Page 5 of The Christmas Tree Farm

And apparently, tonight he was attending the town meeting.

This wasn’t even close to a vacation, despite what his sister believed.

* * *

Bennett didn’t know what to expect from a Dream Harbor town meeting but the raucous laughter and raised voices he encountered when he walked through the doors were certainly not it. He squeezed past a group arguing about the appropriate time to start listening to Christmas music, nearly got knocked out by a woman in a power suit carrying a giant metal menorah, and was about ready to turn around and leave when he was grabbed by the arm and pulled into a row of chairs.

‘Bennett! You’re here!’ A face he had only ever seen from the screen of his phone beamed at him. Jacob, from his sister’s book club, pulled him in for a hug.

‘Hey, man. Yeah, I’m here.’ Here in this bizarre town, feeling more and more like he’d gone down some kind of rabbit hole and landed in another world entirely. And he thought San Francisco was quirky. ‘Good to see you.’

Jacob pulled away but was still holding tight to his arms. ‘I can’t believe Jeanie roped you into coming to one of these. Are you coming out for drinks after?’

‘Uh … yeah … apparently.’

‘Great!’ Jacob gave him one last squeeze before letting go.

Bennett glanced around at the still buzzing crowd although people were starting to find seats now, not that their volume had decreased at all. ‘Are these things always so…’

‘Crazy? Yeah. But they’re usually good for a laugh.’

Ben nodded, distracted by the woman in the suit struggling to run a cord long enough to plug in the giant menorah. Maybe he should go help her?

‘That’s the deputy mayor,’ Jacob said, following Ben’s gaze. ‘She’s probably testing that old thing out for the tree-lighting festival next weekend.’

‘There you are!’ Jeanie came up behind him before he could untangle himself from Jacob long enough to go help with the menorah.

‘Here I am.’

‘Sorry we’re late,’ she said, unwinding a giant scarf from around her neck. Logan stood behind her like he was being marched to his death.

‘Hey, Logan.’

‘Bennett.’ His sister’s fiancé gave him a nod and a small pained smile before he shuffled into the row and took a seat.

‘And this is Hazel and Noah,’ Jeanie was saying, pointing to the two other humans trying to cram into the already crowded row.

‘Hey, nice to meet you.’ Noah stuck out a hand and Bennett shook it around Jeanie’s shoulder. Noah grinned. ‘First town meeting, huh? You’re gonna love it.’

Bennett was starting to highly doubt that.

The small, curly-haired woman next to Noah must be Hazel, whom his sister talked about all the time. She gave him a little wave as she sat in between Noah and Jeanie. Bennett took the only open seat between Jeanie and Jacob. Logan had managed to scoot his way all the way down the row and was currently reading a book as he leaned against the wall, clearly blocking out the chaos around him.

‘If everyone could settle down, we’ll get started.’ A man with glasses and a hideous Christmas tie was trying to get everyone’s attention from behind the podium.

‘That’s the mayor, who also happens to be Hazel’s dad,’ Jeanie narrated for him. ‘Oh and here’s Annie.’

A tall blonde woman swept into the row ahead of them. ‘What’d I miss?’ she asked, turning to face Jeanie as soon as she was seated.

‘Nothing, yet. Oh, but this is my brother, Bennett.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ he said, sticking out his hand, but Annie ignored it.

‘Ben! Hi! I’ve heard so much about you.’ Her gaze flicked from Jeanie to Ben and back again. ‘Jeanie, you didn’t tell me your brother was like a hot male version of you!’

‘I don’t normally think of him as hot, actually.’

Annie’s eyes were on him again. She was objectively beautiful and definitely trouble, but it didn’t matter anyway, because her gaze had already wandered and landed somewhere past his right shoulder.