My throat tightens. Hard.
“And you don’t have to pretend you don’t care whether this Christmas works,” she adds, gentler still. “I see how much you want this for your mom. For your sister’s kids. For yourself.”
I look away sharply, gripping the axe handle like it’ll steady me.
Natalie doesn’t push. She just lets the cold and the quiet wrap around us for a few breaths.
“You know,” she says lightly, “for someone who doesn’t like holidays, you’re a natural at creating cinematic winter scenery.”
I snort. “Pretty sure that’s just the storm.”
“No,” she insists, eyes warm. “It’s very lumberjack aesthetic. Very curated. Very—‘grumpy man finds heart in snow.’”
I shake my head. “You’re impossible.”
“And you hired me. So whose fault is that?”
“My mother’s.”
“She sounds smart.”
“She is.”
She grins. “Then she must’ve known what she was doing.”
I don’t have an answer for that.
Mostly because I think she might be right.
By the time evening settles again, we’ve cleared furniture, mapped out traffic flow for his family’s arrival, and made a list of supplies we desperately need once the roads reopen.
Natalie is reviewing her notes on the couch, blanket around her shoulders, pen tapping rhythmically against her lip.
“What’s tomorrow look like?” I ask from the armchair.
“Depends on the storm,” she says. “If the roads still aren’t safe, we’ll reorganize the kitchen and start prepping anything that doesn’t require electricity.”
“I can get the camping stove from the shed.”
“Perfect.” She scribbles something. “And once it’s safe to go to town, we’ll get a tree.”
She brightens at that last part. Practically glows.
“You really like Christmas trees, don’t you?” I say.
“Like? Calder.” She presses a hand to her chest. “I am powered by trees. They are my entire personality from December first through thirty-first.”
A laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. She beams.
“I can show you how to choose a good one,” I offer. “If you want.”
She gasps. “Is this a lumberjack tutorial?”
“No.”
“It is absolutely a lumberjack tutorial.”
I shake my head, but she’s already delighted.
