Page 114 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
I had a day off today and although we’d all eaten enough for the entire village last night, astoundingly my stomach was now grumbling and requesting to be fed. I kicked my feet out from the covers and headed into the bathroom, running the toothbrush around my mouth in an attempt to get rid of the dried-up bird cage feeling.
Shoving on my Ugg boots outof habit, I quickly remembered what lay outside, and instead rammed my pyjamed legs into wellies and layered my cosy down-filled coat over my dressing gown. I definitely wasn’t going to win any fashion awards but that was the last thing on my mind right now. Admittedly, that was never the first thing on my mind but even less so today. Opening the door, I scooted down the steps and tramped throughsnow that hovered dangerously close to the top of my wellies before almost tumbling in the back door to the kitchen.
‘Hello, darling,’ Mum said, looking up from where she was stirring something on the hob. ‘Would you like a cup of tea? I’ve just boiled the kettle.’
‘I’ll make it. Do you want one?’
I saw her give me a little sideways look. ‘I’m not sure there’s enough water in there for three.’
I frowned. ‘Three?’
Mum lifted her head as she tasted whatever was emitting the most delicious smell from the pot in front of her. She didn’t say a word but her eyes spoke volumes.
‘Cal is not in my …’ I stopped just in time before the word “bed” popped out ‘… flat,’ I finished. Mum tilted her head.
‘And yet you seem different. Relieved. Happy.’
I handed Mum her cup of tea and kissed her onthe cheek before taking a chair at the table. Apollo stretched on his bed by the Aga, lifted his head and, in a tangle of long legs, righted himself and plodded over to me. Sitting with his hip against the chair, he doinked his head against me. I rubbed his head and dipped down to plop a kiss on the solid, warm bulk of it.
‘Maybe that’s because I am.’ I took a sip of the tea and felt it rushwarm and soothing through me. ‘Actually, I have something to ask you.’
Mum put the spoon down and faced me, a cautious smile hovering around her mouth.
‘How does one go about applying for a permanent position at The Four Seasons?’
***
Apollo hadn’t been enthused about this walk. In fact, his excited dance when I picked up the lead stopped almost immediately the moment I opened the door andhe looked out at the alien landscape. Smothered by snow, everything looked different, softer, curvier and most of all, as far as the dog was concerned, colder. He gave me a look, and then scooted back to his bed by the nice warm Aga, trailing the lead across the kitchen. I toed off my boots and tramped across.
‘Come on, lazy bones. We have to catch them before they leave. It’ll be fine once you’reout there. You’ll enjoy it.’ I bent and picked up the lead and waited. Apollo gave me another look. I wiggled my fingers in my jacket pocket and his ears perked up. ‘There’s a treat in it for you if you do.’
He appeared to consider this for a moment and then scrabbled up, his nose immediately prodding at my pocket.
‘All right, hang on. I can’t get my hand out with your big beak in the way.’I laughed. ‘Here,’ I said, holding my hand flat with the piece of sausage on it. Apollo hoovered it up and looked up at me for more, ever hopeful. I laughed again. ‘In a bit. Come on.’ He followed me back and I shoved my double-socked feet back in my wellies and headed out the door.
The snow was a little deeper than I anticipated in places and I was inordinately glad we had a Great Dane and nota Chihuahua. Once he’d got over his initial sniffy disdain about coming out with me, Apollo had decided that actually this white stuff was pretty fun and had spent the entire walk charging about through snowdrifts, more often than not showering me with overspray as he made himself into a doggy snowplough.
Thankfully the weather had changed today. Above us stretched a beautiful cobalt blue sky,the. sun hung bright within it although with more show than function. It was still bitterly cold and I’d lost all feeling in my face within minutes of leaving the house. We made our way to our intended destination and I was relieved to see Cal’s car still in his driveway. Of course, he could have arranged a cab. Caught up in the emotions of last night, I’d forgotten to ask how he was getting tothe airport, or what time he was even leaving. He’d told me he’d call when he was there though as I hadn’t had a call yet, I just had to hope I hadn’t missed them.
I rang the doorbell and quickly set about drying off Apollo with the little microfibre towel I’d stuffed in one of my pockets. The fabric quickly wicked off the moisture from his shiny, caramel coat and he dutifully lifted each pawwithout any fuss for me to give it a wipe. Just as I was finishing the last one, the door opened and I straightened, shoving the towel back in my pocket as I did so.
‘Hi!’ Cal smiled down, evidently surprised to see me.
‘Hi, I …’ My words faltered a little. God, he was gorgeous. The smile tilted a little more as he waved us in through the door. Wearing a black cashmere jumper, dark-wash jeansand – thanks to the underfloor heating that ran throughout his house – bare feet, he looked relaxed, understated, and sexy as hell. I stepped in, unclipped Apollo’s lead, and told him to stay as I accepted Cal’s assistance with the removal of my coat. As I did so, I caught sight of myself in the large ornately framed full-length mirror that took up a portion of wall in his hall. I, most certainly,did not look sexy.
‘Oh my God, I look like Rudolph!’ I said, my hand flying to my nose.
Cal let out one of those deliciously deep laughs and turned me to face him.
‘You look lovely. Like always.’
I peered over my shoulder at my reflection again. Resting his hands on my shoulders, Cal gently turned me back again. ‘I said you look lovely.’ His hands went to my face and he bent his head downtowards me. Sinking into the kiss I sighed, and I felt him smile against me and realised that had been out loud. And I didn’t care, pressing myself as close to him as I could, wanting to make up for all the weeks I’d wasted. Time that I could have been spent in far more enjoyable ways, just like this …
Eventually we broke apart and Cal grinned, then pointed at my hat. I frisbeed my hat over tohim and he stuck it over my jacket. Having pulled off my boots, I was finally done.
‘I won’t stay long. I know you’ve probably got to leave any time for your flight. Actually I wasn’t sure if I might have missed you, but –’
‘Lexi! Apollo!’ George came hurtling down the corridor, sliding on his socks and careering into me. Apollo, being a bright dog, did a neat little sidestep in order to avoidthe small child-shaped projectile.
