Seaside Christmas by Stacy Claflin

Author:Stacy Claflin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stacy Claflin
Published: 2015-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

Talia leaned back in the seat, listening to her dad and Cruz in the front of the car. She rubbed her aching legs. The climb to find the perfect tree had been up a steep hill, and that had been after parking what had felt like miles away. The one tree farm within a fifty-mile radius was obviously a popular attraction. Between her dad and Cruz, she hadn't had to do any chopping this year which had been a nice change. She just helped lower it once it was ready to fall.

She also hadn't had to do much carrying it back or tying it to the roof of her dad's car. Instead, she just enjoyed the sight of Cruz and her dad working together. Either he was the most selfless human alive, or he really did like her. No one else had come close to helping them as much as he had, and he certainly hadn't had to give up his afternoon to help them chop down a Christmas tree for their living room.

He and her dad had chatted the whole way to the farm and most of the way back, but now everyone was quiet and the only sounds were that of the holiday music over the radio.

When they got back into town, her dad turned to Cruz. "Do you need us to drop you off at your shop, or would you be willing to help us out some more? We still have to set up this tree."

Cruz turned back and glanced at Talia, seeming to ask silently if she wanted him to join them. She nodded, smiling, but she couldn't blame him if he needed to get going. He'd spent his entire day with them.

"Sure," Cruz said, turning back to the front.

"We'll even feed you dinner," her dad said.

"You don't have to."

"We need to do something. You've gone so far out of your way to help us out."

"It was nothin', yo."

Talia grinned. What had started out as so annoying was growing more and more adorable… yo.

Before she knew it, the guys had moved the tree from the top of the car into the living room. She'd gotten the stand ready with sugar water when they started to hoist it up.

"Wait," Talia said.

Her dad gave her a curious stare.

"Our tradition. Remember?"

His face clouded over, but then brightened. "Right."

Talia's mom had always insisted they cut the bottom slice of the tree each year and decorate it as a memory for that Christmas. They had a collection of about two dozen from all the years her parents had been married. The pained expression on her dad's face was another reminder of how different this year would be from all the others.

It seemed that between all the work on the church and having Cruz around for things like chopping the tree was a good distraction from their loss, but there really wasn't any getting around the fact that the holidays would never be the same.

Cruz seemed to feel awkward with the silence, so Talia explained their tradition.

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