There was no other tree in Bobbie’s whole shop like it.

But I’d had a look at a couple of the ornaments, and even with Vi’s discount, to recreate that tree would cost a thousand dollars.

It was perfect for Merry’s pad, so I did not care.

Okay, that wasn’t true. It was perfect for me (I still didn’t care).

What I cared about was something else.

I whipped out my phone, jabbed my finger on the screen, and put it to my ear.

“Hey, babe. What’s shakin’?” Vi asked in greeting.

“Do you think Merry would lose his mind if I bought pink and purple Christmas tree ornaments?”

“How many?”

“A lot.”

“Okay, then, one hundred percent affirmative on him losing his mind.”

“Shit,” I muttered, already kind of knowing that was the answer.

“Say one ornament that you put on the inside of a branch close to the trunk that’s mostly hidden and he can’t see, you might get away with that. But more than that? No go.”

I stared at the tree. “What about canary yellow? And teal?”

“Negatory and negatory.”

“Lace cutout stars?”

Her voice was getting shrill either with hilarity, disbelief, or both when she asked, “Have you met Garrett Merrick?”

“Shit,” I muttered again.

“I thought you guys already decorated.”

“We did. My house. But we decided this morning we’re doin’ Christmas at Merry’s. So I need a whole new tree.”

“Ooo, sweet. Christmas by the lake. Awesome.”

She was not wrong.

“Fake tree?” she asked.

“I don’t know. He said he’d get one. That could mean anything.”

“He’s a guy. If he says he’ll get one, that means it’ll be real and you’ll be cleaning up pine needles until February. You’ll also have a time of it talking him out of going somewhere and chopping one down himself just so he can chop down a tree. My advice, babe? Focus on those things, primarily talking him into a fake tree so you don’t have to vacuum pine needles for two months, not wasting time talking him into pink ornaments. Trust me on this. You got a badass in your bed, you learn to pick your battles.”

I had a badass in my bed. I loved him. I wanted to keep him there. So I should listen to Vi. She had a lot of experience. She’d married a badass in the making when she was eighteen, and he’d grown into a full-blown one who unfortunately got dead way too soon. She’d then married an even bigger one who kept knocking her up when she wanted to concentrate on hoping her second child didn’t get knocked up by her own badass boyfriend at the same time keeping an eye on the fact that her oldest daughter had begun dating a badass cop in Chicago.

Yes, I should listen to Vi. She lived and breathed badass.

Whatever you want.

Merry said that a lot.

To me and to my kid.

I stared at the tree.

Not only would it be awesome this year, it’d be even more awesome in the master suite next year. Our tree. Merry’s and mine.