Holly let herself into the house, filled Reese’s bowl even though Ryan had “accidentally” dropped a chicken breast on the floor that Reese grabbed and took off running with earlier.

  Once Reese was taken care of, she went to her bedroom and changed out of her jeans and flannel shirt, putting on leggings and a sweatshirt.

  It was nice to be home alone where she could be herself.

  Where she could drop her guard and not be so tough. So hard. So practical.

  Thirty minutes later she and Reese were on the couch, the TV on while Holly turned it to the Hallmark channel. No one was around to see the sucker that she always said she wasn’t while she prepared to watch one of her favorite Christmas movies.

  Thick and Thin

  The next morning Holly let herself into her office, Reese trotted over to his bed and lay down for his morning snooze, and she booted up her computer to get to work. She’d seen her parents’ and brother’s cars already here. None of them liked working in the office, which was her preference.

  She’d done her fair share of time on the farm working the land, even doing landscaping jobs when she was younger. They all filled in where they had to and did it without question.

  That was what family did—they stuck together through thick and thin.

  She picked up Brendan’s business card and dialed the number on the bottom. Might as well get this over with so she could focus on other things.

  “Hello,” a deep voice said. Not what she was expecting from the smooth-looking man in the pictures she’d seen of him from her research.

  “Hi. This is Holly Lane calling from Lane Tree Farm.”

  “Hello, Holly,” he said. Was that a touch of excitement in his voice? Nah, she was imagining things. That stupid Hallmark movie last night putting romantic thoughts in her head that she never wanted anyone to know she had.

  “I hope this isn’t a bad time,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know that Lane Tree Farm would be honored to be the host of your annual toy drive.”

  “Wonderful,” he said. “I think it might be the most successful event we’ve had to date.”

  Yep, there was the smooth charm she expected him to have. “I’m sure it will be,” she said back. What was she going to do, argue with him? Not likely.

  “I imagine you’ve got a lot going on, but when would be a good time to meet with you? My sister, Kat, will be heading up all the promotions and media for the event, but I’m very hands-on for this.”

  Damn, she thought. “I’m available whenever you are.” Her family had told her to bend over backward as if she were a gymnast going for gold…like she wouldn’t have anyway. What did they take her for?

  “I’m in the middle of something all morning, but maybe later this afternoon. Around two?” he asked.

  At least he was giving her a choice to say no, not that she would. “That works for me. Will your sister be joining us?”

  “No, not this time. I just want to get a feel for things. Hear your ideas and so on. As I said, I’m pretty hands-on for this. I’ll explain how it operates and try to make it as streamlined as possible to not affect your daily business operations in any negative light.”

  “Thank you,” she said, “we appreciate that, though I’m sure nothing negative will come out of this.” She hoped that didn’t sound too much like sucking up. Urgh, she better get a prize for this.

  She hung the phone up a few minutes later, then went to see her mother and let her know what was going on, and get some ideas of what her mother might have planned. “Can’t I meet with you at two?” her mother asked.

  “Not this time. I don’t know. I’ll bring it up. You guys all put me in charge of this so let me handle it. I know you are excited, but I want to get a feel for what he is looking for before I say my mother wants to decorate. He said his sister will be handling all the promotion and media. My guess is they have things they want done a certain way.”

  “We’re getting media out of this?” her mother asked. “I hope they let me put my touch on it. Maybe I can sneak a few things in there, do you think?”

  She grinned over her mother’s enthusiasm. “I’m sure we can figure out how to do something. Let’s be honest, we sell Christmas trees, this is a Christmas toy drive. My guess is we’ll have to have our trees set up as part of it. We want to make them look as good as possible.”

  “We’ll need more decorations. You know I’ve been wanting to do themed trees to sell for years.”

  She sighed. It was one more thing on the list of projects. Yes, her mother wanted to have pre-decorated trees at a higher price point for people to come in and buy. Holly had researched it and hadn’t seen that great of a need for it in the area and worried it wouldn’t go over well.

  And with money tight for the past few years, it was just one more thing she’d felt like she had to nix and had been supported by the rest of the family. But maybe one or two trees wouldn’t hurt.

  “I’ll see what Brendan says and at least bring it up, I promise.”

  When two rolled around, Holly made sure she was up front when Brendan arrived.

  She wasn’t surprised to see him stepping out of a black Range Rover that probably cost at least six figures. She was surprised at how he was dressed though.

  Nothing smooth about him there.

  He had on old worn jeans, work boots, and a plaid shirt open in the front with a T-shirt under it. He looked like he was one of the workers on the farm rather than a multi-millionaire.

  Tall, thin. Lanky came to mind. Wow, where did that thought come from? Stupid romance movies!

  “Brendan,” she said, coming forward with her hand out. “I’m Holly Lane.”

  His eyes took her in from head to toe. She wasn’t going out of her way to dress up for him. She knew she’d be walking the land and even though it was early November, and still in the fifties, she wasn’t dressing any differently than she did most days.

  All she did was put on a nicer top than normal. Not even a sweater, just a button-down shirt and she tucked it into the waist of her jeans. Instead of work boots, she put on sneakers.

  “Nice to meet you,” he said. Yeah, there was that deep voice again that was sending vibrations in her body. What the heck?

  “So, my brother, Ryan, explained that one of our greenhouses might be the best location for what you had in mind,” she said, leading him toward the one at the end of the parking lot.

  “He did. This location works well. It can be seen from the parking lot but still is out of the way of your main foot traffic.”

  She opened the door to the greenhouse, saw that there were workers in there cleaning it out and making room. “We weren’t sure when you’d want to start, so we’re trying to get it cleared out.”

  “There are a few weeks yet. No rush. Kat will want to come down and take some pictures, figure out how to decorate and such for fliers. The drive itself starts the weekend before Thanksgiving and runs for three weeks. Then we have a celebration and announcement of what we collected and who will get what and those organizations will do their distribution the week of Christmas.”

  “Sounds like a lot of work is involved,” she said.

  “There is. But that’s what I’ve got a team of people to do.”

  “I thought you said you were hands-on?” Or was that a lie he’d told to Ryan and her?

  “I am, but I’ve got a company to run too. I deal with the organizations. I’ll make a lot of appearances here and talk with people as they drop off toys. We run incentives and activities to get people more active.”

  “Activities?” she asked, wondering why she was just hearing about this now.

  “Family fun days. Come bring a toy and make a Christmas ornament. Things like that. The kids like it. I bring Santa in for pictures. Maybe if they drop off a toy, they can get a small baby poinsettia plant on one day? Kat has all sorts of ideas.”

  “So we would be donating the plants?” she asked as calmly as she could. So much for this not costing them anything.

  “No. I cover all the costs,” he said firmly. “All your family is doing is letting me use your space for the collection of the toys and to run the activities. My company will put an insurance umbrella over it all too. You are liable for nothing. It’s just your space and some of your time in exchange, as it will take time away from your business for a few weeks.”

  “It will be worth it in the end,” she said. He lifted his eyebrow at her. “All those happy kids.”

  “Your business will reap a lot of reward from this.”

  “It will,” she said. “And I should thank you for thinking of us for this. Can I ask why you did?”

  Brendan turned and looked around the greenhouse. “What better place to do a toy drive than around a place that grows Christmas trees? Can you get any more iconic than that?”

  “No,” she said, feeling the smile fill her face. He noticed and grinned back at her, her heart picking up some more paces. Those dark brown eyes of his and his messy black hair were making him look almost rakish. Added to the fact it looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. She’d never been a sucker for an unkempt look until now.

  “I’ve seen some of the pictures from your other events. They all seemed so high end and fancy. That really isn’t us.”

  “No. I’m going in a different direction this year. Old school charm. Winter wonderland. Being at Grandma’s house.”

  This time she laughed. “We do fit that bill. Nothing fancy here. And since my grandmother still comes on site and works here a few days a week, I guess it’s like being at her house.”

  “I’d love to meet her sometime.”

  “She’d probably enjoy that,” she said. “So what do you need from us? You talked about decorations and such?”

  “This is your property, you’ve got the trees, the plants, the atmosphere. I’ll purchase anything we need for it. No cost to you for this, again, just your time. But I’ll bring in a team to do a lot of the work too.”

  She wondered if now was the time to bring up her mother’s idea. “I know this is your thing and I definitely won’t tell you how to do it, but my mother is into the holidays and I said I’d mention this to you.”

  “Shoot,” he said.

  “She thought it’d be nice if we could bring some of our trees in and have them decorated in themes. Since gifts will be dropped off and it does go with what you said...”

  “That’s a great idea and part of what I had in mind. Does your mother want to head that up? Is that something she’d feel comfortable doing?”

  “You’d let her do that?” Holly asked, shocked. “I thought you had your own team?”

  “We do, but when I was walking the grounds with Ryan yesterday I noticed the main building and how it was organized, decorated, and laid out. Is that your mom’s doing? There were already fall flowers, themed plants for Thanksgiving even though it’s early yet.”

  “Yes. My mother does all of that.”

  “She has a great eye. I want this to be an extension of what your business looks like. I think it’s the touch that is needed. Kat can work with your mother on that if you’d like.”

  “My mother would be thrilled. Thank you,” she said, dumbfounded at how easy that had been.

  Thank You

  Brendan was fighting back his laughter. He could tell Holly didn’t exactly trust him for some reason, but he was going to do his best to put her mind at ease.

  Dang, she was just a tiny thing. He wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t even come up to his shoulders.

  Brown wavy hair loose and flowing around her shoulders, moving a little bit with the wind as they walked around. Her light eyes made direct contact, but the wariness was apparent. Her lips were thin, tense in their attempt not to frown.

  Jeans that fit around her hips just right, a shirt tucked into a slim waist completed the look of a woman very comfortable with herself and her surroundings. She wasn’t intimidated or in awe of him at all and that made her all the more appealing in his eyes. Even if trust wasn’t present.

  He was sick and tired of women throwing themselves at him for his looks and his wealth.

  “Like I said, I have a vision, but this is your business and you know what works best.”

  He hadn’t been lying when he said he liked what he saw when he walked into the main building. It was old school but it had charm and he knew it would draw people in.

  “My mother knows what is best,” she said. “I’m just the numbers girl.”

  He grinned. “So you don’t work the land like the rest of your family does?”

  “I do what needs to be done. That is part of working for a family business.”

  “My family would say the same thing.”

  “So more than your sister works for you?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  She looked at him, then paused, shrugged her shoulders, and finally said, “If there isn’t anything to see in here, we can go back to my office and work out any details or set up another time to do it.”

  “Nothing more to see. I would like to meet your mother if that is possible though.”

  She frowned. “Sure. We can stop into the main building. She’s good with customer service and answering just about any question possible.”

  “So what does the rest of your family do here?” he asked.

  The farm was big and there were more than just family employees he could see. He’d checked out their website and saw names of the family members, but there hadn’t been names next to pictures for him to figure out who was who.

  “My father takes care of the planting and the maintenance of the whole farm with the help of others. He’s the most knowledgeable about trees and outdoor foliage and shrubs. It’s his family’s farm. His grandfather started it.”

  He knew that from his own research. “That was a big part of the appeal for me when it came to selecting Lane’s.”

  “Why?”

  “Family is important to me and I like to immerse myself in others like that.”

  “Ryan heads up the landscaping part of the business. He does everything and anything, but he is the one that sets up projects off site, oversees them, digs right in with them. He’s the happiest when he is dirty,” she said, laughing.

  “Who isn’t happy when they are dirty?”

  “Not everyone,” she said.

  “What about you? Do you like getting dirty?” He knew he was pushing it, flirting the way he was, but he was feeling a bit reckless when he normally wasn’t that way.

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure I’d say I’m happy doing it, but I will and I have. I just prefer to keep to myself in my office.”

  That was her way of putting him in his place, he was sure. Too bad he rarely got told no or listened if he was.

  “So you said what your father, brother, mother, and you do. Anyone else besides your grandmother?”

  “Some cousins that work part time or seasonally. The rest are employees we’ve had for years. My grandmother works the front cashing people out when she feels like it. She doesn’t work as much as she used to anymore.”

  He knew of her grandmother’s illness, he’d read about it, but decided to not bring it up. “So there is a chance I’ll get to meet them both?” he asked.

  “If my grandmother is here today, you will.”

  They made their way to the front building where he saw several people moving around and shopping. The place was busy considering they’d been struggling.

  He looked around a bit more today at how things were set up. Kat would love to walk in and get her hands and ideas on branding. He could see they made do with what they had, but it could use some updating for sure.

  A plant caught his eye, something he wouldn’t mind on his desk. He looked down at the price tag and was shocked at how low it was. “Are you guys competitive?” he asked.

  Holly sighed. “Don’t get me started on that.”

  Touched a nerve, he could see. The numbers girl might not like the fact that her family didn’t want to raise prices. Interesting and that did explain things more.

  “Mom. This is Brendan St. Nicholas. He wanted to meet you.”

  The older woman that looked just like her daughter walked over, a smile filling her face with a warm welcome. Nothing like Holly had. “So happy to meet you. I can’t thank you enough for selecting our business for your toy drive. We are so excited, aren’t we, Holly?”

  Ah, there was a look between mother and daughter he caught. Yeah, she had reservations about this. “We are,” Holly said back. “I mentioned to Brendan about your themed tree ideas and he liked it.”

  “You did?”

  “I’m sorry,” Holly said. “This is my mother, Nancy Lane. That was rude of me to not introduce her properly.”

  “Not rude at all,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Nancy. And yes, I like the idea. I told Holly that my vision is old school charm for this drive. My sister, Kat, handles all the media and promos. She’ll have some ideas too, but I’d like to hear what you had in mind. You know what works best for your business and I’d like to see you benefit from this too.”

  Nancy almost started to bounce up and down on her toes like an eager kid ready to hand over her Christmas list. “Holly told me I can’t go overboard and I won’t. She rules the roost when it comes to the budget around here.”

  He grinned and looked over at Holly to see her face flush. “In this case the budget comes from me.”

  Nancy’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  “I told Holly all expenses are mine. The only thing I need from you is the space and some time and that is more than enough.”

  “But I thought we could do some themed trees and then sell them after the drive. Just to give an idea of what we could do. We couldn’t ask you to do that.”

  “You aren’t asking me. As Holly was walking me around, I was milling the idea in my head. You put together what you want and how many trees and so on. I’ll talk with Kat and we’ll purchase them and raffle them off the night of the celebration or donate them to the organizations taking the gifts. The hospitals could always use the trees for decorations. Trust me, you will get more publicity that way.”