Page 60 of Bright Lights, Big Christmas
“I’ll be here,” Kerry said. “Hey, Murph?”
“Yeah?”
“Drive safe, okay?”
“Always, little sister.”
Kerry disconnected the call. She pulled the bungee cord across the entrance and posted theCLOSEDsign. Then she whistled for Queenie, who followed her back inside the trailer.
chapter 34
Kerry was floating somewhere beneath the sea, or maybe it was the clouds. She was dimly aware of muted sounds: low voices, thuds, footsteps. But she was beyond touch of the earth, floating free, relaxed. Time and space did not exist.
Until she was rudely yanked back to earth. The trailer door slammed, hard. She battled her way back to the surface. She sat up and blinked, shocked at the blinding sunlight streaming through the open door.
“You up?” Murphy held two cups of steaming coffee and now he handed her one.
“I am now.”
“About damn time.”
Kerry breathed in the coffee fumes. “When did you get here? And what time is it?”
Outside, rows of freshly cut Christmas trees were stacked up three deep.
“How did you unload all those trees by yourself? You should have woken me up.”
“I got one of the busboys over at Lombardi’s to help. We got the trees unloaded, then I took the trailer back to the yard in Brooklyn, dumped it, and headed back here. Didn’t want to wake you up, so I slept in the truck. And by the way, it’s nearly nine, and I’m dead on my feet.”
“Sorry,” Kerry said, grabbing for her clothes. “I’ve gotta get a shower at the Kaplans’. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Okay?”
He collapsed onto his bunk. “Do not wake me when you get back.”
A fire was blazing away in the oil barrel when she returned to the tree stand, and her brother’s snores could be heard from the sidewalk.
Kerry worked her phone, calling all the customers who’d left orders for trees over the weekend, to let them know the new shipment had arrived. In between calls she managed to craft a few more wreaths, and even sold three trees to people from the neighborhood.
Shortly after noon, she stretched the bungee cord across the entrance to the tree stand and dashed over to Lombardi’s to place a to-go order.
Claudia bustled around the busy main room, chatting with regulars. She wore a tight-fitting green sweater adorned with silver-tinsel-draped Christmas trees.
She met Kerry at the bar. “Well, hey there. Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s business?”
“Like a roller coaster. Down, then up, up, up—so much so that we sold out of trees and Murphy had to make a run back to the farm to pick up another load. He just got back.”
“Yeah, he called to let me know when he was on his way down there,” Claudia said, tucking a wisp of blond hair into her updo.
Kerry did a double take. “He did?”
Claudia laughed at her shocked expression. “Don’t be so surprised. He knew I’d be pissed. We were supposed to go out Friday night.”
“My fault,” Kerry confessed. “I kinda guilt-tripped him into going back to the farm.”
“He did blame it on you. But we both know you can’t make Murphy Tolliver do something he doesn’t want to.”
The bartender arrived with Kerry’s order.
“What’d you get?” Claudia asked.
