?” Dorothy was more than delighted that Kristen was already reconnecting with her childhood friends. It was one more thing that would keep her in town.
“Wonderful. Did you know that Julie is running the Cozy Holly Inn?” Kristen petted George on the head, and they started up the walkway to the door.
