‘Nor can I.’
Layla leaned back against the sofa. ‘Living with my mum and stepfather was hard so it was nice to escape to Nana’s house. I twigged early on what she was up to with the mirrors.’
‘Maddie and Rachel didn’t,’ interjected Grandpa, making us all laugh.
It was nice seeing Layla smile and joke with Grandpa. I looked up at the gigantic Christmas tree and its twinkling lights and the pressure of the family, Aunty Karen’s list of rules for looking after Grandpa and my worries about Maddie slipped away.
After cards we had some lunch and Zac went down for a nap. Then Grandpa beat us both convincingly at Scrabble.
‘Thank you,’ Layla said to us once the Scrabble board and tiles had been cleared away. ‘Today, I’ve felt festive and happy.’ She smiled. ‘It’s been tough for me these past few weeks. I never thought I’d be playing games in this beautiful house with two lovely people, eating delicious food and not worrying about where Zac and I are going to live.’
I gave her hand a squeeze. ‘This is just the start of our Christmas together, Layla,’ I beamed.
Grandpa nodded. ‘Layla, I like you already and we’re not going to stop smiling all Christmas.’
‘Is that a promise, Eric?’ Layla asked.
Grandpa grinned. ‘Sure is. The Christmas Dog Sitters never break their promises.’
While Grandpa told Layla all about how he used to spend a lot of time setting up his mirrors, when Maddie and I were little, and how he’d call us into the room, wondering whether this would be the game that we realised what was going on, I found myself thinking about Maddie. Was she okay in America? Would she have a nice Christmas?
With a twang of sadness, I recalled Maddie phoning me from California in floods of tears and sobbing about how much she hated her new life. The memory left me uncomfortable, so I leapt to my feet and decided to bake a pie for tea. I was overthinking the Maddie and Frank situation again. She had said there was nothing to worry about. I was reading too much into that glassy-eyed look she’d given me before she left.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
It was Monday early morning. Grandpa and I were in the kitchen having a cup of tea after devouring my sausage, cheese, and egg muffins.
He was dressed for the day, whereas I still had my Christmas pyjamas on – red ones adorned with brown reindeer. I’d seen them in the supermarket the day before Grandpa arrived.
Layla and Zac were still upstairs, and Humphrey was snoozing in his basket by my feet.
Before coming down for breakfast I’d read a second chapter of Olivia’s pink notebook, titled:Happy Pennies.
She’d written down a huge list of what she called herHappy Pennies.It made me smile as it included things like ordering coffee from the sexy barista at the café – even though his coffee-making skills were questionable; buying herself flowers; going swimming to see the hot lifeguard wink at her from his chair; eating chips with curry sauce; dancing to Harry Styles in the kitchen; and going to her local writers group where she would have a giggle with the flirty thriller writer.
So many of Olivia’s happy pennies featured lusting after attractive men. Olivia claimed that she had made a determined effort to fill her day-to-day life with as many happy pennies as she could. This was what prompted me to go downstairs in my reindeer pyjamas. They made me feel happy.
There was a loud knock at the front door which made us both jump. ‘Who the hell is that?’ I gasped, checking the time on my phone. ‘It’s just started getting light outside.’
‘The police?’ Grandpa said, stroking his white stubble-clad chin. ‘I would love to be interrogated; it’s been a life dream of mine for years.’
I cast him a worried look and padded into the hall to begin the arduous process of opening the old front door. It was so heavy that I had to grab the handle and lean back.
After a lot of huffing and puffing, I got it open and stared at the person on the doorstep. It was little Rosie’s dad. The patronising man from Saturday who had made a smart-ass comment about me using Humphrey’s dog lead. He wasn’t wearing a hat this time, and he had thick dark brown hair. His green eyes surveyed my tousled new shorter hair and my reindeer pyjamas.
I found myself distracted by his broad shoulders, his stubble and his large hands. My cheeks warmed. ‘Can I help you?’ I said in a sugary voice.
He opened his mouth and I yelped. Something furry darted through my legs and shot up the drive. ‘Humphrey!’ I shouted.
The man glanced behind him at Humphrey who was now a brown speck up the driveway and turned back to me. ‘Still not got control of that dog, I see.’ He arched an eyebrow.
I glared at him. ‘Look what you made me do.’
He shifted his weight from one boot to another and cleared his throat. ‘I’m the builder.’
‘Builder?’
‘Yes, I’m working on Mr Baxter’s new kitchen. That’s my van over there.’ He pointed to a blue van parked at the side of the house.
