Summary

In Chapter 1, Sierra gets gifts of photographs from her best friends Rachel and Elizabeth on the last day that she will attend school during the winter semester. Because her parents run a Christmas tree farm and operate a tree lot in California, Sierra is allowed to do her schoolwork long distance between Thanksgiving and Christmas so she can help her parents on their lot. She hates leaving her Oregon friends, but looks forward to seeing Heather, her best friend in California.

The tree lot in California as well as the tree farm in Oregon is a second generation business. Sierra’s mother and father met because her mother’s family bought their tree each year at her father’s lot. This year, Sierra fears it will be their last year in California because the tree lot has been loosing money.

The girls talk...