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Chapter 7

The grand tour

Tobias' POV

I don't know what it is about Tris, but something about her makes me feel like I can breathe again. It's strange really, I can see the flame in her eyes, the passion and desire to live her life. The kindness, courage, intelligence, selflessness and the honesty that she carries… From a young age I thought that's how a person (a good person) needed to be. I tried, really tried to be all of those things. But I couldn't, it turns out kindness is a lot harder than it looks. Especially when you don't have the patience or desire to be kind.

But when I look at Tris, I see all of those things. Her kindness when she speaks, her courage for breaking into the barn, but not fearing me with a rifle when she woke up, intelligence by how resourceful she is, honesty as she told me what I needed to know, and of course selflessness when she must have been exhausted, but yet still found it in her to cook us a meal last night. She could have so easily made herself a sandwich and called it a night. But she didn't, she thought of me. She is also easy on the eyes. What?

The sound of slow approaching tires has me standing up and making my way out of the house. I was pleased when she more than willingly joined Uriah in retrieving her car and helping to see exactly what was wrong with it. Uriah is a good guy, someone she could lean on, he is easy to talk to, and someone that knows just how to cheer someone up by just using his appetite. I have a feeling she could use a friend or two.

I meet Tris and Uriah right outside the house just as they pull up. Tris smiles and Uriah laughs as they both exit. Good, they are getting to know each other.

"Hey Four."

"Hey," I greeted her. Tris steps closer, her smile actually meeting her eyes.

"So how's the car?" I ask.

"The car needs a new heating hose." Uriah announces.

"Well just bill me."' I say, nodding my head.

"Will do. Nice meeting you Tris." Uriah calls back as he jumps back into his truck and starts it back up. Tris waves smiling, before turning back to me.

"I can't let you pay for that part. It's too much." Tris says, shyly when we are alone.

"Don't worry. Think of it like an advance on your pay." I suggest. I gesture to her to follow me, my hand digging in the pocket as I ask, "Would you like the grand tour?" I wait for a moment for her answer. She just simply smiles and nods her head joining me towards the Christmas trees. We walk at a slow pace, not hurrying at all.

I walk her through the groups of different trees that we offer from the scotch pine to the noble fir, the balsam fir and the grand fir. We sell a total of four different types of Christmas trees. It's something I am very proud of, each one needing their own vitamins, amount of water and sun etc. it's not as easy as you would think. Even the type of soil is important for each type. We continue on the grand tour, I show her the wrapping machine and the tickets that are given out when you purchase a Christmas tree.

"Customers can park, choose their Christmas tree and experience chopping them down with help if needed. Then we push it through the machine that wraps the tree into a netting and write out the ticket for them. The ticket they take to the store to pay for the tree, while I carry and secure the tree to their car. It also gives them a chance to shop for anything else that they might need in the store." I explained the process.

"Wow. It's thought out very well." Tris compliments.

"It was all Lauren. She had the brains for it." I informed her. I swing the store door open, letting Tris in first.

"So let me get this straight…" Tris begins, by the tone of her voice I can see I'm in for an interesting question. "You grow Christmas trees and sell knick knacks for Christmas…And yet you don't have any Christmas decorations in your house?" She teases.

"That was all Lauren." I explain, my cheeks actually heat up when I watch Tris swipe a pile of dust with one finger. "Yeah," I say, scratching the back of my neck, uncomfortably. Tris walks around the gift shop, looking around and familiarizing herself with the store. "I need you to manage the store for me. Organize, stock, clean, and help the customers," I continue, feeling my throat tighten with every second that I'm in here.

"You want me to run it?" She asks, confused no doubt by all of this.

"Yes, you do know how to run a register right?" I ask. Maybe this is too much to ask.

"I worked in retail a few times." She says.

"Good. Well then, I'll leave you to it. If you have any questions, call me on my cell phone," I say, turning and walking out of the store. I take a deep breath the second I step outside, escaping the stuffy air.

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Revised by FDFobsessed