‘Four!’
When Ivy darted another surreptitious glance, she found that Trip was looking right back at her. ‘Hey,’ he said in a low voice.
‘Hey,’ she whispered.
‘You’ve got something on your cheek,’ he said quietly, reaching out and gently brushing the side of her face with his thumb. ‘I think it’s icing sugar from all that gingerbread.’
‘Three!’
As Trip’s thumb brushed her cheek, Ivy froze. His touch was light, but her cheek burned. She wasn’t used to being looked at like that, so serious and intent.
‘Two!’
‘Any second now,’ said Trip. But he wasn’t looking at the tree. He was still looking at her. He had taken his hand away, but her cheek tingled from his touch.
‘One!’
The square exploded into light. The crowd whooped and cheered, music burst from crackly speakers, but Ivy barely heard any of it. In that moment, it was as if the entire square blurred into nothing. She was only aware of the lights and the steady thud of her heart in her ears. Trip was gazing at her, with those warm brown eyes, and everything else had fallen away.
‘Well,’ she said at last. Her voice came out as a croak and she cleared her throat. Her heart was knocking against her ribs. ‘That was the famous Fox Bay Winter Wonderland light show. All ten seconds of it. Was it all you imagined?’
‘It really was,’ he said.
Neither of them moved and neither looked away.
And then, ‘There you are! I lost you in the crowd. Cute, wasn’t it?’
The spell was broken. Ivy looked away quickly, her cheeks hot. It was Brooke. She was clearly well into her second cup of cider and, along with her jumper, she was now also wearing a reindeer-antler hairband that was slightly askew. She lookedhappy and relaxed as she approached, but then her expression changed. Her eyes darted quickly from Ivy to Trip and back again.
‘Really cute,’ said Trip easily.
‘Properly Hallmark,’ Brooke went on, her gaze still flickering between the two of them. ‘Everything I hoped for and more. I was a bit worried the tree might fall over but Simi told me it’s always at an extreme angle like that.’
‘It’s rustic,’ said Trip. He sounded entirely casual – as though that loaded moment between him and Ivy hadn’t happened. Maybe, Ivy thought confusedly, ithadn’t, except in her own fevered imagination. Maybe she had hallucinated a romantic moment with her employer’s over-enthusiastic guest. Trip was nice toeveryone– she wasn’t special. But had she imagined the serious expression in his dark eyes, his hand on her cheek?
‘Well, I think the show’s over,’ said Brooke briskly. She tugged off the antlers. ‘Should we be getting back, do you think?’
Ivy noticed that the crowd had indeed thinned and the stallholders were packing up. Families were beginning to head home, although Bethie and Liv were still doggedly selling show tickets to strangers.
Ivy’s mum saw her, waved and called, ‘Come on, love! I need your help persuading this one into bed.’
‘Coming!’ Ivy said.
‘At this rate, they’re going to sell out the whole town hall,’ she added to Trip and Brooke.
‘True. In fact, I think we should consider extra seating,’ saidMr Hargreaves, hurrying past, bobble hat bouncing jauntily. ‘The sales have been through the roof. Perhaps we could also offer a video recording, Trip, for a fee – what do you think? Bring in some extra funds?’
‘Sure thing, Mr H,’ Trip called after him. ‘I’ll get Cal to look into it.’
‘I’d better go with Mum,’ Ivy said. ‘Night, guys. See you in the morning.’
Ivy caught Trip’s eye and smiled. ‘Bye,’ she said and Brooke gave her a little wave.
Ivy hurried off after Liv and her mother; Liv was still enthusiastically waving fliers at anyone they passed and her mum was busily chatting about plans for the next event in Fox Bay’s social calendar – a winter beach barbecue with live music. Ivy listened to their chatter, smiling at their excitement – but all she could think about was Trip and that moment by the tree.
She could feel the touch of his hand on her cheek all the way home.
The next morning, Ivy found herself waking to a grey dawn. Fox Bay felt fresh, rinsed clean by a night of sea mist and frost. She stretched, wriggling in the bed, and the memory of Trip’s fingers brushing her cheek came flooding back. She pushed it away and went to get ready but, when she was in the shower, his gaze under the fairy lights flashed into her mind and she blushed from head to toe.
