Page 58 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
‘Let me.’ I encased her hands with my warm ones, my heart racing at the contact. ‘You know what they say?Cold hands, warm heart.’
Her eyes met mine and the air felt charged with electricity once more. Freiheit’s ‘Keeping the Dream Alive’ was playing and, with the soft music and lights, it would be the perfect moment to kiss Lily but it felt wrong to do that before I’d told her everything.
The track changed and we both laughed and stepped apart as the sound of Paul McCartney’s Frog Chorus filled the room. I hadn’t heard ‘We All Stand Together’ in years.
‘I warned you there might be some dubious ones,’ Lily said, pressing her hands to her cheeks. ‘Cassie made me add it. She says Christmas isn’t Christmas without the Frog Chorus.’
‘Was it out at Christmas? I’m sure it was before we were born.’
‘It was and yes to Christmas, although it didn’t get to number one. I have a sneaky feeling The Wombles might be on there too. Again, blame Cassie.’
The moment had been broken, but probably for the best. We finished fluffing the tree, laughing at each other’s attempts to make the frog sounds along to the track.
‘I’m so relieved you were free tonight,’ Lily said, stepping back from the tree to check it had been fluffed evenly. ‘I had a vision of me being here until the early hours.’
‘Happy to help. I used to love decorating the tree with Nanna. She always got a real one but, maybe ten years ago, she decided it was an unnecessary expense and a faff to get rid of after Christmas, so she bought a small tabletop one instead. It has built-in lights and is already decorated so there’s nothing to do.’
‘So you haven’t decorated a Christmas tree in a decade?’
‘No, and I’ve really missed it.’
‘Then I’m extra glad I called on you tonight. Decorating the tree is such a key part of Christmas. I’m a bit greedy because I get to dress three of them – this one, Mum and Dad’s because Mum hates doing it, and I have a narrow one in the annexe too. I assume you’ll put one up in your new place.’
‘I don’t know.’
She widened her eyes at me. ‘After a decade of deprivation, you don’t know if you’re going to put a tree up? Lars Jóhannsson, you can’t not have a tree, especially for your first Christmas in your new home.’
‘But I barely have any furniture so it seems daft getting a tree.’
‘Getting a tree isneverdaft. Do it!’ She grinned at me. ‘I’m going to pester you until you agree to get one.’
‘I’ll think about it. I promise.’
She narrowed her eyes at me. ‘Hmm. As long as thinking turns to doing. Anyway, let’s focus on the shop tree for now. Firstly, you can never have enough fairy lights.’
She handed me a couple of boxes of lights. ‘Vintage gold,’ I observed.
‘They’re gorgeous. They’re an orangey-cream colour. Sounds hideous but I promise it isn’t. I spotted them in a garden centre a couple of years ago and fell in love so I got some for home too.’
She also handed me some red lights and said the two colours looked great together so I wrapped them round the tree, taking care to mix the two types, and had to admit they did look amazing switched on.
‘Everything’s book-themed,’ Lily said, opening up the boxes and removing several examples. ‘They’re all for sale and, each Christmas, I bring out the surplus from previous years and add new stock to it. Sourcing new decorations is one of my favourite activities. This box contains books in various designs.’
When she opened it up, I picked out a pink book stack and a single sparkly silver book. ‘I had no idea there were so many book-related options out there.’
When we’d finished hanging up a couple of each style from the book box, we moved on to one of the character boxes. I picked out a pink-and-purple striped Cheshire Cat, clearly inspired by the Disney interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s stories, and hung it on a branch before reaching for an Alice figurine.
‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandis Cassie’s favourite childhood book,’ Lily said, ‘so I had to stock those for her.’
‘What’s your favourite?’ I asked, hanging Alice on the tree.
‘Anne of Green Gables.’ She paused and fixed her gaze on mine and I knew why. That was the book she’d had with her behind the sports hall. Should I say something now?
‘It stole my heart,’ she said, reaching for the Queen of Hearts. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve read it?’
‘No, but Pia did. She’ll have told me about it but all I can remember is an orphan with red hair being adopted by a brother and sister.’ I added a White Rabbit to a branch. ‘Is that right?’
‘Yes. Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert want a boy to help on their farm but, thanks to a misunderstanding, they get Anne and Matthew convinces Marilla to keep her. It’s such a lovely story of her finding the family, friends and home she’s never had. It’s warm and funny and there’s this gorgeous romantic thread between Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe. They meet at school and Gilbert’s eager to get her attention but he goes about it completely the wrong way by calling herCarrotsbecause of her hair. She’s really sensitive about her hair colour – it’s a recurring theme – and smashes her slate over his head. From that point on, Gil’s her enemy and everything’s a competition between them, but we know he’s sweet on her and massively regrets teasing her.’
