Cozy Hometown Christmas, page 4
“I heard about Julie. I think Ida is pretty happy about that.”
“She came back to town to just like me. Might be an epidemic.” Kristen noticed the wreath on the door. “That looks great. Are you going to put up more decorations?”
“Well, I noticed that they have a lot more across the street.” Dorothy nodded in the direction of the excessively decorated porch. “And I was thinking we might want to do a little extra decorating this year. You know, keep up with the Joneses.”
Kristen’s brows drew together. “That’s a good idea. I just got back from the town hall, and Irene deemed that there would be a contest for decorating the skating pond.”
Dorothy’s heart jolted. They always decorated the pond. Charlie had said it was one of his best forms of advertising. She should have done it herself last year, but she had been too deep in her grief to even consider it. “A contest?”
“Yeah.” Kristen gestured toward the house. “Apparently, your neighbor wants to decorate the pond too.”
“With fake trees?” Dorothy almost shuddered at the thought of ugly bright-green plastic trees like the one on the porch.
“Yeah, but don’t worry. I’ve got this. I’m going to look through Dad’s old plans, and I will submit the absolute best of his ideas for the pond. We’ll win.” Kristen’s eyes slid over to the other porch and then back again. “I mean, provided we’re going to have trees to decorate with.”
Dorothy squeezed George so tight he meowed. “What do you mean?”
“Mom, I’m not naive. I heard you and Ethan skirting around some issue last night…” Kristen let her voice trail off.
“Oh, that’s nothing, like I said. Just a little problem with the trees. They probably just need some extra water or something. Ethan will fix it, just like your father always did.” Dorothy opened the front door. “Why don’t we go inside and have some cookies? You can tell me all about your lunch with the girls. How is Ida getting on at the Cozy Holly Inn, anyway?”
“Wonderfully. Julie said Ida is thriving. Did you know she started a knitting club in the living room at the inn? It’s for locals and guests. Apparently, they get a lot of knitters staying there.”
Dorothy put George down gently in the hall, and he ran off, probably to see what trouble he could get into in the kitchen. “A knitting club? I always wanted to start knitting. Maybe I’ll check it out.”
Chapter 8
Kristen settled in the living room with a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of chocolate-chip cookies to look over her father's old skating-pond plans. The cookies were her favorite of all those her mother made because she still made them with Crisco instead of butter. Her mom was busy making dinner in the kitchen. Ethan had grabbed a quick sandwich and was gathering evergreen boughs to bring to the town hall for the wreath-making contest tomorrow, which Kristen would attend. It would be her first official event as a representative of Woodward Christmas Tree Farm.
Apparently, George liked the idea of looking over plans more than bothering her mom's cooking endeavors. He proceeded to hop up onto the coffee table and bat at the curling edges of the plans Kristen had unrolled.
"Hey, don't rip it. My dad put a lot of work into these." She remembered her dad bending over the plans and measuring everything precisely. He'd said it was important for things to be the right distance apart so that they were aesthetically pleasing. Looking at the notes penciled in the margins in his unmistakable neat handwriting made her want to cry.
Instead, she took a deep breath. She couldn't let her mother see her break down. Her mom was doing well after months of grieving her father, and she didn’t want her to go backward.
Kristen was proud of the way her mother was moving forward. She’d sounded excited about the knitting club. Hopefully, she would join. It was time she got out and did things for herself. But that wouldn't be possible if she had to worry about the Christmas tree farm, so Kristen decided it was time to get started.
"I better get to work, George." She shooed the cat away from the mug of hot chocolate that he’d been sniffing. "I don't think that's good for cats."
She took out some long graph paper, her dad's old long ruler, and some pencils and markers. She sketched in the shape of the skating pond and the grounds around it. The area around the skating pond had stately oaks and maples but no pine trees. The branches of the oaks and maples were bare at this time of year, and her dad had always strung lights on them and then brought in his own evergreen trees from the Christmas tree farm to decorate. One year, he had built snowmen; another year, he had strung mistletoe between the trees.
The town set up cute little food huts that looked like log cabins, and people sold apple cider, hot chocolate, fried dough, and pretzels. Newer additions in the last few years included several firepits with chairs around them.
She’d do something similar but with a fresh spin. She wanted to show off their trees, their wreaths, their evergreen garlands. But thinking of the trees brought back the worry. Though her mother kept acting as if it was nothing, Kristen didn't think so. And with her dad gone, would Ethan know what to do? He'd only worked with their father for a couple years, and he’d been so distracted ever since his wife died. But Ethan was a good guy. He wanted the farm to succeed, so she would have to believe that he could figure it out.
Okay, focus on the skating pond. Thumbing through the plans, she could visualize each of the designs her father had done. Some years, he'd gone with tons of lights, other years a vast array of colors. One year, he had crammed as many trees as he could into the area.
One thing he’d never done, though, was to go with one color. Monochromatic designs were popular in the city where she’d lived.
Movement outside the window caught her eye, and she looked out to see Mason getting into his car across the street. Glancing at her watch, she could see it was just suppertime. Was he heading out to party for the night instead of staying and working on the pond design all night like she planned to do? Good. All the better the chance for her to come up with the winning design.
Chapter 9
Mason could see why his father had chosen to open Tinseltown in Pinecone Falls. The town was like a Christmas card. Quaint shops, all decorated with lights and garland, stood in a row, their awnings catching the light snow that had started to fall.
Window boxes were stuffed full of evergreen branches and holly, the dusting of snow highlighting the vibrant red berries. Old-fashioned street lights highlighted the glittery flakes as they drifted down. It had a cozy, warm feel like a mug of hot cocoa by the fire. The small-town vibe was definitely different from the city, and Mason was surprised to discover he actually liked it.
Mason could hear the pride and excitement in his father’s voice as he led him around the shop, showing him the inventory, the cash register area, and the storage in back.
He didn’t want to burst his father’s bubble, but the way he had it organized was a mess. If Mason’s sales job had taught him anything, it was how to set up a sales space to get the most out of it.
“Dad, I think we can do better with the way this is set up,” he ventured.
“Huh?” His father looked around the store. Clearly, he had no clue that there might be a better way.
“Let me show you what I mean.” Mason pointed to the rows of shelving. “See how this looks more like a storage area than a shop? How about you move some of these tall racks out and get some more interesting displays? Maybe even some antique furniture like hutches or tables where you can show practical uses for the items. You could set up some of these Santa mugs and plates on a table, maybe add some of these reindeer candles too.”
His father stroked his chin. “I guess that might look nice.”
“And on the racks, you want to stock your best sellers at eye level. And put some of the packages facing out so customers can see what is inside.”
Kent looked skeptical. “I’ve arranged them alphabetically so I can find things easily.”
“Exactly! You’re thinking about how to find things, but what you should be thinking about is how to sell things.”
Mason was happy to see understanding dawn on his father’s face. Kent had owned several businesses before but never a retail store. He just needed to change his thinking a little bit.
Mason was on a roll. “I think we should decorate some of the trees too. Show the customers how great they can look. Maybe even wrap some empty boxes and put them underneath the trees.”
“Empty boxes?” Kent looked skeptical.
“Yeah, make them see how it will look in their house with the gifts underneath.” Mason looked around some more. “How about setting up a toy train underneath the tree and maybe getting a fake fireplace?”
“You mean like a room setting.”
“Exactly.” Mason was glad his dad was getting the idea. More than anything, he wanted his dad’s store to succeed.
“We can use this garland and these lights.” Mason walked around the store, picking out items. “And these ornaments.”
“Okay. Which tree do you think we should decorate?”
Mason surveyed the selection. The blue spruce was pretty, the Scotch pine was tall, but the one that stood out to him the most was the all-white one. “This one.”
Kent nodded, and they pulled the tree out to a prominent spot in the store and got to work.
“Remember decorating the tree with your mother? She was always so particular.” Kent carefully placed the lights around the tree then handed the string to Mason, who was on the other side.
Mason glanced at his father, surprised at the lack of bitterness in his tone.
Mason had been a grown man when his mother left, but it had still felt weird. Of course, he was still close to her now—and he supposed her new husband was an okay guy, even if he was a wife stealer—but he’d always been upset at the way she’d treated his dad. Kent had been angry and bitter with good cause, but now it seemed as if he was truly moving on, keeping the good memories and letting go of the anger.
“So how did it go down at the town hall with that Irene lady?” Kent opened the box of ornaments and stood back with a frosted blue star in his hand, his eyes searching the tree for the perfect spot.
Mason blew out a breath so hard that the tinsel on the tree flickered. “Well, it turns out it’s not going to be as easy as we thought to decorate the skating pond.”
Kent placed the ornament on the tree and looked at him. “Why not?”
“You know the family across the street that has the Christmas tree farm?”
“Yeah. Haven’t met them though. She seems a bit standoffish.” Kent picked another ornament out of the box.
“As you know, they’ve been decorating the skating pond every year. The husband died, and now the daughter has taken over. I think maybe it put Irene in a little bit of a spot when I asked about decorating it. I’m not sure she expected the daughter to apply this year.” Mason glanced uneasily out the window.
“That’s too bad. But it is a coveted job. Irene said they put up a big sign with the name of the business that decorated it. That would give Tinseltown a huge boost and give us a chance to show off how great our products are.” Kent reached up to place the round purple glass ornament at the top of the tree then stood back.
“Irene suggested a contest.” Mason took a star-shaped ornament out of the box and placed it on one of the lower branches, twisting it so it faced the right way.
“A contest? That sounds like fun. You should be good at figuring out how to decorate it. Seems sort of similar to setting up booths at the trade shows.”
Mason chuckled. “Well, I don’t think setting up fertilizer booths is quite the same as decorating a skating pond, but I think I can handle it.” Mason already had some cool ideas about what to do at the pond. And his father was right: it would be a great opportunity to show off how realistic their trees looked. But still… he glanced out the window again.
“Great! I’m really counting on you to wow them.”
Well, that settled it. His dad was counting on him, and he had to take care of his father first. He didn’t even know the Woodwards, and if they had been in business in town for generations, missing out on the prestige of decorating the skating pond probably wouldn’t hurt them much. They already had a clientele, whereas his father would have to work harder to become established.
“Irene mentioned some other activities that the businesses get involved in. There’s a wreath-making contest tomorrow. We can put a business card in the wreaths we make. I guess they hang them around town, and the winner gets some special advertising or something,” Mason said.
“We should try to participate in all of them.” Kent glanced hopefully at Mason, who nodded. He knew his father wanted him to be the one to do that.
His phone blared, and he took it out of his pocket. “It’s Ginger. I guess I’ll take this.”
“Tell her I said hi,” Kent called after Mason as he walked to the front of the store to take the call.
Ginger had been Mason’s best friend since they were kids, and she knew Kent well. She also worked at the same company as Mason as the lead chemist. She was the one who made sure their fertilizer mixtures were the best in the industry. Mason loved her like a sister, but there had never been anything romantic about the relationship. She was a little too quirky for him, always buried in her work, poring over chemical equations, and singing to her plants. Her apartment looked like a tropical jungle, so maybe singing to plants actually had a benefit.
“Hey! How’s it going out in the middle of nowhere?” Ginger asked.
“Not too bad. It’s good to see my dad, and I like helping him out with the store, but it is kind of dead around here,” Mason joked. They both lived in the city, where everyone was rushing all the time. His job was very demanding, too, and the truth was that he was enjoying the downtime. “How are things back at work?”
Ginger’s sigh echoed over the phone. “Brad is obsessed with the formula for the rosebushes. Apparently Bursting Blooms is outselling us. You know Brad. He can’t handle that.”
“You can say that again. Is he pressuring you to do something you don’t want to do?” Mason had been a little concerned about Brad’s ideas as to how to outperform their competitors lately. It was one thing to come up with a better product, but Brad had suggested doing some things that were a little shady to give them an advantage. Mason didn’t agree with that type of behavior.
“Not really. I mean, he doesn’t know enough about what I do, so all he says is ‘make it better.’ Which, of course, I’m trying to do. But I thought I should warn you that he’s finagled something so that our booth is right next to Bursting Blooms at the trade show coming up in a week.”
“Why warn me? I’m on vacation, so Kevin is filling in.” At least, that had been the plan when Mason went on vacation.
“Yeah, well, about that… I heard Brad saying something about giving you a call to see if you could do the trade show.”
Now it was Mason’s turn to sigh. He ran his hands through his hair. “Really? My dad is counting on me. I’m not sure I want to leave to go to a trade show.”
“I know. That’s why I’m calling you. But I’m not sure how you can get out of it, and it is kind of flattering that Brad thinks you’re the best salesperson.”
“Okay, well, I guess it is a compliment. But hopefully, he’ll stick with Kevin.”
They chatted about a few personal things, such as Ginger’s latest plant, a philodendron that she had put on top of her refrigerator and, according to her, really started thriving when she sang Queen songs to it. Apparently, it really loved “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Mason was in a good mood when he hung up. Ginger always lifted his spirits; she was so outgoing and bubbly.
“Oh, there you are. How’s Ginger?” Kent had come out of the back room of the store.
“She’s doing great. Got a new plant.”
Kent laughed. “That’s my Ginger. I finished decorating the tree. Why don’t you come out and take a look, and then maybe we can go and grab some dinner.”
“Good idea.” Mason set his phone to silent mode so he wouldn’t be interrupted by Brad at dinner. There would be plenty of time to talk to his boss tomorrow.
Chapter 10
The next day, Kristen showed up at the town hall ten minutes early for the wreath-making contest. Ethan had already dropped off the pine boughs and other greenery that the tree farm had donated.
The wreath-making contest was always one of Kristen’s favorite Christmas traditions. She loved the smell of pine in the air and the sound of laughter as people worked together to create beautiful wreaths. This year, she was determined to win. As she walked into the town hall, she saw rows of tables set up with all the supplies she would need.
Several business owners were already there. Julie and Ida were sitting at a table, and Julie waved her over. Ida jumped up to hug her. For a woman in her eighties, she was pretty spry.
“Kristen, it’s so great you are back in town. I know Julie is looking forward to having you around.”
Kristen was flooded with warmth. “Thanks. I’m glad to be back.”
Julie waved to a chair. “Sit with us.” She held up a round knitted ball with glitter on it. “Gram made these for the wreaths.”
“They’re lovely.” Kristen exchanged a raised-brow glance with Julie, making sure Ida couldn’t see her, then started to unload the bag of items she’d brought.
“Ooh, those are going to be perfect.” Julie reached for a pine cone.
After working on the skating plans and eating dinner, Kristen and her mom had spent the rest of the evening dipping the edges of the pine cones in gold glitter and sharing a bottle of wine. It hadn’t taken them long to learn that glitter and a cat equaled a big mess, but they’d had fun anyway.
Ida leaned closer. “What else do you have?”
“Just some mistletoe sprigs.” Kristen held up a few bags.
