“An excuse for what?”
“For not going to the bonfire with your bestie.”
Oooh, call me intrigued. “What is this bonfire you speak of?”
“One of Winterbury’s newest holiday traditions.”
“Because the eighty-five we have aren’t enough?” I inquired.
She smacked me with tomorrow’s schedule. “There’s always room for more holiday fun!”
I took the paper and ran my eyes over it, noting there were five appointments just like today.
“Is every day like this?” I asked. “Was today not a light day?”
Brandy shrugged. “It was a pretty typical day. Some days are a little busier, though.”
“What do you do with all your free time?” I murmured, still not quite grasping this work-life balance thing that seemed to be going on here. Frankly, I wondered why my father needed a vacation because I was used to working twice this in a single day.
Maybe I was a workaholic.So you can avoid life.
“Tonight, I’m going to the bonfire, and you’re coming with.” Brandy informed me, standing from her desk and pushing the chair beneath it.
“Oh, you’re going to the bonfire?” Brett asked, coming out front from the back. “I’m heading there after work too. Promised my dad I’d help harvest the mistletoe for tomorrow’s raising.”
I paused, eyes flying to Brandy who was actively avoiding my penetrating glare.
“And pray tell, where is this new traditional bonfire held?” I asked Brett. Clearly, Brandy was attempting to withhold need-to-know information.
“Hodge Farm,” Brett replied.
“You don’t say,” I mused.
Brandy threw her arms up like she was admitting defeat.
Brett looked between us and then back at me. “You haven’t been?” he questioned.
“To Hodge Farm? Yes. The bonfire, no. It seems to be a tradition that started after I moved to Boston.”
“Oh,come on, Toby. It will be so fun. The whole town practically turns out.”
“To a bonfire?” I was skeptical. I failed to see how burning wood in my enemy’s yard could be fun and also why the entire town wanted to do it.
I mean, I was all for setting something of Archer’s on fire, but something told me that would only be fun for me.
“It’s not just any old bonfire.It’s ayuletidebonfire,” she emphasized.
“Oh. Well, that changes everything,” I amended.
It, in fact, changed nothing.
Brandy made a face. “We roast marshmallows, drink hot chocolate, and pour warm maple syrup over the snow for sugared snow. They expanded the gift shop with a beautiful display of trees and trinkets. There’s even a bakery now with desserts and apple crumble.”
“This year, they’re having live music,” Brett put in. “And of course, people will be getting their Christmas trees.”
Brandy nodded. “A lot of people get them the night of the bonfire and let them fluff out overnight and then decorate them when they get home from the mistletoe raising and town tree lighting.”
“Isn’t it kinda late in the season for that?” I observed, knowing full well it wasn’t.
