CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Rebecca—
On Tuesday, JJ is out in the fields cutting trees. He’s already got about twenty set up in the cash and carry lot, but he wants another twenty so the place looks full on opening day.
I stay behind at the cabin, working on getting the shed ready. We have a delivery coming soon.
Early this morning, UPS delivered three big boxes of the little black dogs I ordered. I’ve been attaching the logo tags and setting them out on the shelves JJ built me.
I hear a vehicle coming up the gravel drive and step outside.
The owner of Silver Bells Ornaments rolls up. He’s bringing us four boxes of ornaments, and I meet him at his truck and shake his hand. “Hello, Miles. Thank you so much for doing this.”
“No problem. I think it will work out well for both of us. Where do you want them?”
I show him inside the shed, and he sets them on the plywood table.
Miles has curly brown hair, glasses and a warm smile. He nods toward the display of stuffed dogs.
“That’s a great idea. I bet they’ll be a big seller.”
“I’m hoping all the kids ask their parents for one,” I admit.
“I’m sure my little Gracie is going to want one. We plan to get a tree next week.”
“Fantastic. I’ll be excited to meet her.”
He breaks open a box and grins at me. “I gave some thought to your business and came up with these two ornaments. I think they’ll be a big hit as well.”
“I’m dying to see,” I reply.
He pulls out two ornaments, carefully unwrapping them.
“Since your business is called Holly Jolly Christmas Tree Farm, I thought this one could be Holly and this one could be Jolly.” In one hand he holds up a girl elf holding a candy cane, and in the other he holds up a boy elf holding a stack of wrapped presents. “What do you think?”
I put my hands to my cheeks. “Oh, Miles. They’re adorable. I love them, and the idea of naming them—that’s brilliant.”
“I was able to get eight dozen of each.” He nods toward the truck. “I’ve got one more thing.”
When he returns, he’s holding a tall pole with wooden spindles sticking out. “I brought you one of my ornament displays to use.”
“That’s perfect. I’ll set it right by the cash register so everyone sees them, and maybe I’ll put a set right on the counter. How much do we sell them for? Should they be a set?”
“I think you’ll get more sales if you sell them individually, and I’d price them at fifteen dollars each.”
“I think you’re right.”
He puts his hands on his hips and takes in the place. I’ve decorated it with garland and twinkling lights and hand-painted candy cane signs.
“It looks great, Rebecca. Jim and Trudy never had anything like this.”
“Thank you.”
He pats my shoulder. “They left this place to the right person. You’ve done a great job with it. Everyone in town is talking about the trees you’ve set up in all the shops, plus that ad is a big hit.”
“I hope so. We’ve got some stiff competition from Angel Ridge.”
“That place is nice, but now that you’re up and running, I can’t see why you won’t get most of the town’s business.”
“That would be the dream. I hope you’re right, Miles.”
“Well, I’ll let you get back to it.”
I walk with him to his truck. He pauses before sliding behind the wheel.
“If you manage to sell everything, it should bring in almost three grand.”
“I’ll sell them. I’m sure of it. The elves are a fantastic idea, and they’re adorable. No one will be able to resist them.”
After Miles leaves, I get busy putting them on the tall display. The ornaments are breakable, and I try to be extra cautious with them. I’m almost finished when I hear JJ returning with the tractor and trailer full of cut trees.
I meet him outside the shed as the tractor rolls to a stop.
JJ looks good up there on the tractor in his thermal shirt and flannel shirt over it, the sleeves rolled up, exposing his tattooed forearms.
He walks to the trailer and tosses one tree over his shoulder, and I follow him to the lot where forty staked poles stand, with twenty still bare and waiting for a tree to be tied to them.
JJ drops the tree from his shoulder, and I dig a couple of zip ties from the cardboard box nearby, passing them to him.
“Thanks.”
When he gets them attached, we both stand back and observe the tree.
“This load is all Fraser firs,” he says.
“They’re beautiful.”
Together we get the rest set up and admire the lot.
“It looks good, JJ.”
“It does,” he agrees.
I put a hand on his arm. “I want to show you something.”
He follows me to the shed. “Hey, the dogs look great.”
“They do, don’t they? But this is what I wanted to show you.” I gesture to the display of elves. “Miles dropped off these adorable ornaments. Check them out.”
“How about that? They are cute, aren’t they?”
“Miles came up with the idea of naming them Holly and Jolly. Isn’t that clever?” I pick up one, and its string catches on the spindle, and it slips from my hand, crashing to the floor and breaking in pieces. “Oh, no!” Tears sting my eyes, and I squat, gathering the pieces. “I’m such an idiot.”
JJ tugs me to my feet. “Hey, don’t say that. It’s okay. Everyone makes mistakes.”
“I should have been more careful. It’s ruined. I’m so sorry.”
“Babe, it’s okay. Things break. It’s not a big deal.”
“It is. I’ve only got so many.” If I’d broken something in front of David, he’d berate me as being a stupid, clumsy moron.
Even on the occasions when he dropped or broke something, he always turned it around to be my fault.
Once he’d knocked a figurine his mother had given us off a side table, but of course it was my fault for putting it in such a stupid place.
JJ’s chin pulls to the side, and he studies me, and I wonder if he knows what I’m thinking. “If I had broken it, would you have called me an idiot?”
“Of course not.” I know what he’s doing. My brain tells me he’s right, but it’s a hard habit to break, blaming myself for everything that happens.
“Then don’t put yourself down like that.”
I nod. JJ is so different from David, and the way JJ and I are with each other is so far from how David and I interacted.
JJ handles my mistake with humor and grace, and it triggers the sudden, overwhelming certainty that this relationship radically differs from my marriage.
When I first met JJ, when I first saw him standing in his leather cut near the fire in the attorney’s office, I was sure he’d be worse than David ever was.
And at first JJ’s grumpy behavior reinforced that belief, but the more time I spend with him, the more I’ve come to realize he’s nothing like David in the best way possible.
I feel safe with JJ. I know he’d never do anything to hurt me. He cares about what I think, about my ideas, my hopes, and my dreams in a way David never really exhibited.
I can’t help the comparison, and maybe it’s not fair, but maybe it is.
Maybe my eyes are really opening for the first time about how I deserve to be treated.
“JJ?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re my partner in this.”
My words bring the sweetest smile to his face, and my heart melts a little more.