Holly's Jolly Christmas (5 page)

No such luck! As soon as she and Holly got back from the parking lot, her grandmother was the first person to greet them.

“You are such a nice person,” Katie’s grandmother told Holly. “Giving that tree to that out-of-luck father and his kids was truly the real Christmas spirit!”

Holly didn’t answer. She just glared in Katie’s direction. Then she turned to Nick, who was leaning against a medium-sized tree. “You gonna buy that?” she asked him.

“I sure am!” Nick said. He reached into his pocket, and handed Holly the money. “Thanks for keeping my secret,” he added in a whisper.

Holly looked at him strangely. “What secret?” she asked.

Katie heard Nick say in a very low voice, “Don’t you remember? The surprise for—.” Nick nodded in Katie’s direction.

“Huh?” Holly asked. She had no idea what he was talking about.

“You sure can keep a secret,” Nick told her. Then, as he started to carry the tree back to the car, he called out, “Merry Christmas!”

“Whatever,” Holly replied with a sigh.

“Grandma told me about that woman who works at the tree farm,” Katie’s mom said that night. Katie’s whole family was spending the evening together, decorating the new Christmas tree. “What a nice thing to do!”

“What are you talking about?” Katie asked nervously. Did her mother already know about Holly?

“I called your mom at the bookstore after we got home and told her how that kind woman gave a Christmas tree to a poor family,” Katie’s grandmother piped in. She placed a teddy bear ornament on the tree and smiled happily.

But Katie wasn’t happy at all. “Why did you do that?” she asked.

Katie’s mom look surprised. “Grandma was just so impressed with what she did,” her mom said.

“We all were,” Nick added. He tossed a handful of tinsel onto a few of the lower branches. “Holly seemed so grumpy. But she had the true Christmas spirit.”

“Well, I don’t think we should spread that story any further,” Katie told everyone.

“Don’t be silly,” Katie’s mom said. “I told Louie and he told everyone who came into the pizzeria about it.”

“Oh no!” Katie said.

“What’s the matter?” Katie’s dad asked. “Don’t you think what that woman did was a great thing?”

“Sure,
I
do,” Katie said. “But maybe her boss won’t. I mean, he makes a living selling Christmas trees.”

“I don’t think he’ll mind,” Nick said. “It was only one little tree. How could anyone get mad at someone for giving a poor family a Christmas tree?”

“Besides, when the story gets out, everyone will want to buy their trees at that farm,” Katie’s father said. “People like to give their business to places that do nice things for people.”

“You really think so?” Katie asked her dad.

“Oh, definitely,” he answered.

A big smile formed on Katie’s face. She had just gotten a great idea! Quickly, she leaped up from the pile of tinsel and ornaments around her.

“Where are you going, Kit Kat?” her mother asked. “We still haven’t placed the star on the top of the tree.”

“I’ll be right back,” Katie told everyone. “I just have a quick phone call to make.”

Katie stared at the Saturday morning headline in the
Cherrydale News
excitedly. “Tree Salesperson Brightens Family’s Christmas,” it said. The news story reported that an anonymous source had called the paper and told them the story about Holly and the poor family.

Katie knew the anonymous source very well.
She
was the anonymous source! Katie hoped that her phone call would help keep Holly out of trouble. Holly deserved her job. She worked really hard at the tree farm. Now Katie could understand why sometimes Holly got grumpy. The place was like a zoo at times! Katie knew that first hand. After all, she’d been Holly. At least for a little while.

Honk! Honk!
Just then, a car horn honked outside. Katie leaped up and ran for the door.

“It’s Suzanne’s mom, Grandma,” Katie shouted out.

“Have fun working on the scenery for the play,” her grandmother called back from the kitchen.

“Thanks!” Katie shouted as she raced out the door to the car.

“Good morning,” Katie said, as she opened the car door and climbed in beside Suzanne in the backseat.

“Good morning,” Mrs. Lock greeted her.

“Hi, Katie,” Suzanne said.

“Hi! Hi!” Heather shouted from her car seat.

“Hi, Heather,” Katie said.

Suzanne shot Katie a look.

“What?” Katie asked. “Can’t I say hi to her?”

Suzanne folded her arms across her chest. “Do whatever you want,” she said.

“We have just one stop to make before I drop you girls off at the Community Center,” Mrs. Lock told Katie. “I want to get a wreath for our front door at that tree farm I read about in the paper this morning.”

Katie smiled. Her plan was working. At least with Mrs. Lock.

“They have beautiful wreaths,” Katie said. “Nick bought a really pretty one for me as a surprise. But I should warn you, not all of the wreaths have price tags.”

Suzanne looked at her strangely. “What were you doing, examining every wreath?”

“No. It’s just that Nick wanted a specific wreath. But that one didn’t have a price on it, so I . . . I mean, so
Holly
. . .” Katie stammered, trying to come up with a way to explain what had happened at the tree farm.

But Suzanne didn’t really care about wreaths or Christmas tree farms. She cared about what
she
was going to be doing today.

“While you’re busy painting at the Community Center, I’ll be running around,” she said. “I’ve got to get all the lighting cues right. And then I have to make sure the costumes are being sewn. And then I have to stand backstage during rehearsal to make sure all the actors are saying the right lines.”

“Wow, that’s a big job,” Katie told her.

“I know,” Suzanne said. “The whole play depends on me.”

Katie doubted that was true. A play was a team effort. Everyone was equally important.

“Mama! Mama!” Heather shouted out suddenly.

“Oh, how cute. She’s practicing her lines,” Mrs. Lock cooed.

Suzanne sighed heavily. “See what I mean?” she whispered to Katie.

Now Heather was bouncing up and down in her car seat. It was obvious Suzanne’s baby sister wasn’t practicing anything. She just didn’t like being in the car seat.

“Out!” Heather shrieked. “Want out! Mama. Mama.”

“Okay, Heatherkins,” Mrs. Lock said. “One more minute. I just have to park the car.”

“Ma—” Heather started. But Suzanne stuffed a sippy cup in her hands before she could make another sound.

“Thanks, Suzanne,” Mrs. Lock said. She pulled the car into the parking lot and turned off the motor. “Okay, Heather, we’re going to let you out now.”

Katie got out of the car, and watched as Mrs. Lock unhooked Heather from her car seat. A moment later, the four of them were walking toward the tree farm.

Suddenly, Katie’s stomach started doing flip flops. She was really nervous. What if her plan hadn’t worked? What if Holly wasn’t working at the tree farm any more? What if by saving one family’s Christmas, Katie had ruined Holly’s?

There were definitely a lot of people at the Christmas tree farm. Katie could see that. There were people looking at trees, wreaths, and decorations. There were people drinking hot cider and eating chestnuts. And there were lots of people waiting around the cash register. But Katie didn’t see Holly anywhere.

Then, Katie heard a customer near the cash register say, “Merry Christmas.”

And a moment later, she heard a familiar voice say, “Whatever.”

“Holly!” Katie shouted out excitedly.

Holly poked her head up over the crowd. “Oh, it’s you again,” she said.

“I’m back with my friends,” Katie told her. “The news article made you sound really nice. They wanted to buy their Christmas wreath from you.”

“That’s what all these people are saying,” Holly said. “We’ve been mobbed all morning.”

“That’s good, right?” Katie asked her. “I mean, you didn’t get fired.”

“No, I didn’t get fired,” Holly said. “My boss loves all the extra business. He even made me Employee of the Week.” She pointed to the special star-shaped pin she was wearing. Nevertheless, Holly’s mouth was frozen in her usual frown. She did not look like a happy Employee of the Week.

“My boss also gave me a Christmas gift,” Holly continued. “He’s never done that before.”