Page 51 of A Brambleberry Manor Christmas
‘Oh, I don’t know. Women seem to fall for firemen all thetime. I had a mate at uni who went into the profession principally to get agirlfriend.’
I laugh. ‘Did it work?’
‘No. He didn’t even finish the training. But the day he gaveit up, he got drunk and bumped into one of his lecturers from uni in the puband ended up marrying her.’
‘Gosh. Isn’t life strange?’
‘It is that. Why is your outside light winking on and off?’he asks, as we arrive on the driveway.
‘Oh, that.’ I shake my head wearily. ‘Just one of the lovelythings that have happened to me recently. I tried to put in a new bulb but Icouldn’t reach to screw it in properly. I need a stool to stand on.’
‘I can do it.’
‘What now?’
‘No time like the present.’
‘Oh. Okay. Thank you.’ Regretfully, I scramble out of thelovely warm car, almost sad to leave our cosy bubble behind. The icy wind tugsat my hair as I crunch across to the front door, with Noah behind me.
Letting myself in, I listen for Tavie. Her music is onloudly in her room. I switch on the lamp on the hall table and turn off theflickering outdoor light, and Noah examines the carriage-style lamp on the wallbeside the front door, deftly removing the casing.
‘This is so good of you,’ I murmur, as he removes the bulbthen quickly screws it in properly.’
‘It wasn’t quite in place,’ he says. ‘That should be fine.’
I smile. ‘Thank you. I’ll do the big switch-on, shall I?’
I flick the switch and light floods the driveway. ‘Ta-da!’
‘Miss Wilkes in the hall with the dodgy light bulb,’ he sayssolemnly.
I grin. I want to invite him in so we can carry on talkingbut I’d hate him to think I was doing the corny,Would you like to come infor a cup of coffee, nudge-nudge.So I just stand there, feeling a bitawkward.
Noah pushes his hands deep into his pockets and I assumehe’s going to say goodbye and walk away. But instead he says, ‘Actually, thatreminds me of a joke.’
‘It does?’
‘How many mystery-genre writers does it take to change alight bulb?’
‘I’ve really no idea.’
‘One to screw it almost all the way in,’ he says, pointingat me. ‘And the other to give it a surprising twist at the end.’
A burst of laughter escapes from me, sounding loud in thenight air. ‘Very good. Did you just make that up?’
‘I did actually.’ His eyes hold mine and a delicious shiverruns through me that has nothing to do with the temperature outside. Then hismouth twists ruefully. ‘Actually, I’m lying to impress you. I went through aphase of telling light bulb jokes all the time.’
I laugh. ‘But you lost all your friends, so you stopped?’
‘Exactly.’
We lock eyes again, smiling at our super-amazing wit.Actually, the banter with Noah is always good. We seem to bounce off each otherquite naturally.
I swallow. ‘You can…come in if you like. It’s freezing outthere,’ I say, as casually as possible, my heart beating fast.
Don’t mention coffee!
I’m expecting him to say he really ought to get back, but hedoesn’t. He lingers, as if he’s considering my invitation.
