Read Online A Fairytale Christmas by Susan Meier - Free Book Online

front door into total chaos. Cars lined the lane that led to the Teaberry mansion. People milled about the groups of already cut trees that leaned against the wood fence for inspection and purchase. A glance past the outbuildings into the rows of uncut trees showed that even more customers were in the field, choosing their very own special tree.
    Not even sure where to look for the cash register, Gwen wove through the customers. She saw Max and Brody first,hoisting trees to car roofs and securing them with twine, or shoving them into the backs of SUVs and pickups.
    “They’re all here because of the legend,” she heard Max telling Brody. “Every year someone who buys one of these trees has a fantastic wish granted.”
    Brody snorted.
    “Scoff if you want to,” Max said, “but even though only one person gets a great wish, lots of people get little wishes granted. Family members show up unexpectedly for Christmas dinner, special presents arrive, money finds its way into bank accounts.” He tapped Brody’s shoulder. “And all because there’s magic in our trees.”
    Brody rolled his eyes. “Right.”
    “And you’ve been touching them for two weeks now.” Max’s eyes twinkled. “Imagine how good of a wish you could be granted if you’d just believe.”
    Not wanting Brody to scoff again, and ruin Max’s holiday cheer, Gwen rushed over to them. “Where’s Drew?”
    Max pointed to a crowded area. “He’s at the back of that line, taking money.”
    Following the direction of Max’s glove-covered finger, Gwen looped around the crowd and saw Drew.
    A short woman in a worn blue coat walked up to the sales stand as his next customer. “How much?”
    Drew examined her tree as Brody and Max approached. “Thirty… Um…” He looked down at the tattered wallet the woman produced from her coat pocket at the same time as Gwen noticed the big sign behind the makeshift checkout area. The sign said the trees were priced at five dollars a foot, and this customer had at least a six-foot tree.
    She didn’t expect Drew to realize that thirty dollars was a lot of money. In his world it probably wasn’t. But in the world of the woman in the tattered coat it was a small fortune.
    He glanced down at the cash register, then looked up with a beaming smile. “Guess what? Your tree is free. You’re our one-hundredth customer.”
    The woman’s face bloomed into a glowing expression of delight. “I am?”
    Brody said, “She is?”
    Max nudged Brody in the ribs to get him to hush.
    Gwen stifled a giggle.
    “She is.” Drew waved away her money. “Merry Christmas from Teaberry Farms.”
    With a chuckle, Max wrapped his gloved hand around the trunk of the tree and angled his head to Brody, indicating that Brody should follow him. They loaded the woman’s tree onto the roof of her beaten-up car. As she drove off Brody looked from the woman’s car to his dad and back again, shaking his head.
    Drew was smoother with the next customer, an elderly gentleman with two grandkids dancing around his legs.
    Drew glanced at the tree, then the man, then the kids, and said, “Ten dollars.”
    The man happily paid, and Max and Brody loaded the tree. This time Brody didn’t appear to be confused. He actually smiled.
    Realizing there wasn’t a break in the line of customers for her to pull Drew away, Gwen walked to the counter and handed his fax to him.
    “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    She should have turned away and gone back to the house, but all she could do was stare at him. He’d given away the tree so kindly, so naturally, that only she, Max and Brody had recognized his generosity. She suddenly understood why she was so drawn to him. Deep down he was a good man.
    A very good man. Her instincts had known it all along. That was why she kept forgetting there were too many differences between them for them to have a relationship. That was why she’d gotten so depressed when he’d reminded her the night before that they should