“Is everything okay, Miss Joy?” Cathryn’s penciled brow arched on her forehead.
“Yes.” Rachel attempted to collect herself, then decided not to bother. “More than okay.” She stuffed her Mistlefaux in her tote, feeling like an even better place was in the garbage. “I just have one request.”
“And what is that?”
“For my holiday bonus, are you open to suggestions?”
* * *
Cold air skatedover her shoulders as she turned the humming street corner toward her downtown apartment. She often took regional transportation to and from work, but today she opted to walk home. She wanted to take in the holiday sights and sounds of the city one last time.
One week earlier, if someone had told her she would be fired from the job she had planned to one-day retire from, it would have devastated her. It would have collapsed her carefully constructed life from the top down. But today, the thought of rebuilding was anything but daunting. The opposite. And she knew exactly where she wanted to lay the foundation, and who she wanted to do that with.
Her step was light, her mood even lighter as her feet led her to her high-rise apartment. George, the building’s doorman, usually greeted her each time she passed through the entrance. He was a constant, so when Rachel had to pull on the handle to let herself in, her heart held a beat. Maybe he’d gone home for the holidays. No one would argue against the man deserving a break.
Instead, it surprised her to find him near the elevator with a broom and dustpan, head swinging in an irritated shake.
“Everything okay here, George?” Rachel removed her mittens and fit them in her pocket.
Funny, she had more concern over George’s disgruntled mood than the fact that she’d just been fired from her place of employment. Perspective was an interesting thing.
“There’s a reason the landlord doesn’t encourage real trees. Just look at this mess!” He shoved the dustpan loaded with needles toward her. Immediately, the smell transported her home. And this time, it wasn’t to her upstairs apartment, but to Snowdrift.
The elevator doors stretched open and George went back to his grumbling. She left him to it.
But she had to disagree. Having a real, homegrown Christmas tree was worth the little mess it created.
Punching the number to her twenty-fifth floor on the elevator button, she took the quiet ride to absorb the day’s events.
Starting January first, she would no longer be employed by December Décor. She knew there were a myriad of opportunities available for her in the city. Cathryn even emphasized that she would gladly provide a reference, should Rachel need one.
But Rachel didn’t want to start on the bottom rung in another corporate machine, only to be spit out again when a bigger, hungrier business swallowed it whole.
In truth, she didn’t mind starting over. That didn’t scare her. There was excitement attached to the thought of creating a new life for herself. A new start, as blank as freshly fallen snow.
The elevator lurched to a stop on her floor.
As the doors parted, she peered down the hall. She could almost understand the fuss George had made about the pine needles now. They coated the entire walkway toward her apartment like an evergreen version of a breadcrumb trail.
When she made the turn down the long hallway, she had to blink twice.
There, standing just outside her apartment door, was Holden, with the most glorious Christmas tree she’d ever laid eyes on.
“Holden.” His name caught on the emotion clogging her throat. It had only been a day, but her whole being ached to see him again. She rushed over. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t bear the thought of you spending Christmas without a proper tree.” He moved his eyes toward the fir in his grip. “Not when we had this perfectly good one to share.”
“I don’t understand.” She came up to the door and slipped her key into the lock, then swung her gaze back over her shoulder.
“You don’t recognize it?” He trailed her inside, bringing the tree along with him like it was a shopping bag.
Rachel placed her keys on the counter. “Should I?” She turned to survey the tree.
“It’s the top of our family’s noble fir. When the trimmers came out to cut it down, I’d asked that they save the upper portion. Wouldn’t you know? It looks like it was always meant to be this size.” He crossed the small apartment and placed the tree in the middle of the window frame. Even without strands of lights adorning its branches, the backdrop of the lit-up city made it twinkle. “And if you ask me, it looks like it was always meant to be right here.”
She could feel the tears collecting in her eyes. She blinked them back. “Holden, this is so thoughtful of you. But—”
“I understand, Rachel. I know there’s not a future between us, and I’m not here to convince you otherwise. I just couldn’t let this tree go to waste. Not when there was a perfect home for it.”
