The Best Little Christmas Shop

by Maxine Morrey

  ‘You’ve hardly been down the mines,’ I said, concentrating on piping a smile.

  ‘He’s a tough boss,’ Xander replied, purposely nudging me.

  I sat back in the chair and fixed him with a look.

  ‘Oh dear, look at that. Can’t really sell that one, can you?’ Before I could move the gingerbread man was headless and half devoured.

  I switched my look to Giselle. ‘Honestly, I don’t know how we put up with him.’

  ‘Think yourself lucky you’re not married to him.’

  I did a theatrical shiver and Xander flicked me on the ear my hair was tucked behind.

  ‘OK. Ow!’

  ‘Honestly, I really hope this baby is a boy. I need some backup around here.’ He pulled out a chair next to Giselle who had now sat back down opposite me and he placed his hand on the ever-growing bump. I watched for a moment and then lowered my eyes back to my task. Even though these two were like family, I still felt a little intrusive in such moments and rather like one of the big, fat gooseberries Giselle currently had thawing in a bowl, destined for some delicious culinary fate.

  ‘Right. That’s the last one,’ I said, putting the final biscuit on the tray and standing up to lift it.

  ‘Here,’ Xander said, getting up and coming over. ‘I’ll put it up here, just in case the dog ever discovers any energy. She’ll have the lot of them.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Dinner’s ready,’ Giselle declared. ‘Xander, would you pour the wine, please?’

  Xander set about pouring wine for him and I and a soft grape drink for Giselle as she dished up the chicken. I sat at the table again, having been told there was nothing I could do, and enjoyed the smells swirling around me. The delicious aroma of dinner mixed with ginger and baking, plus the faint tang of soft roses from Giselle’s perfume. I absent-mindedly thought about the expensive bottle Dan and Claire had bought me, which usually languished in a dark drawer, hoping to prevent evaporation. I really ought to get it out and actually use it, now that I wasn’t wearing Eau d’Engine Oil every day.

  I watched my friend as she expertly dished up the food, not splashing a drop, or missing a plate. Everything was perfect, elegant, beautiful. Just like her. I smiled and she caught me.

  ‘What are you smiling at?’

  ‘You.’

  Giselle laughed. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because we’re so different and I love that but I also wish I could be more like you. If I was doing that, half the Aga would be covered and the dog would be having a field day.’

  ‘Oh rubbish. You’re perfect as you are. And you’re totally capable of dishing up food neatly. I’ve seen you.’

  Xander opened his mouth and then shut it as Giselle shot him a glare.

  I laughed. ‘It’s fine. Whatever he was going to say was probably true.’

  ‘Anyway, you have your own talents. Look at that time you fixed your date’s car, even though it pretty much ruined that beautiful dress. Did you ever replace that by the way?’

  I shook my head as I took another sip of wine. ‘Nope. Not a lot of call for it in my life right now.’

  Or any time soon.

  ‘And yes, I did fix his car, which resulted in him never contacting me again.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure that wasn’t the reason,’ Giselle said, then realised she was in a sticky position. ‘I mean …’ She put the plates down on the table and pulled a face.

  ‘It really was the problem.’ I waved her awkwardness away, filling her in. ‘I ran into him a few months later in a pub. His very pretty, very feminine, then girlfriend nipped to the loo and he mentioned that he had been planning to see me again right up until the moment I fixed his car. It was a “turn-off”, I believe was the phrase he used.’

  Xander shook his head. ‘Idiot. Didn’t deserve you then anyway.’

  ‘No. Exactly,’ I agreed with as much emphasis as I could before thanking Giselle and tucking in to the meal in front of me.

  Chapter Four

  ‘So, what was that about Cal not having had a very good childhood?’ I asked Xander later while on my third glass of wine as I sat waving goodbye to my normal resolve to avoid gossip.

  He topped up my glass then his own as he pondered his reply. ‘He’s not said a lot to be honest, has he, Gis?’

  Giselle didn’t need wine to enjoy a good gossip so long as it wasn’t hurting anyone. ‘Not really. From what I can gather he spent a lot of time in care.’

  ‘Does he have any family?’

  Xander shook his head. ‘Nope. Just him and George.’

  ‘What about George’s mother?’ I asked, snagging a couple of gingerbread men from the tray and handing one to Xander.

  Giselle raised an eyebrow. ‘Honestly. You two are as bad as one another.’

  I beamed and fluttered my eyelashes at her innocently then stopped when I realised it was making the room spin. Obviously, that was the reason. Absolutely nothing to do with the wine.

  ‘Not interested in seeing him. The little one was a complete accident. She was pretty horrified to find out she was pregnant apparently. Some high-flying career type who absolutely didn’t want to be a mother at that point. Actually ever, from what Cal intimated. I didn’t like to ask too much else, but he said they worked something out in that she’d go ahead with it all and once the baby arrived, he’d take full responsibility.’

  ‘Tricky situation.’

  ‘Mmmn.’

  I took another sip of wine. ‘What do you think he would he do if she turned up now?’

  ‘I think he’d let her in, but I think he’d also be really careful. George is his world and he’ll do anything to protect him from getting hurt. But, either way, it seems an unlikely scenario to be honest. I mean, she resented the baby from the moment she knew about it. That didn’t change even once he came into the world. I think Cal sort of thought she might have a change of heart once she saw the little one, but she definitely didn’t.’

  ‘That can’t have been easy for him though. Raising a newborn on his own, with no family to help him? Did he have friends?’ I said, a little intrigued, not to mention a tad in awe.

  ‘It sounds like it was pretty much just him. He eventually found the childminder who’s still with him now. Lovely lady. Widowed early and dotes on the lad. But I think Cal resisted even that for a long time. She came with him down from London. I think it’s done her good too as she’s met a lovely chap here. Derek, you know, from the plant nursery?’

  I did know Derek. Ever so shy but a very sweet man who’d spent many years caring for his elderly parents who’d now passed away. It was nice to think that he’d met someone.

  ‘Anyway, Cal was doing all this as well as trying to run a business. I think he finally realised he wasn’t superman. He had to ask for some help,’ Giselle added.

  ‘And now he probably gets all sorts offered here.’

  ‘I should say!’ Xander chuckled.

  I slid my elbow along and jolted his. ‘I didn’t mean sexual help. I meant … general help.’

  ‘But you wouldn’t be averse to offering either?’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘That’s the last thing I’m offering anyone right at the moment. My life is already a mess.’ I put my head down on the table. ‘I really don’t need to be thinking about adding a bonk with Cal Martin into the mix.’

  ‘Sorry. I did ring the bell …’ Cal’s deep and disturbingly sexy voice drifted into my ears and I fervently hoped that I was mishearing. The fact that, momentarily, both Xander and Giselle went suspiciously silent confirmed that I probably wasn’t. Oh God. OK. It’s fine. I’ll just stay here and perhaps he won’t notice me.

  ‘Hi, Lexi.’

  Bugger.

  I dragged my head up off the table and shooshed my fringe with my hand.

  ‘Hi!’ I said, very casually as though I hadn’t just been talking about bonking him when he walked in. I wondered if there was any way of persuading him to wear a cowbell in the hopes of avoiding three awkward encoun
ters in a row.

  ‘I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?’ he asked, his eyes scanning the table and our faces, lingering a little longer on mine with what I could clearly see now was a twinkle of mischief.

  ‘No! Not at all. Sorry about the doorbell. I’ve been asking someone to put new batteries in it for the last week,’ Giselle said pointedly, looking at Xander as she poured water into the kettle. He pulled a face as if suddenly remembering.

  ‘Can you stay for coffee?’

  As much as I loved Giselle and would do anything for her, I could also have quite happily throttled her right then, albeit temporarily.

  Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

  ‘That’d be lovely, thanks.’

  Damn.

  ‘Martha’s with George and he’s already asleep. I was passing and just wanted to drop off the details of a couple of finds I’ve discovered to see what Xander thought about them.’ He took the seat that Giselle offered him, opposite Xander, and next to me, passing the files across the table.

  ‘How was the one today?’

  Cal blew out a sigh. ‘Waste of petrol, mate. Nothing like the description really. For the time we’d have spent out on it even a really good auction price would barely cover it. And an average one definitely wouldn’t. Not worth the risk and effort.’

  ‘These look promising though,’ Xander said, scanning the paperwork. ‘Here, Muppet, take a look at that.’ Xander went to push the files towards me and then halted, glancing over at his boss. ‘I mean, if that’s all right? It’s just, you know, she knows a lot about cars.’

  Cal grinned. ‘Of course.’

  I took the paperwork and studied the pictures and descriptions of the classic cars, both in a very sorry state of repair.

  ‘Oh … this makes me so sad.’

  I looked up to see Xander rolling his eyes. ‘We shouldn’t let you have wine.’

  I slapped him with the papers. ‘Oh shush. You know what I mean. Cal will know what I mean.’ I scooched in my seat a bit more to face him. ‘You know what I mean, don’t you?’ I said, pointing at the pictures.

  ‘It’s sad that such beautiful machines have been left to rot.’

  ‘You see!’ I threw Xander a slightly inebriated, and very smug glance. ‘Exactly. That’s exactly what I meant. I knew you’d understand.’

  Cal twitched an eyebrow and a broad grin showed briefly before the coffee cup hid it. He had a really nice smile. If I’d have had another glass of wine, I’d have gone so far as to say it was a very sexy smile. But I hadn’t, so I wasn’t going to say, or even think that at all. It really was no wonder half the mums wanted a play date with him. I didn’t even have a child and I was a handful of squashed grapes away from setting one up myself.

  ‘Oi, Muppet. What do you think then?’

  ‘Are you really calling her Muppet?’ Cal asked, his eyes shining with laughter.

  Xander looked slightly confused. ‘It’s her name.’

  ‘I thought it was Lexi.’

  ‘Well, yeah. Officially.’

  ‘Actually, officially it’s Alexandra.’ I did a sweeping sort of motion with my hand, like I was bowing but I couldn’t be arsed to stand up so you had to use your imagination a bit.

  ‘And you’re really Alexander.’ Cal said, nodding across the table.

  ‘Yep. Born on the same day. Mums were in the beds next to each other, and they’d both decided on Alexander. Because Muppet here was supposed to be a boy.’

  ‘I wasn’t supposed to be a boy!’

  ‘All right. You were expected to be a boy. But that sort of happened anyway.’

  ‘Do you mind?’

  ‘What? You’re not exactly girly, are you?’

  ‘Giselle does girly enough for the both of us.’

  ‘She’s plenty girly,’ Cal interjected. ‘Carry on.’

  I wiggled my head at Xander in triumph and he ignored me.

  ‘So, anyway, out pops this one and her poor parents hadn’t even begun to consider girls’ names because, although they didn’t have any scanning equipment down at the little cottage hospital we were born in, everyone was convinced in that mystical way people are, that it was another boy. Her parents had resigned themselves to it. And they’d spent so long choosing a name they just made it into a feminine version. Unlike the human being they produced.’

  ‘You’re such an arse,’ I mumbled.

  ‘But once we started recognising our names and especially at playgroup, it all got a bit confusing so they got adapted: hers into Lexi. Mine into Xander.’

  ‘OK,’ Cal said, breaking the leg of the gingerbread man that had now appeared in front of him and popping it in his mouth. ‘That makes sense. But why Muppet?’

  ‘Because she is one.’ Xander looked at his boss as if this explanation was obvious.

  Cal glanced at me and tilted his head. ‘Ask a silly question …’

  ‘It’s fine. I don’t mind it. It’s all meant with love.’

  ‘That’s true. But you are a Muppet. You have to admit that. Last year was the perfect example.’

  ‘Xander,’ Giselle said. Her voice was quiet but there was a definite hint of warning.

  ‘What person, other than a total muppet, would travel halfway across the world, knowing that by doing so they were not only going to lose their job but their entire career as well, just to visit a friend.’

  I let out a sigh. ‘You know it was more than that.’

  ‘I should never have called you.’ Xander swirled the last of his wine around the glass.

  ‘Oi.’ I nudged him. ‘If you hadn’t I’d have never forgiven you.’

  ‘You’d never have known! And you’d still have a job.’

  ‘Oh my God, Xander!’ I sat back in the chair. ‘This was not your fault. Or Giselle’s or anyone else’s but mine. You were in a state and Giselle was in emergency surgery for life-threatening peritonitis! You two mean more to me than any job, or any career! Don’t you get that? If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t change a thing. It was the right thing to do.’

  ‘But she’s fine!’

  ‘Yes. Thank God. But we didn’t know that and I felt much better being here at the time and for Giselle’s recovery than I would have done in a pit garage in some far-flung country. So can we just accept that and move on? I will sort out my life but you did the right thing in calling me that day and I did the right thing in coming home, whatever the fallout.’

  Xander looked at me for a moment, half stood, and grabbed me in a gentle headlock before planting a kiss on my temple.

  ‘See? Told you. Total muppet.’

  I knew Xander felt guilty about having called me that day, but it was true what I’d said. If he hadn’t called me, whatever the outcome, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive him, because in the back of my mind, there would always have been the “what if” …

  ‘He’s been calling her that since I’ve known them both and we met when we were seven so …’ Giselle said, turning to Cal as she did a little shrug and a very Gallic thing with her face and hands.

  ‘It’s all right. I call him much worse when he’s not here.’

  ‘That, I believe,’ Xander shot back.

  I smirked, downed the last of my wine, and pushed my chair out. ‘I’d better start heading home.’

  ‘Do you want me to give you a lift?’ Giselle asked, already up and looking for her keys.

  ‘No! You stay here in the warm. It’s not like it’s far.’

  ‘It’s sleeting out there now,’ Cal volunteered and I shot him a look. ‘Then I definitely don’t want Giselle out in a car.’

  ‘I’m pregnant, not an invalid!’

  ‘Yes. You have precious cargo on board, which means you should avoid all and any possibly dangerous situations.’

  Giselle rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly, you and Xander are like mother hens on steroids.’

  ‘Whatever works.’

  ‘You’ll freeze,’ Giselle said, giving me a stern look.

 
‘I can drop you off,’ Cal offered.

  ‘No really, it’s fine. The walk will do me good. Sober me up.’

  ‘It really is cold out there.’

  ‘I have gloves and a coat and hat and most importantly, plenty of alcohol in my veins. Did you know there was a cook on the Titanic who downed a whole bottle of sherry, thinking if he was going to be plunged into an icy, watery grave he may as well be pissed too – but then he survived because his blood was thinned so much by the alcohol it didn’t suffer the same effects as everyone else?’

  ‘You’re not planning to plunge yourself into the village pond, are you?’ Xander squinted at me.

  ‘No. Not intentionally anyway. Argh!’ I threw my arms up. ‘You’re missing the whole point of the story!’

  ‘I’ll just take you.’ Cal grinned. ‘It’s fine. It’s on my way anyway and George would never forgive me if he found out I hadn’t helped his top Teddy Surgeon home with a lift.’

  I glanced over at Giselle who was nodding at me vigorously, the reasons for which were a little blurry. Kind of like my vision.

  We exchanged goodbyes and hugs and Cal led me to his Land Rover, catching my arm as I missed the footplate in the dark and nearly face-planted into the seat.

  ‘Whoops.’

  ‘Ups-a-daisy,’ Cal said, as he boosted me in.

  I turned my head and looked back at him, his face now in slightly soft focus. ‘Ups-a-daisy?’

  ‘I have a five-year-old. Sorry. Words tend to slip out in inappropriate moments.’

  That delicious smile began to spread on his face and suddenly accepting a lift from him didn’t seem like the best idea. Perhaps I was best off taking my chances with the frozen village pond. He shut the door and I lost the option.

  ‘How do you know where I live? I mean, you said it was on your way, but it might not be.’

  ‘I’ve dropped Dan home a couple of times after the pub and he pointed out your parents’ place. You live above the garage, don’t you?’

  I nodded, trying to think back as to whether I’d told him this. I was pretty sure I hadn’t.

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Xander mentioned it.’

  ‘Oh.’ I began to wonder what else my mate might have mentioned.