Page 22 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘A man with large assets ?’ She nudged me. ‘That’ll do.’

I left her fantasising on my behalf while I served a woman with twin boys who each had one pound to spend. While her sons were deciding between yogurt- or chocolate-covered raisins, the woman noticed my range of candles on the back shelf and bought three for Christmas presents and one for herself.

Christmas shopping in November – how sensible. That was what I should be doing, now I’d vowed to be organised, I thought, and made a mental note to start a gift list sooner rather than my usual later.

After the family of three had gone, the boys bickering about who’d got the most chocolate, I sat back down with a sigh. I had good intentions to be more proactive and less reactive, but I never seemed to get on top of my to-do list. More things appeared on it before I’d managed to cross any off. And now that I’d somehow managed to get embroiled in this community thing, I had even more to do.

‘How’s your pitch coming along for the Christmas Project ?’ Nell asked, as if reading my mind.

‘Let’s just say that my ideas are still in the infancy stage.’ I pulled a face. ‘I want a really good theme to pull the whole thing together, but I can’t think of one.’

She helped herself to another of Astrid’s biscuits. ‘Perhaps try not thinking about it, that always works for me.’

‘I haven’t got time to not think about it. I bet Tasha Sandean has already created a Powerpoint presentation complete with soundtrack and animation,’ I said huffily.

Nell opened her mouth as if about to say something and then snapped it shut again.

‘Nell ?’ I demanded. ‘What have you heard ?’

‘OK,’ she said, relenting. ‘This might be nothing, but Sally, the school secretary, bought some peanuts yesterday, she puts them in the garden for the squirrels, which I think is crazy. If I know anything about squirrels, it’s that—’

‘About Tasha ?’ I reminded her.

‘Oh yes. Well, Sally said she heard Tasha on the phone talking to someone about hiring reindeer.’

I blinked at her. ‘Real ones ?’

Nell nodded. ‘But she could have been enquiring on behalf of the school. For the Christmas party or something. Either way, a bit ambitious, I thought.’

I could see it now : fake snow, a Santa’s grotto, elves, reindeer … it was brilliant.

‘Right, that’s me well and truly trumped,’ I said, groaning. ‘I’d vote for that myself.’

‘Hey.’ She patted my shoulder gingerly with her bad hand. ‘Your ideas will be even better, I have every faith. But are you sure you won’t fall behind with your candles because of this ?’

‘Sure,’ I confirmed. ‘In fact, I’m actually on top of all my orders.’

Nell looked impressed. ‘Who even are you ?’

I laughed. ‘I keep telling you, I’m a changed woman. On track, on target. The days of flying by the seat of my pants are a thing of the past. Well, mostly,’ I added, recalling that I’d run out of wicks and that an Etsy order had come in on Friday and I still hadn’t fulfilled it.

Nell sighed. ‘Shame. I really liked that Merry. Remember when you found those flights to Paris for fifteen pounds and we just went ?’

I nodded. ‘How can I forget ? We were twenty-two, single and had no one to please but ourselves. Six hours later we were dunking croissants in vin chaud and drawling ooh-la-la suggestively at every handsome French boy that passed.’

‘Oh well,’ she said, topping up my hot chocolate, ‘this is almost as good. Ooh, look and there’s even a handsome man coming this way too.’

She nudged me with her elbow as a tall broad man approached the stall. Not that he was easy to miss – he was wearing a hi-vis jacket in neon yellow. His hair was hidden by a woolly hat, but as he walked by, he glanced at us briefly and I caught a glimpse of deep brown eyes and a hint of copper-coloured stubble.

‘Ooh la la,’ I murmured, making Nell snort with laughter. ‘Shame he didn’t want a date.’

‘I mean it, you know, I’d never have gone to France on a whim if it hadn’t been for you, telling me to just go for it,’ she said. ‘I’ve always loved how decisive you are.’

‘Oh yeah,’ I agreed drily. ‘I can make decisions quick enough, but unfortunately they’re not always the right ones. Anyway, we’re respectable businesswomen these days, we can’t just drop everything and flirt with hot-looking boys—’

‘Why not ? It sounds fun,’ said a low voice.

Nell and I looked up to see a customer leaning nonchalantly on the counter. My breath caught in my throat ; it was the man in the yellow jacket we’d just been gawping at. His eyes, even lovelier close up, were shining with amusement.