AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With nothing else left to carry, Drew was forced to do some fast thinking. "I'm gonna need you to have all your strength later when we have to carry the tree back to the truck. So, for now, maybe you could hold onto Hope's hand since she's never been here before."
"So she don't get lost or fall down?"
"Exactly. Think you can handle that?"
Zach's blue eyes brightened. "You bet," he assured his uncle and slipped his little gloved hand into Hope's.
"Glad you're on board to help." He smiled at Zach before turning his attention to include the rest of the trio. "We'll start up this side." He pointed to his left. "We're looking for something about as tall as Hope."
Alex and Drew started walking a few paces ahead of Zach and Hope, but it wasn't long before Zach increased his stride to keep up with his brother. Within minutes, he let go of Hope's hand and joined Alex in an all-out race to the top of the modest slope. Neither boy had bothered to scan the trees on their sprint up the hill, and in their haste, they'd passed quite a few that met the height requirement Drew had given.
"I found one," Zach announced proudly about five minutes later. "C'mon, Uncle Drew. Look."
Although a nice enough tree, it was a few inches too tall and also one of about a thousand others they'd considered as they trudged through the heavily wooded area in search of theperfect tree. Whenever they'd come across one that met Drew's specifications, one of his three companions invariably found something wrong with it.
Too tall. Not tall enough. Too full. Not filled out enough.
After about forty minutes of searching coupled with what felt like five miles of hiking, Drew began to think they'd never find a tree on which they would all agree when Zach announced for the nine hundredth time he'd foundtheone.
While Hope, Zach, and Alex inspected the Douglas fir, Drew hung back, waiting for one of them to find the flaw negating the tree's suitability, thus sending them off in a different direction to continue their search. At the rate they were going, they might not be back to Lone Oaks before Christmas.
Drew watched the three of them walk around the tree, eyeballing its height and width and inspecting for gaps in its foliage. When none of them said anything, Drew stepped forward. "What's wrong with this one?" he asked, knowing there had to be something.
Hope shook her head. "Nothing I can see. What about you guys?" She turned to Alex and Zach.
"Looks good to me," Alex offered his two cents.
"Me too," Zach concurred.
Hope turned to Drew, her eyes bright and her mouth—yes, the one he'd fantasized most of the morning about devouring—dimpled into a megawatt smile. "I think we've foundtheone."
Yeah, Drew was beginning to think the same thing. That he'd finally foundtheone. His heart slammed to a halt as the idea took hold. Drawing in a deep gulp of cold air, he decided he'd wait until later to wrap his head more fully around that thought. Now, they needed to concentrate on cutting down the tree and hauling it back to his grandparents' basement, where Drew had no doubt the need to decorate the fir was bound to prevail.
After all, what good was a tree if it wasn't laden with ornaments and lights?
"You're sure?" Drew asked just to make sure no one had changed their mind during his epiphany.
The three of them nodded.
"Okay. Let's cut her down."
Priming the chainsaw, Drew pulled the cord, and the small engine roared to life. After he instructed them all where to stand and what he needed them to do, Drew positioned the saw near the ground and cleanly sliced the trunk in two while Hope and Alex kept the tree from toppling by pulling on the rope Drew had attached near the top.
After he'd trimmed some bottom branches and cleaned up a few scraggly boughs, Drew, Alex, and Zach took hold and carried the tree down the hill with Hope following behind, lugging the chainsaw and rope. Once they reached the bottom, they, or mostly Drew, hoisted the tree into the bed of the farm truck. Then, everyone piled into the cab for the drive back to his grandparents' house.
"Are ya gonna put the tree up today?" Zach inquired.
"Maybe." Drew was surprised the question hadn't been asked sooner.
"Need any help?" Alex inquired, his blue eyes bright and hopeful.
When Drew looked at Hope for confirmation, she was already nodding her head with a smile. The tug on his heart intensified.
The afternoon before, when Drew overheard Hope telling his mother and grandmother about how she and her father always got their tree and decorated it the day after Thanksgiving, Drew decided to do the same with Hope today. At the time, Drew's plan did not include his nephews.
Though initially disappointed when Hope had suggested inviting Alex and Zach along, Drew now understood her reasoning. Like them, Hope also faced the holiday season without a parent for the first time. And just like Drew wanted to keep Hope's family custom alive, she wanted to help keep the boys' Christmas traditions as normal and constant as possible too.
Drew brought her hand to his lips, silently thanking her for having a heart big enough to include two little boys spending their first Christmas without their mother. "Yeah, we're probably going to need some help." Drew squeezed Hope's hand and met his nephews' eager faces in the rear-view mirror. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone who might be interested in giving us a hand, would you?"
