‘Perfect!’ said Iris, passing a saw for the women through the window. ‘Have fun, ladies.’
‘Will we see you on Sunday?’ Carol asked.
‘I wouldn’t miss it.’
The women all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. ‘We were worried you were leaving us for this new gig.’
‘Never! I have plenty of time to do both.’ Iris smiled, and Kira wondered where she got all her energy.
‘Good, because the woman we had before you was just awful. No sense of humor.’
Iris frowned. ‘Did you push her in the pool, Marissa?’
Marissa didn’t even bother to look contrite. ‘She was asking for it.’
The three women burst out laughing and Kira made a mental note not to cross this crew. They took their saw and waved goodbye to Iris, smiling at Kira as they went.
‘Do you need help finding anything?’ she asked, now even more pleased with her decision to hire Iris, but also feeling like she should do something for her customers.
‘No, dear, we’ve been coming here for years.’ Carol stopped and patted her shoulder. ‘We are so glad you reopened the farm. A real piece of history here. We didn’t know if anyone would buy it after all those rumors about the former owner.’
‘The what? What rumors?’
‘Come on, Carol! We have trees to find!’ Janet called, already hiking down the closest trail.
‘Oh, it’s nothing to worry about, dear,’ Carol assured her as she followed her friends. ‘I’m sure it’s not true!’
Rumors about the former owner? What was she talking about? Kira was about to ask Iris why she hadn’t mentioned any rumors, when a family with three very excited kids came up asking about where to find a blue spruce, and then a couple who had driven over an hour to get here wanted to fit several trees onto their compact car, and then a family with a new baby who were looking for the perfect first Christmas-picture spot wanted her opinion. By the time Kira had handled all of that, she’d forgotten the rumor of rumors completely.
Iris was right about another thing, Dream Harbor showed up. By the time she could sneak in a quick lunch break in the cabin, Kira was pretty sure the entire town had stopped by to pick out a tree. It was a Christmas miracle.
Families were wandering between the trees in their matching Christmas sweaters, kids were squealing with delight as the trees fell, old couples were sipping cocoa while their trees were secured to their cars. The whole scene was like something out of a dream.
A new dream.
A dream in which Kira ran a successful farm and didn’t freeze to death.
She liked this dream. Maybe everything she’d told Chloe this morning was coming true. Maybe she was thriving here. Or she could, anyway.
This reckless idea might actually work out.
Chapter Nine
Kira’s reopening announcement at the tree lighting had clearly paid off. When Bennett pulled up at the farm with Jeanie and Logan, the place was packed. He was riding shotgun in Logan’s truck and Jeanie stuck her head up from the back seat to talk to them.
‘Wow, it looks great!’
‘Crowded,’ Logan grumbled.
‘It’s festive!’ Jeanie said. ‘I love that she strung up all the lights and look at how cute the little cabin is!’
Bennett had to admit it all looked really nice. Even the cabin looked reasonably safe. Kira had set up a rocking chair on the front porch and a wreath on the door, so it looked more like a house than like a customer-service booth.
‘That’s where we get the saws,’ he told the others.
‘No need. Brought my own,’ Logan said, pulling the truck in between two cars that already had trees tied to their roofs.
‘Of course you did.’ Jeanie rolled her eyes, but her adoring smile made it pretty damn obvious how she felt about her fiancé.
Bennett hopped out of the truck as soon as they were parked. Jeanie’s friends, Hazel and Noah, were also meeting them today so they could all pick out trees together. It should be a fun day, but Bennett would be lying if he said he was scanning the crowd for Jeanie’s friends.
There was really only one person he was looking for.
‘Where should we start?’ Logan asked, coming up beside him.
‘We have to wait for everyone to get here,’ Jeanie said. ‘Ooh … but let’s get cocoa while we wait!’
‘You own a café. Does a hot beverage really excite you that much?’ Bennett asked with a laugh as they walked toward the cabin.
‘Of course.’ She nudged him. ‘Isn’t this fun? Aren’t you glad you came to stay?’
‘Yeah, definitely…’ Bennett’s words trailed off as he got a glimpse of Kira striding across the parking lot. She was heading right toward him.
Definitely glad he came.
The woman walking his way was a far cry from the one he’d met on his first day here. For one, she wasn’t wrapped in bedding. She was sporting her new coat with faux-fur-lined boots to match, her long legs in skintight jeans. Her cheeks were pink from the cool air, her dark bangs brushing across her forehead as she moved. And she moved … well … she moved like she owned the place. But the biggest difference was the smile. It transformed her entire face. It transformed the air around her, the very atoms in the air between them. It transformed him.
Holy shit. Kira was gorgeous.
