Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,33
tree lot. You should see this place. All red, green and terpenes.”
“Ter-what?”
“Never mind. Good to hear from you.”
“Great! Because I’m very excited about your article, and so is the editorial board. But more importantly, I’m calling to invite you to our Christmas party at the magazine.”
“Mom.” Katie found it hard to hide her aggravation. Mom was worse than a matchmaker, only instead of setting her up on dates, she was always trying to get her a job…and she knew Katie wanted to write that second novel.
Katie meandered along the wooden fence. Fresh garland in different lengths hung like decorations until someone bought them. Even all these terpenes couldn’t keep her from getting a little tired of the same old discussion about Mom’s office party.
“I know. I know I invite you every year. And every year you say the same thing. I also asked your brother if he could make it to the city, but with the new baby on the way, they aren’t going to leave Seattle. I told him I’d come out when the little one is born. Maybe you can come with me.”
“That would be great. I still can’t picture him as a father.”
“Hopefully, he’ll be more involved than your father was.”
She didn’t engage on that comment. Dad had been a dutiful father. He always told her he loved her, and supported every activity she was involved in, and there had been many. Sure, he’d worked a lot, but she’d never felt neglected. It’d been hard when they’d split up, though, because neither parent had anything nice to say about the other. Probably exactly why she was so careful about her relationships.
“It’ll just be me and you this year again, honey.”
“I’m okay with that. I like our Christmas traditions. I like that we keep them small. I like ordering in on Christmas day. Keeping it just us is nice.” The thought of sharing Mom with not only her brother but with a grandchild suddenly made her more eager to spend Christmas alone with Mom this year.
“And we will do all of those things. But it’s not so bad to share the holiday with more people. And it could open some doors for your future—business and personal. It’s a great place to mingle.”
“Okay, Mom. I hear you. Listen, I’m not here to ruin your fun. I like that you enjoy big parties. I just like quieter gatherings.” She watched the families selecting their trees. They were making memories. “You’d love Evergreen too, Mom.”
“But you’re RSVPing no.”
“I am.”
“I suspected as much. Okay, so when am I going to see something about this article?”
“You can expect an email with some story ideas within the next day or so, okay?”
“I appreciate that. Thank you, honey.”
“You’re welcome, Mom.”
A family across the way was having a heck of a time deciding on the perfect tree. Apparently harder than it sounded. Something she’d never done. Living in the city, her apartment building didn’t allow live trees, so it was only a matter of putting up an artificial one when she even bothered. If she had to pick one out today, she didn’t know where she’d begin. It seemed nearly impossible to pick between them all, standing tied to the posts like that. Fat ones, skinny ones, tall and short. Long needles, short needles, prickly or soft.
Doing her own little test, she checked each of the different species Henry had on the lot. There were firs, pines, and spruce trees, and there were two or three varieties of each of those. Even between some of the same species, the firs for instance, there were subtle differences. The subtle smell of the Douglas Fir was different than the Fraser or the Balsam Fir, which smelled more like her favorite candles; even the needles and colors were slightly different.
Grazing her fingers across the needles, she gave them the sniff test, trying to imagine them decorated. She could imagine for a moment that she was alone in the forest. A calm came over her, so relaxing she wondered if it might wash away her every worry. It was as if Christmas angels on the terpene clouds had rescued her and whisked her away to this magical Christmas place.
She looked around, having lost track of Ben and Henry while on the phone with Mom and this little research side trip. Finally, she caught a glimpse of the back of Ben’s green jacket as he entered the barn, carrying a huge box.
“Ben. Wait.” She caught up with him. “What’s all that?”