I took the basket from her."What if I love everything?"
Clara smiled wide."Now that's a problem.But I'm sure Ford can help you."
Then she drifted over to the counter to check out a customer.
I began to put one thing after another into the basket.I preferred the plain ornaments and snowflakes, not so much the Santas and reindeer.
Clara rejoined us."It's going to look amazing.Can you take a picture and send it to me?"
"I'm not sure it's going to look as good as this."I gestured at the display tree.
"I'm sure with Ford's help, it will be amazing.Let me wrap these up for you.Ford, why don't you walk around and see if anything appeals to you?"
I curled my hand around his elbow, guiding him around the room.
His jaw was a little tight."I don’t know what to pick.”
"All you have to do is tell me if you like anything."We passed by the bird-themed tree and the ocean one, then a pink one, before he paused in front of one that had old-time cars, vinyl records, and vintage Santas.
"You like this one?"
"We've always had vintage cars around, and we're named after them."
I remembered his dad's garage full of cars, and I'd heard his brother Maverick carried on the tradition.
Clara approached."You like the vintage stuff?"
Ford nodded."Yeah."
"Let me wrap everything, and I'll have them delivered to your room at the inn," Clara said.
"That would be perfect," I said, more excited about decorating the trees now that we'd chosen our ornaments.
"You have time to grab lunch and get the tree set up," Clara said.
I had to admit; I was having fun.With the purchase of the inn, I assumed I wouldn't be partaking in any holiday traditions that didn't directly relate to the inn or the town.But I was grateful that Ford had forced us to do this.
"Do you have anything for a mantle?"I asked.
Clara's eyes lit up."I have just the thing.I'll send it over."
Outside, Ford asked, "Don't we have to pay?"
"She'll bill me.That's how we usually handle it."
"But that's for the business.This is personal."
"You got the trees.I paid for the ornaments.Now we're even," I said by way of challenging him to disagree with me.
He sighed."You want to grab subs from the pizza parlor?"
"That sounds perfect."We ordered hot subs, and I gave him the code for the cargo elevator.I carried the subs to my room.I set our food on the table and then cleared a space for the tree in front of the large windows.This morning, I hadn't planned on decorating at all, and now my room was going to look festive.
Maybe in a few years, I'd want to move off the property and get my own place.I could be close if there was a problem.
A few minutes later, Ford pushed the door open, as I'd left it unlocked."Where do you want it?"
"In front of the windows here."I'd grabbed a tree stand from the storage area downstairs.
