“We absolutely will,” the man said.
“Oh, look!” his wife commented, as she put the change from the tree away in her purse. “A ten percent off coupon for the pumpkins in October,” she said, holding up the flier that Travis had handed her with her change.
“You’ll see us again this year, and next,” the man said, waving as they continued on their way.
Roman followed them as far as the front gate, then closed the gate behind them as they left. “Ya’ll drive safe, now!” he called out to them congenially. After he locked the gate and switched off the spotlights that illuminated the archway bearing the name of the place, he walked toward Travis. “We did good tonight,” he said.
“Yeah, we really did. I can’t believe how popular this place was tonight,” Travis said. “Libby? How many ornaments you think the kids painted tonight?” Travis asked, as he counted money from the lock box he’d used to keep their money in.
“Easily twenty-five at least. One third of the cookies and treats are gone. We went through three commercial thermoses of coffee and five of hot chocolate,” she said.
“Told you it would be a great idea,” Scotty chimed in from a few feet away, switching off the netting machine and leaning over to pick up some torn netting from the ground.
“You did indeed. I think you just helped us take our first step into the strongest part of our business, Scotty,” Travis said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But, thank Libby. It was my idea, but she put it all together,” Scotty said.
“Hey, Travis?” Lucas said, stepping out of the trees and striding toward Travis.
“Hey!” Travis answered, as he set down the garbage bag he held in one hand while filling it with empty used cups and napkins that ended up strewn across the ground near the refreshment table.
“You have any rogues hanging out on your place?” Lucas asked, coming to a stop in front of Travis with his hands on his hips.
“No. Not since Roman, and you of course. And I didn’t consider him rogue, he was my friend before he ended up here. Neither did I consider you rogue when you crossed my property from time to time,” Travis said. “Generally, we have some cross the outer edges of our property a few times a year. I’ve marked the perimeter. They know the land belongs to me, and they know what I am. I’ve never had any problems, and if it takes them a few days to move along, I don’t usually bother them. They’re just looking for a place to rest. Why? You find somebody out there?”
“Not exactly. I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being watched. Got the feeling a few times tonight,” Lucas said.
“Want to go check it out? I can come with you,” Travis said. “I’ve picked up on somebody nearby, but figured they were just resting like I said.”
“Naw, that’s not necessary. I didn’t feel threatened, just felt like I was on display, or like I wasn’t alone,” Lucas said.
“You want us to make sure?” Roman asked.
“I’m not feeling threatened, but maybe we should make a trip around the perimeter. I’ve got to keep my family safe above all else,” Travis said.
“We got it. You finish up here, we’ll go check it out. When we’re done, we’ll head out,” Roman said.
“You sure?” Travis asked.
“Yeah, ya’ll finish up. We’ll check it out, and if we find anything we’ll let you know,” Roman said.
“Alright, appreciate it,” Travis answered, hurting more than he wanted to let on. “But if they’re just taking a breather before moving on, I have no problem with that.”
“Understand,” Roman said, nodding as he followed Lucas.
Scotty, Travis, and Libby finished cleaning up the area and putting all the garbage in the bins out front to be picked up in the morning. They moved the refreshments back inside the house along with the coffee and hot chocolate dispensers. They gathered up all the crafting supplies and put them back into the baskets sitting on the tables, then moved the tables, still assembled, into the barn with the baskets still sitting on them.
“You want to leave the last two tables out?” Scotty asked, meaning the one that Travis used as the table where he both greeted people, and accepted payment for the trees, crafting activities and refreshments. And the table those refreshments were displayed on.
“No, let’s move them in, too,” Travis answered.
As they finished moving everything into the shelter of the barn, Libby walked around and unplugged all the lights on the fence, the barn, and the work shop. By the time they were done for the night, the only thing still lit up was the house itself.
“I think we’re done,” Libby said, walking toward them as they returned from the barn.
“I’m ready for a hot shower and some food that doesn’t contain sugar,” Travis said.
“Me, too,” Scotty said.
“We have chili left,” Libby said. “And hamburger steaks, too.”
“Sounds good,” Travis said. “I’ll take the chili.”
“Whatever is easiest is good for me,” Scotty said.
“I’ll get it warmed up while ya’ll take your showers. I’ll run bowls and plates through the microwave so it’ll be hot for you. Then when you’re done with your showers, I’ll get in,” Libby said.
“You don’t mind if I go first?” Travis asked.
“Not at all. I’ll get the food started while you’re in the shower, then you can finish it,” she said.
“Deal,” Travis said, as they walked toward the house together. Travis threw his arm around Libby’s shoulders, and pulled her close to his side for a kiss.
“See, this? This is how it’s supposed to be. Don’t mind at all being home now. We have a family again,” Scotty said.
“Yes, we do,” Travis answered, as he smiled down at Libby who smiled right back up at him.
~~~
As Roman and Lucas walked away from the Christmas Village setup spot, and the barn, Roman looked over at Lucas. “Maia said Lazarus said he was staying behind to finish putting the lights up at the trailer park.”
“Yeah?” Lucas asked, looking distractedly around the area.
“Thought ya’ll finished those,” Roman said.
“We did. He just unplugged half of the ones on his house so it would look like they weren’t working.”
“For what reason?” Roman asked.
Lucas looked over at Roman with a smirk. “Alex has a new assistant. He’s a guy. He’s been taking her out to lunch, and tonight he’s taking her to dinner.”
Roman’s smile grew slowly as realization hit. “He’s stalking them.”
“Well, the way Lazarus puts it is he’s just looking out for her. But, yeah, he’s stalking them.”
Roman laughed. “You’d think he’d have learned from watching Travis almost lose Libby.”
“One would think so,” Lucas said, looking around himself again. “Okay, this is where the trees for the next seasons start. It’s in the next section that I began to feel weird. Spooked me a bit, I don’t mind saying,” Lucas confided.