Page 20 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
Chapter Five
‘But you look so adorable, darling!’
I gave my mum a look that showed her what I thought about that statement.
‘Honestly, it might have been worth a night on a park bench in order to avoid this,’ I grumped.
Mum straightened my elf hat, topped up my rosy cheeks with her lipstick, and told me not to be so ridiculous before welcoming a group of late-night shoppers and temptingthem with the taster plate of Christmas Infused Chocolate Fudge she was brandishing.
‘You know it’s tradition.’ Dan wandered up, his enormous feet encased in curly elf shoes.
‘Just because something is traditional doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea.’ I waved my hand around him. ‘Whoever saw a six foot three, seventeen stone elf anyway?’
‘It’s called getting into the spirit. Use yourimagination, Lex. Plus, we know for a fact that it helps attract customers. Proven statistics. Assuming said elves haven’t got a face like a professional lemon sucker.’
I gave him a very fake grin.
‘Where’s your beard anyway?’
‘I may have donned the costume, hat, and shoes but I drew a line at the beard. Last time I wore it years ago I had a rash on my face for a week.’
Dan yanked his ownnylon one down for a moment and took a big glug of mulled cider before letting it ping back in place.
‘So … how’s things?’ he asked.
‘Huh?’
Before he could answer, a group of late-night shoppers, already laden with bags, came upon us. Dan did a brilliant job of making them laugh and enticing them into the shop with the promise of mulled wine, cider, and nibbles. But not, of course, before theyhad insisted on taking around a hundred and two selfies with us, immediately posting some to Facebook, and tagging the shop’s website in the post. Excellent. Any hopes I’d had of keeping my humiliation confined to the village immediately disappeared. But, on the bright side, it was always possible nobody would recognise me.
‘So?’ Dan prodded.
‘What?’ I asked, pulling my phone from the pocketof my elf shorts and unlocking the screen.
‘I hear Cal Martin dropped you home the other night. Rumour is he had his arms around you.’
I turned to my brother. ‘Really? You’re believing gossip now? How would you even know that anyway?’
‘So, it’s not true.’
‘Well, technically it is true –’
Dan opened his mouth and I cut him off.
‘But! Only because I’d fallen through the bloody banisters andwas having trouble getting upright.’
‘According to my sources there’s quite a few women around here who would like nothing better than to have trouble getting upright if Cal Martin is involved.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘It’s not like that.’
‘What is it like then?’
Another ping on my phone distracted me, which was just as well as I had no idea what it was like … or what I even wanted it to be like.
‘You can’t shut everyone out for ever, you know, Lex.’ Dan’s voice was soft now and I shook my head, not looking at him.
‘I’m not.’
‘Are you sure?’
