‘Christmas Eve.’ Cleo was waiting at the front of the chalet when she arrived. ‘There’s nothing like it. Come on, snow, show us what Christmas is all about,’ she demanded, looking up at the sky.
‘The sky can’t hear you, you know,’ Amelia giggled.
‘You seem happy.’
‘I’ve been ice-skating. It was amazing.’
‘With Paul?’
‘Not exactly.’ This time Amelia did share her personal details and filled Cleo in on everything that had been going on, with Paul, with Connie, with Kyle. And between them they served customers and unloaded the last of the stock onto the display tables.
‘It been an eventful holiday for you,’ Cleo concluded once she knew everything.
‘It definitely has, but I’m still smiling, still having a great time.’
‘Are you and Kyle still coming to the Christmas Eve party at the inn?’
‘I’m not sure I can face it. Celebrating while Connie is sick doesn’t feel right and I doubt Kyle will be interested either.’
‘What’s Connie up to tonight?’
‘She’s with her friend Jill. They’ve planned to watch a movie and Jill is cooking up a surprise dinner. The woman is the best cook in the world, my mouth is watering thinking of the cinnamon buns she made last time I saw her.’
‘Sounds fun.’ Cleo bent down to pick up the pair of gloves she’d knocked to the floor and repositioned them on the shelf. ‘I bet she wouldn’t want you and Kyle to mooch around the apartment and miss out on Christmas Eve fun, especially here in New York City. That’s why she didn’t want to tell him the truth all along isn’t it?’
‘I suppose you’re right.’
‘Of course I am.’ She shifted her focus to another customer before she came back to Amelia’s side and asked, ‘Is that Nathan over there, across the street?’ She nodded to where a man had his back to them. He was talking to a woman, a redhead who was laughing at whatever it was he had to say. ‘It is him, look.’ Cleo waved.
But as soon as Amelia realised it really was Nathan, she hoped he didn’t hear Cleo and prayed he wouldn’t come over either.
‘You didn’t answer my question by the way.’ Cleo followed her back inside the chalet. ‘Who did you go ice-skating with?’
‘Kyle.’
‘JustKyle?’
‘Hey there.’ It was Nathan’s voice behind her. No hiding now. She wasn’t sure whether he’d rescued her from Cleo’s scrutiny or introduced a whole new slant of jealousy after she’d seen him with a woman. Maybe it was someone asking directions. Perhaps he just explained it in such an amusing way that the other woman was totally captivated.
‘Nathan, hey.’ She feigned surprise.
‘Did you talk to your sister?’
She pulled a face before she remembered she’d told him she was going to call Connie on her way over here to the markets. ‘I did. She’s doing OK. She’s even been talking to Kyle about careers and him joining the fire service.’
‘Wow, that’s progress.’
‘It really is. Anyway, I’d better get back to it.’ Customers were milling and Cleo was trying to take payment from one and advise another.
‘Will we see you tonight at the Christmas Eve party?’
‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world.’
‘Will Paul be coming along?’
She was about to tell him the truth, keen to gauge his reaction, when the same woman she’d seen him with came up to him and enveloped him in a hug.
‘Who’s that?’ Cleo whispered in her ear as she was popping a sea-blue sweater into a brown paper bag for a customer. ‘She’s stunning.’
