Short Order

learns that a chicken doesn’t come cut up and wrapped in plastic film in real life. I doubted it, though. Maybe he just didn’t know people decorated live trees and put them in their living rooms.
“Yeah. This is the most responsible kind of Christmas tree.” I grunted as we pushed and pulled it to the edge of the truck bed and onto the back lift.
“So you can return it after the holidays?” He steadied the pot as I lowered the lift.
“No. So I can plant it after the holidays.”
“Oh, yeah? Where?” He sounded suspicious, like I’d plant it in his yard. Not a chance. It was my tree, not his.
“I don’t know. Probably at my mom’s. I’ll figure it out in the spring.” I shrugged even though my shoulders hurt since I was pulling while he was supposed to be pushing the dolly up the stairs. I looked behind me at how many more steps we had to go to get to the top. “You want to stop a minute?”
We rested, then soldiered on, finally getting the tree into the tower room.
“You want to help me decorate?” I asked as we gulped down water. We were sitting on the back of the truck, letting the cool air wash over us. He hesitated a long time before he nodded and looked over at me.
As we strung the twinkle lights I’d gotten, along with ornaments from the hardware store, I celebrated that this was the first tree I’d bought on my own. I plugged in the lights and stood back to enjoy the effect.
“C’mon.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him out into the front yard with me. I sighed as I looked up at the lights sparkling through the windows in the round tower. “Perfect. Just what I planned. What do you think?”
He was standing next to me, our hands still clasped. His face shone in the light of the rising moon.
I started to remove my hand from his, but he tightened his in a vise grip.
“It’s beautiful.” The words were so soft I almost missed them.
His eyes appeared a little watery. Gently I slipped my hand from his and put my arm around his shoulders. He snuggled closer and put his arm around my waist.
“Thanks for sharing this with me.” His breath misted in the cold, and we both shivered.
“Okay. Wassail, popcorn, and ornaments. We’re not done yet.” I slapped him on the butt and scurried to the porch as he ran after me.
It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Chapter 6
The next day at work, John walked into my area of the nursery with the blond man I’d seen through the window at the Silver Star restaurant. I’d been filling in holes where we’d sold wreaths and swags the day before. I was definitely going to have to make more this afternoon. For some reason, they were both particularly popular this year.
“Fen, this is David. He’s the manager of the Star.” John acted like we hadn’t stayed up late kissing and fooling around the night before. He was all business, but I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.
Instead, I reached up and shook hands with David. “What can I do for you?”
David had been staring around the gift-shop area. I’d decorated three of the walls with different kinds of swags and left the fourth wall as a display of the various wreaths we had premade. When Beth found out I wasn’t afraid of pine needles and could wrestle boughs into arcs and circles, I’d been appointed Cuttings’ official wreath and swag guy. With everything else I was doing—particularly keeping up with the kids some days—stocking this area was about to kill me.
“You created all these?” David waved a hand at the traditional Christmas wall displays constructed from fir branches, winter nuts, and berries.
“Yeah, most of them. A few of them aren’t all-natural materials, though.” I watched him as he walked around. He occasionally touched a bow or a pinecone and nodded. Why did he care who made them?
Then he turned to John. “You were right. He’s got an eye for this.”
I still had no clue what they were doing here, but I knew Cuttings was filling up with shoppers, and I’d be needed somewhere else soon, probably up at the checkout counter.
“I’d like you to decorate the Star,” David said.
“What? Why? Isn’t the place already decorated?” I was confused. Was he asking me to add to what they already had? Oh fuck no!
David’s face had scrunched into a frown. “Well, I’m not sure you’d call what happened to the place decorating.”
“I’m not a decorator or a designer.” Anybody could put together a wreath or a swag, couldn’t they?
David studied the walls again.
“Doesn’t matter. You do good work. If you’re interested.” He looked at John. “Whatever you do will be better than what’s on the walls now.”
John, who I’d thought had spaced out during our talk, snickered. What was so funny?
I was a little interested because it’d help promote Beth’s nursery, so I agreed to go over to the restaurant later in the afternoon if she could spare me. When I asked her, she was thrilled that Cuttings might be getting the Star’s business and said to go now. She and Kate could handle everything until I got back. David thanked her for sparing me, and we were on our way.
I drove my truck, and John rode with me. As we followed David into town, John sat quietly at first. “I hope you don’t mind that I told him about what we did last night,” he muttered.
“You told him we stayed up almost all night and did everything but have full-on sex?” I was teasing, and he knew it.
He hit me on the arm. “Yeah, he was happy to know I was getting out and getting some.”
I laughed. Okay, so he wasn’t going to blush.
“No, I don’t mind you told him about putting up the tree and decorating. I just don’t get it.” As