An Evergreen Christmas

And there she was. Windy Cloudperson. The beautiful, up-and-coming businesswoman. A proper city girl if there ever was one, with no time for silly things like plants or animals (the only exception being her chihuahua Señor Queso). She had been working for ages at Busy And Hardworking Inc., a company owned by the strict Mr Harry Umbug, specialising in turning little family-owned shops into office building parking lots.

She was this close to getting The Big Promotion. The one she had always dreamed of. The one that would surely make her boyfriend Upton O'Goode want to marry her, and help her get over the grief she felt from losing both her parents in a tragic reindeer-related accident. She'd finally be able to go back home to The Big City, and away from this dumb little town in the middle of nowhere. It would be her biggest success yet. Getting old Mr Timothy and Mrs Natalia to sign a contract that made her the owner of their Christmas tree farm had taken a long time, but she had done it. That amount of land could be turned into the biggest parking lot in the company's history. All she had to do was step into the taxi, return to the office back in the city, and hand the contract over to Mr Umbug, and all her dreams would come true.

So why was she hesitating?

With her gloved hand resting on the handle of the car door, something was holding her back from opening it. A sense that for as much as she would gain from completing this deal, she'd lose something far more important. She tried to shake the feeling, and in a swift motion, she opened the door and got in. There! No going back now! Take that, strange feeling!

“Where are you going?”

She was so close now. Why was the name of the city so hard to say?

“… Could it be that… Maybe you don’t know where you’re going?”

What kind of question was that? Windy turned to look (and possibly snap) at the taxi driver. He was an older man, with a round, friendly face that was somewhat obscured by a big white beard.

“Are you…?” She began, but upon seeing the driver’s confused eyebrow raise, she stopped herself, and just shook her head. “No, sorry, never mind. You just… Reminded me of someone.”

“I get that a lot,” the driver said, letting out a warm laugh. “I must just have one of those faces.”

“You mean, like Santa Claus?” Windy blurted out, regretting the silly question the moment it had left her lips.

The driver didn't even try to hide his smile.

“That's a popular guess.”

Windy huffed, her cheeks turning a deep shade of purple and her cloudy hair puffing up. How embarrassing...!

The driver once again laughed that warm laugh of his, before he started driving again.

“Wait, where are we going? I haven't told you yet!”

He looked ahead through the windshield, smiled and shrugged.

“Well, I just figured, since you didn't seem to know where you're going, I'd make an educated guess. Don't worry. The ride will be free of charge."

Everything about this screamed weird and suspicious, but for whatever reason, Windy had a feeling in her gut that she could trust this man to take her where she needed to go. When he took a turn that was very much in the opposite direction of the city, Mr Umbug and her boyfriend Upton, she didn't say anything. It did feel like this stranger truly knew where she needed to go.

---

When the taxi came to a halt, it had begun to snow, and a thick blanket of fresh white powder covered everything in sight.

The driver smiled and turned to Windy. "Here we are," he said, gesturing towards a large, wooden cabin, placed in front of a field of Christmas trees. A sign above it read: The Evergreen Family Christmas Tree Farm.

"This is..." Windy reached into her purse, closed her hand tightly around the contract and pulled it out. This was the farm she had gotten from the elderly couple. "A lovely place, isn't it? A real pearl of a farm!"

"Right..."

She could feel her hands tremble. Of all places, she could have been taken to... Why did it have to be this one...? Could she even look either Mr Timothy or Mrs Natalia in the eyes after what she had done?

Could she look... Him in the eyes...?

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to stay in the taxi, and tell the driver to turn around and take her to the city. But the more she also knew that she couldn't do that. Her heart was telling her that this was indeed the place she needed to be.

"Thank you for taking me here."

The driver nodded. "It was my pleasure. I'll stay here for a bit, just in case you need a ride back to the city anyway."

And with that, she stepped out of the car and ran up to the door of the cabin. Windy took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door.

"Coming!" A voice called out. She froze. That was him. She needed to run, but her legs wouldn't move. The door opened, and there he stood, looking as handsome as ever. The golden glow of light from inside the cabin framed his profile, the flames of his hair seemed to burn brighter and warmer than usual, and his brown eyes were as intense as ever. Windy couldn't help but notice how tall he was, and how well-built he was.

Ember Fireberg. The son of Mr Timothy and Mrs Natalia.

"Windy! I mean... Miss Cloudperson," he said, trying to hide a bit of excitement in his voice before his eyes fell on the paper in her hand. His expression quickly turned cold. "I see. You got your contract."

"Yes, but—"

"But what?" he asked. "Why did you come back? To rub it in my parents' faces that you'll be turning the farm into a parking lot?"

"No," Windy denied, shaking her head. "I came back because... Because I don't want to ruin the family business."

His face softened, a little. "Oh? And why is that, may I ask?"

"Because I care about the people who work here," she explained, standing up straighter. "They've put their hearts and souls into this place for years, and they deserve to keep working in it. I care about your dad. I care about your mom. I care about..."

"About...?"

"... A-about you... Ember..."

Ember's mouth hung open for a second. He stared at her, and despite the cold winter air, she felt her cheeks getting hot.

Before she knew it, Ember had crossed the distance between them in two long strides. Windy gasped softly when he reached out and pulled her close.

"I'm so glad you came back..." he said softly.

Windy shivered, and leaned her head against his chest, resting it on the soft fabric of his green Christmas sweater.

"I am too... The taxi driver was right... This is where I needed to be."

Ember pulled back from the hug, raising an eyebrow.

"Taxi driver?"

"Yes. He... Oh, I need to tell him that I won't need him to..." She let go of Ember and turned around, ready to let the driver know that he could leave again, but the taxi was gone. There weren't even any wheel tracks in the snow. It was as if he had never been there.

Well, almost... There were tracks in the snow. But they looked almost like... Tracks from reindeer hooves. As soon as she noticed, the sound of bells jingled from somewhere above the cabin, and the warm laugh Windy had already heard twice today rung through the air.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!"

Both Windy and Ember turned around. Ember's jaw dropped, and Windy's eyes widened, as the two of them saw a red sleigh, getting dragged across the sky by several reindeer, and a jolly-looking man waving at them from inside.

"... I think we better get inside, the cold must be getting to us..." Ember muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, let's..." Windy giggled, before turning back to look at him. "But first..."

Her eyes met Ember's, and she smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Ember." She closed the short distance between them, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him.

---

"Windy? Windy? Are you sleeping?"

Windy groaned quietly. "I saved the Christmas Tree Farm..." She mumbled, her voice still drowsy.

"Did you now?"

"Yeah... When I was leaving the taxi... I had the contract and everything..." She yawned. "I guess I should call the taxi company to thank them..."

The sound of a warm laugh coming from somewhere next to her began to wake her up, and she slowly opened her eyes. She was, in fact, not in front of an idyllic Christmas Tree Farm cabin, but on the couch, in the home, she shared with her sun. The end credits of one of the Hallmark movies she enjoyed so much was scrolling across the television screen, with cheesy Christmas music playing over it. Next to her, stood Ember, holding two mugs of hot cocoa, trying his best to not spill any of it as he laughed.

Windy blushed, realising it had all just been a cheesy movie and hot chip-fueled dream.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you," Ember apologized, still chuckling, before setting the mugs down on the coffee table, and sitting down next to her on the couch. "So... How did you save that Christmas tree farm?"

"Well... You'd know if you had watched the movie with me."

"Sorry, Christmas Eve is a busy day for me... Something about some kids wanting two different types of weather on the same day at the same place, and some weirdos in Cloudsville wanting super specific stuff, you know how it is." He rolled his eyes. "But! I got out as early as possible, and I'm ready to spend the rest of the day, just with you, before we go to the Christmas party at my parents' place tomorrow."

Windy smiled, leaning into him, and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"You're very sweet, Ember..."

"And you're pretty cute yourself..."

"Glad you think so..."

"Anyway," Ember smirked, "what were you saying about the Christmas tree farm again?"

Windy shook her head, smiling. "I told you, you would know if you had watched the movie."

"Right right..." Ember nodded. "... I know you just watched it, but would you mind watching it again?"

The big sparkly eyes Windy was making at that suggestion was enough to make Ember burst out laughing again.

"I'm guessing that means yes?"

Without another word, Windy snatched the remote control, skipped back to the start of the movie, grabbed her mug of hot cocoa, and snuggled up against Ember, who wrapped an arm around her shoulder, as he leaned back to watch the movie with her.