Page 32 of The Christmas Tree Farm

‘Crafts coordinator at the retirement home, dog walker, grocery-store cashier,’ Iris went on, counting each job on her fingers. She was quickly running out. ‘And now I teach yoga and aquatic aerobics to seniors.’

‘Aquatic aerobics to seniors?’

‘Yeah,’ Iris beamed. ‘It’s very fun.’

Kira was having a hard time imagining that jumping around in a pool with old folks would be fun, but Iris seemed so enthusiastic about it, she just smiled.

‘I’ll do pretty much anything. Except kids. I don’t do kids.’

‘Why not?’

Iris stared at her like the answer was obvious. ‘Kids are terrifying.’

‘Right, of course.’

‘Way too unpredictable.’

‘Sure.’ Kira bit down on a smile. She had a feeling Iris was pretty unpredictable, too, with her habit of job-hopping, but she didn’t mention that, either. Instead she teased her favorite employee. ‘There might be some kids here today, Iris. Try not to panic.’

Iris laughed, spraying lukewarm tea from her mouth. And Kira laughed, too.

‘I’ll try to stay calm,’ Iris said, wiping the tea off her boots. ‘So have you always wanted to own a Christmas-tree farm?’

‘Uh … not really.’ She still wasn’t convinced she wanted to own one right now.

‘Oh. Do you have family in Dream Harbor?’

‘Nope.’

‘Huh. So you just…’ Iris’s brow wrinkled in confusion like she couldn’t quite figure out how Kira ended up here.

Well, join the club, Iris.

‘I decided I couldn’t be at home anymore without my twin sister, wasting my life away being simultaneously spoiled and stifled by my parents, so I scoured real-estate listings until I found this place, bought it without really knowing it was a Christmas-tree farm and then had to reopen it to make money to fix up the incredibly old house that came with the property? Yep. That’s exactly what I did.’

Iris stared at her wide eyed and then a big grin broke out across her face. ‘That’s awesome.’

‘It is?’

‘Of course it is. You just went for it. I think that’s fantastic.’ Iris gazed at her with a dreamy expression as if leaving behind your whole life to buy a dilapidated farmhouse was the coolest thing ever. Maybe it sorta was.

Warmth spread through Kira’s body. Somebody thought this was a fantastic idea. And it felt good. Really good.

Almost as good as looking up and seeing three cars pulling into the parking lot.

‘Customers!’ She leaped up from her chair and Iris did, too.

‘Let’s do this,’ Iris said, giving Kira a quick salute before heading to her station in the cabin. They’d decided that Kira would make herself available to greet customers and direct them around the farm, and Iris would be in the cabin to take payments and hand out saws. Kira had hired several large college guys to help people heft trees onto their cars. The two men she’d hired for the morning shift were drinking coffee and waiting to be needed. The hot cocoa was made, the Christmas music was playing over the speakers, and the twinkle lights were twinkling; she was ready.

Iris was right. Thiswasexciting!

‘Hi, ladies, welcome!’ She greeted the first group of older women as they approached all bundled up in scarves and hats.

‘Hello, dear.’ One of the women gave her a friendly smile but the other two were too busy looking around.

‘Hi, Carol! Hi, Janet, Marissa!’ Iris called from the window of the cabin.

‘Oh, there she is! Hello, Iris!’ The three women hustled up the steps to the cabin, bypassing Kira entirely. She had to laugh. Of course, Iris was an aerobics-instructor celebrity.