Page 25 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“Then both of you are welcome to come,” she said, pulling into the lot. “Assuming we find a tree under all that snow.”
“We’ll find one.”
She got out of the SUV and pulled on her gloves and hat. Bryce slammed the passenger door shut and rounded the front of the vehicle, noting the rows and rows of trees. The sun had completely set, blanketing the area in darkness, but the lights strung from post to post created a festive air of anticipation. A gust of wind whipped around her and she shivered. “I think I’d like to make this a quick shopping trip,” she said.
“I’m with you.” He pulled the collar of his coat tighter around his neck and slipped his gloves on.
“Howdy folks.” An older man in his early seventies who looked immune to the cold approached. His thick red-and-black-plaid hat was pulled low over his ears, and he had the matching Sherpa-lined coat buttoned to his chin. “I’m Clay Foster. Let me know when you find what you need. I’m a little short on workers tonight, but that doesn’t seem to matter.” He looked around. “Not many people want to get out in this.” He clasped his gloved hands together, then rubbed them. “Shorter trees are to the left. Taller to the right. When you find the one you want, just let me know. I’ll be in the office in front of the heater.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jade said.
He nodded and wandered back to the fifth wheel he’d called his office.
Bryce looked around. “This place is huge. You could get lost in here.”
“Maybe once we’re in the middle of the trees, they’ll shield us from the wind.”
“Good idea.” It helped, but not much. Bryce followed her from one tree to the next, noting she looked at her phone every few minutes. “Nothing about Frank, huh?”
“No.”
“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad?”
“Both,” she muttered.
Good in that they hadn’t discovered a body. Bad in that no one had found Frank. Her phone rang, and she swiped the screen. “Heather? Are you okay?” She listened for a moment, then nodded at Bryce. “I understand. Yeah. And nothing? Right. Thanks. Stay in touch.”
“What’d she say?”
“That she hadn’t heard from Frank, but that she learned he’d stopped by their church yesterday around lunchtime, asking to talk to the pastor who was going to marry them.”
“About what?”
“She didn’t know and neither did the pastor—which is where she’s been. She turned her ringer off to talk to him and didn’t notice my call until just now. Anyway, the pastor wasn’t there when Frank dropped in so the church secretary, Donna, scheduled an appointment for tomorrow at ten in the morning.”
“Wedding ceremony questions or something else?” Bryce muttered.
“No one but Frank knows that right now, but at least we know where he was later in the day after you talked to him.”
A particularly hard gust of wind broke through the line of trees, and Bryce shuddered. He was freezing. And he didn’t want to admit it, but his leg was killing him. He started to say something and noticed her attention to a particular tree. “That one?”
“Yes. This one. It’s perfect.” She checked the price and grimaced but waved to Clay. He nodded he’d be there in a minute, and Bryce breathed a sigh of relief. The tree wasn’t that big and shouldn’t be too hard to handle even with his damaged leg. She rubbed her temple, and he noted the strain around her mouth along with the tight jaw.
“Head hurting?”
“Yes. I think I need to take more ibuprofen.”
“Y’all need help?”
Bryce nodded to the worker. “That’d be great.”
“I’ll pay while you guys get the tree taken care of, if that’s all right,” Jade said.
“Great,” Bryce said. At least if he fumbled the tree, she wouldn’t be around to witness it.
He looked at Clay. “Ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
