Page 39 of A Very Crumbleton Christmas
‘Sorry!’ Milly mouthed. ‘So…’ she said at normal volume, clearly looking for a way to continue the conversation in code. ‘Was there any kind of… erm…paymentfor the appearance?’ She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
‘No!’ said Caroline, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. ‘It was completely voluntary… though it took a while to get the go-ahead.’
‘Like… he needed to sleep on it?’ said Milly, her eyebrows going into overdrive.
‘Something like that,’ said Caroline. ‘Butnotlike that!’
‘And what was the… erm… property you viewed like?’ said Milly. ‘Soulless holiday home?’
Caroline shook her head again. She felt awful about saying that, now that she knew how much the place meant to Jack and the fact that he seemed pretty keen on turning it into a proper home.
If he didn’t end up disappearing off to New Zealand, of course.
Caroline pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
‘It’s really… cosy,’ she said at last. ‘I helped decorate the Christmas tree while I was there.’
‘Awwww’ said Milly, her voice rising in an excitable squeak as she squashed the flowers even further.
‘Oi!’ hissed Caroline, a warning note to her voice.
‘What?’ said Milly innocently. ‘It’s just nice to see you so happy.’
‘Who said I’m happy?’ demanded Caroline.
‘Your stupid smiley face!’ chuckled Milly.
‘Fine,’ huffed Caroline. ‘Itwasnice. Kind of… ordinary, you know?’
‘Ooh, I do!’ said Milly.
‘Nothing ordinary about his bathtub though!’ she added.
‘Iknewthere had to be more to this!’ said Milly, looking thrilled.
‘More to what?’ said Jo, wandering through from the back room, and staring at the ruined flowers clutched to her boss’s chest.
‘Oh… to the Christmas lights switch on,’ said Milly quickly, popping the battered bouquet down onto the table and turning an easy smile on Jo.
‘Right…?’ said Caroline, hoping Jo wasn’t about to latch onto that surprising snippet.
‘Like what?’ said Jo, looking half interested.
‘Liiike…’ Milly raised an eyebrow at Caroline, clearly passing the baton.
Damnit!
‘Like… it’s going to happen the night before Christmas Eve,’ said Caroline quickly.
‘Uh-huh?’ said Jo, looking less than impressed. ‘I mean… you’ve moved the date like three times already, so that’s not exactly news.’
‘Yeah – but it’s going to be bigger and better than ever!’ said Milly.
Caroline gave her head a quick shake. Milly bit her lip looking guilty, and Caroline rolled her eyes. Maybe Jo wasn’t the one she should be worrying about after all.
‘How so?’ said Jo.
‘A market!’ said Caroline, quickly making something up on the spot. ‘We’re going to have stalls. Hot chocolate, carol singing, last-minute pressies.’
