Page 29 of A Merry Little Christmas
Unlike Penny and her potential date, Caleb and I had known each other a while, having crossed paths at the Lockley Meadow market on many occasions. The attraction had been there from the start, and although we’d both initially thought it best to take things slowly, it hadn’t really ended up like that at all.
That first proper date had been one of the best nights of my life.
We’d gone out for dinner to a cosy little restaurant in Lockley Meadow and we’d talked and laughed so much, I’d had a bit of a croaky throat the next day. I’d walked around with a goofy smile and a warmth deep inside, and a funny feeling that meeting Caleb had been one of those defining moments in life... the sort where you looked back and realised that was the point at which your life altered course and you went zooming off on a whole new adventure.
Later, of course, I’d started to feel scared that I was falling for him too fast and I’d tried to pull back.
Had that been my big mistake? Had Caleb imagined I wasn’t as keen as he was? (In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth.)
What would happen to us now?
Had the magic we’d enjoyed together for those first few precious months vanished for good? Would we ever get it back?
It was as if Caleb had suddenly put up a barrier and I couldn’t work out how to get over or under it.
All I knew was that our relationship felt on shaky ground now, and I had no idea what to do about it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
In the café, Ellie was making coffees at the machine when I walked in, and Fen was bringing over a choice of cakes on two plates; lemon and poppyseed, and my current favourite, melt-in-the-mouth red velvet cupcakes, topped with a heavenly cream cheese frosting.
Everyone had gathered around a table in the window, listening to Maddy – back from her trip to Austria – talking about how marvellous the Christmas markets were.
‘Katja! Your usual?’ called Ellie, smiling over at me.
‘Yes, please.’
‘One latte coming up.’
‘Thanks.’ I pulled up a chair and joined Maddy, Jaz, Fen and Kenzie.
‘How’s the romance going, Katja?’ asked Kenzie with a wink.
‘Oh, fine.’ I smiled broadly, keen to head off any further questions. Thankfully, Ellie came over with a tray of coffees at that moment and the subject of my romance – flourishing or otherwise – was dropped as we each claimed our order.
I’d bumped into Kenzie on Sunnybrook High Street back in June, when Caleb and I had been in the first flush of romance, and Kenzie and I had laughed about how lucky we were to have such gorgeous men in our lives.
Kenzie had worked at the café for a while before she’d developed her talent for making fabulous pottery into a successful business. She and her boyfriend, Aidan, had been happily in love as well back then when I’d run into her, and they presumably still were, judging by Kenzie’s smile. They were now living together, having recently rented a flat in Sunnybrook just two streets away from mine.
Apparently, Kenzie was going to be selling her gorgeous festive pottery at Ellie’s Christmas market. And we talked about other craftspeople and made a list so we could get in touch with them and ask if they’d like to take part.
‘That’s great,’ said Ellie at last, waving the written list in the air. ‘But now I need you all to do a taste test, if you wouldn’t mind?’
‘Do you mean these?’ I indicated the almost empty cupcake plates Fen had brought over. ‘Because they were delicious.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘It’s something I made with the Christmas market in mind,’ she said with a mysterious smile, as she headed back to the kitchen.
‘As long as it’s some form of cake, I’m in!’ called Maddy.
‘Actually, it’s not cake.’ There was a clanking sound and Ellie reappeared carrying a tray containing a jam jar, a stack of tea plates, plus cracker biscuits and some slices of cheese.
‘Gooseberry jam?’ guessed Kenzie, as we all peered at the contents of the jar.
‘It’s not jam.’ Ellie smiled as she placed the tray proudly on the table. ‘It’s my Christmas apple chutney.’
I nodded approvingly. ‘Chutney’s great at Christmas time with all the cold meats left over after the big day.’
‘Well, we had an absoluteglutof apples in the garden this year. Not sure why. The summer weather, maybe,’ said Ellie. She smiled. ‘Thankfully, Annalise was able to use a lot of them in those delicious caramel apple pies she made for the wedding.’
