The Hunt for the Perfect Christmas Tree
Excerpt from Decidedly by Chance
How about another Christmas-y excerpt from Decidedly by Chance?
She’s pregnant with another man’s baby.
He’s now the father to his little niece.
A sexy rom com with all the feels!
Hannah
Grinning, Everly jumped up and down numerous times on the dirt path and pointed toward the multiple rows of pine trees. Wes, Everly, and I were spending the morning at Knott’s Christmas tree farm, searching for the perfect tree.
The air was chilly, but that didn’t seem to bother her. Her festive red coat, woolen mittens and hat, and thick tights kept her warm. All the jumping and running around wasn’t hurting either.
It had been five days since the ultrasound. Five days since things between Wes and me had shifted. I couldn’t explain what exactly had changed or even what it meant. I just knew that it put me at ease and at the same time scared me.
I chalked it up to another pregnancy-related symptom, like swollen ankles and frequent trips to the restroom.
“This way,” Everly said before taking off on us. Wes gave her a short head start; then his long legs quickly ate up the distance between them.
“I think you need to be higher up to see the trees better.” He scooped up the giggling preschooler and set her on his shoulders. “Is that better?”
I wasn’t sure if he was asking Everly or me. He winked at me, and I laughed. “Yes, much better.”
“All right, let’s go find our tree. Which way should we go?” he asked her.
She bounced on his shoulders. I told him in which direction she was pointing.
Not far behind us, the sound of sleigh bells drew closer. This resulted in more bouncing from Everly.
“Do you want to go on a sleigh ride after we find our tree?” Wes’s question was mostly for Everly, but he was looking at me when he said it.
“That sounds like fun.” How many sleigh rides had I been on in my life? Zero.
But I was certain it was somewhere on my bucket list.
He grinned at me. “Then it’s set. After we find our tree, we’ll go on a sleigh ride, followed by a trip to the elves’ workshop and a visit with Santa.”
That’s right, the Christmas tree farm offered all those things…and more. It was everything a little girl and a Christmas-loving big girl could want. The heavy scent of pine didn’t hurt either. If this place didn’t get you into the Christmas spirit, well then, bah humbug to you.
“That tree,” Everly said after we’d been walking for about five minutes. She was pointing at a tree that was taller than Wes.
Wes removed her from his shoulders and made a show of examining the tree; then he declared that Everly was right. It was the best tree on the farm.
He held his hand out to me. “My saw, lassie.”
Everly giggled at his terrible Scottish accent.
I handed him the long saw I’d been carefully carrying. The blade was covered, but you could never be too cautious—something I was familiar with from working in the ER.
He lowered himself to his knees. “Are my assistants at the ready?”
“What are you now? A Scottish pirate?” A sexy Scottish pirate with a god-awful accent.
He winked at me again; only this time heat rushed to my core. “Aye, if that’s what ye need me to be, lassie.”
Was anyone else feeling hot?
I knew why he was doing it. And it had nothing to do with me. He loved to make Everly laugh. A smiling, laughing Everly was better than the one who cried because she missed her mommy and daddy and couldn’t understand why they hadn’t yet come back for her.
That was the other reason why we were here.
Wes was creating new Christmas traditions for Everly, for them both. Her parents had never taken her to a Christmas tree farm. Their old tree was a fake one they had bought a few years ago.
Because of that, Wes had insisted on a real tree this year.
I grabbed the trunk of the Chosen One, and Wes began sawing the base. Everly supervised. Which was another way of saying she ran up and down the dirt path, dancing and singing. And as always, Snuggle Bunny was joining in with her antics.
“Mommy and Daddy will love the tree,” she said once Wes had cut it down. The tree was lying on the ground, waiting for us to carry it to his SUV.
My breath caught; my heart ached. Not just for Everly but for Wes. He had been smiling a few seconds ago, but now sadness hung around him like a storm cloud.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. His arms immediate went around me and held me tight. Everly was too busy examining something on the ground to notice what we were doing.
“It’s going to be okay, Wes. You just have to trust that things will get better. It won’t always be like this for her.” I shifted my head away from his shoulder and went to kiss him lightly on the jaw.
But as my lips were about to brush against his day-old facial hair, his head moved slightly, and my mouth made contact with his lips instead.
And just like that, we were kissing.
