I felt my eyes grow wet, and I blinked rapidly.
Someone tugged on my shirt. “Excuse me, sir?”
Glancing down, I looked into the sweetest pair of brown eyes. “What may I help you with, young lady?”
“My daddy said you grow all the Christmas trees.”
I nodded. “I do.”
She motioned for me to come closer, as if she had a secret to tell me. I leaned down and smiled. Cupping her hand to my ear, she whispered, “I like the s’mores more than the trees, but don’t tell Daddy. He likes the trees.”
Laughing, I stood and crossed my fingers over my heart. “Your secret is safe with me.”
She turned and scampered back over to her father, who held up his finished wreath and showed it to his daughter.
Abby walked up and slid her arm around my waist. “What was that all about?”
I smiled and looked down at her. Her hazel eyes caught the sparkle of the twinkly lights that were strung across the ceiling of the room. God, she was so damn beautiful. I wanted to bend her back and kiss the living shit out of her—and would have done it if there weren’t so many kids in the room.
“She wanted to tell me she liked the s’mores better than the trees.”
Abby giggled and watched as the father and daughter held up their wreaths and got their picture taken before they made their way out of the craft room and back into the main area of the barn.
“I’m exhausted,” Abby said, leaning her body into mine.
“Was this your last class?”
“Yes, thank goodness. I let Arabella talk me into doing this one. People were so sad when they found out we weren’t doing any more. When the kids look up at you with those sad puppy dog eyes, how can you say no?”
I laughed. “It’s simple, you say no.”
She shook her head. “Tell that to Arabella.”
“You two were up early this morning in the greenhouse. Are you sure you still want to have a Christmas Eve luncheon?”
“Yes! I’m so excited for it.”
I pulled her against me and wrapped my arms around her. “If it makes you happy, then I’m all for it. And you’re sure you don’t need help? I can hire someone to clean up the greenhouse.”
She shook her head. “Nope. We’ve got all the plants out already, and this morning we started giving everything a good cleaning. It almost looks brand new.”
I felt my smile slip some, but before I could say anything, Abby pressed her finger to my lips. “No more feeling guilty. We both promised.”
“You’re right,” I said before I kissed her on the nose. “Let’s clean up this room, then I’m taking you back up to the house, and we’re sitting in front of the fire.”
A sexy grin appeared on her face. She lowered her voice and asked, “Just sitting by the fire?”
Before I could reply with my naughty version of what we’d do by that fire, Andrew ran up to us. “Thank you, Ms. Abby, for helping me with my wreath!”
“You’re so welcome, but it was Mr. Bishop here who really helped you.”
Andrew looked up at me and offered a toothless smile. “Thanks!”
He pushed past us and into the main area of the barn. Arabella and Kyle walked up and joined us. When a mom and her two little girls looked like they might make their way into the craft room, Kyle shut the door, nearly in their faces.
“Oh, Kyle, we could have showed them how to make a wreath,” Arabella protested.
“No more wreath-making for me,” Kyle stated, shooting me a dirty look.
“You didn’t enjoy helping people make wreaths?” Abby asked.
He huffed. “Not when the older woman I was helping kept trying to cop a feel. At one point, she almost grabbed my junk!”
Arabella’s eyes went wide, and she gasped. “What?”
“Yeah,” Kyle stated. “I’m pretty sure my ass is going to have bruises where she kept pinching it.”
Both Abby and Arabella covered their mouths with their hands in an effort not to laugh. And both failed.
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, get it all out. This is why I’d rather spend time with Cat.”
“Your dog?” I asked.
“My partner. And yes. She’s the only female I can trust and rely on.”
We all stared at Kyle.
“What?” he asked, his eyes bouncing around to each of us. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”
“When was the last time you went out on a date, Kyle?” Arabella asked.
He lifted a brow. “What are you trying to say, Arabella?”
She gave a halfhearted shrug, then lifted her hands. “I’m not one to judge; I’d rather spend time with my bees than go on a date. It’s just, you sound like someone who’s been…um…hurt by a woman.”
Kyle let out a gruff laugh. “As if. No, I’ve just come to the realization that women are too much of a pain. I’ll stick with K9s.”
About that time, my mother rapped on the door to the room before poking her head in. “Kyle, sweetheart, this lovely lady out here needs help with her bags and asked for your assistance. She said you helped her make her wreath.”
Kyle’s face went white as a ghost. Arabella pressed her mouth into a tight line to keep from laughing, while Abby tried, and failed again, to keep hers in.
Kyle grabbed Arabella and started to drag her behind him. “Why are you making me go?” she asked.
“Because for the next few minutes, or until that woman gets in her car and drives away, you’re my girlfriend.”
“What?” Arabella exclaimed. “Are you serious? Do not even try to kiss me, Kyle Larson.”
He huffed. “Like I’d want Hunter to kick my ass.”
I watched Kyle tug an arguing Arabella out of the craft room.
“I’ve got to see this,” Abby said as she followed them out.
My mother gave me a confused look. “Did I miss something?”
“Trust me, Mom. You don’t want to know.”
Abby
I stood back and wiped the sweat from my brow as I surveyed the greenhouse. Taking in the sparking-clean windows and floor, a smile slowly grew across my face. With all of the plants cleared out, Arabella and I had spent nearly a week washing the glass walls and then cleaning, buffing, and waxing the concrete floor.
“It looks like a totally different place,” Arabella said, standing next to me. “It’s going to be beautiful, Abby.”
“I think so. Especially if it snows. The tulle actually looks like snow!”
Arabella linked her arm in mine. “I know. I am so glad we decided to drape it from the ceiling.”
Kyle walked up behind us and sighed. “And I’m glad I found you two trying to drape it from the ceiling. You both would have broken your necks putting up all this white stuff.”
Rolling my eyes, I looked at him as he studied the flowing rows of tulle he’d helped us hang.
“It’s called tulle, Kyle. And we would have been fine. Although, I feel like you had a sixth sense that we needed your help,” I said with a smile in his direction.
He winked. “I would have to agree with you on that one. It was like I knew the two of you were back here about to fall to your deaths while secretly planning a wedding. Bishop and Hunter would never forgive me if I let something happen to you.”