The Christmas Card Page #4

as our guest bathroom towels.

I'm not jealous.

I'm just protective.

You mean a lot to me.

Hi.

- Hi!

- Hey.

Sure put in

a lot of hours today.

Hope Richard didn't

work you too hard.

He looks like

he can handle it.

Hi, I'm Paul.

Cody.

Faith told me how you saved

Luke the other day.

I'm impressed.

Sure you would have

done the same.

Paul's in the wine business,

and we were about

to have a tasting.

If you'd care to join us.

- Oh, that'd be great.

- Let me clean up,

and I'll come back

and start a fire.

No need, I got it covered.

Great.

Here, honey,

have a seat.

It's good to be home.

It's been a long time.

Whew!

- Whoo!

- Hi.

Hi, Paul!

Time to get dinner started.

Oh! You brought the wine.

I'll get some stuff

to go with it. Ok?

I'd say this is

a fruity wine, isn't it?

This wine you brought

is really good, Paul.

Yeah, this stuff

really does taste...

What was it you said, Paul?

Full-bodied and romantic?

Aromatic.

I picked it up

when I was in France last month.

I toured the chateaus

of the alsace region.

They're known for their whites,

especially their rieslings,

which are sometimes confused

with German wines.

- Why's that?

- Ah, because the grapes are very similar.

Ah, speaking for myself,

I find I always prefer

a French fry

to a French wine.

Me, too.

Here comes the boss.

He's a good worker, dear.

Pull over in here.

We're running low

on Christmas trees.

Guess we'll be cutting

some more tomorrow.

Let's go get the girls.

Hey, how's it going?

Oh, great!

I think we're just about ready

to quit for tonight.

- What is...

- You read my mind! I'm starving.

What're the bags for?

Care packages for

the people in the shelter.

Hmm!

We're really low

on winter clothing.

We really need

mittens, hats, scarves,

and especially sweaters.

- Ok.

- Where's your boyfriend, faith?

He seems to have

disappeared.

Oh, he's out of town

on business.

He'll be back when he can.

Oh.

Hey, Cody!

You gonna be a logger,

you gotta look the part.

- Wow, thanks, Luke.

- That's awesome.

- Go on, put it on.

- We'll be twins today.

That's scary.

You know, he's just trying

to butter you up.

He knows that cutting

Christmas trees

is gonna be the most

exhausting day of your life.

Morning, boys.

Morning, dottie.

Paul's volunteered to help

cut Christmas trees with you.

All the whos in whoville

better run for it.

- Morning.

- Good morning.

I'm glad

you could make it.

- Are you ready?

- No.

- Come on, Paul bunyan.

- Let's cut you loose.

I'll see you later.

We get a thousand feet

above the mill,

we hit the snowline.

Your cell phone

works up here?

This is Paul.

Don't cut anything under

5 and a half feet.

And only the ones

that are crowded.

No, no, it's ok, I...

I told them I was...

I, uh...

I can't hear you up here.

They're operating

a chainsaw.

Yeah, yeah, we're

cutting down trees.

In the woods.

I don't know

if it's a forest

or it's some sort of

tree hatchery.

Have you talked to Roberto

about that?

And what did Roberto say?

Uh, what I told James

in the office...

No, thanks, I'm glad you called,

this couldn't wait.

No, I wasn't busy at all.

Listen, you have

a merry Christmas.

I will. I will, you, too.

Wow, you guys

really went to town.

How long was I on that call?

About 2 hours.

Sorry. James in New York

had a problem

with a shipment out of France.

- Can I help?

- Nope. We're done.

Little late, but thanks.

You boys have fun?

- Oh, yeah.

- Oh, yeah.

Uhh! That was hard work.

We'll make a woodsman

out of you yet.

Come here.

Cody, darlin',

I'm feeling a little tender.

Would you mind?

- Ok. Merry Christmas.

- Merry Christmas.

- Hello, ladies!

- Hey, what do you have there?

You mentioned that you were

putting together boxes,

and you needed

a few extra items,

so last night, I went out

and bought some stuff.

- Oh, thank you!

- Oh, so generous.

Hey, what do you have, Cody?

Oh, just a few things

I was gonna donate to the cause.

Oh, how nice of you, Cody.

Let me help you with that,

come on.

Thank you. That way.

He's such a gentleman.

Paul.

Everybody was really impressed

with what you did in there.

What about you?

Of course I'm impressed,

I'm really proud of you.

You see more taken

with Cody.

What you both did

was wonderful.

Come here.

Hey.

Ah, top of the morning.

That looks complicated.

Eh, I've been doing it

a long time. It's pretty simple.

We just count the boards

with the sizes.

It's 4 by 6,

6 by 6, 6 by 8,

it's how we keep

track of them.

We have a code of dots.

And each dot

counts for a board.

You get 5 dots like this,

then you just

connect the dots with a line.

Which also counts

for another board.

Are these the dots

that faith likes?

I taught her

how to count them

before she was even

old enough to count.

That's why I call her dottie.

Would you take

that tally sheet

back to the office

for me?

Morning, everybody.

Morning.

Well, you missed

breakfast.

- Oh, I got up early.

- Went for a run.

Oh, why didn't you tell me?

I could have gotten up

and watched.

Nice flowers.

They're from Paul

for my mom.

- Isn't he clever?

- Roses for Rosie?

Too clever for my Luke

to have figured out.

He always brings me

dogwood blossoms.

Not that I'm cheap.

I just like to pick flowers

from our special place.

These are from Richard.

I love counting dots.

I know that sounds silly,

it's my favorite thing to do.

So you like to recount

the dots,

and it makes you happy?

Immensely.

Your lucky day, Cody.

Lesson number 2.

How to sharpen chipper blades.

Pardon me.

Good luck.

- Cody!

- Sir?

Huh.

We need you to count up

that wood stack

over by the multi-head resaw,

I'm sending out a load.

When you finish up,

tonight,

tomorrow morning,

whenever,

I want you to get

the totals over to faith.

Ok.

Thanks.

Well, that shouldn't

take you much time.

You didn't have anything

planned for tonight, did you?

See you in the morning!

If I'm done by then.

Good morning!

Hey.

Do you know what this is?

It's a tally for the lumber

that's being sent.

Hmm.

Let me know

if it doesn't add up.

Dottie.

- Hey.

- What are you two up to?

Just working on a little

Christmas project for Sammy.

Oh, good, good.

Hey, you didn't forget

about the Christmas dance

tonight, down at the

veteran's hall, did you?

Oh, um...

You know, I think

I'm gonna stay here, Luke,

and finish up

some odds and ends.

- What?

- Well, good!

Maybe I can get a woman to dance

with me, with you not there.

Richard, Richard,

who are you kidding?

You don't stand

much of a chance

with or without Cody.

Cody, come on. It'll

give you a good chance

to meet some great veterans.

And if you don't

get down there tonight,

Rosie's gonna be

very ticked at you

for not tasting

her baby back pork ribs.

I mean it.

All right, we'll be

right behind you.

- All right.

- Don't forget! Hurry up!

Boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.

Just what I need.

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