Page 4 of My Boyfriend Marks Trees
Before the woman could reply, there was a blood-curdling scream from inside.
The woman turned and bolted inside the house.
Save the pup!
Ares didn’t think. He dumped the tree and followed.
Chapter 2
“What is it?”Charlotte yelled as she rushed to find her daughter. Greta stood on a kitchen chair and pointed.
“Ugly bug!”
“Seriously?” huffed Charlotte, only to recoil as she caught sight of it. The bug truly was a hideous thing with many legs and waving antennas. And it moved fast.
“Kill it!” screamed Greta. “It’s getting away.”
Charlotte hesitated. The idea of squishing it with her sock-covered foot had her cringing.
It scuttled in Charlotte’s direction, and she yelped before leaping onto a chair.
The bug knew it had them cornered and stopped between the chairs, wiggling all its nasty body parts.
Stomp. The Christmas tree man, who’d somehow managed to find her, took care of the bug, then apologized. “Sorry for barging in with my boots. I heard the kid freaking and didn’t think. Just kind of acted.”
Before Charlotte could order him out of her home, Greta literally threw herself at the man, who luckily caught her. Greta wrapped her legs around his torso and hugged him around the neck, crooning, “My hero!”
“Uh…” Tree Man stood there awkwardly, looking unsure of what to do.
“Greta, get down. You can’t just maul people. Remember, we talked about personal space,” Charlotte chided.
Her daughter leaned her head on his shoulder. “But he saved me and he smells good.”
“Greta!” She injected a warning tone.
Did munchkin listen? “He doesn’t mind, do you?” Greta turned her gazillion-watt gaze on him, and no surprise, he couldn’t escape the cuteness, as evidenced by the smile he returned to her.
“It’s fine. I’ve carried much heavier, and I’m always happy to rescue ladies in need.”
“Ladies.” Greta giggled. “I’m a little girl.”
“Yes, you are. And I think you forgot this.” He still held the red mitten, which Charlotte had thought lost since they arrived home with only one.
“Ooh. Thank you.” Greta snatched it and waved. “See, Mama, not lost.”
She rolled her eyes. “You got lucky. Now say thank you to the man and goodbye, as I’m sure he’s got somewhere else to be.”
“Does he have to go?” asked Greta, using her best pleading voice and big, big eyes.
“I wasn’t planning on intruding. Just delivering the mitten and one other thing.”
“What other thing?” Charlotte asked suspiciously.
“I brought you one of the leftover trees.”
Again, Charlotte had no time to reply because Greta squealed. “A tree! A real one! For me?”
“Yes, for you.” He laughed. “If you give me a second, I’ll bring it in.”