The Best Little Christmas Shop

‘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.

Cal started the car and we headed off, the wipers slapping against the now heavy sleet almost in time to the classical piece that was playing quietly on the radio.

‘Thanks for this.’

He glanced over briefly. ‘You’re welcome.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Hopefully it’ll go some way to making up for coming across as so rude the other day when you offered to help me with George.’

‘Honestly. There’s nothing to make up for. Really.’

He gave me another glance that indicated he didn’t agree. His head turned away for a moment and then back towards me, his brow furrowed. It felt as if he was trying to decide whether to say something or not. ‘I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Sometimes my past has a way of invading the present,’ he said eventually. Whatever it was that he’d been thinking of saying, I was pretty sure that wasn’t all of it.

‘You really don’t have to keep apologising,’ I said, as he pulled the car into the large driveway in front of the farmhouse and garage. ‘It’s already forgotten.’ Looking up from where I’d been fiddling with the ribbon I’d attached to my mittens after losing one of a pair four times in a row, I met Cal’s gaze. If I hadn’t already met him, I’d have said it was the wine causing the slight hypnotic effect I was now feeling. But as I’d also had that feeling whilst perfectly sober, I knew it was pure Cal Martin.

‘Whatever it was in your past, I’m really sorry you had to go through it.’

And me blabbing was pure wine.

‘Thanks.’ He smiled, not seeming to mind. ‘Long time ago now.’

‘That doesn’t always mean a lot.’

He drew a breath in and let it out slowly. ‘No. True. But life’s good now. I have George, and my business, and moving to this village has definitely been good for me.’

‘Really?’

‘Oh yes.’

‘I’m sorry if I kicked off some painful memories.’

‘I told you. Forget it. It’s all good now.’

I put my hand on the catch of the door, then hesitated, my brain telling me to leg it and my mouth, as usual, ignoring the sensible advice and doing its own thing.