Chapter 9
NINE
TAJ
“Oh, there are so many. And they’re all so beautiful. How are you supposed to choose just one?”
The absolute joy and awe in Olivia’s tone was enough to have my stomach fluttering. But seeing the way her face lit up as she marveled at all the trees around us had my heart rate picking up.
I’d always been a very focused, determined guy. I could generally assess any situation with ease and decide how best to approach it. Making bold choices wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities for me, and I thought I did well adapting to a variety of situations.
But this was something I wasn’t quite sure I’d figured out yet.
I didn’t know if I would ever grow accustomed to the sheer wonder Olivia experienced over nearly everything.
She was so appreciative of all that she got to do in a way I’d never seen from anyone else before her.
The littlest things made her happy, and I found myself constantly considering all the ways I could possibly give her more just so I could see this unadulterated happiness in her more often.
As it was, this was a new experience.
For her, yes. But for me, too.
As a kid, I’d gone with my parents and my sister to pick out our Christmas tree every year. But that stopped when I moved out years ago. And since Christmas was always celebrated at my parents’ house, I had no reason to buy myself a tree. I hadn’t done it once since I’d moved out on my own.
It wasn’t that I had an issue with trees. I didn’t mind them at all. In fact, I often looked forward to the day we went out together as a family each year to get our tree. They felt unnecessary to have at my place now when nobody was coming over for the holiday, though.
But now I was tempted to purchase three trees if it meant seeing this woman so undeniably happy.
“I’ve always been of the mindset that there are certain things in life that when you see them, you just know they’re right. Christmas trees are one of them. But since this is your first time, I don’t expect you to have it all figured out. To choose one, there are a few factors to consider.”
“Like what?”
She was so eager for information, the look in her eyes indicating her interest in whatever I had to say.
“Well, height is a big factor. You don’t want a tree that’s too tall for your space, but you also don’t want one that’s too short.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Naturally.”
“And you want to decide if you prefer a fuller tree or a skinnier one. And once you’ve figured out both the height you need and the fullness you want, the biggest thing is to make sure the tree is healthy. It has to survive for several weeks, so you want to avoid ones that look sick.”
“That makes sense. So, how tall does your tree need to be?”
“I’d say an eight-foot tree would be perfect for my place,” I told her.
Nodding, she pressed for more information. “And do you like a skinny tree or a fuller one?”
I shrugged. I hadn’t really considered what one would look like in my place. “I think the fuller one is probably a bit better.”
She smiled, practically bouncing on her toes with glee. “I like fuller ones, too.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Olivia had such an infectious personality. She had a zest for life, for appreciating all the little things that someone else would easily overlook.
“How do you feel about decorations, though? Do you enjoy them, or are you like me?”
Her face blanched. “You don’t like decorations?”
“I like looking at them. I’m not very fond of the process of hanging them on the tree.”
“So, what are you going to do? Just buy a tree here and stick it in a stand without putting any ornaments on it?”
Though I wasn’t saying anything particularly untrue—I really didn’t care about ornaments and decorating—I did my best to appear as indifferent as possible. “Well, at least I have the most important part. Right?”
Olivia’s perfect lips parted, her eyes rounding with disbelief. “Taj, you can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
She spun around, her eyes taking in all the trees around us. When she was finally facing me again, she said, “Your poor tree is going to look so sad.”
“That upsets you? That I won’t have any decorations on my tree?”
“It’s horrible. I’m so bummed about it.”
The sadness in her voice was unbearable.
And the urge to touch her, to be closer to her in any way I could, was strong. I’d been doing my best for more than a day now to keep myself restrained. But I couldn’t hold back any longer.
So, I wrapped an arm around her back, my hand settling on her opposite shoulder. I fought to keep my eyes open when the scent of her filled my nose. Giving her a gentle squeeze, I said, “If it’s going to bother you so much, I’d be more than happy to have you decorate it for me.”
She looked up at me, smiling. “Do you even have any decorations?”
I offered a sheepish grin in return. “I’m afraid I don’t. We’d have to stop to pick some up.”
Olivia kept her eyes fixed on mine, but she remained silent for several beats.
There was something lingering in her stare, something I couldn’t quite read.
Just as I thought I might have pushed too hard for something she wasn’t quite ready for—coming back to my place—she said, “This day is getting better and better.”
I blinked. “It is?”
She grinned, nodding. “I know we haven’t found the tree yet, but I’m thrilled just being here to find it. I’m having a great time already. But I absolutely love the idea of decorating this tree with you.”
My arm tightened around her just a touch. “Well, then we better start searching, since we’ll have to make a stop on the way back to my place.”
With that, I released my hold on Olivia, instantly regretted it, and the two of us walked along the snow-covered paths between the rows of trees.
Knowing how much this meant to her, I didn’t rush her.
It didn’t matter to me that we’d already passed at least four trees that would have worked for my place.
She was so caught up in this, wanting it to be perfect, and I didn’t have the heart to take it away from her.
It took a while, but Olivia finally found a great tree. The height, fullness, and health of it all appeared to be precisely what I’d indicated was necessary to find the one that was just right.
So, I cut it down. And the next thing I knew, we were on our way to my place to drop off the tree and give Olivia an opportunity to see where the tree would go, so she’d be able to choose ornaments that would look nice in the space.
She was taking every part of this so seriously, doing it with a bright smile on her face, that it wasn’t going to be me who told her none of these details really mattered. I’d be happy with whatever she chose.
“What do you think? You can go with these or these?” Olivia held up two different boxes of ornaments and presented them to me. “Do you have a preference on the theme for your tree?”
My eyes darted between the boxes and her face. “The theme? Um, I’m not sure.”
“Well, do you want more of a sophisticated look, which we could accomplish with all the gold, bronze, and champagne tones like this?” She waved a box in front of me for emphasis.
“This color scheme would benefit from lots of sparkles that we could get from glittering branches and metallic snowflake ornaments.”
How she knew what would be needed was beyond me. While I probably wouldn’t have been bothered to even get a tree, let alone ornaments, if I had done it, I would have just picked up a few boxes of everything and thrown it all together.
In this scenario, I intended to go with whatever she thought was best. But since she was asking me my opinion, I decided to be as engaged and excited about this conversation as she was about nearly everything.
“Alright. And what is the theme with the other ones?”
Her lips curved into a gorgeous smile, her eyes dancing.
She lowered the box of golden ornaments, lifted the other, and said, “This would allow you to have a tree with a winter wonderland feel using a classic red and white palette. We’d pair these colors with some frosted pinecones, bright red berries, and maybe some icicles or snowflakes.”
Based on the way she spoke and how her face lit up when she talked about the second option, I knew that was the way to go.
“I think they’d both be nice, certainly much better than if I’d attempted this on my own.
But if I had to choose, I think the second.
It’ll feel like Christmas and winter all wrapped into one. ”
Olivia’s eyes rounded with surprise and delight, a squeal of delight escaping from her. “That’s exactly what it’ll be. It’s the one I was hoping you’d choose.”
The look on her face stole my breath, and it was all I could do to keep myself upright. Holding out my arms, I said, “Load me up with whatever we need.”
So, that’s what she did.
On the way home from purchasing the ornaments and lights for the tree, we stopped and grabbed some lunch to take back with us as well.
I took everything in stride, feeling inspired and in awe of the way Olivia had such enthusiasm and excitement about every aspect of not only the day we’d had together today but also every other instance before.
How could anyone not have wanted to do whatever they could to make her feel like that all the time? Because while there was still so much about her that was a mystery, the parts she had revealed were enough to have me captivated.
We got the tree in the stand and ate while we gave it some time to settle and return to its natural shape.
Then, we dove into the decorating. Even as a kid, I couldn’t remember ever having the level of passion and exhilaration about this activity that Olivia did.
And she wanted everything to be just right, too.
Finally, after hanging the last ornament, she stepped back and assessed the tree. “I think it’s perfect. What do you think?”
I didn’t care about the tree. My eyes were focused solely on her. “Stunning.”