My Kind of Christmas (The Christmas Tree Ranch #1)(70)
“A partnership?” Hank blinked in disbelief.
“For as long as you want it. No more paying for trees off a truck. You can sell ours and split the profits with us. Everybody wins, including the customers.”
“And you can pass out a coupon for a free sleigh ride with every tree—to use when it snows.” Conner had come over to shake Hank’s hand.
Rush did the same. “If it snows,” he added.
They looked up at the cheerless winter sky and shook their heads. The snow from the last storm had melted. The ground was bare, the sky unpromising.
Maggie shared their disappointment. White Christmases were magical in Branding Iron. But they were all too rare. Most years the townspeople had to make do with brown earth, yellow grass, bare trees, and Santa’s sleigh on a flatbed. It appeared that this year would be no different.
She glanced at her watch. It was almost 2:30. “I need to get back for my meeting,” she said. “Do you mind taking me now, Francine?”
“Go ahead, Francine,” Travis said. “I’ll be staying here to help set up.”
Maggie blew him a kiss and followed Francine to her car. Both women were in high spirits as they drove back into town. “I had a feeling everything would work out all right,” Francine said. “It just took a little time and patience.”
“And some help from your very smart son-in-law,” Maggie added. “Ben was unbelievable. But we still don’t have our Santa for the parade this weekend—unless we just want to go with Bucket.”
Francine laughed. “You leave that to me, honey. I can be very persuasive when I put my mind to it.”
*
Maggie’s meeting, a line-item budget review for the next year, which was just like last year’s, seemed to drag on forever. She tried not to remind herself that she was only here as a courtesy. All she really needed to do was sign the budget when it came across her desk.
Now it was almost 4:30. They had at least half an hour to go, and Maggie wasn’t the only one stifling a yawn.
The plate glass window of the conference room looked out on Main Street. As the budget chairman’s voice droned on, she gazed out at the bare trees and darkening sky.
Christmas lights, strung between the lampposts, swayed and danced in the wind. Was a storm moving in? Or was it just another dry cold front that would pass before the night was over, leaving nothing behind?
A single, fluffy speck of white drifted past the window. Maggie held her breath, wishing like a child, as another, then another, then more swirled against the glass like the flakes in a snow globe—a beautiful snow globe as big as the sky.
“Earth to Maggie.” The budget chairman’s teasing voice caught her attention. She blinked herself back to the present.
“Maggie, it’s been moved and seconded that we adjourn until tomorrow, so we can get home ahead of the storm. All in favor say ‘aye.’ ”
“Aye!” Maggie was on her feet, dashing back to her office to grab her coat and purse. Right now, there was only one place she wanted to be.
Snowflakes caught in her hair as she flew down the sidewalk to her car and flung herself inside. The big Lincoln was solid on the road, with good tires. Still, eager as she was, she willed herself not to speed. Last month, when she’d slammed into Travis’s gatepost, the icy slip had changed her life. But she didn’t want to change anybody else’s life on the highway.
When she pulled up to the hardware store, people were already stopping to buy the fresh trees. Christmas music was playing, and the hot chocolate table had been set up next to the building. Hank was hanging a hastily lettered sign next to the gate. The sign read:
CHRISTMAS TREE RANCH
FRESH TREES $30
FREE HOT CHOCOLATE
It took Maggie a moment to spot Travis. He was on the far side of the lot, mounting the last few yards of six-inch wire mesh between the metal posts to replace the old fire-damaged fence.
She climbed out of the car and ran around the outside of the fence to where he stood. Snow swirled around him as he dropped his tools and caught her close, swinging her off the ground before he set her down again. She filled her gaze with him. The cold wind had reddened his cheeks. Snow coated his hair, brows, and lashes. “What is it?” he asked her. “What are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at the man I love and thinking that I could never get enough of seeing you like this,” she said.
“And I feel the same way about you, Mayor Maggie.” He bent down and kissed her. Snow swirled around them as they held each other tight.
“Hey, look at them!” a childish voice piped from somewhere inside the fence.
Flushed and breathless, they broke apart. Travis laughed as he handed her some pliers and a handful of metal clips. “Here,” he said. “Make yourself useful.”
*
In Branding Iron, the last Saturday before Christmas was the biggest day of the year. No matter what the weather, the celebration started at 10:00 AM sharp with the Christmas parade down Main Street. It ended that night in the high school gym with the Cowboy Christmas Ball.
In recent years, the celebration had grown. The two big high schools in Cottonwood Springs now sent their marching bands to join Branding Iron High’s small group. Businesses contributed floats and antique cars for celebrities and politicians. Local riding clubs came with their horses. The Badger Hollow Boys, who furnished the music for the ball, always rode in the back of a 1937 Ford pickup. But the star of the parade was always Branding Iron’s own Santa in his beautiful sleigh.