She did a quick circle around the lot. “Ooh, Shaun, look at this one.” She pointed at a ten-foot tree.
Her partner shook his head and laughed. “Babe, that thing is as big as the tree at Rockefeller Plaza. How are we gonna drag that up three flights of stairs?”
“But it’s so pretty,” she protested.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Think smaller.”
She circled the lot, pulling out and sizing up trees, for the next ten minutes.
Kerry didn’t bother to suppress a yawn.
“Ashley, these folks are ready to close up shop,” the boyfriend said.
“It’s okay,” Kerry said, smiling brightly.
The girl stopped in front of the stack of smaller trees and picked up a four-foot model.
She set it on the pavement and twirled it around. “This is it. This is the one.”
“You sure?” Shaun asked.
“Positive. It’s super sweet. We can put it on the table in front of the window.”
“And what’s gonna happen when Billy decides to climb your super-sweet Christmas tree?” Shaun asked. “Billy’s her cat. Her obnoxious, spoiled rotten cat.”
“He’s not spoiled,” Ashley said. “He’s… entitled, but I promise I will speak to Billy about staying away from this Christmas tree.”
Shaun turned to Kerry and Patrick. “See what I’m dealing with here?” He put a finger to his forehead. “She’s loco in the cabeza. Nuts.”
Ashley wrapped her arms around him. “Yeah, I’m nuts. Nuts about you, Shaun Hettinger.”
“Okay,” he relented. “We’ll get the tree. Are you gonna make me spend hours and hours stringing and then rearranging and then re-rearranging all the lights?”
“Definitely.”
He pulled out his billfold, and she gave a happy, high-pitched squeal of delight.
“This is our first Christmas together,” she told Patrick and Kerry.
“What?” Shaun said. “We’ve been together for two years.”
“I mean, it’s our first Christmas living together in our own place,” Ashley said. She held out her left hand, wriggling her fingers to show off the tiny diamond chip on her ring finger. “We just got engaged Thanksgiving Day.”
Patrick beamed at the happy couple. “Congratulations! It’s great that you’ll be celebrating your first Christmas together with a Tolliver Christmas tree. In fact, we’d love to offer you our first-Christmas-together discount. Right?”
He glanced at Kerry for approval, giving her a subtle nod.
“Really?” Ashley asked. “So how much is the tree?”
Kerry got the hint. She glanced across the street at the Brodys’ tree stand. Their light-up sign advertisedFresh Trees—Cheap! Starting at $40.
“It’s thirty-eight dollars,” Kerry said.
“Cool.” Shaun opened his billfold and handed Kerry cash for the tree.
Ashley whipped her cell phone from her jacket pocket. “Would it be okay if I took some pictures of your tree stand for my social media?”
“Guess so,” Kerry said.
