Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

A distant buzzing pulled Kira from her nest of blankets. It was dark and freezing in the room she was currently using as a bedroom. She’d tried all three at this point and this one won out as just slightly warmer than the others.

The buzzing persisted.

What the hell time was it?

She stuck her hand out into the icy room and patted around on her bedside table until she felt her phone. She grabbed it and pulled it under the blankets.

Six a.m. and Chloe was calling.

‘Six hours ahead, Chlo,’ she groaned into the phone, not bothering with a greeting. ‘How many times do I have to tell you? You are six hours ahead of me.’

Her twin winced, her pretty face filling the screen. ‘Oops! Sorry, Kiki. I forgot!’

‘’S okay,’ she said, rolling onto her back.

‘Where are you? Some kind of tent?’ Chloe wrinkled her nose, like their mother did, but on Chloe it came across as much less judgemental.

‘I’m under my blankets.’

‘I thought you got the heat fixed!’

‘I did. Well, sort of fixed. It’s just cold as hell here.’

‘Here, too,’ her sister said, reminding Kira of how far apart they were, a literal ocean away. ‘I hate it, but Erik says I’ll get used to it.’

‘Right, and how is Erik?’ she asked, swallowing every ounce of snarkiness she wanted to put into that question. Kira had met the man exactly once in person and it was at the wedding, but she knew everything she needed to know about him. He’d taken her sister away and so very rationally, she hated him.

‘He’s good. We looked at the cutest apartment the other day. You would have loved it. It gets beautiful light in the afternoon.’

‘Sounds perfect. Send me pics.’

‘I will.’

Kira waited for her sister to go on, but Chloe just studied her through the phone, which was unfair really. Of course she looked like a mess. She’d been asleep! Her hair was more nest than hair right now, her bangs sticking up at odd angles. She’d only gotten them in the first place to look different from Chloe. She was tired of people’s disappointment when she’d reveal which twin she really was. Like she’d tricked them into thinking she was the better one.

‘You’re staring at me, Chlo.’

‘I just miss you.’

Kira swallowed the hot lump of emotion that insisted on forming in her throat whenever she talked to her sister. It wasn’t the same, talking to her this way. It wasn’t the same as sitting side by side on their couch, their legs tangled together as they ate ice cream and debriefed on their latest date or a horrible day at work or the last passive-aggressive comment their mother had made.

‘I miss you, too. Of course I do, Chlo. But you have that dreamy new husband and that amazing European adventure you’ve always wanted. Don’t waste it missing me.’

Her sister sniffed and wiped her eyes. As much as Kira privately ranted about how her sister had betrayed and abandoned her, she would never, ever, in a million years do anything to dim Chloe’s happiness. At least, not anymore. She was determined not to interfere with Chloe’s happiness ever again.

‘But are you okay there?’ Chloe asked, eyes still glossy with unshed tears. ‘I’m worried about you.’

‘I’m fine. I’m great, actually. The farm is open and I’m sure we’ll be mobbed today after my announcement last night. Trust me, these people love Christmas.’ She pushed the hair from her face and just kept on lying. ‘I’m doing what I always wanted! I’ve got my own homestead here and this beautiful old house. Once I get everything set up, it’s going to be gorgeous. And then you can come visit me.’

Had they been in the same room, had she not been in the dark, Chloe would have called her on her bullshit. But apparently, the distance really messed with her sister’s lie-detecting abilities.

‘I just can’t believe you spent all your money on it.’

‘It’s an investment, Chlo. Isn’t that what you and Dad were always yammering on about?’

‘I meant like a Roth IRA, not a farm.’

Kira shrugged like this run-down farm and the stock market were totally equivalent investments. ‘It’s what I wanted.’ Or at least, what she thought she wanted when she was stress-scrolling through social media in the wee hours of the morning—and that was basically the same thing, right?

‘This is a much bigger deal than that time you bought a racehorse,’ Chloe went on.

‘I rescued that horse, thank you very much.’

‘Or the time you booked the country club for that animal-shelter fundraiser and then filled it with stray dogs.’

‘How was I supposed to get them adopted if they weren’t in attendance, Chlo? That just made sense.’

Her sister rolled her eyes, but a smile played on her lips. She might have always been the sensible one, but Kira knew deep down, Chloe loved her crazy ideas.

‘What about the time you brought the guy with the neck tattoos to Mom’s Christmas Eve party?’

‘Okay, first of all, that was not a reckless plan. That was a very thought-out plan to ensure I would never have to attend the party again. And Jim was a perfect gentleman.’

‘He got drunk and peed in one of Mom’s houseplants.’

‘He was a perfect gentleman until that moment.’ She’d also found out the next morning that he was breaking the parameters of his parole by leaving town to attend the party, but her sister didn’t need that little bit of added information right now.

Chloe frowned.

‘Look, Chlo, this isn’t about my questionable choices in men, or about getting under Mom’s skin, and it’s surprisingly not even about my quest to end horseracing forever. I just needed to get away, start over. That’s all.’

‘You could have stayed in Georgia. There are farms there, too, you know.’

Kira sighed. ‘If I’d stayed in Georgia I would have been too tempted to crawl back home if things didn’t work out.’

Chloe’s frown deepened. To save her from wrinkles, and because Kira hated seeing her sister upset, she went on sugarcoating the truth. ‘But it is going to work. It’s working out great, actually.’ She forced a smile.

‘I could lend you some money…’

‘No.’

‘Kiki, just listen.’

‘No. No way. You’re not lending me anything. I am fine . It was my decision to use my half of the money on this. You save yours for all those little Danish babies you’re going to have.’

Chloe’s nose crinkled again, but Kira didn’t miss the little spark that appeared in her twin’s eyes at the mention of babies. God, her sister really was in deep.

‘Okay, but you have to tell me if you need help. I cannot have you so far away from me and know that you are struggling.’

‘Ha!’ Kira’s fake laugh was slightly unhinged. ‘Struggling? Chlo, I am thriving over here. I promise.’

Chloe looked skeptical but Kira just kept smiling until her sister moved on. ‘Have you made any friends yet?’ she asked.

Friends? Hmm. Did dogs and reindeer count?

‘Oh, yeah. Plenty of friends.’

‘Kiki…’

Shoot, maybe Chloe could still detect some lies.

‘I haven’t had time for friends yet. I just need to get through the holidays and then I’ll have time to hang out with people.’

People, but not Bennett, because he’d be gone by then. And that absolutely should not bother her. It didn’t bother her. At all. Why was that guy and his warm sweaters and sweet smile even popping into her head right now?

It probably had something to do with the very detailed dream she’d been having involving her, Bennett, Santa’s sleigh, some very provocative candy canes, and a ‘naughty and nice’ list they seemed to be working their way through.

Dear God, what was wrong with her?

She shook her head. It was way too early in the morning for all this subterfuge. She needed at least another two hours of sleep, preferably dreamless, and a pot of coffee before she had to be greeting customers.

‘I should really go. Big day today!’ Kira’s forced cheerfulness had Chloe raising her eyebrows, but Kira didn’t have the energy to do any more convincing.

‘Okay. Love you, Kiki.’

‘Love you, too, Chlo’

She hung up before she could get emotional. She had a Christmas-tree farm to open today, hopefully one with actual customers, and she didn’t want puffy eyes for her big day.

* * *

‘Opening day!’ Iris chirped beside her, clapping her hands. ‘This is exciting.’ Her strawberry- blonde hair was done up in a braided wreath around her head today and she looked like she belonged in some sort of Nordic Christmas advertisement. It was the exact vibe Kira wanted, but vibes didn’t matter if she didn’t have customers.

‘Very exciting. As long as people actually show up.’

‘Of course they’ll show up,’ Iris said. ‘I know you’re new here, but trust me, Dream Harbor shows up for anything resembling a festival, grand opening, carnival, or fundraiser. You should see the turnout for town meetings.’

Kira huffed. ‘I have. And it’s weird.’ She’d attended one back in the fall to convince the mayor and the residents that she had no intention of reopening. And one failing boiler later, here she was.

Iris laughed, leaning back in her rocking chair. They were sitting on the little porch in front of the customer-service cabin, waiting for their first customers to arrive. Or praying they would arrive, in Kira’s case. She’d put all her eggs in this one very precarious basket, and she really needed it to work.

The panic of not having money was real, and she’d been so undeservedly lucky to never have felt it before.

‘I found these,’ Kira said, changing the subject to ease her anxiety about the day. She held out the two old letters and the list of possessions Bennett had found. ‘What do you think they’re all about?’

Iris took the papers and laid them on her lap. Kira had finally read the letters hoping they’d help make sense of the strange list of items. One had been a letter from what seemed a distant relative of his to Edwin, the last owner of the farm, requesting to come visit the farm so he could ‘get the lay of the land’. And the other was a copy of Edwin’s revised will from his lawyer.

‘Looks like old Edwin was getting his estate in order before he died.’ Iris shrugged.

‘Don’t you think the list of stuff is kind of odd?’

‘ He was kind of odd.’

‘The house had a lot of old furniture in it when I moved in, but I certainly didn’t find any Tiffany lamps. And what do you think happened to Ellie’s baubles?’

‘They were probably buried with her,’ Iris mumbled.

‘What?’

Iris smiled innocently. ‘I imagine his wife was buried wearing her best jewelry, right? Or they gave them to a family member.’

‘Hmm. Yeah, I guess. I haven’t checked the attic yet, though. Too creepy.’

Iris laughed. ‘I don’t blame you. When we were cleaning out my great-aunt’s attic we found an entire family of raccoons living in her luggage collection.’ Iris shivered at the memory.

‘Aww … cute.’

‘Not cute. The little garbage monsters had made a huge mess.’

‘Maybe you’re right. I’ll steer clear of the attic for now.’

They sat in companionable silence rocking in their chairs and sipping their tea while Kira thought about Edwin and his wife and what else he might have left behind in his old house.

‘I’ve never worked on a farm,’ Iris said, after a while. ‘I like it.’

Kira knew this little fact about her employee, and she’d hired the woman anyway, based almost entirely on the positive energy Iris emanated. She figured it was as good a reason as any to hire someone.

‘You’ve had a lot of jobs?’ she asked now, needing a distraction from staring down the empty parking lot.

Iris nodded. ‘Bank teller, library clerk, waitress, of course, who hasn’t done that to make some extra cash?’

Kira decided not to say she’d never needed extra cash until this very moment.

‘Crafts coordinator at the retirement home, dog walker, grocery-store cashier,’ Iris went on, counting each job on her fingers. She was quickly running out. ‘And now I teach yoga and aquatic aerobics to seniors.’

‘Aquatic aerobics to seniors?’

‘Yeah,’ Iris beamed. ‘It’s very fun.’

Kira was having a hard time imagining that jumping around in a pool with old folks would be fun, but Iris seemed so enthusiastic about it, she just smiled.

‘I’ll do pretty much anything. Except kids. I don’t do kids.’

‘Why not?’

Iris stared at her like the answer was obvious. ‘Kids are terrifying.’

‘Right, of course.’

‘Way too unpredictable.’

‘Sure.’ Kira bit down on a smile. She had a feeling Iris was pretty unpredictable, too, with her habit of job-hopping, but she didn’t mention that, either. Instead she teased her favorite employee. ‘There might be some kids here today, Iris. Try not to panic.’

Iris laughed, spraying lukewarm tea from her mouth. And Kira laughed, too.

‘I’ll try to stay calm,’ Iris said, wiping the tea off her boots. ‘So have you always wanted to own a Christmas-tree farm?’

‘Uh … not really.’ She still wasn’t convinced she wanted to own one right now.

‘Oh. Do you have family in Dream Harbor?’

‘Nope.’

‘Huh. So you just…’ Iris’s brow wrinkled in confusion like she couldn’t quite figure out how Kira ended up here.

Well, join the club, Iris.

‘I decided I couldn’t be at home anymore without my twin sister, wasting my life away being simultaneously spoiled and stifled by my parents, so I scoured real-estate listings until I found this place, bought it without really knowing it was a Christmas-tree farm and then had to reopen it to make money to fix up the incredibly old house that came with the property? Yep. That’s exactly what I did.’

Iris stared at her wide eyed and then a big grin broke out across her face. ‘That’s awesome.’

‘It is?’

‘Of course it is. You just went for it. I think that’s fantastic.’ Iris gazed at her with a dreamy expression as if leaving behind your whole life to buy a dilapidated farmhouse was the coolest thing ever. Maybe it sorta was.

Warmth spread through Kira’s body. Somebody thought this was a fantastic idea. And it felt good. Really good.

Almost as good as looking up and seeing three cars pulling into the parking lot.

‘Customers!’ She leaped up from her chair and Iris did, too.

‘Let’s do this,’ Iris said, giving Kira a quick salute before heading to her station in the cabin. They’d decided that Kira would make herself available to greet customers and direct them around the farm, and Iris would be in the cabin to take payments and hand out saws. Kira had hired several large college guys to help people heft trees onto their cars. The two men she’d hired for the morning shift were drinking coffee and waiting to be needed. The hot cocoa was made, the Christmas music was playing over the speakers, and the twinkle lights were twinkling; she was ready.

Iris was right. This was exciting!

‘Hi, ladies, welcome!’ She greeted the first group of older women as they approached all bundled up in scarves and hats.

‘Hello, dear.’ One of the women gave her a friendly smile but the other two were too busy looking around.

‘Hi, Carol! Hi, Janet, Marissa!’ Iris called from the window of the cabin.

‘Oh, there she is! Hello, Iris!’ The three women hustled up the steps to the cabin, bypassing Kira entirely. She had to laugh. Of course, Iris was an aerobics-instructor celebrity.

‘We had to come see you at your new job.’

‘Thanks, Janet. That’s sweet of you. I hope you’re all here for a tree, too.’

‘Of course we are,’ the shortest of the three said, with a laugh. ‘We left the husbands at home so we can pick the biggest ones!’

‘Perfect!’ said Iris, passing a saw for the women through the window. ‘Have fun, ladies.’

‘Will we see you on Sunday?’ Carol asked.

‘I wouldn’t miss it.’

The women all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. ‘We were worried you were leaving us for this new gig.’

‘Never! I have plenty of time to do both.’ Iris smiled, and Kira wondered where she got all her energy.

‘Good, because the woman we had before you was just awful. No sense of humor.’

Iris frowned. ‘Did you push her in the pool, Marissa?’

Marissa didn’t even bother to look contrite. ‘She was asking for it.’

The three women burst out laughing and Kira made a mental note not to cross this crew. They took their saw and waved goodbye to Iris, smiling at Kira as they went.

‘Do you need help finding anything?’ she asked, now even more pleased with her decision to hire Iris, but also feeling like she should do something for her customers.

‘No, dear, we’ve been coming here for years.’ Carol stopped and patted her shoulder. ‘We are so glad you reopened the farm. A real piece of history here. We didn’t know if anyone would buy it after all those rumors about the former owner.’

‘The what? What rumors?’

‘Come on, Carol! We have trees to find!’ Janet called, already hiking down the closest trail.

‘Oh, it’s nothing to worry about, dear,’ Carol assured her as she followed her friends. ‘I’m sure it’s not true!’

Rumors about the former owner? What was she talking about? Kira was about to ask Iris why she hadn’t mentioned any rumors, when a family with three very excited kids came up asking about where to find a blue spruce, and then a couple who had driven over an hour to get here wanted to fit several trees onto their compact car, and then a family with a new baby who were looking for the perfect first Christmas-picture spot wanted her opinion. By the time Kira had handled all of that, she’d forgotten the rumor of rumors completely.

Iris was right about another thing, Dream Harbor showed up. By the time she could sneak in a quick lunch break in the cabin, Kira was pretty sure the entire town had stopped by to pick out a tree. It was a Christmas miracle.

Families were wandering between the trees in their matching Christmas sweaters, kids were squealing with delight as the trees fell, old couples were sipping cocoa while their trees were secured to their cars. The whole scene was like something out of a dream.

A new dream.

A dream in which Kira ran a successful farm and didn’t freeze to death.

She liked this dream. Maybe everything she’d told Chloe this morning was coming true. Maybe she was thriving here. Or she could, anyway.

This reckless idea might actually work out.