‘You’ll enjoy them; they’re only a twenty-five minute stroll away.’
‘Sounds good to me. And there’s no ice rink by the sounds of it, so I won’t be forced to try balancing on ridiculously thin blades again.
‘Heard that,’ Scarlett called from her position by the window. She was mesmerised by the tree, admiring the decorations. She turned to Darcy. ‘Where are all these from?’
‘Some are new, some go way back. This one is from Sofia’s daughter, who lived in Switzerland for a long time until she came back to New York a few weeks ago.’ Beneath her fingers was a cow bell, gold, with the Swiss flag on its front. ‘These nutcracker ornaments are from my sister, then there’s a ballet shoe somewhere.’
‘Here, found it.’ Scarlett pointed to one of the upper branches. ‘Were you a dancer?’
‘Hardly, but I love theNutcrackerballet and try to go every year. It always reminds me of the start of Christmas and I like having ornaments that remind me of places.’
‘We’re the same, at home we have things I made when I was little – some are a bit embarrassing – and whenever we go somewhere new Dad and I collect another couple if we can.’
‘It’s true,’ Nathan admitted. ‘Last year she had a school trip to Edinburgh and came back with a dancing Scotsman playing a pipe, the year before I was at a conference in Miami and brought back a Miami Dolphins snow globe. Hey, I didn’t say they were tasteful ornaments,’ he added when Darcy pulled a face.
‘You know, I worked in London for a time,’ she told Scarlett. ‘See if you can spot the five London icon tree decorations.’ She excused herself to go see to a couple who’d just come in the door and were hanging their coats in the hallway, their banter debating whether it was cold enough to snow yet.
‘Whoever finds them first has to eat whatever the other one wants tonight,’ Nathan declared.
‘You’re on.’ Scarlett scanned the tree, counting at the same time, and was already at five before he’d even found his second. There was a big red London bus, a Beefeater guard, a London taxi, a Royal Mail postbox and a traditional red telephone box.
Looked like they were having floppy pizza.
*
Bundled up against the cold, Nathan found the walk to be a nice way to get the spring back in his step. As lovely as it was back at the Inglenook Inn, he would’ve fallen asleep if he’d sat in front of the fire much longer.
‘I think this is it.’ They arrived at the corner of a block and Nathan pointed ahead to the chalets.
‘Pizza first, browse after.’
‘Never thought I’d hear you say that when shopping was an option.’
‘Darcy said there’s a pizza vendor right on the end and it’s proper New York pizza.’
He followed her, negotiating tourists rushing this way and that as the wind picked up and a light drizzle seemed to turn to crystal and give them the first taste of snow in the city.
‘What do you think?’ They stood on the pavement attempting to eat the pizza, which was as floppy as they saw on television, as difficult to pick up as he’d imagined but surprisingly tasty with its herbs and stringy cheese. He folded it in half lengthways to stop his toppings sliding off and enable him to eat it much faster. He hadn’t realised how hungry he was – their snatched lunch after touring various sites and the amount of walking today had left his appetite wanting.
‘Next time we’ll try a hot dog,’ Scarlett declared. ‘And pretzels. And bagels.’
‘I’ll have to get you out running when we’re home if we’re going to eat everything in sight.’
‘We’ll see.’
The potential assent was enough to give him hope. They perused the stalls – an impressive array given the size of the market – with pastries galore, chocolate creations, cheeses laid out tantalisingly ready to tempt, gingerbread enticing youngsters and grown-ups with its rich, buttery aroma, preserves, soaps, roasted chestnuts and a cider cart.
Scarlett pointed ahead. ‘There’s the knitting stall Darcy told us about, let’s check it out.’
‘I might grab some roasted chestnuts first.’
‘The pizza wasn’t enough?’
‘You’re about half my size.’
‘True.’
While his daughter went to wade through clothing and accessories he waited for a portion of roasted chestnuts, which never failed to remind him of home. His dad had always adored them – they’d been his favourite festive treat and he’d always insisted on using the fire pit they had out back. The first Christmas without Robbie, Nathan hadn’t expected the fire pit to get any use, he thought it might bring back too many painful memories, but his dad had been outside doing his thing as though it brought him solace. Which was more than could be said of the Christmas dinner. His mum was still in pieces, Nathan and his dad had cooked it between them and held her up in the absence of the missing member of their family.
