Fifteen | Jasmin
Fifteen
Jasmin
“ Y ou have got to be kidding me,” I groaned into the phone, closing my eyes as I rubbed my fingers against my temple. “How did that happen?”
I waited as Bert went on about how the truck that was supposed to be delivering the Christmas tree for Frosty Fest got stuck on the highway and had to turn around.
“So I’m stuck without a tree for the festival?”
“Sorry, Jasmin. I offered to try to help him get it here, but there’s no easy way into Sugarplum Falls. This storm has shut down the roads in and out of town. Even if we brought in extra help to try to get it here, we would just be putting more lives at risk.”
“No, you’re right. I understand, and I wouldn’t want anyone to risk going out in that storm. I’ll just have to get creative and see if I can figure something else out.”
“Okay. Let me know if I can help. Sam said you might need your driveway cleared soon so I can take the snowplow over and start working on it if you want me to.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not at home. I came out to the Truman ranch to discuss securing the reindeer for the event and didn’t make it out before the storm happened.”
“Isn’t Mr. Truman’s grandson a real pain in the ass?” Bert asked with a deep chuckle.
“To say the least. But thank you for letting me know about the tree situation. I’ll see what I can do and touch base if I need anything.”
“Sounds good. Take care, Jasmin.”
“You too, Bert.”
I hung up the phone and let my head fall back as I chewed the inside of my cheek in frustration. It felt like everything with Frosty Fest was falling apart, and I was trapped out here—in the middle of nowhere—unable to do anything about it.
“Everything okay?” Brody asked, eyeing me as he walked into the kitchen where I was sitting at the table.
“No, but it will be.” I sighed heavily, scribbling down a note to find a new tree.
It wasn’t that we didn’t have other trees to put up in the mall for Frosty Fest. It was that we always had a beautiful, ginormous one in the middle of the mall that everyone loved to look at. Many times, we used it as a giving tree and put up tags for local families who needed a little extra help during the holidays. People would grab a tag and then leave a wrapped present with that person’s name on it under it until Frosty Fest. Then, after the parade, Santa and Mrs. Claus would gather around it, handing out the gifts.
“Anything I can help with?” he offered, surprising the shit out of me. Since when did he offer to help with anything? What had happened to his whole, I’m too busy for you spiel he had been giving me since the moment I approached him about the reindeer?
“ You want to help me?” I questioned in disbelief.
He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal—but it was. Brody had been quick to help last night with the whole massage thing, which absolutely had a happy ending. But now he was offering to help me with something related to Frosty Fest? Maybe he was unwell this morning and I shouldn’t have had a muffin after all.
“I don’t have much else I can do today since the storm hasn’t stopped, and I’m bored. So yeah, I want to help. What’s going on with the Frozen Palooza?”
“Frosty Fest,” I said as nicely as I could through gritted teeth. Why couldn’t he just remember the name? It wasn’t that hard. But then again, he was still calling me Princess and Crazy Boot Lady, so maybe names weren’t his thing.
“Alright, what’s going on with Frosty Fest ?” He rolled his hand for me to get to the point.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, wishing I had one of Sam’s lattes to calm me down right now.
“The company I was using to secure a twelve-foot-tall Douglas-fir for the festival had trouble getting into town due to the storm. They had to turn around, which means we don’t have a tree.”
“Sugarplum Falls is literally in the middle of the mountains. Why not just cut one down and call it a day?”
“Because you can’t do that. You can’t just go around town cutting down trees, Brody. There are laws against that.”
“Okay, what about a tree farm? Surely you guys have one of those? I’ve seen how obsessed the town is with Christmas, so you can’t tell me you guys don’t have a Christmas tree farm. That would be a sin.”
“We do,” I said, exhaling heavily as I leaned back in the chair. “The problem is that they don’t have anything that big. All of their trees are between five to seven feet tall. I need something bigger. I was lucky to snag the twelve-foot one and paid extra to have the guy haul it into town for us. But now he can’t make it, and we needed the tree to go up like yesterday.”
“But I thought the festival wasn’t for a few more weeks?” He pulled his brows together in confusion as he sat down across from me.
“It’s not, but we put the big tree up early since it’s a giving tree. The festival takes place at the mall, where there’s a lot of foot traffic. It encourages people to shop for the people who’ve left tags on the tree if it’s already there and they see it.”
He nodded as if it all finally made sense.
“So, the guy who was hauling it in doesn’t live in Sugarplum Falls?”
“No. He lives in the next town over. But my friend Bert said all of the roads in and out of Sugarplum Falls are bad. No one can get through. Bert offered to help the guy get it here, but it’s too dangerous. He has a big truck and one of the few snowplows in town, but I don’t think it’s a match for what this storm has brought in.”
“Do you think he could get out here?”
“I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug of my shoulders. “Possibly. It’s only thirty minutes from here to Sugarplum Falls, so he might be able to clear the roads easily. They are somewhat narrow, but who knows? It’s a lot shorter of a distance than what he would have to go to help Tim, the guy with the tree.”
“Well, if he can get out here and clear the roads, I will get you a tree.”
I shook my head, not wanting to believe something good was about to happen.
“I’m sorry—what?”
“Call Bert and see if he can make it out here and clear the roads. If so, I’ll help you get a tree to the mall for the Frozen Palooza.”
“Frosty Fest,” I corrected.
“Same difference.”
“It’s not, actually.” I folded my arms over my chest and arched an eyebrow at him.
“Do you want a tree or not?”
I tipped my head back and exhaled heavily.
“Fine. But only because I literally have no other choice.”
“Call him and let me know what he says. I’m going to go check on the reindeer and feed them. I’ll be back in soon.”
I nodded and grabbed my phone, the call already ringing before Brody could step outside.