‘Well, here’s hoping they say yes to Ro and James so that one child will definitely be going to a good home.’
‘I’ve got everything crossed for them.’ Nan sipped her tea. ‘Oh, some parcels came for you yesterday evening while you were out. Honestly, the time they make those poor delivery drivers work until these days. Nothing is so urgent they have to turn up at 9pm really is it? What have you been buying?’
That was the Christmas lights! Was now the time to mention it? Nan seemed in a good mood, but… No, maybe it would be best to check out the lights first, see what they looked like. No point beginning the battle if they were all cheap and tacky and even Ash didn’t want to put them up.
‘Oh, just Christmas presents. Getting a head start on my shopping.’
‘Hmph. Christmas starts in August these days. All the better for them to get more money out of you.’
What was Ash thinking? Even if Nan was in the best mood ever – the mention of Christmas automatically put her into Grinch mode.
They finished breakfast and Ash collected her boxes from beside the armchair where Nan had left them last night, squeezing through her bedroom door and around the Christmas tree still taking up half her floor space. Her bedroom was starting to resemble a Christmas warehouse.
She left them boxed up in case Nan walked in. The Christmas tree Ash could explain away – it had been a prize, but the lights… She was seriously starting to wonder if this had been a good idea. Her mum hadn’t even texted her back after she sent her the photo of the tree. It had been nearly a week now that she hadn’t heard from her.
Ash got herself showered and dressed, packed her bag ready for work and took her sketch pad and pencils downstairs to work at the kitchen table. Nan left at around nine, for her weekly coffee and cake with her friends down in town and Ash took a break from sketching to open the boxes. One contained rope lights and icicles, another normal fairy ones and the last one, a big star and a bell that swung side to side as it flashed. Christ, Nan was going to absolutely do her nut.
Looking at the coiled-up strings of wire through the plastic tubs, it occurred to Ash that she had absolutely no idea how she was going to fix it all to the outside of the house. And then there was where she was going to plug it all in and whether it would reach. The plug socket, obviously, was indoors. She had a horrible feeling that if she was going to do this properly, more money was going to be spent on tools and things.
She could figure this out though. It was a small challenge really, in the grand scheme of things. Tucking one box under her arm, she headed downstairs and put her coat on, so she could size up the building. Maybe she should sketch a plan or something. But it was a bit wet to take any paper out. She could do the plan afterwards – this was just a recce.
Simon trotted over to her to see where she was going and when he realised she was only going to be out in the front garden and it was raining, decided staying in was preferable, curled up in front of the radiator. Ash could hardly blame him.
Pulling her hood up, she stepped back closer to the wall at the front of the garden and considered the façade of the house. It was looking a bit worse for wear now she was bothering to take the time to notice. It wasn’t like she often considered the outside of the house; it was just there as she went in and out. The windows were tall and the paint peeling a bit. Perhaps she should give them a fresh coat, to brighten them up. Now Nan had retired, they couldn’t really afford to keep up cosmetic maintenance. Ash felt a little surge of guilt. Her irregular income meant she was about as much use as a chocolate teapot when it came to contributing.
She shook her head. No point worrying about that at the moment – she’d concentrate on fixing that problem in the new year. One thing at a time.
Ash wasn’t short at all, she was five foot nine in her bare feet, but she still couldn’t reach up to the top of the windows. She’d need a stepladder or a chair at the very least if she was going to string the lights around the windows. Was there enough of them though? That was a good question. God, this was all a lot more of a faff than she’d anticipated. No wonder Thomas got out there to start work at the beginning of every December.
She went back inside and grabbed a kitchen chair, dragging it outside and dumping it in front of the window closest to the door and then opening up the box of lights and attempting to unravel them and measure them against the perimeter of the window. The green wire was all springy and tangled up. Her hands were getting slippery from the rain and she was starting to resemble a kitten that had got into its owner’s knitting bag.
‘Are you okay there, Ashleigh?’
Ash peered through the net of cable she’d made for herself and there was Olivier on the other side of the garden wall. His black coat had the collar turned up, but his hair was damp and had been raked back, so he must have been out and was heading back in. Excellent – he’d had a perfect view of her wobbling around on the chair and swearing at the lights.
‘I don’t really have a clue what I’m doing, if I’m honest.’
‘One moment.’ He held up his finger and disappeared inside with his bag of shopping. He was back a second later, stepping over the wall and coming closer. ‘You’ve got yourself in a tangle?’
‘A little.’ Ash held out her arms and Olivier began to slowly unwind the lights, threading them in and out of the mess she’d made. His eyelashes were thick and dark as they fanned down onto his cheeks. So pretty.
Once he had unravelled enough of the wire, he began to use his elbow and the crook between his thumb and index finger to wrap the lights in a neat loop. It shouldn’t have been sexy, but Ash was working on over a decade’s worth of crushing and a couple of years of no sex, so really, he could’ve done pretty much anything, and she’d have wanted to jump his bones.
Ugh. Had her brain regressed to adolescence? She hadn’t even used language that crude when she was a teenager. Ro probably had, but not her.
‘Shall I put them away into the box?’ He looked up at her suddenly and she was caught staring down at him.
‘Oh, yes please.’ As he bent, she climbed down from the chair and wiped the building sheen of rain from her face with the cuff of her coat.
‘I don’t remember you ever having lights on the house before.’
‘No. We don’t usually. Nan hates it, but I…’ She shrugged and took the box he’d neatly snapped the lid back onto. ‘I just fancied a change. Brighten the place up. Join in with the fun a bit more.’
‘Does she know?’ he asked, a knowing smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
‘Not yet.’ Ash wrinkled her nose. ‘If I can get them up before she notices then she won’t be able to take them down.’
‘Still a rebel, aren’t you?’ He laughed a little, and the twinkle in his eyes made Ashleigh’s belly tumble.
