A Winter Discovery Read Online Free PDF Page A

ornaments every year and she always got a special one for me and Dad.”
    Tanya got a funny look on her face for a second. Then she turned away a little and then turned back to him. “Yes, decorations everywhere.”
    Reese took a quick look down at his lap. The Skittles were still there, but he wasn’t in the mood for one right now. Still looking down, he said, “Mom must’ve been a lot of fun to have around at Christmas.”
    Tanya got that funny look again and said, “Yeah, she was.”
    They sat quietly for a little while. Since the DVD had stopped playing, it was really quiet.
    Then Tanya gave him a little pat on the leg. “You know what? I think we should try to outdo Mom with decorations this year.”
    Reese perked up. “Is that even possible?”
    Tanya threw her arms out to the side. “I don’t know, Reesey-boy, but I think we gotta try.”
    It sounded like a pretty great idea to Reese. He didn’t really want to out-do Mom, but it would be great if he could be a little more like her.

Chapter Seven
    Not such a bad little tree
    Now that Tanya was home, it was time to get a Christmas tree. The house had seemed a bit naked in mid-December without a tree in the living room, but this was a family thing, and they, therefore, couldn’t do it until the entire family was together. Gerry wondered what Maureen would have done in this situation. She almost certainly would have made the same decision Gerry did about getting a tree, but she would have decorated every other inch of the house while waiting for her daughter to come back from school.
    They drove about a half-hour east to a farm that allowed you to cut down your own tree. As they got out of the car, Ally, Tanya, and Reese looked out at the vast expanse of pines and firs that awaited them. Gerry turned the other way, though. Through a snow-covered tangle of branches, was a clearing blanketed in white. In that clearing stood one majestic oak covered in snow and frost. It seemed to be watching over the farm. Or perhaps it was watching over those who visited. Gerry didn’t need to think too hard to imagine the ways in which this image spoke to those who’d gathered with him on this expedition.
    Gerry felt a hand on his shoulder that he knew was Ally’s.
    “Gorgeous, isn’t it?” she said.
    “Yeah, just beautiful. It’s just standing there all by itself.”
    “That’s because it’s too magnificent to cut down.”
    Gerry leaned across and kissed his wife on the cheek. “And on that note, let’s go get a saw.”
    They did so – Reese wanted to carry the saw, but Gerry explained to him that Santa’s elves couldn’t make new fingers – and headed deep into the mass of trees. Gerry was partial to Fraser firs, while Ally preferred Douglas firs and Tanya Scotch pines. Gerry assumed Reese would simply want the single biggest tree that would fit in the house.
    It surprised him, then, when Reese ran over to a spindly little thing that barely came up to his chest. He knelt next to it and ran his fingers over the fragile-looking needles.
    “What about this one?” he said.
    Gerry chuckled. “We were thinking about going just a tiny bit bigger.”
    Reese stood. His shrug was barely visible through his parka. “Looked nice to me.”
    Ally walked ahead of them about twenty feet and approached a fat Douglas fir that had to be seven-and-a-half feet tall. “I could see this in the living room.”
    Though it wasn’t a Fraser, Gerry thought the tree was impressive. He and Tanya started toward Ally, but, by the time they got there, she was waving them off.
    “Never mind, big bald spot in the back.”
    Gerry arched an eyebrow. “Are you going to say that about me some day?”
    Ally wrinkled her nose. “You’re going to get a bald spot in the back?”
    Gerry pretended to scowl at her and he turned to walk away.
    Ally called after him. “I’m just saying, there was nothing in our wedding vows about balding.”
    Tanya offered up another candidate in the next row.