Page 89 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘You’re not too old for a clip round the ear, young man,’ Fred retorted.

To Fred’s surprise, I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. ‘Merry Christmas, Fred.’

‘And to you, love,’ he mumbled, his eyes shining behind his glasses.

‘Go Dad !’ Hester laughed and then nudged Cole who looked down at his shoes and said nothing.

I would very much have liked to kiss Fred’s son under that mistletoe too, but perhaps not with the rest of his family as an audience. Was he thinking the same ? Hester seemed to be dropping a lot of hints, but I was sure I remembered something about her being the one who set him up with a dating app, so maybe she was like this with every single woman he encountered. It was so difficult to tell. I gave myself a shake, conscious of the need to get the Robinson family back to the stage in a matter of minutes.

Once we were inside, Cole snapped all the lights on and we headed upstairs.

‘I’m using the kitchen mostly,’ I explained, pushing open the door and sending up a silent prayer that it didn’t look too awful. ‘I make all the candles in here.’

Fred rubbed his hands together. ‘It’s like a little chemistry lab.’

‘Dad used to be an industrial chemist,’ Cole explained. ‘He’ll be in his element.’

‘It smells divine.’ Hester inhaled deeply and narrowed her eyes in thought. ‘This aroma reminds me of something.’

‘Me too,’ Cole said, sniffing the air.

‘Smells of aftershave to me,’ said Fred, picking up one of my cotton wicks and twirling it in his fingers.

‘It’ll be the oils I’ve been experimenting with this week,’ I said, pointing out the last batch I’d made on Friday. I pulled Cole’s scarf up to my nose again and inhaled. My candle version was almost there ; I’d try one more version on Monday if I got time.

Hester picked up a candle and sniffed it. ‘I know what it reminds me of !’ she exclaimed, her eyes bright. ‘Sauvage by Dior.’

I almost gasped aloud. So that was what it was ! Now that I knew what it was called, I could look up the ingredients and perfect my blend. Not that I’d ever try and plagiarise another brand, but a bit of inspiration wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Silently, Cole picked up a candle and inhaled the aroma, his eyes flickering with curiosity. ‘That’s what I wear.’

‘What a coincidence,’ I said weakly. I cleared my throat. ‘Anyway, as I say it was just an experiment and it made a change from the frankincense, myrrh and cinnamon oils I’ve been mixing for the last month.’

Hester laughed. ‘OK, your dislike of Christmas is getting ever more unbelievable.’

‘Seriously,’ I said. ‘I’ve had enough of the smell of cinnamon to last me a lifetime.’

‘I can sympathise,’ Hester winced. ‘We did a slot selling mince pies last week which involved me tasting them repeatedly throughout the day. I’m done now till next year. Give me a plate of sprouts any day.’

‘Same here !’ I agreed. ‘The only good thing about Christmas is the certainty that sprouts will be on the menu.’

‘Ooh,’ she closed her eyes. ‘Shredded and sautéd with bacon and garlic.’

‘Or roasted with butter, honey and black pepper,’ I added.

‘Or banned from the dinner table altogether,’ said Cole.

We all laughed.

‘What will you be making this week ?’ Fred asked, moving towards the worktop and looked at all my candle-making equipment.

‘Candle-making is very seasonal,’ I replied, ‘so I’ll still be doing my wintry ones for a while. My products for the New Year will be very different. Calming, clean, fresh, relaxing. If Marie Kondo did candles, that sort of thing.’

‘Ooh, sounds interesting.’ Hester picked up a finished candle. ‘Can I put a picture of these on my Instagram stories ?’

‘Sure.’

She took out her phone and arranged some candles for her photo.