Page 47 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
My cheeks burned as I hurried along the cobbles, desperate to get away before I made myself look any more of an idiot. The salute had been embarrassing enough but what had I said to Lily?Don’t let Grýla and the Christmas Cat gobble you up.Argh! She wasn’t a naughty child, we weren’t in Iceland and there was still over a month to go until the start ofJól.
Today had been filled with special moments that I wanted to remember but I could guarantee that the scene which would forever play on a loop in my head would be that excruciating final minute. I could do with Grýla and the Christmas Cat gobbling me up to end my humiliation.
26
LILY
After tea with my parents, I returned to Green Gables and replayed my day – or at least the parts of it that involved Lars. The expression on his face when he saidDon’t let Grýla and the Christmas Cat gobble you upwas absolutely priceless. He looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone walk quite so fast, and that salute? From his grimace, I suspected he’d never done that before. So why had he done it to me? The only explanation I could think of was that he had feelings for me which had got him all tongue-tied and tangled up. I needed to talk to Cassie but there was no point calling her now when she had Hallie and Rocco to sort out after swimming followed by teatime, bathtime and bedtime. I dropped her a message asking her to ring me when the kids were settled as something had happened and I needed her take on it.
‘It’s Lars, isn’t it?’ she asked, FaceTiming me shortly after 8p.m. ‘You’ve kissed!’
‘No, we haven’t! But I wanted to and I’m certain he did too.’
I ran through everything that had happened across the day, right up to our moment by the door after closing time.
‘Why didn’t you just ask him out?’ she asked.
‘Because I’ve sworn off men after what happened with Wes and Ewan.’
Cassie tutted and shook her head at me. ‘Lars isn’t Wes or Ewan and you can’t take yourself out of the game just because those two twonks broke your heart. I think you should ask Lars out.’
‘What if I got it all wrong? I’m his employer. How awkward would that be – me hitting on him and us having to work alongside each other every day? He might leave.’
‘Woah there! I don’t think there’s any chance of that. Yes, it would be as awkward as a cow on roller skates if he wasn’t interested in you but remember who walked in on the pair of you holding hands earlier.’
‘We weren’t holding hands. He’d said something deprecating and I was being sympathetic.’
Cassie raised her eyebrows at me. ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Say what you like but I was there, Lily, and the chemistry between you was palpable.’
Trust Cassie to quote Shakespeare to me, but her point about the chemistry was valid. I’d had it with Ewan and Wes so I recognised it, but it had been way stronger with Lars than anything I’d ever felt with either of them and that both delighted and terrified me.
‘Anyway, despite me swearing off men, I think I did ask him out. Sort of.’
‘You did or you didn’t. What were your exact words?’
‘Something like, I really do want to hear more about Christmas in Iceland.’
‘Wow! With such clear intentions declared, I have no idea why he didn’t immediately confirm a time to pick you up on his fearless steed and whisk you off into the sunset.’
I laughed at Cassie’s exasperated facial expression.
‘Fair enough. I can see why he didn’t run with that one. I think he had a little disaster of his own when he left too.’
I told Cassie about his salute, what he’d said about Grýla and the Christmas Cat, and how mortified he’d looked. ‘You know what it reminded me of?’
We burst out laughing as we both gave Baby Houseman’s quote fromDirty Dancingabout carrying a watermelon.
‘It was definitely a watermelon moment,’ I said. ‘But it was kind of adorable.’
‘That’s because you find Lars Jóhannssonkind of adorable.’
I sighed dreamily. ‘I think I might. How did that happen?’
‘I can’t tell you how, but I can tell you when and where. The teen years in the school playground.’
If I denied it, she’d quoteHamletagain. I’d been drawn to Lars the moment we met in the bookshop and, while I was far too young back then for those feelings to be labelled as attraction, that’s definitely what they’d become when we hit our teens.
‘You’ve known all of this time?’
