young sons. They were securing a tree with a piece of rope to hold the branches down so a customer could affix it to the roof of their car.
“Hi there,” the owner said with a whiskery smile. “Can I help you with something, miss?”
“I’m looking for a tree,” I said lamely.
“Well, you’re in the right place,” he said before nodding at his son. “Can you finish this up? I’ll help the young lady find a nice tree.”
His son nodded and he stepped away, wiping his hands on his sap-stained jeans. “What would tickle your fancy? A spruce? A pine?”
I blinked. “Um, I don’t really care. It’s for my boss. He loves Christmas and he sent my co-worker and me out here to pick out a tree, but we’ve been here for almost forty-five minutes and he’s yet to make a decision. You’re the professional. Help me, please.”
The owner had a nice warm laugh. “I can do that. Come with me. I think I have just the tree for you.”
I hollered at Ethan to follow us. He emerged from between two trees and flicked needles off his coat as he trailed on my heels. The owner brought us right to the edge of the fence, where he pulled a slumped-over tree upward and balanced it on its cut stump. It was all tied up, its branches secured upward against the trunk, but it had girth and promise, even tied down.
“Now this bad boy has presence,” the owner said. “A customer came to pick it up but wasn’t able to fit it in his living room, so he opted for a smaller one. This monster is nine and a half feet tall. It’s a spruce, very healthy, very festive. It’s the nicest tree in my yard.”
I turned to Ethan and buried my chin in my scarf as I started to shiver. “Can we get this one?”
Ethan inspected it diligently. “It looks nice.”
“I’m telling you, it’s the right choice,” the owner said.
Ethan nodded. “We’ll take it.”
I groaned with relief. Finally. My feet were hurting and I cursed Jon for sending me out into the cold to do this with Ethan in five-inch heels. I was dressed to sell, not shop for dead trees.
Ethan handed Jon’s black Visa to the owner, who ran it through an attachment on his cell phone and emailed Ethan the bill. He lumbered off to help other customers and we were left to our own devices to figure out how to get the massive tree back to the office.
Ethan pursed his lips and stroked his chin as he stared at the tree. “I guess we should have thought of this part before we bought the biggest tree the guy had to offer.”
I stood on the curb shivering with my hands crammed under my armpits. “You think?”
“The office is only eight blocks up the road. We can carry it.”
I stared at the tree. “Carry it? Are you serious? How much does this thing weigh?”
“I don’t know, seventy-five pounds or so?”
“And you think I can carry this thing eight blocks back to the office?”
“I’ll let you take the top end,” he offered. “It’s lighter.”
“It’s lighter,” I mocked with a sharp growl. “You’re a jackass, Ethan Collinder. You hear me? An absolute jackass. Look at my shoes.” I lifted a foot and pointed at my heels. “Do you think these are Christmas-tree-toting shoes?”
“I’m not the one who makes you wear those things. Don’t blame me.”
“Oh, I blame you,” I hissed. “I definitely blame you.”
He pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on. “Just pick up your end so we can get this over with, princess. If you can close a pitch like Perfect Pairings, you can handle carrying a Christmas tree.”
I wasn’t going to back down from the challenge, so I did as he said and picked up the top end of the tree. It was hard to get a proper grip and I didn’t have gloves to protect my hands from the needles that poked into my skin. I kept my mouth shut and cursed him silently in my head as we started up the block. The whole way back to the office was a slight incline, and by the time we were halfway there, my calves burned furiously and my hands were so cold they were numb and I couldn’t feel the needles biting at me anymore.
My back, shoulders, and neck all hurt from the awkward angle I had to hold the tree, and my feet