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Theo paused, tilting his head back and looking up at the sprawling branches of so that had lost all its leaves for the winter He time This cherry tree becomes a cloud of pink flowers It’s one of the s I’ve ever seen, and you need to see it, too”

There istfulness in his eyes, and a s branches bursting with life My heart felt like it stumbled over itself as I stood there, totally mesmerized by him

In that

After a while, he took ain On the surface, everything seemed the same But I felt different somehow We felt different—real and solid, a couple, as opposed to two individuals

He was focused on the task of finding a Christs We assessed a Douglas fir, then an interesting, skinny thing called a Norfolk Island pine, but we rejected them for various reasons A noble fir, white pine, and scotch pine also failed to pass muster Then Theo’s eyes lit up, and he murmured, “Oh, Casey, look! It’s so pretty!”

He hurried over to a gorgeous, symmetrical pine tree with a distinctly blue cast to its short needles The hang tag told me it was an aptly na? It is, isn’t it? I can look for a smaller tree”

Along with its big, round plastic pot, it stood over eight feet high, and getting it intoBut if that was the tree he wanted, I fully intended to make it happen There was no way I’d let him end up disappointed

“It’s perfect”

He pulled , “You’re so sweet”

I slidhis mouth when he parted his lips for me This went on for quite a while When I rested ht withlate as usual, but—please?”

“Of course I’ll coht over after my shift” I kissed hi someone to help us with our tree”

It took four garden center employees and a small forklift to load the spruce tree into the back of iant plastic pot actually fit inside, while the tree itself stuck out about five feet past the bumper We left the hatch open, and I drove hohway

Theo held the rest of the plants he’d picked out in an open cardboard box on his lap After a while, he chuckled and muttered, “Oops”

“What’s wrong?”