Page 46 of The Merry Christmas Project

I winced as her feet touched my warm legs. ‘Your feet are like ice blocks.’

‘It’s my superpower,’ she said. ‘If I ever want to get my own way, I threaten Olek with them. Anyway, stop complaining. I earned these sub-arctic trotters by making your morning coffee.’

‘I’m very grateful,’ I replied meekly. ‘For everything. Feel free to warm them up all you like.’

‘Glad to help. Sorry about this bedroom and its Liverpool FC theme ; if I’d had more notice I could have cleared the spare room and made up the sofa bed.’

‘I’m quite happy sleeping in red and white sheets. And the matching curtains are very bright and cheery.’

Nell had scooped me up yesterday, insisting that I come and stay in Max’s room for as long as necessary. Although I wasn’t sure Max would be quite so enamoured with the arrangement ; he generally stayed with Nell and Olek every second weekend. Olek had been called out on a job last night, so the two of us had had a chance to talk about my heart-to-heart with Daniel. I’d told her how I no longer felt to blame for our break-up and that it would have happened sooner or later, even if my proposal hadn’t been the catalyst.

‘So now we can be just friends,’ I’d said. ‘I can be happy for him and not try and read meanings into his every communication with me.’

‘That’s a relief,’ she’d replied. ‘I was worried that you were counting on getting back together when I could see he wasn’t the one for you.’

I’d nodded. ‘I’ve realised that I’d been missing being in a relationship, more than Daniel himself.’

‘We’ll have you fixed up in no time,’ she’d said loyally. ‘There’s someone out there looking for the same things as you, I promise.’

I’d gone to bed early, exhausted from the events of the day and very grateful to have my best friend in the room next door.

‘Max isn’t going to be here this weekend,’ said Nell now. ‘And if you still need to be here in a week’s time, we can move you.’

‘Cole says he’s going to leave the dryers on for a week and then test the moisture levels, so fingers crossed I’ll be out of your way by then.’

True to his word, my landlord had leapt into action and cracked straight on with sorting out Holly Cottage. He and his site foreman, Josh, had returned at lunchtime, set up two dryers and removed both of my sopping wet rugs to have professionally cleaned. I didn’t like to tell them that I’d bought both of them from charity shops and that it would cost more to clean them than replace. There had also been a digger working by the riverbank removing the debris when I left. So hopefully, the flooding was only going to be a one-off.

My phone pinged with a text and Nell picked it up off the bedside table.

‘It’s Cole.’ She made a moue with her lips. ‘Obviously.’

‘Will you stop, this is my married landlord we’re talking about,’ I said, grabbing the phone off her before she sent back an incriminating reply on my behalf.

‘It’s not me who put a kiss on the end of my message to him last night.’

‘Oh God, don’t remind me. That was mortifying.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said, tongue firmly between her teeth. ‘I bet everyone talks like that to each other in the building trade. Hi, can I get this skip collected please Gary, kiss kiss. Nipping out for some bricks, back in five, miss you already xoxo.’

‘Very funny.’ I opened his text, deliberately holding the screen away from her so she couldn’t see it.

‘Meanie,’ she muttered, taking a sip of her coffee.

Cole and I had been in touch with each other several times over the last twenty-four hours. Last night after dinner (which was Olek’s grandmother’s recipe for a delicious stew called bigos and made me almost glad I’d had to evacuate my own house), Cole had sent me a text to check I was OK and to reassure me he’d be back with news about a work space as soon as he could. It had been a thoughtful gesture and I’d responded immediately, telling him as much and without thinking, signed off with two kisses.

I read Cole’s message but before I could relay it to Nell, there was a knock at the door.

‘Come in,’ Nell yelled. ‘We’re decent.’

Olek’s round face appeared in the doorway, his cropped hair hidden this morning under a beanie and his ice-blue eyes crinkled with humour as usual ; he laughed when he saw us both squashed into his son’s bed.

‘You two look like you’re plotting something.’

‘Merry’s texting her hot builder-slash-landlord, and won’t show me what she’s written,’ Nell answered. ‘If that counts ?’

‘Merry was fast asleep two minutes ago,’ I corrected her. ‘My eyes haven’t focused enough to type yet.’

‘Sorry about that,’ Olek said. ‘I told her not to wake you but she’s like a kid on Christmas morning and couldn’t wait.’