He nodded again, his face softening. “I meant what I said, Alice. I don’t cut down any of these trees. How could I? They’re my responsibility. I care for them. And each winter, some of the best and the strongest are transferred into temporary pots and used to decorate the town. After the festive season, they’re replanted in their original spots.”
“Replanted.”
She couldn’t help but notice she seemed to have lost the ability to speak more than one-word sentences, and she had a horrible feeling that Grant had noticed, too. He was giving her kind of a funny look.
“Sure.” He gestured to the rows of trees. “I can show you, if you’d like?”
“O…kay.”
No, Alice, she chided herself. Saying a word slowly doesnotmake it more than a one-word sentence. She forced a smile.
“I mean, that would be great. Thank you.”
There. A whole sentence. Two, really. Dear God, when had speaking become so difficult?
“In that case, this way,” he said, beaming like taking red-faced women on tours of his tree farm was exactly how he liked to spend his days.
“Um, thanks.”
She fell into step beside him as he led her through the rows of trees. The activist in her couldn’t help but look for flaws in the trees, but the environmentalist in her noted that these trees were in better condition than most of their wild counterparts she’d seen. Grant was clearly a man who took pride in his work, and in doing it well.
“When I have a suitable candidate, I carefully uproot it and place it into a large pot, lined with soil from the farm to make sure it adapts well.”
“That’s…very thorough,” she had to admit. “But isn’t it damaging to be moved like that?”
“I’m extremely careful not to damage the root system during the transfer,” he said, seemingly not taking any offence to her question. “And they get plenty of TLC while they're decorating the town square, or people’s gardens. Once the new year rolls around, I bring them back and replant them right where they came from.”
She couldn’t help but notice the way his face seemed to come alive as he spoke about the trees, or the way he seemed unable to resist touching his fingers to their bark as he passed. His passion was obvious, and she felt a pang of guilt for jumping to conclusions about him.
“What about after... I mean, they can't keep getting replanted forever,” she said hesitantly.
Grant nodded. “Some do get too large eventually. When that happens, they get retired to a special section of the farm. They’re still tended as much as the rest of the trees, but without the trips into town each festive season.”
As they rounded a corner, a section of smaller saplings came into view. Grant caressed the tiny branches of one gently, the little sprigs dwarfed by his strong hands.
“These little guys will be ready for their first holiday season in a few years,” he said proudly.
Alice exhaled slowly and stared down at her feet.
“What’s wrong?” Grant asked, and she was touched by the genuine concern in his voice—which just made her feel worse for everything she’d thought about him.
“I was absolutely horrible,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat. “I jumped to all sorts of conclusions without stopping to listen. What you must think of me…”
“What I think,” Grant said, “is that you’re an amazing, passionate woman.”
He reached out and tucked one finger under her chin, lifting slightly until she met his eye. Her skin tingled where he touched it, and as she looked into his earthy-brown eyes, she felt breathless. Her heart stuttered at the heat she saw there, and her lips parted a fraction.
“Alice, I…”
An ear-splitting electronic wail shattered the air and Alice started, jerking back. It took her a second to recognize the sound—and to remember how to breathe, if she was being honest with herself.
“Oh! My car alarm. Um…” She patted her pockets frantically and pulled out her keys, mashing the button to silence the alarm, but the wail continued.
“Probably too far away,” Grant said. “The sound distorts through the trees, it makes it sound closer than it is. Come on, I’ll walk you back.”
“Thank you. And truly, I’m sorry for judging you.”
Grant waved off her apology. “Hey, I get it. If I didn't know any better, I can see how it might look. I'm just glad you came to see for yourself.”
