Christmasland - Anne-Marie Meyer Page 0,53

make all the pain worth it.”

I couldn’t help but feel as if her statement was directed toward me. The way she was staring at me made me shiver. Did she know something that I didn’t?

“So where are we going to set this?” Em asked as she clapped her hands and rubbed them together like she’d just asked something sinister.

Carol perked up as she moved away from Ethan and waved for us to follow her into the living room. A spot had been cleared right by the fireplace. “I was thinking here,” she said as she stood in the spot and raised her arms like she was pretending to be a tree.

“By the fire?” Ethan asked.

I turned to see that he had followed us but was keeping his distance. He was leaning his shoulder against the doorframe.

Carol tsked him. “It’ll be fine. We’ll keep it far enough away that there’s no chance of a fire.” She waved away his comment. “Now, who wants to go to the barn and get out the ornaments?”

Em and Porter raised their hands, and before anyone could join them, they had their jackets in hand and were heading out the door. I gave Em an inquisitive look, to which she just giggled and waved me away.

At least she was having fun.

“That leaves you two to get the tree in the stand.” Carol waved toward the green tree stand in the corner. “I found this in the basement. It should work perfectly with the tree.”

I parted my lips to tell her that I was planning on joining Em and Porter, but Carol didn’t wait for my response. Instead, she hurried from the room when a man lingering by the front desk called her name.

Now alone with Ethan, I turned to peek at him. His jaw was set, and he had moved his arms up to fold them across his chest. He looked irritated, and I wasn’t sure how to read his response. Was he irritated at me or the fact that Carol hadn’t taken him up on his suggestion to move the tree?

“It’ll be okay,” I said before I could stop myself.

Ethan flicked his gaze over to me, the furrow between his eyebrows deepening. “What will?”

I swallowed as I waved to the empty spot that had been earmarked for the tree. “The location.”

Ethan sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He pushed off the doorframe and went to grab the tree.

I hurried over to the tree stand and set it in the middle of the space before I made my way into the foyer to help him. The tree began making its way toward me. I could barely make Ethan out from behind the branches.

“Can I help?” I asked as I stepped out of the way.

“Nah, I got it.” His voice was muffled, and all I could see was his arms as they wrapped around the tree.

“Really, I can help,” I said as I followed after him. I reached out and brushed his arm, and he jolted back as if I’d burned him. Realizing that I’d probably startled him, I apologized.

Ethan didn’t respond. He just kept moving. There was no way he was going to let me help, and I was trying hard to not let that hurt my feelings. I kept pace with him until we got to the stand. After a few failed attempts to stick the tree into the base, I finally dropped to the ground and helped him thread the needle.

Once the trunk was inside, I worked on tightening the screws so that the tree was upright and secure. Ethan joined me once the tree was stable to tighten them past the point that I could get them, but he kept his attention on everything but me.

I tried to offer him a smile, but he never took me up on it. As soon as the tree was secure, he was out from under the tree in a flash. I blew out my breath as I stayed in my spot. Closing my eyes, I tried to push away the feelings of hurt that brewed inside of me.

I had just read into things too much, that was all. He was here as an employee of the inn, and I had been the ridiculous guest who had romanticized everything. The sooner I woke up and realized what was truly going on, the better off I would be.

It didn’t take long for Em and Porter to return. They were each carrying boxes of decorations in their arms