Page 44 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘It does help.’ I made a half-sob, half-laugh noise. He towered above me and now we were close I could smell his cologne. I felt a stirring in my stomach and wished I was brave enough to say that actually a hug would be lovely.

‘Apart from this, what can I do for you right now to make life a little better ?’

Cole with the nice brown eyes and broad shoulders was both the builder and my landlord. So even if he was to blame for the flood, equally he was responsible for providing me with somewhere dry to live and he’d want the damage sorting out properly. And somehow, just knowing that he was here and helping already made life feel a little better.

I swallowed. ‘I need somewhere to work. Somewhere dry and warm with power and light. The cosier the better.’

‘Cosy, eh ? I like a challenge.’ He grinned. ‘I’ll do my best. I can arrange that. And what about sleeping arrangements untiI I can get the electrics checked out – do you want me to arrange alternative accommodation ? You’re entitled to it.’

‘I can sort that myself,’ I replied. I was sure Nell would put me up for a few days if necessary. ‘Oh, the washing machine broke yesterday, I didn’t get around to telling anyone.’

‘Jeez,’ he teased, ‘you have been busy wrecking the joint. Anything else ? What state is the bathroom in ?’

I shrugged. ‘It’s OK if you wear flipflops. It’s more of a wet room at the moment.’

‘A wet room ?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Very upmarket. I might have to put the rent up.’

‘Too soon for jokes,’ I said sternly.

‘Sorry.’

But we both smiled anyway. He still had his hands gently on my arms and neither of us were moving. Inside my chest, I could feel the beat of my heart, steadier now than it had been. Then I had the oddest sensation, a sort of internal warm feeling that all of this flooding and emotional upheaval and mess and negative stuff had in fact all been serendipity, leading to this moment and it felt … OK.

A split second later, his phone started ringing, as did a bell in my head to remind me that he was somebody else’s husband and wasn’t mine to feel serendipitous about.

‘Excuse me,’ he said, pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He read the screen. ‘It’s Castle and Court, the lettings agency … Cole Robinson speaking.’

I knew what the call was about, but to be polite, I looked inside the remaining soggy boxes sitting on the kitchen floor. Some were packed with the soy pellets I used for my candles. Safely bagged in plastic, so they’d be fine to use. A couple of others contained glass jars. I’d have to reorder packaging and labels, but at least I’d be able to crack on with pouring the candles, which was the time-consuming bit. Cole confirmed to the person on the end of the line that he’d be looking after the tenant at Holly Cottage himself and promised to keep them posted.

‘Right.’ Cole ended the call, shoved his phone away and clapped his hands together decisively. ‘Let’s get Operation Cosy underway, shall we ?’

‘Yes, let’s,’ I laughed, loving that he’d embraced my precise requirements. Thank goodness I hadn’t stormed round to the building site and shouted my mouth off ; this conversation would have been very different.

‘I’m going to nip off and get some industrial dryers organised today so we can start drying the floors. In the meantime, you pack up what you need for your job and give me a couple of hours – I think I may have somewhere you can work for the time being.’

‘Thank you, that would be great,’ I said, showing him out.

‘I’ll get this sorted, Merry.’ He gave me a reassuring smile. ‘Trust me.’

‘I’ll try,’ I replied.

I almost gave him a hug as he left but thought better of it and waved instead. I closed the door and sighed with relief. Experience had taught me to be wary of everyone until they proved themselves worthy of being trusted. I didn’t know him very well, if at all really, but unusually for me, I’d felt comfortable with him. He’d said he’d get this sorted and strange as it seemed, I actually believed he would.

Chapter 14

Cole

14 NOVEMBER

Operation Cosy ? Cole groaned as he left World’s End Lane and turned onto the main road out of Wetherley. And then his departing ‘trust me’ line at the end. Where the hell had that come from ? It was probably the cheesiest line he’d ever used.

Merry was no doubt on her phone now, calling that friend of hers, Nell from the nut stall. Both of them laughing at how he’d swooped in there acting like a superhero.

He dismissed the thought ; perhaps he was doing her a disservice. She’d seemed genuinely relieved that he’d promised to get straight on with drying the place out and sorting the electrics. Was that a boyfriend leaving as Cole had arrived, he wondered ? They seemed comfortable with each other, although if Merry was his girlfriend, he wouldn’t have left her on her own to deal with a flooded house.

He wondered what would have happened if he’d gone straight to the site as he’d originally planned and Merry had turned up to confront him. He smiled ; she’d looked like a lost puppy when he’d arrived : pale face and big green eyes, and she’d been understandably livid about the flood.

But when he’d persuaded her to go inside and have a hot drink it seemed more like she was in shock. She hadn’t even seemed to notice that she was trembling from head to foot. Poor lass. And being in that cold house wouldn’t have helped.