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Sophie sighed contentedly. “This place is starting to feel more like home all the time.”
Beth had moved to Washington State following her divorce. For fifteen years she’d taught business and management classes at an agricultural college outside Sacramento. After she and Kent had split up, Beth felt she needed a change. A big one. An escape. She’d read about this Christmas tree farm for sale while browsing on the internet and had become intrigued. As soon as she’d visited the property and toured the house, she was sold.
Her general knowledge of farm life and crop cultivation had come in handy. She knew just enough about trees not to be intimidated. Besides, Wes Klein, the previous owners’ son, had helped the first couple of years. She’d soon picked up everything else she needed to know. She hired the same crew each season and was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things had gone this year, the first year she was on her own.
In addition to Christmas trees, she sold wreaths and garlands, which were created by three members of her staff who devoted all their time to this endeavor. The Kleins used to have only a handful of orders for holiday wreaths. Beth had turned that into a thriving aspect of the business. Plus, overseas sales of Christmas trees had doubled in the past three years. Beth had always enjoyed the season, but never more than now. She felt she was actively contributing to a lot of families’ happiness this Christmas.
The girls cleared the table and put their plates and bowls in the dishwasher.
“I’ve got to get back outside, but before I go, I need you to tell me what’s going on with your father.” From the girls’ startled expressions Beth realized she should have led into the conversation with a bit more finesse. But subtlety wasn’t exactly her strong suit and she was short on time.
“Dad wanted to come for Christmas,” Bailey answered, as if that was all the explanation required.
“Did he give you any particular reason?” she asked suspiciously.
Sophie shook her head. “None that he mentioned.”
That wasn’t too helpful; still, Beth persisted. “But why this year?”
Bailey shrugged. “Don’t know. All I can tell you is that he said he missed us and asked if he could join us for Christmas. We couldn’t say no. You wouldn’t want us to, would you, Mom?”
“Of course not.” Beth looked from one daughter to the other. “He didn’t say anything more than that? You’re sure?”
“Positive.” Both girls widened their eyes, expressions innocent as could be.
Convinced there was more to this sudden desire to be with them—and remembering Grace’s suggestion that the girls might be more involved than they were letting on—Beth hesitated. She wanted to probe deeper but really needed to get to work. As it was, she’d lingered with her daughters well into Jeff’s lunch hour.
“You’ll be okay without me?” Beth asked, abandoning all inquiries for the moment.
“Mom, it isn’t like we’re six years old!”
“I know, I know, it’s just that I hate leaving you so soon after you got here.”
“Go,” Bailey said, ushering her toward the door. “We’ll be fine. We’ll unpack our suitcases and put It’s a Wonderful Life in the DVD player.”
“I want to watch it, too,” Beth protested. It was their favorite Christmas movie.
“Okay, we’ll hold off until tonight. Now go.”
Walking out the door, Beth blew them a kiss, the same way she had every time she left for work when they were youngsters.
The second the door closed, Bailey turned to her sister. “Do you think Mom suspects anything?”
“I’m not sure….”
“I told you we needed to get our story straight before we saw her!”
“I didn’t think she’d drill us with questions the instant we walked in the door. Just remember, this whole idea was yours,” Sophie reminded her.
“But you agreed! Dad’s miserable without Mom, and Mom needs Dad whether she’s willing to admit it or not.”
“Well, she’s not willing to admit it, not yet,” Sophie said. She rinsed out the soup pan and placed it in the dishwasher. “I never really understood why they got divorced,” she mused.
“Yeah.” Bailey was wiping off the kitchen counter. “It didn’t make any sense.”
“When they told us I thought they were joking. Some joke, huh?”
“Could there be anyone else involved?” Bailey asked, growing introspective. “Mom mentioned that vet again. Ted something.”
“Ted Reynolds. She hasn’t dated in ages, but she seems to like him. He could be trouble.”
Bailey frowned. “The problem with Mom is that she’s living inside an…an emotional cocoon.” She nodded, pleased with that description. “She’s consumed by this tree farm so she doesn’t have to think about Dad or the divorce or anything else.”
“Who made you the expert?” Sophie muttered.
Bailey ignored the sarcasm. “I took this really great psychology class, and I recognized what Mom’s been doing for the past few years. We’ve got to shake her up, make her realize the divorce was a terrible mistake.”
“It’s not just the tree farm, it’s those darn puppies,” Sophie lamented. “With puppies constantly showing up on Mom’s porch, she can focus all her attention on them. She spends a lot of time training her dogs for those canine therapy programs—”
“And being the unofficial rescue facility,” Bailey threw in.
Sophie nodded. “And now there’s this Ted guy. Getting Mom and Dad together isn’t going to be as easy as you think.”
“What did you tell Dad?” Bailey asked.
Sophie slouched into a chair and stared at her sister. “Just that it’s important to Mom that we all spend Christmas together.”
“Did he ask why?”
“Not really. He said he didn’t have any fixed plans for Christmas, and if Mom wanted him to come he would.”
“What are we going to tell them when they discover we arranged this?”
“What we should’ve said when they told us they were getting divorced. This is stupid. They should’ve tried harder.”
“They just grew apart, that’s all, but if they’d made an effort they could’ve gotten close again, right?”
“Right.”
“Marriage takes work,” Bailey said, feeling wise. The research for her recent psych essay on “Family in the New Millennium” had made that very clear to her.
“I just don’t want them to be upset with us,” Sophie said, worried.
“They can’t. It’s Christmas. We brought them together…okay, under false pretenses, but they can’t be mad because we’re only doing what’s best for them.”
“Amen. Sing it, sister.”
“We’ll sing it in two-part harmony.”
“Dad gets here when?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Perfect.” Sophie held up two crossed fingers. “I believe. I believe.”
“So do I,” Bailey echoed. This was going to be the most wonderful Christmas of their lives and it didn’t have a single thing to do with the wrapped packages under the tree. It was because of the gift they intended to give their parents.
And each other.
The snow had stopped falling, and the grounds were so pristine and lovely, they could’ve been on a book cover. Or a Christmas card. The evergreens were daubed with snow, giving them a flocked look that was more beautiful than anything Beth could reproduce with the sticky artificial stuff her crew applied to the more elaborately decorated trees in the shop.
“We’re back,” Bruce Peyton said as he approached Beth. “And this time, we’re definitely going home with a tree.”
His pregnant wife, Rachel, looked so much better than she had two weeks ago. Beth had learned later that Rachel was hospitalized with food poisoning that same evening. Bruce’s teenage daughter, Jolene, was with them today, as she’d been before.
“Are all the best trees taken?” the girl asked, her eyes wide with concern.
She had a point. The trees closer to the house had been thinned out, but there were still a number of excellent spruces and firs in the far lot. “Not to worry,” she assured Jolene. “I always save the best for last.” She handed the girl a cup of warm cocoa. “If you’d like, I’ll have my foreman take you to the back twenty in the ATV and you can see for yourself.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Beth confirmed. She led them over to Jeff, made introductions and gave him Jolene’s request.
The ATVs were built for two, so Jeff took one and Jolene climbed on behind him. Bruce took the second vehicle. Rachel looked at the hard seat, then eyed the dirt road speculatively.
“I think I’ll stay here and visit with Beth while you two choose the tree.”
“You can’t,” Jolene said loudly. “You have to help pick out the tree. That’s the most fun part.”
“I’m just not sure I’m up to this.”
“Let me take you for a test run,” Bruce suggested.
Rachel remained hesitant, then nodded. “Okay, but don’t be upset if I decide to stay back.”
“I won’t,” Bruce said.
“I really want you to come with us,” Jolene insisted.
“I know, honey. I will next year. I’ll come with you and your little sister. Don’t forget, it’ll be her very first Christmas.”
Jolene hugged her quickly. “Okay.”
Ten minutes later, Rachel was sitting in the office, drinking a bottle of apple juice as Beth finished her paperwork.
“I doubt they’ll be long,” Beth told her. “The trees there are gorgeous, especially with this afternoon’s snow.”
“I hope Bruce and Jolene don’t go overboard and choose the biggest tree on the farm.”
Beth chuckled. “Jeff knows that people look at a tree and have no idea how large it is until they try to get it in the house. He’ll keep them realistic.”
“Oh, good. Jolene loves Christmas.” Rachel leaned back in her chair. “I consider this our first real Christmas as a family. We were married last year but I was so busy cleaning and moving that it didn’t feel very Christmassy.”
“There seem to be a lot of firsts for your family,” Beth said gently.
“I agree. It hasn’t been a smooth transition for us, but everything’s come together in the past couple of weeks.”
“I’m glad,” Beth said. She wasn’t entirely sure what Rachel meant. Busy though she’d been, when the Peytons originally came for their tree, Beth couldn’t help noticing the tension between Rachel and Jolene. The change in attitude, particularly on Jolene’s part, was encouraging.
Twenty minutes later, the two ATVs roared into the yard. As soon as the engine was shut off, Jolene leaped off the back of her father’s vehicle and raced toward Rachel.
“We found the most beautiful tree,” she said excitedly. “It’s just perfect.”
“Where is it?” Rachel asked, laughing at Jolene’s unabashed enthusiasm.
“You should’ve seen her,” Bruce said, joining them. “Jolene was like a rabbit, hopping from one tree to the next.”
“Dad, you’re embarrassing me,” the girl protested, but not too vigorously. In fact, it looked as if a smile was permanently affixed to her face.
“Exactly where is this wonderful, perfect Christmas tree?” Rachel asked again.
“Jeff’s going back in the pickup for it now,” Bruce explained. He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “While he’s doing that, I’ll pay for the tree and get out the rope so we can tie it to the top of the car.”
“When we take it home, we’re all going to decorate it together,” Jolene said happily.
“My girls and I do that,” Beth told her. “I always decorate several trees, but I leave one undecorated so the four…three of us can do it together once they’re home from college.”
Jolene looked at her father and Rachel. “Will you wait for me when I’m in college, too?”
“You bet,” Rachel said, raising one thumb.
That seemed to satisfy the teenager. “It won’t be that long, you know.”
“No need to rush it,” Bruce commented.
The phone rang, and since Jeff was busy, Beth grabbed it. “Cedar Cove Tree Farm,” she said. “Beth speaking.”
“Oh, Beth, I’m so glad I caught you.”
It was her friend, Grace Harding, the head librarian who’d adopted a golden-retriever mix from the previous batch of puppies. She sounded harried.
“What can I do for you, Grace?” Beth asked.
“We need a small tree.”
“How small?”
“One that’ll fit in a hotel room. It’s for a family who just arrived in town. Friends of ours.”
