Christmas on My Mind by Janet Dailey

your mother, Jess. She was there, too, a friend when I needed one. I came to like Francine. I still do.”
    â€œThank you for that,” Jess said. “I can only hope more people feel the way you do.”
    Kylie reached out mittened fingers and gave Jess’s hand a squeeze. “I know you might not have an easy time ahead. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”
    â€œThat means more to me than you can imagine.” Jess gave her a smile as Kylie’s family pulled her away to look at more trees.
    Ben was already checking out a nearby tree, inspecting all sides, then putting it back in the row. Since they needed to get the tree set up and decorated tonight, Jess knew they didn’t have much time. But she held her tongue as Ben inspected, then rejected, the next dozen trees he saw. None of them, it seemed, were good enough for Ethan’s Christmas.
    â€œOver there!” Maybe the thirteenth tree would be the charm. Ben headed for a row of the most expensive trees on the lot. There were only a few of these, probably because few people in Branding Iron could—or would—pay out that kind of money for a tree. But they were beautiful—tall, straight, lushly green, and perfectly shaped.
    â€œThis one!” He stood the tree on the end of its sawed trunk and turned it slowly. “What do you think?”
    â€œIt’s beautiful. But do you really want to pay that much for something you’ll be throwing out in a few weeks?”
    â€œHey, it’s for Christmas!” He motioned the husky teenage lot boy over. “Take this out to the black pickup. I’ll pay up front—careful now, don’t break any branches.”
    â€œDon’t worry, I won’t, sheriff,” the boy responded as he shouldered the tree and headed out of the lot.
    Jess walked with him to the checkout line, where they waited their turn behind the other customers Anxious to get going now, Ben fished his credit card out of his wallet to have it ready. Standing beside him, Jess felt an odd, prickling sensation at the back of her neck, as if someone was staring intently at her from behind. She’d never credited herself with psychic powers, but the feeling was too strong to ignore.
    She wheeled around, abruptly enough to catch the disapproving glare on Maybelle Ferguson’s face before the woman turned and walked away.
    * * *
    â€œI’m afraid we may have triggered some gossip,” she told Ben as they drove home with the tree in the back of the pickup.
    Ben had been humming along with “Blue Christmas.” He stopped. “Gossip? What gossip?”
    â€œYou know—the county sheriff hanging out with the new scarlet woman in town.”
    His laugh was warm and belly-deep. “Scarlet woman! Hey, I kind of like that.”
    â€œI’m serious. When we were in line, I caught Maybelle Ferguson giving me this look . It was like being stabbed in the back.”
    He turned the truck off the main road and back onto the street they’d taken from the house. “This is a small town, Jess. As a newcomer, you can expect some of that. But as long as we’re both single and not doing anything more scandalous than buying a Christmas tree, I say, let them gossip. They’ll soon get tired of it, or find something juicier to talk about.”
    â€œBut—” Jess bit back the rest of her argument. Ben wouldn’t understand how much she needed the friendship and approval of the people in Branding Iron. He’d grown up here, in a respected family. Everybody seemed to look up to him. He’d have no idea how it felt to be an outsider, branded before she even had a chance to prove herself.
    Ben parked the pickup in the driveway and helped Jess to the ground. They crossed the porch and opened the front door to be greeted by the smell of savory beef-and-bean chili. Clara, wearing an old-fashioned apron over her sweater and slacks, greeted them from the