Page 44 of Deck the Hauls

Emily dropped the tinsel and gave Ashley her full attention. “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you. And I’m happy to help.”

Emily sounded genuine enough. So why did she have such a negative reaction initially?

“We couldn’t have asked for a better location than Red Tractor Farm. It’s just so gorgeous here,” Emily said in response to one of Ashley’s many questions. “And I can’t wait to attend the Christmas market tomorrow night. We’ll actually be filming a scene here next week.”

Nice work. Roz should pay Emily a commission.

“Thanks so much for your time,” Ashley said. “It was lovely to meet you. I’ll be back here tomorrow afternoon with our photographer. Is there any chance you’d be available then for a photo?”

Emily glanced at me and smiled. “I was planning to check out the market myself after I finished work at three so that could work.”

“Wonderful. Could we meet you here, say around 4 p.m.?”

“Perfect!” Emily said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Once Ashley left, we turned our attention back to decorating. Emily began draping the silver tinsel she’d untangled around the tree, and I started to pull another piece from the box.

“My god, this is the longest piece of tinsel I’ve ever seen,” I said as Emily stood on a ladder behind me, her attention focused on hanging the tinsel.

I wrapped it around my shoulders to keep it from falling on the ground and kept tugging at it. It showed no sign of ending, so I looped it around my shoulders again and continued to pull.

A burst of laughter made me turn. Emily was standing back on the ground, her chest heaving.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, looking around, confused.

Emily stepped forward and reached out, tugging the tinsel hanging down my front gently. “You’re looking extremely festive. I think you’re giving the Christmas tree a run for its money. Now, all we need is...” She bent down and rummaged in the box, pulling out another gold star and holding it on top of my head. “There we go. Perfect.”

Emily smiled at me, our eyes locking, and my pulse quickened.

I loved making her smile, even if it was because I looked ridiculous.

This might be the last time I’d get to spend time with Emily. Unless... I would usually avoid things like the Christmas market like the plague, but I did need to buy a secret Santa gift and it would be much more enjoyable with Emily by my side, based on today’s experience... Screw it.

“I was thinking of exploring the market tomorrow, too. If you’re free, would you like to meet around three and we could check it out together?”

Emily paused for a moment.

Shit. We had spent a lot of time together; she was probably looking forward to some time without me.

“If you’d rather have some time alone, I totally understand.”

“No, no.” Emily shook her head. “That would be lovely, thank you.”

She smiled at me, holding my gaze, and my chest exploded with fireworks.

I swallowed. It was all very well telling myself to ignore my feelings and enjoy her company, but it was more than a little challenging when even her smile had this effect on me. Still, it would be our last time hanging out, so it wasn’t like I would end up with a broken heart.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EMILY

“Wow, this looks incredible,” I murmured as my breath sent a cloud of white fog into the late-afternoon sky.

The stalls Roz and Ronnie had set up yesterday outside the barn were now full of vendors selling hot donuts, mulled wine and giant pretzels. George and Hannah were there, standing behind a tantalizing array of baked goods. Would it be too much to order an entire pecan pie for myself? Perhaps I could convince Dana to share some with me.

I’d been taken aback when she’d suggested we meet this afternoon. I would have thought she’d have avoided the Christmas market at all costs. Not only that, but I wasn’t sure spending more time with Dana so soon after yesterday’s decorating session was a good idea. The more time I spent with her, the more I kept thinking about kissing her. On the plus side, perhaps some continued exposure to Christmas would help remind Dana of all the wonderful parts of the festive season again.

“Emily!”