I can feel it.”
“Oh yeah, Twinkle Toes?”
He snorted. “That’s the best you can do? Twinkle Toes?”
“I had more colorful names I would have preferred, but there are children around.”
The place was swarming with kids and their parents here to pick out a tree for their homes. It made sense that everyone was out early before all the good ones were gone. In my opinion, Miriam and Robert did it the right way. They had a fake tree that they’d purchased last year. It wasn’t cheap by any means, but then again, nothing in Vancouver was ever cheap. They’d made an investment with the intention of using that tree for years to come. The tree itself would become a tradition.
I wished Jon would do that, too. It would save us a big headache.
“I never expected you to be the kind of woman to watch your language around kids,” Ethan mused as he continued shopping for a tree.
I trailed along behind him with my shoulders bunched up to ward off the damp cold of Vancouver. The ocean was a mere two miles or so away and a cold front blew through the streets of the city. It felt like maybe, just maybe, it would snow tonight if the rain in the forecast stuck around.
“My best friend has two children, so I’ve trained myself to pay more attention,” I said.
Ethan whistled. “Two kids, damn. Now that’s hard work. My brother’s wife is very pregnant right now. She’s due the first week of January. First baby born since my little sister. It’s going to be crazy having a kid around again.”
“They’re not all they’re cracked up to be.”
“Kids?”
“Yes. Kids.”
“Now I find that hard to believe,” he said, pausing to inspect a tree with a wide base and dark needles. He turned to me. “Kids are kids. You can’t not like kids.”
“Sure, I can.”
“Seriously? You don’t like kids?”
“Not really. They’re sticky. And loud. And needy.”
“Well, of course, they are. They’re kids!”
“I know.”
Ethan shook his head and laughed. “You’re missing out. Kids are a riot. They say what’s on their minds with no regard for social norms. They still have active imaginations. They’re not worn out and bitter like the rest of us adults. They’re a breath of fresh air once you understand them.”
I shrugged. “Meh. I don’t need to understand them.”
Ethan’s brow furrowed and a lock of slicked-back dark-blond hair fell free to dangle in front of his forehead. He slicked it back into place. “You just said your best friend has two kids.”
“And?”
“Isn’t that enough reason to try to understand them?”
I lifted my chin and crammed my hands in my coat pockets. “Mind your own business, would you?”
He held up his hands innocently. “All right, all right. I’m just saying.”
“Can we just focus on the task at hand? It’s cold out.” I shivered as the words left my lips. It was darned cold. I ached for the summer warmth in the city. I hated all the other seasons. In the summertime, I would work on my balcony and sip chilled white wine or mojitos. In the winter, I hibernated until the days got longer and the world warmer.
“We can’t rush this. We have to make the right choice. It’s an important task.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as Ethan abandoned the tree he’d been inspecting and continued searching. “You don’t know what the word ‘important’ means if you think this qualifies as an important task. Jon is playing a cruel joke on us.”
Ethan looked back at me over his shoulder. “You’re bitter for such a beautiful woman. Has anyone ever told you that?”
I stopped walking. “What?”
He stopped walking too and turned around. “What?”
“You just said I was…” I trailed off.
“Beautiful?”
“Yeah.”
Ethan grinned deviously. “Did I finally find a way to put you at a loss for words? All I have to do is compliment you?”
“You were just trying to provoke me,” I said.
He shook his head earnestly. “No, I wasn’t. I mean it. You’re a beautiful woman. Just because I hate your guts doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the packaging they come in.”
“Eww.”
Ethan laughed. “See? Bitter.”
“I’m not.”
“You definitely are.”
With a tired sigh, I hung my head and admitted defeat. “Okay, fine. I’m bitter. Happy? Can we just pick out a damn tree now?”
Ethan’s grin broadened. I grumbled and brushed past him, officially hellbent on finding the right tree so we could end this torture. As I rounded a bend in the maze of trees, I happened upon the owner and one of his