Page 18 of A Very Crumbleton Christmas
Huh, so much for professional!
Caroline nodded and sank down into the cushions. Instead of leaning back and curling her feet up underneath her like she really wanted to, she remained bolt upright, her ankles crossed in a ladylike fashion.
Her nerves zinged as she glanced across at the windows, but there wasn’t really much to see. It was practically a whiteout by this point as a winter wonderland developed beneath its cloudy blankets.
The wood burner crackled, pulling her attention back into the room, and she fought a yawn that did its best to body snatch her. Caroline was caught somewhere between wanting to relax into the weird turn of fate that had literally stranded her in Jack’s house, and not daring to in case she did or said something completely mortifying.
More mortifying than what she’d already done and said, that was!
‘Here!’ said Jack, shuffling back into the room bearing their two steaming mugs in front of him. ‘I took the liberty of making us a fresh cup… the other ones had gone cold.’
‘Oh!’ said Caroline, surprised at his thoughtfulness. ‘Well, thanks.’ She took the jaunty painted mug from him and balanced it on her knee.
‘So… here’s a question,’ said Jack. He was still standing in front of her, looking adorably awkward - about as far from a swaggering Hollywood actor as he could get. ‘Are you any good at decorating Christmas trees?’
Caroline blinked, taken by surprise at the unexpected question.
‘Erm… I wouldn’t say good,’ hedged Caroline, ‘but I’m definitely enthusiastic!’
‘Excellent,’ said Jack, ‘because I keep trying to finish off this whopper, but I keep getting distracted.’
‘Who gets distracted decorating a Christmas tree?’ laughed Caroline.
‘Someone who’s half in a different time zone, who’s still living out of suitcases, and whose house is in a bit of a wreck because he hasn’t dealt with unpacking yet?’ said Jack.
‘Good answer,’ said Caroline, scrambling to her feet and doing her best not to spill her coffee in the process. ‘I guess I should warn you – I haven’t had much practice. I’ve just got one of those little artificial tinsel trees at home. If you’re expecting some kind of designer styling, I’m not your girl.’
‘Hey – zero expectations here,’ said Jack, shooting her an easy smile. ‘I just want to use up all my tinsel.’
‘Who said you’re going to be in charge of the tinsel?’ demanded Caroline.
‘Oh, I see how it’s going to be!’ said Jack, laughing as he led the way over to the ginormous tree in the corner. ‘Something tells me you like to be in charge?’
‘Ah good,’ said Caroline, grinning at him, ‘you figured that out nice and fast!’
Jack rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
‘May I?’ she said, eyeballing a large cardboard box that looked like it was still stuffed to the gunnels with baubles, tinsel and fake holly.
‘Be my guest,’ said Jack. ‘Which you are… obviously!’
‘Awesome,’ said Caroline, kneeling down next to the box and then staring up at the tree with its puny smattering of baubles dotted half-heatedly here and there. ‘See… I’d say you’ve already made a rookie mistake.’
‘Oh yeah?’ said Jack.
‘Uh-huh,’ said Caroline, reaching into the box. ‘Everyone knows you need to start with these!’ She pulled out a long, tangled string of multicoloured lights and waved them at him. ‘Come on, grab an end - we’ve got some untangling to do!’
CHAPTER 6
JACK
‘Now that really is quite something,’ said Jack, stepping back from the big bushy tree after hanging the final glittering icicle in place. It had been quite a job to find an empty branch for it.
‘Not bad, eh?’ said Caroline, staring at their handiwork.
Jack nodded slowly. He’d never had so much fun decorating a Christmas tree in his life… though, if he was being honest, he hadn’t actually decorated an entire tree since he was a kid.
He’d certainly never had the pleasure while he’d been living in America. His handlers had brought in Festive Designers for such things, and the most he’d been allowed to do was dangle a ceremonial candy cane here and there at charity dos.
