“How much do we have left to do for our own Christmas?” Scotty asked.
“Not much. I think we’re done. All our gifts for each other are under the tree, along with our gifts for Riley and the Pride. The last one I had to get was Darcie’s, and I got that last week,” Libby said.
“I’m done, too,” Scotty said.
“Hope you didn’t go too overboard,” Travis said to Scotty.
“No, I didn’t. Libs made me promise to get just little thoughtful things for the two of you when I insisted I wanted to get you something,” he explained. “She said ya’ll were getting for everybody else from the three of us.”
“Good,” Travis said, helping himself to another stack of pancakes. “I’ve got most of mine finished, too. I have to pick up a couple of things that weren’t ready yet. I’ll get one of them Christmas Eve morning. The other should be delivered today.”
“What do you have planned?” Scotty asked suspiciously, grinning at Travis.
“None of your damn business,” Travis said with a grin. “Stop snooping or you won’t get nothing.”
“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Scotty said.
Chapter 26
A couple of hours later Scotty was running a tree through the netter when he caught the flash of amber lights pulling into the yard in front of the house. He finished what he was doing, carried it out for the customer and tied the tree securely to the top of the man’s car, then headed over to the house.
“Hey! Hold up,” Travis called, hurrying from the front of the Christmas Village toward Scotty.
“I thought I saw a wrecker pull in. Going to tell him he has the wrong house,” Scotty said.
“Naw, Libby already headed over,” Travis said.
“Who’s watching the crafts and trees?” Scotty asked, looking back over to where customers milled about enjoying the holiday vibe they had going on.
“Constance and Darcie are serving the refreshments, and taking the money,” Travis said. “They can spare us for a minute.”
Scotty’s brows pressed together just above the bridge of his nose as Travis seemed to not mind leaving the Christmas Village without him for a minute, when he’d been obsessed about being there every minute it was opened up ‘til now.
“Come on. Let’s go see what he wants,” Travis said, draping an arm over Scotty’s shoulders as they walked toward the right front of the property where the house sat separate from the rest of the farm. As they came around the front edge of the house, Scotty slowed a bit and looked at the truck that was on the flatbed tow truck. “Man, that’s a sweet ride. It’s definitely in the wrong place.”
“Morning, Travis,” a portly man called out as he walked from the front of the wrecker.
“Hey, Bill. How’s it going?” Travis asked.
“Good, good. Kids and the wife send their thanks for the tree. Told ‘em I might bring ‘em over to play a bit before Christmas.”
“You do that. Make sure it’s in the next few days though. We’re closing in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and that’s it until next year,” Travis said.
“I know. We’ll be here before then. Hey, you want to sign for the truck, so I can go ahead and offload it?” Bill asked.
Scotty looked over at Travis who was all smiles. Then he noticed Libby on the front porch holding her phone up and filming them.
“What’s going on?” Scotty said, looking between the two.
Travis signed the delivery ticket and handed it back to Bill, then winked at Libby.
Libby kept filming but together they yelled, “Merry Christmas, Scotty!”
Scotty’s face fell. His eyes rounded and his mouth actually fell open. He looked over at the dark blue truck. It was a Dodge Ram, his favorite model. It was dark blue, with lots of chrome on it, and the windows were tinted, but not too dark, you could still barely see into it. As Bill began to offload the truck, Scotty could see it had a lift kit on it too. Nothing too crazy, just enough to make it sit a little higher than the average truck.
“What did ya’ll do?” Scotty said, looking back and forth between Travis and Libby.
“Santa decided you’ve been a very, very good boy,” Libby said.
“And he brought you a truck,” Travis answered.
Scotty looked at the truck again, almost fully offloaded by now, and slowly he began to smile. Then he threw himself at Travis, hugging him and jumping up and down at the same time. Then he ran over to the truck and tried to look inside while it was still being unhooked, before he ran over to Libby and hugged and kissed her.
“Thank you!” Scotty shouted. “Woohoo!” he shouted, running over to the truck again.
“I think he likes it,” Travis said, smiling at Libby.
“I think you’re right,” Libby answered.
As soon as the truck was on the ground and free from the wrecker, and Bill had left, Scotty sat in the truck with Travis standing next to him, looking it over. Libby was filming them both.
“So, what do you think? Did we do okay?” Travis asked.
“Oh, yes! Yes! It’s exactly what I’d have picked.
“Now, it’s not new, but it’s certified,” Travis explained. “Shouldn’t be anything at all wrong with it, and it’s still under the original warranty with low miles.”
“It’s perfect,” Scotty said, still grinning ear to ear as he fooled with all the controls and figured out where everything was. “It’s even got the interior I like,” Scotty said, running his hand over the soft, light grey leather interior.
“Merry Christmas, Scotty,” Travis said, hugging Scotty to him when Scotty leaned nearer to him.
“Thank you,” Scotty said. “And thank you, too, Libby,” Scotty said.
Travis stepped back. “Go on, now. Take a drive and see how she handles,” Travis said.
“But, work…” Scotty started.
“Me and Libby’s going back over there. Go ahead and take a quick ride. Trees will be here when you get back,” Travis said, walking over to stand beside Libby.
Scotty didn’t have to be told twice. He smiled as he started the engine and waved at them as he slowly pulled out of the yard and onto the highway.
Travis hugged Libby to him. “We did good,” he said.
“Yes, we did,” Libby answered, filming Scotty as he drove away.
“He’s a good kid. He deserves it,” Travis said.
“He really does,” Libby agreed.
“Well, back to work,” he said as Libby put her phone away and they walked hand in hand back over to the Christmas Village.
~~~
Libby tried to breathe through her mouth so she wouldn’t have to smell the scent of the coffee she was serving. She did her best not to look too long at the cookies, brownies and banana bread they were serving either. Morning sickness was killing her, but there was no way she’d ruin this Christmas with the news she had to deliver. It was inevitable, she’d have to tell Travis at some point, but she was determined not to do it until after Christmas.
She handed a cup of coffee to another customer, and smiled as best she could. It came off as more of a grimace, but still, she tried.