Page 2 of Big Mistletoe

She nods. “Yes. We were going to plan out what kind of décor you want. She was going to show me the property, and⁠—”

I wave my hand in the air. “But it’s November.”

She laughs. “It will be December tomorrow, and honestly, it’s already a little late, but I can still pull it off.”

I sit back in my chair. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand. You decorate for Christmas? That’s your job?”

She purses her lips, letting me know this is probably something she hears often and doesn’t particularly enjoy. “Yes, I own Holly Holidays. I decorate homes and businesses for Christmas along with other holidays. Birthdays, seasons, Hanukkah. I do it all.”

I look at the woman sitting across from me in a Christmas shirt, and I hate that I’m about to burst her bubble. “Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to be much help with that. Maybe we should postpone this until Rachel comes back.”

Joy tilts her head and looks at me. “You don’t like Christmas?”

I shift in my seat, uncomfortable. “It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. It’s just…”

I let my voice trail off.

What am I supposed to say? That I didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas? Hell, any holiday, for that matter.

She moves to the edge of her seat. “I can help you.”

My eyes flick to hers, and she nods. “I mean, it’s just a tour of the facility, and then I’ll ask you a few questions. I’ll put together a plan and come back one day next week to go over it. You look at it, or Rachel can if she’s back, and make any changes or approvals. Then the work gets started.”

I look at her. Everything in me screams that this is a bad idea, but I ask, “So you’ll be here at the office?”

She nods. “Yes. Is that okay?”

I don’t have a clue what I’m doing with any of this. If she wanted to construct a five-story building, I could help her with that, but the thought of Christmas decorations almost sends me into a panic. Still, I find myself nodding. “Okay. Sure.”

She sits up a little taller. “Great. So do you want to take me on a tour?”

I stand, and she does too. “You want to see everything?”

She nods. “Everything you think should be decorated.”

I stop and shake my head. “Uh, I’m not sure about any of that…”

She laughs, and I swear the sound is almost musical. “Let’s just walk around and go from there.”

I nod and gesture for her to walk ahead of me.

We step out of my office, and I stop in the lobby. “Well, this is the lobby.”

She looks around the room, jotting things down onto the notepad. “Got it.”

I walk down the hall and stop at the break room. “This is the break room.”

She steps inside and looks around. “Wow. You could have a party in here.”

I nod. “Yeah. Rachel uses it for birthdays, baby showers, and all the things.”

She writes something else down, and then I take her farther down the hall, showing her the conference center and the meeting rooms.

She looks around, surprised. “You have a whole conference center?”

I try not to puff out my chest. I’ve come a long way since my days in foster care. “Yeah. We hold contractor meetings, safety trainings, and project planning meetings here. It gives us room to grow without having to go somewhere else every time we need the space.”

She slowly looks around. “So I’m assuming you want all of this decorated too?”