Page 12 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
‘Cal?’
Giselle raised an amused eyebrow. ‘I was referring to George but ifyou like …’
‘No. Carry on.’
‘To be honest, both of them are. There’s definitely been a clamour of play date requests since he moved to the village.’
‘He is a sweet little boy and seems very well mannered too.’
‘True. But I think the parent is a fair bit of the draw to be honest. A few of the mothers have been quite put out when his childminder has taken him instead, and I got a death glareonce when I turned up with him. The woman tried to cover it up but not quite quick enough.’
‘You took him to a play date?’
‘Yes.’
‘Wow. Cal must really trust you. George fell asleep in the shop and I offered to carry him the few steps to the car whilst he took the shopping and he practically bit my head off.’
Giselle tilted her head a little and pushed out her bottom lip. ‘Yes, he did mentionthat. Felt quite bad about it, I think.’
I waved the comment away with my piping bag. ‘It’s fine. He apologised. It just shows how much he must value you to trust his son with you like that.’
‘Well, I guess we’ve got to know him quite well since he moved here. At first, he wouldn’t accept any invites but I can be quite persistent.’
‘No!’ I did a mock shock expression and Giselle squinted oneeye and aimed her piping bag at me. I hid behind a naked gingerbread man.
‘Anyway!’ she said, grinning. ‘Eventually he gave in and now he comes over for dinner a fair bit. George will snuggle up on the sofa with Sophia and is usually asleep within moments of his bedtime.’
Sophia was Xander and Giselle’s incredibly cute cockapoo and was quite possibly the laziest dog in the world, so the factthat she would snag an opportunity to lie anywhere with another warm body didn’t surprise me at all.
I lowered my biscuit shield. ‘He did say something about not being used to people being nice or something. What was that all about?’
‘Had a bit of a rough childhood, from what I can gather.’ Xander’s deep tones drifted through moments before he followed them in his socked feet.
I let my friendshave their moment of greeting as I concentrated on giving my latest creation a matching stripy hat, mittens, and wellies.
‘All right, Muppet?’ Xander said, and bopped a kiss on my temple. ‘They look good.’
He reached his hand down towards the biscuit in front of me and I gently elbowed him away.
‘Come on, just one.’
‘No. They’re for the shop. Plus your beautiful wife has made something deliciousfor dinner and you’ll spoil your appetite.’
I knew for a fact that this was unlikely. Xander and I had been best friends since literally the day we were born and he’d been a dustbin from day one. It still amazed me thirty-odd years later that he could pack food away and not be the size of a house.
‘She won’t mind.’
‘Yes, “she” will!’ Giselle looked up from the pan she was now stirring, onehand on her hip.
Xander threw me an “oops” glance. ‘Maybe after dinner then,’ he conceded, winking at Giselle. ‘Where’s the dog?’
‘Asleep on my feet under the table. At least I’m assuming that’s what’s keeping them warm.’
Xander bent down. ‘Yep. Honest to God. I think we got a cock-a-sloth by mistake. I’m supposed to be greeted by a happy little dog, pleased to see me after I’ve had a long,hard day at work.’
‘You’ve hardly been down the mines,’ I said, concentrating on piping a smile.
‘He’s a tough boss,’ Xander replied, purposely nudging me.
