Page 16 of OMG Christmas Tree
CHAPTER SIX
Nick
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THE BELL CHIMED OVERthe door at Vilmer’s Floral. Inside, a pale woman with graying hair worked on an arrangement behind the front counter. She looked familiar but I couldn’t place her name.
Didn’t matter since Megan took charge. “Hello. My name is Megan. I’m here visiting my family for the holidays and your shop came recommended for a special request.”
“How wonderful. Hello, I’m Nanette.” She looked past Megan. “Nicolas Bennington?”
I cleared my throat. “Hey. Um, hello. Yes, I’m a Bennington.” You’d think I could stick the landing on my own name.
“We’ll be seeing you on the twenty-fourth for the benefit.” She smiled, looking between Megan and me with an unreadable expression. “I can’t wait to see who the mayor chose for the holiday decor this year.”
Oh, man. This would be a rough one. Megan nailed it. The biggest Fail Hard in history title belonged to yours truly.
Suddenly, Megan slipped her arm through mine. I flinched and made a move to step back, but she shot me a look.I know what I’m doing.
“This has beensucha hectic year,” she said to Nanette. “With Mayor Bennington ill, we’ve realized just how much she does for the town.”
Nanette’s eyes softened. I never knew eyes getting soft was a thing, but her eyes had this squishy squint around them. She took us in—the me and Megan together thing—and nodded along.
Megan took in a measured breath. “I never would have believed we’d be in this place right now.”
We? She squeezed my arm, hugging my body closer to hers. Honestly, I didn’t mind. My heart flipped in my chest like some middle schooler seeing their crush in the lunch line. Except my crush held my arm. No, not my crush. A woman I happened to fail at convincing to give me her Christmas tree, who somehow ended up swindling for me. I’d owe her so big.
“We’re planning a scaled-down benefit this year. Streamlined.” Megan smoothed her hand across the counter for emphasis. “Really focusing on the charity instead of the pomp and circumstance, if you know what I mean.” Her voice became gentle. “We want to be respectful of Mayor Bennington and not go overboard. I know it’s terribly short notice, but we wondered if you had the time or desire to be part of our benefit. We’re asking for decorations for one small tree.”
Nanette stood in thought. “I’m so tickled you came here, but I’m afraid we’re low on time. We wouldn’t be able order what we need, or have the staff to put it together. Other than what we have currently in the shop.”
No way would I interject anything at this point. I looked at Megan for the next move.
She stepped away from me and leaned her elbows against the counter. “Are all of your supplies spoken for? With orders? Would we be able to help put this together?”
“Let me take a look.” Nanette opened a spiral book and moved to a desktop computer at the counter. “We had a failed delivery with no follow-up—some nice holiday greens with beautiful red accents we could donate as a table feature. We of course have holiday ribbon, some artificial berries, those types of things we could give to you.”
“The table arrangement would be perfect. We’ll be including all the businesses who donate in the printed program for the guests.” Megan caught my eye and I gave her a thumbs up. Printed program—I could make that happen.
After ten more minutes, we walked out of Vilmer’s with a huge holiday arrangement in a rustic looking planter. Nanette had given us a bag of ribbons and other stuff I had no idea what to do with.
“Boo-yah!” Megan pumped a fist in the air after the shop door closed behind us.
