Page 10 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"I do that at home but thank you for caring about the quality of my musical enrichment."

"Pfft, please. What I care about is why we're going to chop down a tree. I know we have millions of those around but cutting one down sounds so anti-environment."

We neared the urban edges of Laguna Island. I took the road toward the hills, and ancient forests immediately surrounded us. Soon I'd get to smell wood and dirt and leaves and, after I put all my strength into chopping down the tree, I'd feel as relaxed as I'd ever been.

Couldn't wait. I just needed to pretend that having Ale around didn't change anything.

I kept my eyes on the road, instead of stealing a glance at her like I wanted to. "Real trees for Christmas are more ecological than buying plastic, if that's what you're thinking."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking."

Driving was easy in Laguna Island. Traffic was non-existent, and we breezed down the street at a constant speed. The conifer forest was dense around us, deep green under the gray clouds.

I shook my head. "The town has a plot of land in the hills reserved for this purpose. This is themostecological way to do it. Do you have any idea the levels of carbon emissions that go into making plastic ones?"

"Okay, fine. I get it. I'm sure it's not even about wanting to feel all brawny in the process. You do it for the climate, right?"

I broke and stole a glance at her. "If someone cuts down a tree and no one's there to see it happen, was the person brawny at all?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Like that saying. If a tree falls, did it make a sound?" I turned the truck to a side road, the forest even closer at our sides.

"That never made sense to me." Ale huffed. "Anyway, we should talk about Santa. I've been informed this is a big deal."

"Maybe it's a good thing, actually. Santa is so damn creepy. Such a blatant way to manipulate kids. Behave, children, or else there will be no joy for you."

She slapped her thigh with vehemence. "You're singing the song of my people! Can you imagine the first person to come up with it? So evil. Let's scare the kids into doing what I want. Let's teach them there's someone watching… and judging."

"Exactly."

"But my sister said that Santa is critical to the competitions and the big party. She implied kids will be sad without him."

"I can see the town council being upset."

The road turned to gravel, and it narrowed down further. Soon we'd be going up, until the road became little more than a walking path.

"I guess we can't have it our way." She squirmed in her seat, reaching toward her generous rear with a hand. The curving lines of her ass were so squeezable that I had to grasp the wheel for dear life, not to reach and pinch the tempting expanse of flesh.

From the corner of my eye— dammit, if I could keep my attention away from her— I watched her scroll on her phone.

She fixed her glasses. "Good news, my sister sent me a list of people she thinks we should approach for help. What's your email address? I'll send it to you."

We dealt with that, agreed that she’d reach out to them by phone and provide a summary to me by email, and switched to discussing the rest of the tasks we oversaw.

"City decoration on the weekend, then?" she asked.

"Yep. The big team will be there. The lighting of the tree still scheduled for Wednesday night?"

"Depends on whether we have a tree by then, I guess."

"Ha. We will. Never thought to ask about that, did you?"

"If it's not on my committee to-do list, I won't notice. Believe it or not, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a proper Christmas…"

And I liked that about her… a little. Never a lot.

Ale