‘Thanks, Sophia. It’s been a good day. Rocky start, but worked out well I think.’
I thought back to when I’d stood here earlier today, shoving the tub of homemade soup at him and tearing him off a strip for being arrogant and rude. The flush warmed my cheeks despite the chill of the late afternoon.
‘Yes, I think it did.’
‘I should let you get in out of the cold.’
‘Do you… do you want to come in for a coffee or something?’ I asked.
He shook his head. ‘No, but thank you. Maybe another time?’
‘Yes, sure. Of course.’ I was going for casual and hoping I’d nailed it.
‘I’m going to scoot back with this monster and get some more words down while I still feel inspired. It’s the first time it’s happened for a while so I’m trying to make sure I take advantage of it.’
‘That’s great! I’m really pleased to hear it.’ And I was. There was a little less tension in his face and the chill of the day, combined with our brisk pace, had brought some colour to his cheeks, and both suited him.
I bent and gave Bryan a big fuss then stood back. I’d become a bit of a hugger since I’d moved to Wishington Bay, but I quickly decided that might be a bit much for Nate right now. I settled instead for a brief laying of my hand on his arm and a wave before unlocking the door and disappearing inside my flat.
I’d been delighted to find out I enjoyed hugging. My mother had always thought it common and we’d been fervently discouraged as children. On the odd occasion an acquaintance hadn’t got the telepathic message that hugs were not the done thing, she’d stand there rigid as a fire poker until the whole, ghastly experience was over, then walk away. It had seemed normal to me at the time but now when I thought back on those occasions, I felt mortified for the other person who must have been either completely confused, or embarrassed, or possibly both by the sequence of events. It would have horrified my mother to think I had now become ‘one of those ghastly huggers’. I smiled at the thought and made my way up the stairs to my flat.
11
The following weekend I was off shift and making the most of the situation by catching up on some chores early before taking some time out for myself. I glanced over at my phone as it buzzed.
Pop down for a coffee if you’re not busy?
I’d cleaned the flat, nipped out to the bakers for a fresh loaf, in order to make some toast, bought a jar of locally made marmalade and was now sat on the sofa, feet up, reading a book. Outside the sky was leaden and held the promise of early snow, so although I knew I ought to get out for a walk, my cosy surroundings and novel were much more appealing at the moment. But it would be nice to have a catch up with Flora so I put the book down, stuffed my feet into trainers and jogged down the stairs. Scooting out of my front door, I raced out of the cold into her warm shop. There were a couple of customers browsing as I made my way to the till and gave Flora a hug.
‘Hello, love. I didn’t disturb you, did I?’
‘No, not at all. How are you?’
‘Not bad.’
‘Been busy?’
‘It’s starting to get busier now everyone’s beginning to shop in earnest for Christmas. I’m just trying to summon up the energy to start decorating the shop actually.’
‘Want some help?’
‘Do you mind? Aren’t you due at the restaurant today?’
‘No. Weekend off. Much to Corinne’s disgust.’ I winked and Flora smirked.
‘Goodness knows you’ve covered enough of hers since you started. I don’t know why you do it.’
I shrugged. ‘It’s extra money and it’s not like I have a lot of other plans. Unlike Corinne.’
‘I think she finds work an inconvenience,’ Flora said. ‘Spoilt from the day she was born, that one. And now she uses her looks to get away with more. I don’t know why Ned puts up with it. She never seems to do as much running around as the other waiting staff whenever we’ve been in there.’
‘Carrie’s not exactly a fan either but she said Ned’s known Corinne’s family since he was a kid. I guess it can be tricky when business and pleasure mix. Anyway, the important thing is I’m off today, so what can I do to help?’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Flora’s hopeful expression would have changed my mind even if I had.
‘Not at all.’
‘Oh! That’d be lovely, Sophia. Thanks ever so much. I feel bad taking up your weekend.’
‘No need. I enjoy doing things like this.’ That had been another new discovery. Last year was the first time I’d ever decorated for Christmas. I’d bought the biggest tree that would fit in my flat and still allow me access – which unfortunately meant it was pretty small – plus a bulging basket full of decorations and several strings of white fairy lights. I’d then spent a very happy afternoon decorating the tree and pinning up decorations and strings of soft white fairy lights round the place. The set I’d fitted in my kitchen looked so adorable that I’d left them up permanently. Of course, it wasn’t that my previous houses hadn’t been decorated for the festive season – in fact, the last house had four trees. And, of course, two more in the London flat. It’s just that they were done by the staff.
I’d always been a bit jealous when I watched Hallmark movies (in secret, obviously, as these most definitely wouldn’t have been approved of) and saw families decorating trees together. Even some of my friends kept at least one tree for decorating with their family. But my mother had never been into all that. It was a job for other people, and then she could enjoy the fruits of their efforts. And my husband wasn’t at home half the time anyway so he probably wouldn’t even have noticed if the trees were there or not, let alone ever have the inclination to decorate one.
As the customers she had been serving left, Flora studied me for a moment, an expectant look on her face.
‘What?’
‘OK, as you’re obviously not going to tell me outright, I’m forced to ask. Who was that extremely gorgeous man walking you to your door the other day? And was that Bryan he had with him?’
‘It was, yes. That’s Nate, Gabe’s brother. He’s over here house and dog sitting while they’re away.’
Flora looked at me expectantly. ‘And?’
‘And what?’
‘Oh, come on, love. I’ve been around the block enough to recognise when there are sparks between people.’
‘Oh, Flora, there aren’t any sparks,’ I said, laughing. ‘Have you been sniffing those Christmas candles again?’
‘Well, you looked good together so there definitely should be,’ she replied. She tilted her head. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’
‘Yes. I mean, yes, really there aren’t.’
‘Well, that sounds like a waste.’
‘He’s not here for anything like that. And neither am I,’ I added quickly.
‘But he walked you home.’
‘Bryan needed a walk.’
‘And the swathe of sandy beach right in front of the house would never do for that,’ she grinned.
‘Oh, shush.’ I waved a hand. ‘He’s been going through a difficult patch and is just looking for some peace and quiet.’
Flora frowned for a moment. ‘Is he married?’
‘Separated.’
‘Likely to reunite?’
I shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable about discussing Nate’s private life behind his back. I knew Flora wasn’t the type to gossip to others but even so. It was Nate’s business and no one else’s.
Flora rested her head in her hands. ‘Well, I can see I’m not going to get anything juicy out of you. Spoilsport.’
I laughed and gave Flora a squeeze round the shoulders. ‘There’s nothing juicy to tell. Honestly. I’d been down to clean the house and Nate had been in front of the computer screen for a while, writing. Bryan was due a walk and it was a good opportunity for Nate to take a break too so he walked with me into the village. He wasn’t walking me home; he was just walking with me in the same
direction.’
Exactly.
‘Right,’ Flora said, the look in her eye saying a whole lot more.
I smiled and shook my head. ‘Come on, show me where these decorations are before I change my mind.’
Flora jumped up, laughing, and headed out the back. ‘Mind the shop for me for a minute. I’ll be back in two shakes.’
I’d served a couple of customers and was just wrapping up a beautiful china figurine when Flora re-emerged a short time later carrying one box and pushing another along with her feet.
‘Wait a minute, Flora. I’ll help you with that.’ Flora was long past retirement but seemed to have more energy than most people half her age, and there was nothing she wouldn’t have a go at. But her current method of moving things still looked like an accident waiting to happen. She paused, considered, caught the look in my eye and bent to put the box down.
I rang the sale through, handed the customer her receipt and gave her and the little girl a wave as they closed the door behind them, sealing out the biting wind that practically blasted each customer into the shop every time it opened. Going over to Flora, I picked up the boxes and set them on the table, then dived in for a rummage.
‘These look like tree decorations. Is there a tree back there?’
‘No, I need to pop down to Greg at the grocer’s and collect the one he’s put aside for me. He normally drops it off but he’s put his back out at the moment.’
‘I can do that. I assume it’s not too big?’
‘No, it’s only a little one as it’s going to go in that corner over there so can’t take up too much space. It’s usually all bound up so shouldn’t be too unwieldy. Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘Not at all. Do you want me to go and get that now or get on with the rest of the shop?’
Flora tapped a well-manicured nail against her lip for a moment. ‘If you could grab the tree, then one of us could be doing that while the other one decorates the actual shop. It’ll get done in half the time then.’
I nodded. ‘Good plan. I’ll just nip back up and get my coat and then head down to Greg’s now.’
‘You sure you’re going to be all right with that, Soph? I can ask my son to drop it round to Flora later, if you like.’ Greg was watching as I endeavoured to find the best way to carry the tree, which I had a feeling was bigger than Flora was anticipating,
‘Yes, I’ll be fine. It’s just a case of getting it in the right position, I think.’ I jiggled it again and tentatively moved. Right, this could be it. I gave it one last jiggle and headed away from the grocer’s back up the street towards Flora’s shop. My arms were wrapped tightly round as much of the tree as I could reach, which had proved the best way of carrying it. The only slight downside with this method was the tiny fact that all I could see was tree so I had to rely on others giving way to me. I bounced off something and apologised as I hoiked the tree back up from where it was slowly slipping down my body. Tentatively I peered round it and realised I’d just apologised to a lamppost. As I gave the tree another jostle, the string holding the top few branches together rolled further up and let loose its captives, one of which pinged out and smacked me in the face.
‘Ow!’ I said, trying to overcome the urge to drop the tree where I stood and give it a good kicking. ‘No good deed goes unpunished,’ I grumbled as I tightened my grip on the foliage and set off again. It seemed a lot longer back to Flora’s shop than it had been in the other direction. I could feel the damn thing slipping and heading slowly for the pavement. Doing my best to grab hold of it, I tried to speed up, reasoning that I might be able to beat its descent to the floor. In reality, all this did was hasten the tree’s slide to the ground. As the trunk made contact with the pavement, it acted as a form of brake – something I hadn’t accounted for, and having sped up my pace, now had no time to prepare for. Momentum carried me on, into the tree until we were both sprawled on the pavement.
‘Sophia?’
I kept my face in the tree for a moment, trying to pretend I wasn’t lying astride a Christmas tree in the middle of the pavement. If I ignored it, maybe it wasn’t happening.
‘Sophia?’ the voice came again. OK. So it was definitely happening. ‘Are you OK?’
I turned my head to where Nate had now crouched down level with it. ‘Hello.’ I added a casual inflection as if to convey this was a normal, everyday occurrence. His face assured me that was not the case.
‘What are you doing?’
Humping a Christmas tree in the middle of the village, obviously.
Suddenly two large hands were on my upper arms and I was quickly upright. So quickly I got a momentary headrush and staggered a little. Nate’s hands once again steadied me. Looking up, I saw his face was creased with concern.
‘I’m all right. Really.’
He dropped his hands to his sides and it was then I realised Bryan was tucked into the front of his coat, peering out at the world from this new, advantageous position. His head wiggled as he tried to say hello.
‘Keep still, little mate.’ Nate adjusted his coat and I gave Bryan a quick scratch behind the ears to satisfy him.
‘Sure you’re OK?’ Nate asked.
‘Fine. Honestly.’ So long as you didn’t count mortification. I focused my attention back on the tree and began to bend down to start my next round of Christmas tree rodeo.
‘Wait.’ Nate put a hand on my arm and I stood. Reaching into his coat, he lifted out Bryan, who didn’t seem too thrilled with this development and handed him to me, whereupon the little dog seemed to forgive his temporary master. Nate bent and scooped up the tree, jostled it so that it leant against one shoulder, handily enabling him to also see where he was going, something I’d lacked the benefit of, and turned towards me.
‘Where do you need this?’
‘It’s for Flora’s shop. The little gift shop next to my flat. But you don’t have to do that. I was fine. I just needed to put it down and get a better purchase on it, that’s all.’
Nate began walking. ‘I think you’d handled the putting it down bit quite well. Might need to work on the other part.’
‘That better not be a smile on your face.’
‘Not at all.’ He turned, the gorgeous, shy smile lighting his face.
‘Glad to hear it,’ I grinned back.
We reached the shop far quicker with Nate carrying the tree with long strides as opposed to my Geisha style shuffling.
‘Here we are.’ I scooted across in front of him and opened the door to the gift shop, catching the raised eyebrow that Flora shot me.
‘I met Nate part way and he offered to carry the tree for me.’
‘How kind of you, Nate. I’m Flora.’ She held out her hand and Nate shook it.
‘Pleasure to meet you. You’ve got a lovely shop here.’
‘Thank you. So, you just happened to run into Sophia?’ she asked, now fussing Bryan who had been transferred to her arms while I ducked under the counter to find some scissors to cut the remaining ties of the tree.
‘More tripped over. She was causing a bit of an obstruction.’
Flora looked round and I narrowed my eyes at Nate which brought the smile from his eyes to his mouth and suddenly I didn’t mind any more.
‘I was taking a short rest.’
‘While lying on top of the tree in the middle of the pavement,’ Nate filled in helpfully.
Flora let out a giggle before hastily covering it. ‘Oh, Soph. Are you OK?’ Popping Bryan down to explore the shop, she came over to me, squinting as she put a hand to my face. ‘You’ve got a red mark, there.’ Her hand was cool as it touched my cheekbone.
‘The tree got loose from its top tie and sort of smacked me in the face. It’s fine.’
‘Was this before or after you mounted it in the street?’ The giggle was given free rein this time.
I gave her a look and bent to find the next line of string. Sliding the scissor blade underneath, I closed them, making a satisfying snip. Less satis
fying was the branches pinging out, a fact I hadn’t accounted for in my distraction, mostly by Flora but admittedly a little by Nate who was now answering Flora’s chatty questions as best he could.
‘Oh, for crying out loud.’ I slapped a hand over my eye as it watered, tears streaming down my cheek. My mother definitely wouldn’t have approved of some of the phrases I’d picked up but at least it was free of swear words which, considering how much it had stung, was a miracle in itself.
‘Sophia?’ Nate crossed the little shop in about two strides. ‘What happened?’
‘Really? Again?’ Flora asked, coming to stand beside him, and coming up to about his elbow. Bustling in, she took my hand away from my eye – she really was stronger than she looked. ‘Look up,’ she said and I did so. ‘Down… left… right.’ Doesn’t look like you’ve got anything in there but go upstairs and bathe it with some cotton wool.’
‘It’s fine, Flora.’
‘Nate, my dear. Would you accompany her?’
‘I said I’m fine.’
Flora looked unmoved and Nate looked awkward.
‘Fine,’ I said and turned towards the door. ‘But don’t go trying to move that while I’m gone.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, Nate’s just offered to help us pot it up when you’re done so it’s all sorted.’
I glanced at Nate who shrugged. Flora was the kind of woman who could get anyone to do anything, but never used her powers for evil. Although I wasn’t entirely sure this example counted as using them for good. There was a twinkle in her eye that had me suspicious. I only hoped that Nate hadn’t noticed.
12
I knew my flat was compact but it had never seemed more so than it did now with Nate McKinley occupying what felt like at least half of it.
‘This is nice,’ he said, looking around.
‘It’s a little small, I know.’
Winter at Wishington Bay Page 9