AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘What?’
‘That you’re fine.’
‘I am, though.’
‘It’s OK not to be, you know?’ He smiled again and held her eye contact.
Sophie smiled. ‘I know.’
It was refreshing that, although they’d laughed together, he still genuinely cared that she was OK.
‘That’s partly why I’ve agreed to do this terrifying solo.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘That whole day was awful. My car broke down, rehearsal was crap, I lost my phone to a brook, a brook that I also fell into. It was a horrific end to a hideous day, so when I saw you waiting at the school gate the next afternoon, I knew I had to say yes. Besides, everyone’s counting on me and it might be the only way to save the concert. My mum’s depending on me.’
‘That’s a lot of pressure for one person to carry on their shoulders.’
Sophie shrugged. ‘I just want everything to go well and for us to raise lots of money.’
‘You are a good person, Sophie Lawson.’
Her heart fluttered.
‘Come on,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘Let’s get this tree decorated.’
There was nothing Sophie loved more than Christmas, and decorating the tree in the low glimmer of fairy lights was one of her favourite parts of the festivities.
Liam led the way out of the kitchen and back into the living room, where several boxes were already laid out on the floor. Sophie hadn’t noticed them when she and Liam had walked through the room before, but they sat on the other side of the sofa, covered in a thick layer of dust.
‘I have no idea where to start,’ Liam said, hands on his hips.
‘Where’s the tree?’ Sophie asked.
Now this was something she was good at. Liam wouldn’t have to tell her to find her confidence here.
‘Over here.’ He pointed to a box on the floor.
Sophie stepped over the others and opened it, pulling out the central piece of the tree and holding it upright. ‘If you hold this, I can fit the base on.’
Liam did as he was told and held on to the centre of the tree as Sophie screwed the base onto it. Then they added the branches, Sophie instructing Liam to fold them out to create a ‘fuller tree’.
‘I’d forgotten how lovely putting up the Christmas tree could be,’ Liam said, lifting another box onto the sofa and opening it to reveal carefully wrapped decorations. They picked them out one by one and unwrapped them before hanging them all over the tree.
‘Wait, there’s one more,’ Liam said as they neared finishing.
He rushed upstairs while Sophie stood back and admired their work. It was dark outside now and the only light they were working by were the fairy lights that sparkled and twinkled all over the tree.
Liam came back into the room with the candy cane that Cassie had made with Sophie. ‘She’s had it hanging on her bedroom door ever since she brought it home that day.’
Sophie smiled. It was nice to think that she’d made a difference – even if it was just a small one. That was, after all, why she’d gone into teaching in the first place.
‘It looks great,’ Sophie said.
‘It really does,’ Liam said, stepping back to join her, their arms touching. Neither moved away.
‘Wait!’ Sophie said, suddenly jumping away from him. ‘We’ve not put the star on top.’
