Page 35 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘Excuse me one second, I need to have a quick word with her,’ she said, and then called her name across the room : ‘Sadie !’

It was another fifteen minutes before I left the Buttermarket. I’d stayed behind with Pam and Jim to clear up the refreshments and tidy the chairs away. And then just as I was ready to go, Pam told me that she and Jim were going away for three weeks to Lanzarote to scatter Benny’s ashes on his favourite beach. Finally, I wished them good night and left them to lock up. I stepped outside into the darkness and crossed the market square. The night air was chilly after the fug of the room, so I tugged the zip of my coat right up to my chin and tucked my hands in my pockets. I’d parked in a side street near Astrid’s flat which wasn’t too far away, but I walked quickly to keep myself warm.

A light was on in Good Earth, Daniel’s greengrocer’s. I frowned ; that was odd. When he’d left the meeting a while ago, he’d said he was heading home, and he never normally left lights on in the shop overnight. A sudden movement caught my eye and my skin prickled ; someone was inside. Was there a burglary in progress ? I reached into my handbag for my phone, ready to call for help and crossed over to the other side of the pavement to get a closer look.

I stopped suddenly in disbelief, my heart racing. I wasn’t looking at one person, I was looking at two. A man and a woman totally entwined in each other, kissing passionately. The woman in a caramel wool coat, her long dark hair a stark contrast to his pale blond head. His hands cupping her face, his body pressing against hers, her arms wrapped around his neck.

The mistletoe might have been missing, but Daniel had finally got his kiss from Tasha.

My throat burned with the effort of trying not to cry. I squeezed my eyes shut, desperate not to be seen, even more desperate not to watch their intimate moment. Too late for that, I thought miserably ; the image of them kissing would be burned into my memory for ever. I turned away, stumbling over the cobbles ; I just wanted to get home and cry my tears in private.

Now I knew why he wanted to see me. Not to tell me he still had feelings for me, but to confirm he definitely didn’t.

So that was it. Over. There was no point in my holding onto the notion of us getting back together. Daniel had officially moved on. And it was about time I did too.

Chapter 11

Cole

14 NOVEMBER

Cole was woken up by a terrible noise. His first thought was that it had to be a woodpecker. His dad would know, he thought with wry amusement, seeing as he was now into birdwatching. If it was a woodpecker, it was a bloody loud one ; it sounded like it was perched on his head, with its beak rat-a-tat-tatting into Cole’s brain. He attempted to open his eyes and lift his head off the pillow but gave up. It was all coming back to him now ; he’d drunk copious amounts of red wine with Hester last night.

Oh crap, so not a woodpecker then, a hangover. He opened his eyes again, grateful for the blackout blinds at the annexe windows and forced himself to sit up. That bloody noise was still going, rattling his brain. It served him right. He’d been drinking far too much recently ; he was normally a one or two pints on a Friday and Saturday man. This was not good, he really needed to get a grip.

With sudden comprehension, he reached for his phone beside his bed, turned off the alarm and the noise stopped.. Now all he could hear was the wind battering the roof and whipping up the fallen leaves.

It had been one hell of a stormy night. The fence between Hester’s house and the next-door neighbour had blown down and cartwheeled down the garden. The elderly lady who lived there had been quite anxious about it, so he and Paul had gone out in the wind and rain with only a head torch and the security light to guide them to retrieve the damaged pieces of wood. Wrestling against the wind to carry the panels and store them safely along the side of the house had exhausted both of them. Paul had gone up for a bath and when Cole had tried to say goodnight, Hester had forced him to sit with her in the living room.

‘You can’t sulk over there for ever,’ she had said, sounding so much like their mum that he felt a lump form in his throat.

‘Maybe not for ever,’ he’d replied. ‘But right now, I’m terrible company. I’m doing you a favour.’

Cole had been feeling low since Lydia had dropped her bombshell about not spending Christmas in the UK, and rather than inflict his bad mood on Hester and Paul, he’d kept himself to himself.

‘Sorry,’ Hester had said, not looking in the least bit apologetic. ‘But you can’t go back to your hermit’s hole until I’ve shown you the Christmas present I’ve got for Dad.’

He didn’t resist too forcefully ; he was cold after being outside and their living room was cosy and warm. Three soft leather sofas were arranged in a U-shape in front of a roaring fire, which wasn’t real but you’d never guess at first glance, and above the fire was a huge TV.

‘It’s for research,’ Hester had told him when he’d commented on the size of it. ‘I have to know what’s happening across all our competitors’ shopping programmes.’ She’d grinned at him. ‘I know, I get paid to watch TV, it’s a tough life.’

He sometimes forgot his sister was a minor celebrity. She wasn’t household-name famous, but she was on TV four times a week and consequently had a lot of fans and was sometimes recognised when she was out in public. It always tickled him when he was with her when it happened because she pretended to be embarrassed, but secretly loved every second of it.

‘Go on then, where’s this present ?’ Cole said, making himself comfortable on the sofa. ‘And can it be from me too ? I hate Christmas shopping.’

‘No it can’t,’ she replied firmly. She picked up the TV remote and pointed it at him. ‘You need to get your own gifts, but I’ll come shopping with you.’

‘I’m holding you to that,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to get stuff for the kids now and make sure I send it off before the cut-off date. At the very least I want them to have presents from me to open on Christmas Day, even if I’m not there in person.’

‘Deal,’ she said, adding tongue-in-cheek, ‘and maybe it’ll help you get into the Christmas spirit.’

‘I’ve told you,’ he said, nudging her with his socked foot. ‘I’m cancelling Christmas this year. I’m fitting a new kitchen at the old bank from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day. The sooner the festive season is over, the better.’

‘Oh Cole,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I hate to see you like this. I wish there was something I could do.’

‘Sorry, I’m being a Grinch, I just …’ He paused and shrugged.

‘I get it,’ she said kindly and then smiled as the screen lit up. ‘This will cheer you up, look.’