Page 10 of Holly's Christmas Countdown
“I get it,” he said. “You prefer the real thing. Same here. I can help you choose one if you like?”
I remembered how I’d read somewhere that in order to survive such situations, a victim needed to make their captor see them as a human being. “Like my Mum always says,” I said, trying to sound chirpy as I got in the fact that I was someone’s daughter. “You can’t beat the smell of pine needles at this time of year.”
“Well tree or no tree, I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
“Grateful?” I said. I watched him get up from the sofa and make his way to the window to look out onto the garden, the furthest point from the door, I noted, in case I had to make a run for it.
“Getting accommodation around here is a nightmare. Especially at this time of year.”
So, the man did think he was moving in.Oh, Lordy.I closed my eyes, telling myself I must have been dreaming or, thanks to alcoholic poisoning, hallucinating. I flashed them open again. “Accommodation?” I asked.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and almost laughing at my stupidity, relaxed. It was clear I’d been reading too many crime novels. The man before me wasn’t a threat, he’d simply mistaken my house for the bed and breakfast down the road. My internal alarm suddenly rang again. Mistake or not, that didn’t explain how he knew my name.
“So when Annie said–”
“Annie?” I replied, interrupting him. Confused, I found myself wondering what she had to do with anything.My hand went straight to my dressing gown pocket where my phone sat as I remembered her text message, before recalling our telephone conversation when she said something about having a man problem.
“Don’t worry.” He turned to face me again. “I’m a good house guest.”
House guest?Almost spluttering, I didn’t think so.
“I won’t trash the place.”
As his words sank in, half of me wanted to laugh, the other half to cry and in my silent hysteria, I told myself this couldn’t be happening. Therehadto be a mix-up somewhere. I pictured Annie’s text telling me she owed me one, but I refused to believe the situation I found myself in had anything to do with my friend. I couldn’t have agreed to host a man I’d never met before. I wouldn’t. I didn’t even know his name.
“It’s a shame I won’t be here for long though. I mean I’m sure Annie’s place is fab–”
“Excuse me?” I wondered if I should query how well he and Annie knew each other.
“But I bet it’s not as cosy as this. At least, not with a feisty young woman back in the house.” He turned to the window again. “And that view.” The man clicked his tongue, clearly impressed. “It’s to die for.”
I tried to raise a smile, when in truth I wanted to ask him to leave. If he’d never as much as visited her home, Annie obviously didn’t know him much at all.
“Anyway, I’m sure you got the story.”
While aware that Annie’s daughter had landed back home having left her boyfriend, when it came to the rest, I didn’t have a clue. And try as I did to remember, thanks to the previous night’s alcohol intake everything remained foggy. I cursed myself for drinking so much that I’d lost my memory. Even more so for not living an alcohol-free life. I thought of Annie and felt torn. One part of me was infuriated at being put in this position; the other part was aware there’d be a reason she’d asked for my help.
“Right,” the chap said. He rubbed his hands together as if preparing to get organised. “I suppose I should go and get my suitcase before anyone runs off with it.” He smiled. “Then you can show me to my room.”
I suppressed a squeal.
Heading for the door, he paused and turned to look at me before exiting, his soft eyes and appreciative expression catching me off guard. His stare felt overwhelming, its intensity causing butterflies to play havoc in my tummy.
“Annie said you’re a decent sort,” he said, at last exiting the room.
I opened my mouth to call after him before changing my mind, instead, pulling my phone out of my pocket and hastily searching for Annie’s number. “There has to be a way out of this,” I insisted, as I clicked call and waited for her to answer. “Come on, come on.” The ring tone continued, yet no one picked up, leaving me no choice but to end the call altogether and repeat the process. “Annie, please.”
I suddenly heard voices coming in from the street and closing my eyes for a second, realised my unexpected guest had met one of the locals. I tried to ignore the chatter, but with nothing but radio silence from Annie, I growled, and ended the call for a second time. Despite still being in my dressing gown, I headed to the front door, knowing before I got there which neighbour my unexpected guest would be talking to. When it came to keeping abreast with the comings and goings on the street, the woman didn’t seem able to help herself. I was convinced she spent hours at her front window, waiting for an unusual event or new face to turn up.
Stood there in her faux-fur collared coat, perfect make-up, and thick blonde hair that had been straightened to within an inch of its life, Roberta couldn’t take her eyes off the man. “If there’s anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable,” she said. “Maybe show you around the place…?”
He smiled through pursed lips, obviously too polite to dismiss her offer altogether.
“It’s not often we get–”
I coughed, interrupting her mid-sentence.
“Oh,” Roberta said. “You’rehere.”
