Page 104 of Made of Steele
Drew had a flash of the image of Hoyle killed with a hatchet but let it go. It was too nice of a day with the kind of family he only read about in books or saw in movies to let the actions of a killer ruin the afternoon.
Mackenzie wound in and out of trees, but Drew didn’t let her get too far ahead.
She came to an abrupt stop near a clearing with smaller trees and reached out to a nearby bluish-green tree with long needles. “How about the Noble fir?”
Gene circled the tree as did Peyton, the sunlight catching her red hair as she moved. She looked a lot like their grandmother, but not the siblings.
“Well?” She planted a hand on her hip.
“We should never take the first tree,” Gene said.
“How many times have we seen one right away, gone looking only to almost miss the deadline, and go back to the first tree?” Mackenzie asked.
“Yeah, but other times we don’t,” Peyton said.
“Then let’s split up,” Mackenzie said. “Set a timer for fifteen minutes and yell if we find a better tree in that time. Otherwise, we meet back here to cut this one down.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Gene set an alarm on his phone. “Drop the tools, Red, and come with me.”
Mackenzie tapped her phone screen and looked at Drew. “Guess that means you and me.”
She set off at that quick clip, her head swiveling as she took in the trees.
Drew followed, his feet crunching over dried pine needles and cones. “I don’t really know what I’m looking for.”
“A tree with perfect symmetry and just the right amount of space between branches to hang ornaments. Must be over ten feet tall but not above eleven to perfectly fit the room.”
“Basically, like the one you just picked?” He chuckled.
She laughed. “Exactly. But Uncle Gene sometimes likes to complicate things. Still, we can look as long as we make it back on time. Couldn’t ask for better weather.”
“This is a lot of fun.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “What kind of Christmas traditions do you have?”
“Not many. Most of them died with my dad. Since it’s only my mom and me, we don’t make a big deal of the holidays.”
“Oh, man, are you in trouble.”
“Why’s that?”
“Teagan’s birthday is the beginning of December so she claims the whole month as hers and that includes Christmas. It’s the only time of the year that she really has a lot of fun. Whoever marries her will have to make room for boxes and boxes of decorations in his life.”
“I get that she likes Christmas, but she didn’t mention all the décor. And the fact that she’s a workaholic isn’t a secret. Doesn’t bode well for any guy in her life.”
Mackenzie stopped to finger a tree and look it over. “That’s going to change. I had a talk with her last night and told her I planned to step up and take on more of the duties so she can work less.”
“That’s good of you.”
She shrugged. “It’s not like I have a guy in my life right now either, and I doubt there’ll be one in the near future.”
“Why’s that, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Don’t mind at all.” She resumed walking. “I’m just not ready to be tied down. I’m pretty much an adventure girl. Or at least I was before I went into law enforcement. Before thenI used to seek out as many new experiences as I could find.”
“And that changed?”
“Yeah. I saw so many bad things on the job that my joy dried up.” She stopped to frown at another tree. “When I left the force, I started a podcast on faith and life. Not sure why I did, but it’s deepened my faith and brought back some of my joy.”
