“Thanks,” I say.
“So, what’s your idea?” she asks.
“The tree lot is nice,” I say. “But I was thinking it would look so much nicer if there were some Christmas lights over it.”
“It sure would,” Marion says with sympathy. “But I wouldn’t say a word to Roan Connelly about it. I guess since you’re his tenant, you know what you’re dealing with there.”
“I kind of already talked to him,” I admit. “He said I could help with some decorations.”
“Get out of town,” she says, looking me up and down and nodding with clear admiration in her eyes. “Well done, you.”
“I got some lights and some hooks,” I say, feeling awkward. “If you wanted, I was thinking the two of us could install the hooks on our second-floor window frames. Then we could string the lights across the whole lot.”
“Isn’t that clever?” she says. “Sure, let’s do it.”
“Really?” I ask her.
“Of course,” she says. “I’m so glad he agreed to letyou lend a hand. He’s a good man. He deserves to let his hair down a little, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” I say, feeling relieved that even though she knows he’s a grump, Marion still thinks Roan is a good man.
Of course I think so too. But I worry that I’m biased because I love his daughter, and because he’s so handsome that he makes me blush.
Sometimes I wonder about my judgement in general.
All the time, really.
“You okay?” Marion asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Sorry, got lost in my own head for a minute.”
“Happens to the best of us,” she says. “Come on upstairs, and let’s find the best place to put these hooks.”
An hour later,we’ve installed hooks in both buildings and hung the lights from them. And Marion has admired my little apartment and agreed to stop back for coffee one day.
When I walk her out, I see the snow flurries are drifting down again.
“Shall we do the honors?” I ask her, indicating the extension cord I need to plug into the outlet outside my shop to bring the lights to life.
“No, no,” she says. “Do it when Roan is here. I’d love to hear about the look on his face when it all lights up.”
“I’ll memorize it for you,” I promise her. “And I’ll tell you everything afterward.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding slowly at me with a thoughtful smile.
I would ask her what’s up with that look.But I know what she’s thinking. And I guess she’s right. I do have a bit of a crush on my gorgeous landlord. But I definitely don’t want to talk about it.
She heads off to her shop, and I’m about to go into mine when Roan’s truck pulls up.
He hops out, but instead of the little girl I’m expecting, a man I don’t know gets out of the passenger side and heads for the tree lot.
“Hey,” Roan says, nodding to me. “What are you doing out here in the cold?”
“I had a little surprise for you,” I tell him. “Where’s Meg?”
“My parents are decorating the tree tonight,” he says. “She really wanted to help.”
That makes me smile and miss my own grandparents a little. We didn’t decorate the tree together, but my parents and I would fly down to Florida every other Christmas and bake all our favorite desserts, swim in the pool, and gossip with their friends in the retirement community.
