Page 37 of The Mistletoe Bluff
A beat of silence.
“Your name isLeafand you own atreefarm,” I deadpanned, ignoring his question.
The man didn’t miss a beat, laughing so loud my ears rang. “Ironic, ain’t it?”
Oliver chuckled. “We were just browsing, sir.”
Leaf eyed the two of us. “Well, as lovely as this lady’s eyes are, you won’t find the perfect Christmas tree there.” My cheeks burned as he turned on his heel, heading for the row of trees that had yet to be cut down. “Come on, I’ll show you my pride and joy.”
“I sure hope he means the trees,” Oliver whispered into my ear, and I had to cover my mouth to keep my laugh inside.
“Did you just…make a joke, Oliver?”
He winked. “There’s a lot you have to learn about me, darling.”
The breath caught in my throat at the term of endearment. Why would he call me that? And what had he been about to say before we were interrupted?
Oliver slipped his glove back on and wrapped his hand around mine. “Come on, we better follow him before he picks us up and carries us himself.”
Oliver
Leaf led us up and down row after row of evergreen trees until I was certain that the smell would forever be ingrained in my nose hairs.
I didn’t mind, I loved all things Christmas, but Leaf had cut through my plans likeIwas a tree to chop down. I had wanted to spend the morning perusing the tree selection with Maya, maybe get her to tell me more about herself, and if I was lucky, steal a few kisses beneath the trees.
But the blasted tree man just kept walking and talking like we were the only two people on the planet he could possibly talk to.
I guess this is what you get for arriving right when they opened.
One thing was for sure. The manadoredhis trees. He'd been talking for an entire hour without running out of things to tell us or stories to share. Maya had a pleasant smile on her face the entire time, and I wasn’t sure if she was humoring him or if she enjoyed learning everything there was to know about pine trees.
After another ten minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed time with Maya without tree man stealing her attention.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you for the tour, Leaf, and all the knowledge you shared about your trees. I think the lady and I will peruse on our own for a while and see if we can’t find the right one to fit in our space.”
Did I purposefully make it sound like we were together and picking one out for our shared place?
Yes. Yes, I did.
Maya gave me the side eye while I just smiled.
Leaf seemed surprised that we wouldn’t need his help and sputtered for a moment before taking a step back. “Well, of course. Take your time and let me know if you have any questions for me.” He looked very much like he hoped we had more questions.
Poor guy.
Instead of walking back down the row, Leaf literally walkedintothe trees, disappearing beneath the boughs.
Maya sighed and whispered, “Is he really gone?” She watched the branches for any sign of movement.
“I think so. He probably went to the Under-tree-world.”
Maya snorted at my lame attempt at a joke, and I couldn’t keep the dorky grin from my face.
“You should’ve gotten rid of him sooner,” she said.
“What? You mean youdidn’twant to learn about how you can gauge humidity in the air by looking at pine cones?”
Maya snorted. “I don’t need to look at pine cones when the state of my hair will tell me all I need to know.”
