Chapter Seventeen #2
In the end she hadn’t gone inside but had returned to Sea View Guest House for a spot of lunch before the trip to the Christmas tree farm this afternoon.
Toby was beside himself with excitement. “I want to choose the tree,” he announced, for about the twelfth time, and for about the twelfth time his mother replied, “You can help choose it.”
Reading between the lines, Eloise guessed that the adults would have the final say. Anyway, there mightn’t be many decent trees available, since they were leaving it rather late. Christmas Day was only four days away.
They weren’t the only customers there. A man and two teenage boys were strapping a netted tree into the rear of a flatbed truck, and an elderly couple were arguing sweetly over whether a short and stout tree or a tall and slender one suited their living room best.
A rickety handmade sign saying, Trees This Way, with an arrow underneath, pointed towards the far end of the yard, and Eloise was thankful she’d had the foresight to wear her Wellington boots.
She was also grateful for her many layers, as she wrapped her scarf even more tightly around her neck.
The cold made her nose tingle, and her breath puffed out in little clouds of steam as they made their way through a worn wooden gate and down a rough, muddy path with evergreens growing on either side.
Some trees were as little as four feet tall, while others were giants of twenty feet or more, and the air was redolent with the scent of pine and freshly sawn wood.
Off to the side of the path sat a wooden hut draped in twinkling lights and a selection of wreaths hanging from lengths of string, with smoke drifting from its metal chimney stack.
Two women emerged from the open door, clutching mugs, and Eloise inhaled a tantalising waft of cinnamon and cloves as they passed by.
Mmm, a beaker of hot mulled wine sounded divine right now.
Eloise could hear high-pitched laughter, and she caught a glimpse of brightly coloured anoraks as two children chased each other through the rows of conifers.
Having expected to see trees encased in netting ready to be purchased and taken away with minimal effort, she was surprised to discover they’d have to choose a growing, living tree amongst a forest of other growing, living trees.
Bart was walking slowly, studying each contender, his head tilting this way and that as he touched a branch or two before moving on to the next.
Eloise loved that he seemed to be taking it so seriously, and she found she was unable to take her eyes off him.
With his navy knitted beanie and matching scarf, his thick padded jacket, and the cold pinking his cheeks, she thought how handsome he looked, and a surge of attraction swept through her, making her pulse race.
Embarrassed and disconcerted, she wrapped her arms around herself and stamped her feet, her eyes seeking out Toby instead.
The little boy had gone trotting off ahead, and it was no surprise to anyone when he stopped next to a twenty-foot monster and announced, “I want this one.”
Bart added a word of caution to the adults. “They mightn’t look particularly big out here, but they look really big once you get them home and into your living room. And bear in mind, I can only get a certain size tree on my roof rack.”
“I think he’s going to be disappointed.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “You can’t have this one, Toby; it’s too big. We won’t be able to get it home or get it into the house.”
His bottom lip shot out and his expression turned mutinous.
Sarah groaned. “He’s going to have a meltdown in a minute.”
“Aw, bless him,” Eloise said. “He’s had such a lot to put up with these past couple of days; it must be so confusing.” She bent down to speak to him directly. “You can’t have this one because the elves need it,” she said.
“Why, Weez?”
“Weez?” Eloise glanced curiously up at his mother.
Sarah said, “He calls you Weez. I think Eloise is a bit much for him.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet.” Eloise’s heart melted.
“Why, Weez?” Toby repeated.
Oops, she hadn’t thought it through. “For the North Pole,” she improvised. “Because they haven’t got one.”
Mitch stifled a laugh as Toby thought about it, then nodded.
With the explanation accepted, Bart blew out his cheeks in relief and said to Sarah, “They’ve got a little café, if you want to take him there while we pick out a tree. Why don’t you go get us all a hot chocolate?”
Sarah hesitated, and Eloise immediately guessed what the issue might be, but before she could say, “My treat,” Mitch leapt in.
“I’d love a hot chocolate! And before anyone argues, I’m buying.
” He didn’t wait for Sarah as he turned on his heel and called over his shoulder to her, “Are you coming with me, because I could do with some help to carry them back.”
Another hesitation, but since Toby was already haring after Mitch, Sarah didn’t have much choice.
“Gosh,” Eloise said, letting out a breath in a whoosh once they were out of earshot. “Children are hard work, aren’t they?”
Bart chuckled. “They certainly are, but you are ever so good with him.”
She gave him a measured look. “We both know that’s not true.”
“I think you are. Anyway, you’re doing your best, and that’s all anyone can ever do, and he likes you, which is half the battle with kids.”
He walked slowly away, and Eloise fell into step beside him, scanning the trees and wondering how on earth they were supposed to choose one. “How can you tell?”
“Because he interacts with you. If he didn’t like you, he’d either go hide behind his mother or he’d ignore you completely. Or cry.”
“Talking about Toby crying, we’d better hurry and choose a tree before he comes back and decides he wants an even bigger one.”
“We’d have had some fun trying to get that on the roof rack.” Bart chuckled. “Although I believe they deliver. I know my house has high ceilings, but they’re not that high. A seven-footer would be perfect. Not too big so we couldn’t reach the top, but not so small that it would get lost.”
“How about this one?” Eloise came to a stop next to a tree that was a good foot taller than her, and suitably bushy.
Bart walked slowly around it, eyeing it critically from all angles. “Nice shape,” he said, “and a decent amount of needles on the branches…Yes, I think this one will do very well.”
“Where will you put it?”
“In the bay window of course. Isn’t that what bay windows are for?” He twinkled at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners, his lips lifting in a half smile.
An urge to kiss him took her by surprise, and she retorted sharply, “Not in my house.” When his expression dimmed, she realised how that sounded and added in a softer tone, “I’ve got a rocking chair in my bay window.
It’s a lovely place to sit and read, but if I had a Christmas tree, that’s where I’d put it. ”
“Toby isn’t going to be happy we’ve gone ahead and picked one without him,” Bart said, and Eloise was pleased he’d forgiven her for her momentary grumpiness. But better he think her grumpy than realise what she’d actually been thinking…
“Isn’t there something we can do to steer him towards this one?” she asked.
“Whatever it is, we’d better do it quickly because they’ll be back soon.”
Eloise thought fast, then took off her scarf and draped it across the lower branches.
“I think I prefer tinsel,” Bart quipped.
“I’m going to tell Toby I’ve lost my scarf and that hopefully one of the trees will have found it, and whichever tree has found it, that’s the tree we’ll take home with us.”
“Good grief, that’s genius. Are you sure you haven’t had anything to do with children?”
“I used to be one—does that count?” she supplied with a wry smile. Unfortunately her childhood hadn’t lasted long. Losing her mother, followed by the vagaries of the social services care system, had made sure of that.
It had also coloured her view of Christmas, and was another reason she wasn’t keen on the festive season.
However, despite her bah-humbug outlook—which had been even more pronounced this year—Eloise realised she was enjoying herself. It had been the right decision to come to Honeycombe Bay, even if she was in danger of losing her heart.