Page 4 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
‘That sounds like the perfect name to me.’ I gently took Bear’s paw and shook it. ‘It’s very nice to meet you, Bear.’
George giggled. ‘I’m George.’
I shook his hand in the same way. ‘My name’s Lexi. It’s very nice to meet you too.’
George smiled. ‘This is my daddy.’
‘Hello, Daddy … I mean …’
Oh God, that sounded so weird!
He put his handout. ‘Cal is fine.’
I nodded and took it, aware that I now had cheeks as red as the wooden painted elves swinging their little rope legs off the shelf behind me.
Unaware of my embarrassment, George turned his attention back to his teddy. ‘Bear’s got a poorly head.’
‘Oh! Oh dear. Yes, he does look a little sorry for himself. Did he have an accident?’
George pulled his toy back off the tableand cuddled him around his squidgy middle, the teddy’s head hanging decidedly lopsided and looking dangerously insecure as the little boy nodded in response. ‘Yes. I accidentally shut his head in the car door and it came off when I walked away.’
‘Oh!’
He pulled his mouth to the side. ‘I know. I was very upset but Daddy mended him for me.’ His little hand snaked into his father’s large one andhe looked up, pride on his face. I smiled at them both, and noticed a slight flush on the man’s cheeks as he looked down at his son. A feeling I didn’t want to deal with began creeping into my brain and I squinched it down before it could take hold.
‘Come on, George. Let Lexi get on with her work now and come and help me choose some decorations for the tree. We’ll take another look at Bear laterand see what we can do.’
George gave me a smile and moved his bear to his free hand. The bear’s head lurched again and I winced, half expecting it to plop off and roll across the pale sanded floorboards of the shop. Luckily it stayed in place but I didn’t have great hopes for that state lasting very long. I chewed my lip for a moment.
‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ I asked George.
He shook his head. ‘No. But I’d like some!’
I swallowed a grin. With a dad who looked like his did I was pretty sure the odds were quite favourable on that front. I glanced up and met a wary gaze.
‘I have three brothers,’ I began as the little boy listened, ‘and when we were younger, sometimes we would argue and occasionally my teddy would get caught in the middle of it.’
‘Was he trying to stopyou arguing?’
‘Umm … yes, I think he probably was.’ I risked a look up at the man. The storm had gone from his eyes now and a hint of amusement played there instead. ‘Anyway, sometimes teddy would be in need of a bit of repair so I ended up training as a Teddy Bear Surgeon. I am, in fact, fully qualified.’ From the corner of my eye, I saw that delicious mouth quirk again.
‘You are?’ George asked,his eyes widening.
‘I am.’
This wasn’t exactly too far from the truth. All right, I didn’t have paper qualifications but I’d had plenty of practice. My youngest brother Joe had gone through a phase of yanking off bits of my bear whenever we were arguing. We were the closest in age and the most likely to get into a big barney. After repairing Ted three or four times, my mum had given up and saidthat if we were going to destroy things, we were also going to have to repair them. So, I’d learned how to sew and my teddy, although slightly wonky, was definitely more robust when he went in for the next round.
‘Do you think you could help Bear?’
‘George, I’m sure she has plenty to do already –’
‘It’s really no trouble,’ I interrupted. ‘I mean. If you don’t mind. I quite like to keep my skillsfresh so you’d actually be doing me a favour.’
Cal hesitated. ‘I’m not sure –’
But George was already handing me the teddy. I met his dad’s eyes as I took it. I could see he was still uncomfortable about a relative stranger doing something for him. He obviously wasn’t local. If he’d been from the village, he’d have realised this was all part of normal life here. Unlike many places, the villagehad managed to retain its closeness and community. And whilst it was hard for people not to know everyone else’s business, it was generally in a kind and considerate way rather than gossip. Of course, there was always a bit of that too – the villagers were human after all.
I looked the toy over and made a couple of ‘hmming’ noises before returning my attention to Cal and George.
