Chapter 17
Squirrels And Oggies
Their entire group of friends crowded into a couple of vehicles and crossed the road to the nearby Christmas tree farm. Olivia drove her own vehicle, with Ella and Charlie in the back seat and Nash sitting up front with her.
It felt like another family outing, like the one to New York, until spotting Adam’s lookalike had ruined it all. She shoved thoughts of him out of her head. They were focusing on Christmas today.
The group had decided to decorate the farmhouse in an environmentally conscious way. They’d have an old-fashioned Christmas that was about spending time together instead of spending money.
Gifts would be limited to their partners unless they were homemade. Which meant Olivia had been looking up recipes for simple sugar cookies. She hoped to convince Charlie and Nash to help her and Ella Mae decorate.
She didn’t think she had the experience to try gingerbread people or anything too fancy, but she figured they’d have fun trying.
Ella would probably get a sugar high, but Christmas was all about fun.
This would be the girl’s first Christmas without Mary Mae and Liam.
It was going to be difficult in many ways, but Olivia wanted to make it special for Ella.
She was too young to realize it was her first Christmas without her parents, but Olivia would work to make it a good memory anyway.
Something filled with love and family. She’d learned long ago that family wasn’t dependent on blood.
Olivia parked beside Ford’s truck and everyone piled out. Nash strapped on the baby carrier, and she helped him buckle up the little girl, who was more than happy to hang out with her favorite man.
Happy barks sounded from the garage and then a curly white and brown dog bounced their way. Tail wagging furiously, he spun in circles at the sight of the group.
Laughing, a pretty woman followed him. “Breathe, Squirrel. Don’t scare away our neighbors.”
Jolie explained the rest of the group had already met Sylvia Newberry. She and Squirrel ran the Christmas tree farm, although Olivia bet Squirrel didn’t do much other than make everyone smile, which was a very good thing.
Boomer was the only dog they’d brought themselves.
The German shepherd didn’t like letting Amber out of his sight.
Olivia had heard part of the story of why her friend had bought the protection dog.
Now that the danger was over, Boomer wasn’t required so much for protection, but he always stuck close to Amber and Gray.
Charlie dropped to his knees when Squirrel bounced his way. Laughing, he accepted the licks. In direct contrast to Boomer, this dog didn’t sit still for even a moment. Tail wagging, feet bouncing, tongue lolling, he was the epitome of the sugar high she’d imagined earlier.
On Nash’s chest, Ella Mae laughed and clapped her hands. Nash patted her hair. “Maybe we’ll wait until he chills out a bit before we let him lick you.”
“Oggie.”
Olivia battled back the tears. The words were coming more easily for Ella, and Olivia hoped that meant she’d worked her way through the first part of the trauma she’d experienced. If she was learning more words, it meant she wasn’t as scared anymore. “Good girl, Ella. That’s a doggie.”
Sylvia grinned and held out her hand. “Welcome. I’m Sylvia Newberry, and my terrifying guard dog is Squirrel. He’s a wack-a-doodle.”
They shook hands and introduced themselves.
The dog continued to whirl in delight as he moved through the group, returning often to Charlie.
The boy grinned at Ella. “Another dog named after a different animal. Just like Fox. We’re going to have to work hard not to let that confuse you, Ella.
I’ll show you some different squirrels in the trees one day.
Maybe we’ll even see a fox. I bet there are some around here. ”
Then the boy turned to Sylvia. “Can you tell us how renting Christmas trees works? Dad and I have never had a real tree before, and we didn’t know you could rent them.”
Sylvia grinned. “It’s a new thing in lots of places.
Instead of chopping down a tree and sending it through the woodchipper after the holidays, we dig up some of the trees with their root balls intact.
You can take the tree home and decorate it.
After Christmas, you bring it back and we plant it back in the ground. ”
Charlie grinned. “That’s cool. Can we use the same tree every year?”
Sylvia nodded. “We tag them with your names, and you can use it yearly until it grows too big to bring inside. Then they retire to be part of the forest.”
Soon, they were wandering around the huge tree farm. It was organized by the age of the trees and there were sections for chopping and others for the rental trees.
She and Nash stuck together while Charlie switched from one group to the next, often with Squirrel bouncing with him.
Olivia patted Nash’s arm. “He really loves dogs.”
Nash chuckled. “He does. He’s been asking for one for years. That didn’t fit with our life back in Florida, but there’s no reason not to have one here.”
She laughed. “Does that mean you’ve decided on his Christmas present then?”
He smiled. “One of them anyway. Do you want to know a secret?”
She wanted to know all his secrets. When she nodded, he leaned down and whispered into her ear. “I’ve got a surprise arriving when we get back to the farm.”
His voice alone sent shivers through her body even before his words registered. “An early Christmas present?”
He chuckled. “Figured this would be better timing. Let the animal adjust to his new home for a few days before throwing the chaos of Christmas at him.”
Charlie bounced up with a question about the difference between spruce and pine trees, so they didn’t continue the conversation, but Olivia couldn’t stop her smile. She couldn’t love this man more. Or his son.
She knew exactly what she wanted most for Christmas, and it wasn’t something that needed to be wrapped.
In the end, the group selected four Christmas trees of varying ages: two indoor ones for the farmhouse kitchen and the family room, where they often gathered.
They bought two to replant at the farm in the spring.
One in front of the Inn Cider Inn where Amber would decorate it yearly.
Another for near the back porch of the farmhouse where they lived.
Apparently in the non-snowy months, the group often sat there in the mornings and the evenings.
The kitchen door was the entrance they all used, and the Christmas tree would welcome them when they entered and when they left.
She knew it would make her smile every time she saw it.
It would remind her of this first Christmas in her new home.
Olivia smiled at Nash. “When we spent those couple of days at the B&B in Phail, we ate at a table overlooking a bird feeder. Ella loved watching the birds. I wonder if there are things we could use to decorate the outdoor tree that would attract birds for her.”
Nash nodded. “I think I’ve seen people use strings of dried fruit, like cranberries. Would that work?”
She shrugged. “It sounds good, but I really have no idea. I don’t know anything about the birds of the region or what they eat.”
He took her mittened hand in his. “We’ll have to look it up. And not just for Christmas. It would be fun to have a few bird feeders all year long.”
She nodded, enjoying the feel of their joined hands, even through the layers of wool. “I wonder if Gray has bird feeders planned for the gardens he’s building between the farmhouse and the inn.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
Charlie and Squirrel bounced back to them. She watched the boy’s gaze land on their joined hands. Neither she nor Nash moved to disengage, waiting for his reaction.
The boy’s grin widened, and he looked up at his dad. “Sylvia said I can help her out on the weekend if it’s okay with you. She gets lots of customers during those days and it’s too busy for just her. Can I help her?”
Nash’s hand flexed in hers. She could feel the worry through their connection. It took a moment, but then Nash nodded. “I’m sure she’d appreciate your help. You’ll just have to promise to be smart and follow her instructions.”
“Thanks, Dad. You know I will.”
Nash nodded as the boy raced over to where Sylvia chatted with Knox and Thea.
She leaned her shoulder into his. “He’s growing up.”
Nash nodded. “He is. Which is great, but it scares the shit out of me, too.”
Olivia brushed her free hand over Ella’s hair. “I know what you mean.”
Nash leaned down and brushed his lips softly over hers. “We’ll figure it out.”
Delight filled her. “Yes, we will.”
Nash grinned as he helped Charlie, Gray, and Amber find the right spot for the Christmas tree they’d bought for the No Phailed Apples Inn. The ground was frozen now, but they’d plant it in the spring.
Charlie looked around the property with all the seriousness in his ten-year-old soul. Although he’d be eleven in a few months. That much closer to a teenager.
Nash’s heart thumped a bit at the thought. It had been more than a decade since he’d lost Charlotte. And with her death being the same as Charlie’s birthday, it was always going to be a day that filled him with the entire spectrum of emotions.
The thought of falling in love with Olivia while still being filled with love for Charlotte no longer scared the hell out of him.
Gray’s hand landed on Nash’s shoulder. “Thinking deep thoughts?”
He nodded as they watched Charlie and Amber consider the height of the building and the amount of sun a blue spruce required. “Thinking about Charlie’s mom.”
Gray nodded. “And Charlie. Olivia, too, unless I’m mistaken.”