Justin turned to look at the Christmas tree Felicity was pointing to.At first, he thought she was joking.But when he looked directly at her face, he noticed the lack of a teasing smile.She was serious?
His gaze returned to the tree.It was tall, but its limbs were on the sparse side.And it appeared to have a crooked trunk.This definitely wasn’t the tree for her.
“How about this one?”He pointed to a lush blue spruce next to him.“It’s a really nice-looking tree.”
Felicity shook her head.“It’s too wide.”
He turned back to the spruce and tried to picture it in her mother’s apartment.Okay.Maybe she had a point.
Then she turned back to him.“But you know where it would look good?Your apartment.”
He shook his head.“Not going to happen.”
“Are you sure?I mean you did say it’s really nice-looking.”
He narrowed his gaze on her.“It’s not fair turning my words around on me.”
She sighed.“Fine.”
He turned away, letting his gaze scan the lot for a tall, slender tree.There certainly weren’t a lot left to choose from.All of the tall ones were wide at the bottom…except for that ridiculous tree that Felicity was still standing next to.
He wasn’t giving up.He wanted her and her mother to have a nice tree for the holiday—even if he didn’t have one of his own.He never had one.It just seemed foolish to put one up for just himself.
And then he saw it.This was the right tree.It was slightly taller than he was, but it wasn’t very wide at the bottom—not like the others.
“Felicity,” he called out to her.“Over here.”
A moment later, Felicity stepped up next to him.He smiled at her.“How about this one?”
Her gaze swept over it from limb to limb, as though searching for a flaw that would give her a legitimate reason to reject it.The longer she was quiet, the more certain he was that he’d found the perfect tree.
“Can I help you?”A teenage boy approached them.
“How much is this tree?”Justin asked.
After the boy told them the rather high price, Felicity asked, “How much is this tree?It’s over here.”
They walked over to the sad tree that Justin would swear was listing to the side even more.No one would want that tree.
“Oh.Um…” The boy looked perplexed.“I’m not sure.Let me ask the owner.I’ll be right back.”
After the boy walked away, Justin asked, “Do you really like the tree that much?”
Felicity shrugged.“Every Christmas tree needs someone to love it.”
He had a feeling there was something more to her picking out the saddest tree in the lot.When the boy returned and told her that it was half off, Felicity smiled triumphantly.Even before she said a word, he knew they were taking home the sad-looking tree.He would never understand women.No wonder he was single.
Twenty minutes later, they had the tree in the apartment.While Felicity dug through the boxes, looking for the tree stand, he went to his apartment to take Sunny outside for another quick walk.
When he returned to the apartment with the puppy, Felicity had the tree stand, which was anchored to a wood base, waiting for him.Normally, it was a challenge getting a Christmas tree in the stand and making sure it was straight.But this year’s tree was light-weight, and it didn’t matter what they did, this tree was never going to be straight.
When he explained this to Felicity, she didn’t seem the least bit upset about it.They worked together to get the tree into the stand.Before he tightened the screws, he had her step back to get a good view of the tree.When she did, a smile bloomed on her face.
He tightened the screws into the trunk of the tree, and then he got to his feet.He moved to stand next to her.“Can you explain to me why you love this tree so much?”
“It reminds me of a tree we had when I was little.Both of my parents were busy working, and they kept putting off putting up the holiday decorations.By the time we got to the tree lot, all of the nice trees were gone.I picked out a tree that looked a lot like this one.My mother was horrified, but my father said the tree had a lot of character.We took it home, and all three of us worked together to decorate it.
“Afterward, my mother made hot chocolate, and we turned off the overhead lights.The tree all lit up, along with the light from the fireplace, cast a warm glow over the room.It’s one of my favorite Christmas memories.Nothing special happened.We were all together, and we were happy—truly happy.You never know how good you have it until the moment passes.”Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.She blinked repeatedly.
