Page 48 of The Perfect Gift

‘You should get your James to watch it with you,’ Beryl suggested, her smile as innocent as the glint in her eye was wicked.

Her friend, Judy, made a suspicious noise she quickly turned into a cough. ‘Oh yes,’ she added when she could speak. ‘Norman and I loved it so much we binged it in a single weekend.’

‘Well, if you both recommend it then we shall have to check it out,’ Gwendoline said with a clueless smile. ‘It’ll have to wait until the new year, of course, because James is so busy at the moment.’ She turned to Frankie. ‘There are so many churches in the area without their own vicar and he likes to make sure all of them get at least one service at this special time of year. It’ll give him something to look forward to.’

‘Well, I hope you both enjoy it,’ Frankie said, managing to keep a straight face as Beryl and Judy convulsed with silent giggles behind Gwendoline’s back.

‘I’m sure we will, my dear.’ Gwendoline touched a hand to her arm. ‘It was so delightful to meet you, but I really must dash as I’ve promised to help judge the children’s mince pie competition. I hope we’ll see you in church some time.’

‘It was lovely to meet you too,’ Frankie replied, glossing over the invitation. Church had never really been her thing and she didn’t think she was going to start now.

‘Merry Christmas, and God bless you.’ Gwendoline patted her arm once more.

It was sincerely meant and Frankie accepted it with the kindness with which it was offered. ‘Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too.’

The other two women waited until Gwendoline had glided off into the crowds and then Beryl burst out, ‘Oh, what I’d give to be a fly on the wall the first time she gets an eyeful of the dirty duke!’ It was the nickname fans had given to the male hero of the first series.

‘Do you think we should’ve done that?’ Judy asked, even as her shoulders continued to shake from her giggles. ‘I’ll never be able to look her in the eye at our next parish coffee morning.’

‘We’ve done her a favour, I reckon,’ Beryl replied. ‘The Rev’ll be revving to go after they’ve watched that scene in the stables in episode one.’ She fanned her face. ‘Goodness me, I’ve never seen anything quite so sexy in my life.’

Frankie had long decided there was no point in being embarrassed about the kind of show Ton! was. Yes, there were a lot of adult scenes in it, but she liked the sex-positive message from both the books and the show, and the feedback they’d had from the fans said most of them appreciated the tasteful and sympathetic way those scenes were filmed. She gave them both an amused smile. ‘If you had to film one of those scenes you’d think them decidedly less sexy,’ she told them.

Judy’s face was an immediate picture of concern. ‘It must be very difficult. I can’t take my top off in the swimming-pool changing rooms so I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like for you.’

Frankie laughed. ‘I’m not a big fan of stripping off at the gym either and I always try and hide in a cubicle. It’s different on set, I suppose, because it’s part of my job and they take very good care of us when we have to film something like that. There’s no one around who absolutely doesn’t have to be there and we rehearse everything very carefully beforehand.’

‘Well, I think you’re very brave,’ Judy told her. ‘And you were my favourite character in the first series so I can’t wait to see you be the centre of the story next time.’ As if sensing perhaps Frankie had talked about the show enough, Judy picked up her wreath and held it up. ‘You’ve made such a lovely job of this, are you sure you’ve not done anything like it before?’

‘No, it’s the first time I’ve tried it. And I couldn’t have done it without your help.’ Frankie frowned at it when Judy set it back down. ‘Do you think it looks okay?’ She’d kept it traditional, a thick layer of greenery covering the sponge reservoir with pine cones, berries and holly as added extras. Beryl had shown her how to tie the bright red bow that was pinned to the bottom of the wreath, the wide tails of the bow trailing down underneath it. She didn’t want to overdo it, but there was something not quite right that Frankie couldn’t identify.

‘I think it’s smashing,’ Beryl put in. ‘A little bit of something here to fill this gap and I reckon you’ll be done.’

As soon as the other woman had pointed it out, it was obvious to Frankie where the imbalance was and she added a pine cone to the spot Beryl had indicated. It shouldn’t have made that much difference, but somehow it did and she felt a sense of satisfaction as she lifted up the wreath and studied it.

‘Hey, that’s great!’

Frankie turned to see Ed standing behind her and she found herself glowing a little at his praise.

‘I’m really pleased with it,’ she said, setting it down and reaching into her cross-body bag for her purse. ‘Thank you so much.’ She pulled out an extra twenty-pound note and added it to the fee for the session before handing the cash over to Judy.

‘That’s too much!’ the woman protested, trying to hand the extra money back.

‘No, it’s not. You’ve taught me something wonderful today and you can put it towards the Sunday school trip.’ Like so many of the activities at the fayre, the proceeds from the wreath-making were going towards doing something good for the community and Frankie was happy to chip in a little extra. Twenty pounds wasn’t a lot for her, but it would pay for a couple of extra lunches for the children’s trip to a safari park. It was the kind of thing she would’ve loved to have done as a kid.

‘Are all these yours?’ Ed asked with a laugh as he bent to gather the bags piled at her feet. ‘I’m surprised there’s anything left for anyone else.’

‘It’s just a few bits and pieces,’ she told him before turning to say goodbye to Beryl and Judy.

‘Fair enough. Do you want to stash everything at the flat?’

‘Yes please, if you don’t mind.’

‘Of course I don’t. Things have quietened down a bit so Matt’s keeping an eye on Rick. I thought I’d drop in at the cookery school and give Harry a bit of support if you want to come with me?’

‘I’d love that.’

‘Great. And then I’ve promised Rick I’ll grab a bucket and try and do a bit of last-minute fundraising for the splash-for-cash. If I’m going to freeze my arse off, I want to make sure we get as much as possible for it.’