Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,26
the cookies. You can start decorating.”
Delighted, David hopped up on a stool in front of a stack of truck-shaped cookies and began spreading colored icing across them.
“Hey, is there room for me?” Henry, from the tree farm, tied a green apron around his waist as he walked into the kitchen.
“Always,” Megan said. “Guests, this is Henry Miller from Miller’s Christmas Tree Farm. He has the very best trees in town. That’s where the wreath-making class is held too.”
“Hey everyone.” Henry walked over to Ben. “Hey Nan, I picked out the perfect tree for out in front of the library.”
“Wonderful.”
Ben tugged the dish towel from his shoulder. “I’m late getting started on that.”
“You want to come by tomorrow to pick it up?” Henry asked.
“Yeah. Sure. That would be great. I’ll ask Hannah for the truck, and I’ll pop by sometime tomorrow.”
“That would be good. We’re getting real busy out there.” Henry sprinkled flour across the space in front of him and rolled out cookie dough. “I put aside a nice, tall one for you. Just like you like them.”
Ben, apparently happy over the news of the tree, did a celebratory fist-pump. “Awesome.”
Katie held back a laugh at the youthful antic. Yes, it was easy to imagine Ben as a kid growing up in Evergreen.
He made his way around the island and rolled chilled dough with a fancy ceramic rolling pin that looked almost too pretty for real work.
She leaned in close enough to get a whiff of his aftershave, which was nice. Using her best newscaster voice-over cadence, she said, “People come from miles around to witness the sweet folksy charm of Henry Miller’s Christmas Tree Farm.”
He stopped and gave her an approving glance. “You’re just writing that article right in front of me, aren’t you?”
She nodded with playful confidence and continued pushing the copper cookie cutter into the dough. “I’m just that good.” She’d never met someone quite like him. The banter was so easy, like they’d known each other forever.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” He grabbed a silver dragées and pushed it into the raw cookie at the top like a star. “You’re welcome.”
She hoped the article would be as easy to write as it was fitting in to the day-to-day here in Evergreen.
Chapter Eleven
The kitchen at Barbara’s Country Inn was elbow-to-elbow with help. Megan, wearing a red apron decorated with snowflakes across the bib, handed out aprons to Henry and Ezra, who’d just joined in to help. Megan insisted everyone working in the kitchen wear an apron while decorating.
The guys moaned and groaned about the frilly patterns of the full over-the-head style aprons, but Ben finally folded one down to only wrap around his waist, and the rest of the guys followed suit.
Katie liked the pretty apron she’d been given to wear. She lifted it over her head and struck a pose.
“Very nice.” Ben’s cheeks pinked as if he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, and hers did too.
Ben wore his apron like a tool belt, and it wasn’t a bad look on him at all. He seemed to know his way around the kitchen too. She liked that.
The song playing over the speakers started with a long orchestral lead-in that everyone recognized. “Twelve Days of Christmas,” Hannah shouted, throwing her hands in the air.
“Our favorite,” David said.
And with that, everyone sang along, someone different picking up each of the days.
“On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,” they all sang. Then Hannah pointed to Katie to fill in the blank.
“Ack! I’m not sure.”
“Swans-a-swimming,” David hinted over her shoulder.
“Seven swans-a-swimming,” she shouted out in a hurry.
“Six geese-a-laying,” Henry sang, followed by Hannah in perfect pitch singing, “Five golden rings.”
“Four calling birds,” Megan sang.
“Three French hens,” Henry belted out in an accent, something close to French.
Ben hooked his thumbs together and waved his hands as he sang, “Two turtle doves,” then everyone joined in, “…and a partridge in a pear tree.”
Each progressive round started with nervous laughter as someone was picked to start. And so it went for all twelve days of the song. At the end, they all cheered and clapped. The mingling aromas of sugar, lemon, ginger, peanut butter, and chocolate floated around them.
Megan slid out the last three trays of cookies. “That’s all the baking!”
“Hooray!”
“Now on to decorating.”
“I got a head start,” David said, standing up and holding a big red truck cookie for everyone to see. A shiny glaze of red icing flooded the top of the cookie like a