It’s a Wonderful Night: A delightfully feel-good festive romance for 2018!

His eyes flick between me and the coins on the counter. ‘Fine. But it’s not happening again.’

‘Okay.’

‘Okay.’ The bell rings as he opens the till and puts the money in.

‘And now I’ll have another one. Same again, please.’

He folds his arms and gives me a stern look. ‘I’ve told you I’m not letting you buy me another coffee. What are you up to?’

‘It’s for me. To go. For later.’ I take a sip of the coffee currently in my hand as if this somehow proves it.

He looks like he’d be more inclined to believe Pinocchio.

‘I’m a paying customer. You can’t turn me away.’

‘No, I guess not.’ He looks like he wants to argue but he knows I’m right.

‘I bet Bernard will know something about that window,’ he says over his shoulder as he turns around and fires up the coffee machine again. ‘I’ll have to ask him if he saw who did it.’

‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ I mumble under my breath.

‘Pardon?’

‘I said I’m sure he did. Bernard knows everything around here.’

The look in his eyes as he fits the white plastic lid onto the coffee cup says he knows that isn’t what I said the first time, but he doesn’t pursue it.

‘To go. For later.’ He puts the cup on the counter with a resolute thud and pushes it towards me.

‘Exactly.’ I give him the money, trying to ignore the little thrill as my gloved fingertips brush against his hand.

I wait until the till’s dinged and he’s torn the receipt off and handed it to me before I push the cup back across the counter towards him. ‘For you.’

He bursts out laughing. ‘I knew you were up to something.’

‘I knew you wouldn’t do it if I asked for two at once.’ I grin at him and he looks like he’s trying to be annoyed but he can’t stop himself grinning back and it makes butterflies start zooming around inside me. ‘And you have to take it. If you don’t, I’m going to go to the soulless retail park and get a Starbucks and bring it back here for you, and I know you wouldn’t be happy about that. By refusing it, you’re actively giving your custom to the competition.’

There’s a flash of recognition in his eyes. Soulless retail park is what we called it on the phone. I have to be more careful, although in all fairness, everyone around here who’s lost business to the shiny new shopping centre calls it the same. It’s not a reason for him to suspect anything. I’m just seeing things that aren’t there because I know and he doesn’t.

‘What’s this sudden obsession with making me drink coffee? I could be watching my caffeine intake for all you know.’

‘You work in a coffee shop. I don’t think caffeine intake really applies to you, does it?’

He laughs and then rolls his eyes. ‘Well, maybe not, but … why? Why this sudden desire to buy me a coffee?’

‘Because I don’t know what else you like. I nearly bought you an aubergine and put it in a sexy bra but I didn’t know where to find one around here.’

‘An aubergine or a sexy bra?’

‘Either,’ I say, thinking it’s probably a bit early in the day to be talking about bras with Leo. Casey would tell me off for not making that into some kind of suggestive joke about my own collection of sexy bras, which is zero. It’s been a while since I made any effort in the bra department.

‘Why should you get me anything? You’re a customer. I get you things and you give me money in exchange. That’s how shops operate in general.’

‘Ha ha,’ I mutter at his sarcasm. I’m going to have to come up with a viable explanation and fast because he’s looking at me expectantly, long dark eyelashes blinking over determined blue eyes.

‘I just think people don’t show others that they appreciate them enough. I walked home one night last week after you were closed, and it made me realize how much better you make this street.’ The twinkle in your eyes, the way I want to run my fingers through the curly mass of hair on your head. ‘The warm glow of light pouring out in the evenings, the gorgeous roasted coffee smell that filters right the way across the road, the festive window,’ I wave at the display behind me, even though I probably shouldn’t have drawn attention to it again. ‘If you can’t be nice to people at this time of year, when can you? I wanted you to know that you brighten my day and this street wouldn’t be the same without you.’

It’s a roundabout explanation, a bit rambly, and more forward than I’d usually be, but Leo needs to hear that he’s important to people, no matter how much my cheeks have heated up. It’s worth the embarrassment because his eyes have softened and his cheeks have gone pink.

‘Yeah, well, business is not exactly booming so you’ll probably be getting used to a street without It’s A Wonderful Latte sooner rather than later.’

‘All the more reason for you to let me buy an extra cup of coffee then, right?’ I say, trying to ignore the pang in my chest at his words and how resigned he seems to it. Maybe I should act more shocked, but I already know how bad business is from the phone call, and even without that, I should have figured it out earlier. The coffee shop is empty, as it has been every other morning in recent months. When it first opened, I’d have to queue for a coffee even as early as half past eight, and at lunchtime you could just forget it. I’d be able to see the back of the queue from down the street and around the corner.

‘Yeah, but you don’t have to buy it for me,’ Leo says before I have a chance to question him. ‘I don’t des –’

It reminds me of what he said on the phone and I want to reach over and squeeze his hand. Who am I kidding? I want to vault over the counter and give him a massive hug. Instead, I nudge my coffee cup against his on the counter, pushing it so his cup touches his hand. ‘Whatever that was going to be, you’re wrong.’

He drops his head onto his hands and exhales slowly, sounding and looking completely exhausted, and for another moment, the mask slips. The smile and the chitchat don’t come as easily as he makes it seem. The flippant way he said he’s going out of business is a much bigger deal than he’s letting on, and as he presses his forehead into his hands on the counter, I can see the physical weight of that on his shoulders.

He looks up and blinks in the brightness. ‘You know you’re going to have to stay and drink it with me now, right?’

‘Good, I was hoping you’d say that.’ I give him a bright smile. Again, it’s more forward than I’d usually be, but Leo needs to know that someone cares.

‘Unless I’m going to make you late for work?’

I glance at my watch without actually looking at the time. ‘Oh, I’ve got bags of time. It’s fine. My manager’s easygoing.’

‘An easygoing bank manager, huh? Who’d have thought it? I thought you had to be uptight and serious to work in the financial industry.’ He thinks for a moment. ‘Although on this street, banking is a joke, isn’t it? There’s no money left to bank. You must’ve noticed the decrease in traders banking with you?’

‘Er, yeah.’ I stutter out a one word answer. I don’t know the first thing about banking or the financial industry and it’s absolutely ridiculous to let him think I work there, but at the same time, I’d only have to mention One Light and he’d put two and two together. Firstly, he’ll wonder why I lied to him, and then he’ll work out the rest about the phone call.

‘Too early to talk about work, huh?’

‘Er, yeah. I clearly haven’t drunk enough of this coffee yet.’ I take another slurp from my cup and go for a speedy subject change. ‘Where’s your mum today?’

‘Early doctor’s appointment.’

‘Oh God, is she okay?’

‘You worry too much,’ he smiles. ‘Yeah, just a routine blood pressure check and monitoring her thyroid medication. She’s fine. Tough as old boots, she is. Nothing gets her down.’

‘It must be nice to work with her?’

‘It would be nicer if she could relax and enjoy her retirement,’ he sighs. ‘To be honest, even if I hired another baker, I think she’d still be here every day keeping watch, making sure they didn’t put a quarter of a milligram too much baking powder in her famous gingerbread recipe. If I tried to sack her, she’d probably put me in the muffins.’

I laugh. ‘She’s a real character. Whenever I see her, she’s whistling and humming around the kitchen. She seems to love it here.’

His eyes go distant for a moment as his gaze turns to the window. ‘She’s going to go crazy when she sees that window. She’s going to want to track down who did it and get their autograph. They have window paintings in that charity shop next door to you and she always admires them and wants to go in and find out who they use.’