Page 15 of Decked Out with Ivy

“Stop doing that!” She constantly gasped like a child catching Santa in their living room. It was unnerving. He never knew if she was being dramatic, saw something shocking, or was hurt.

“Then stop saying stupid things. Now come on.” She waved him toward a path that cut right through a line of trees.

He once again glanced at his footwear. No wonder Jim had laughed at him as he got out of the SUV. “I wish you would have warned me. I would have worn different shoes.”

She stopped and turned, her light brown eyes raking over his legs to his feet. “What made you think those were the best choice to begin with?”

“I thought maybe we would be inside.” At a coffee shop, or a string quartet Christmas concert, or even a walk down Main Street to look at all the ridiculous Christmas displays.

“Even if we were, those shoes are never needed. If I were you, I’d invest in a pair of boots.”

“Let me guess. Your store sells them?”

“Of course. And if you’re nice to me, I’ll give you the friends and family discount.”

“How very generous of you.”

“It’s the least I can do, considering the shoes are about to be ruined.”

“Ruined?”

She pointed across a long path of what he was now calling snirt to a row of trees. “That’s the one,” she announced with too much conviction.

“Why that one? And not, oh I don’t know, one of the dozen right here?” He motioned to the array of trees lined up and just waiting to be cut.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

She wanted fun. He would play along. “Fine. Do we get someone to come with us to cut it down? How does this work?”

A laugh burst out of her with more gusto than he thought necessary. “Someone? We got a someone. You.”

“Me?” He had no idea how to cut down a tree. He wasn’t a fucking lumberjack, for Christ’s sake. He was an actor. Though a lumberjack would have been a better role than a damn innkeeper.

“Yes, you.”

“And how do you expect me to do that?” he asked, glancing around for a stack of chainsaws for rent.

Ivy walked to a small building that looked like a cabin in the woods and waved for him to follow. His eyes lingered on the tight jeans that molded to her legs and dipped into a pair of snow boots. Her red winter coat looked much warmer than his navy blue peacoat.

He reached into the pockets and felt the soft mittens she had insisted he buy. He didn’t want to bring them, but his hands had been damn icicles every time he stepped outside in this godforsaken state. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of wearing them, nor did he want to match his navy coat like she matched hers with her red coat and white and red mittens.

“Here we go,” she announced, holding a handsaw that looked like it had been left outside for the last thirty years.

“You’re joking, right?” There was no way she was serious. She was just trying to fuck with him.

A flash of a camera burst behind him, and he spun to see the paparazzo that had been following him around town. The pictures from last night had already hit the mainstream. Ronnie had called him at the ass crack of dawn to tell him she was proud. She was already working on a way to spin the story to show he was a reformed man and enjoying the small-town life. It was the biggest load of shit. He’d been here for barely a couple days, and he was already counting down the time until he could get on a plane and fly the hell out of here.

“No, flash photography!” a man yelled from behind the counter. He was an older man, but that didn’t make him any less intimidating. “You’ll scare the reindeer!”

“Reindeer?” Cody exclaimed. “There are freaking reindeer here? What is this, the North Pole?”

“Yes,” the man said matter-of-factly. Cody was starting to wonder if this whole town was part of the movie set, and no one clued him in.

The man moved out from behind the counter and stood like a brick wall in front of the man wielding a camera.

“They brought the reindeer last year. They’ve been a big draw for the locals.” Ivy motioned toward the rear of the building. “They’re in a barn on the other side of the property. Next to the hot cocoa stand.”

“Of course they are,” Cody mumbled.

---