Page 5 of Winter Magic at Hollybrae Castle

‘I’m not working twenty-four hours a day!’

‘No, I mean that if you were to agree to this, you’d be here twenty-four hours a day. I’ll pay for every hour from the moment you start until after Christmas.’

I barely contain the gasp. ‘That’s very generous.’

‘That’s very honest. I like that.’ He lets out a breath. ‘Look, I need someone who’s dedicated to this. Someone who doesn’t think I’m a lunatic for trying to pull it off, or at least someone who fully supports the lunacy. I’m not going to get that by underpaying and cutting corners. When these people get here, you’re going to have to pretend twenty-four hours a day, and before that, there’s an entire castle to decorate. That’s a lot and I don’t intend to pay unfairly.’

I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t tempting. That would be a big chunk of money to come back here with in January. It would make every aspect of my life so much easier and give me a chance to find a job I actually want, rather than having to jump at the first thing that’ll have me out of desperation.

‘You think I’ve lost the plot.’ There’s silence as I try to talk some sense into myself, and he must take it as a refusal because he looks resigned and even more embarrassed than he did earlier.

‘No, not at all. It wasn’t what I was expecting from this call, but…’ I trail off, unsure of what to say. I’m not going to say yes, of course I’m not, but the idea of decorating the castle is still tempting and I’m not ready to give up on that yet.

‘Okay, well, let’s focus on what this was supposed to be about and pretend you didn’t hear any of that, right? I should’ve known you can’t say something like that to a stranger and expect it to end well.’ He makes a noise of frustration and pushes a hand through his hair again. ‘Tell me about your decorating experience. You’re a window dresser in London?’

‘Yes. I work for the flagship Calloways shop on Oxford Street and, although I’ve never decorated a castle before, my entire career revolves around decorating and making things shine, especially at Christmas. Your job posting seemed like the perfect fit.’

‘You really want to travel all the way to Scotland in December to decorate a castle? Isn’t this your busiest time of year?’

‘I… um…’ I’ve rehearsed this. I’m going to tell him that I’ve got annual leave to use before year end, and I’ve already completed the remaining windows for December and left them in the capable hands of my team to install, but I look into the camera and see his encouraging half-smile, the remains of a blush reddening his cheeks from discussing his situation with me, and the only thing I want to do is be completely honest. ‘One of my windows went wrong and I’ve lost my job.’

‘It’s not that one with Santa eating Paddington’s innards, is it?’

Oh, God, even Scotland knows. It’s been just over a day and the whole country has seen the biggest disaster of my career to date.

Come on, Lula, laugh and say, ‘No, don’t be silly, of course not!’ This is going to make me unhireable, even to men in the furthest reaches of Scotland who have got their own work-related problems.

He obviously meant it as a joke, but my silence as I scramble for an answer makes his eyes widen. ‘Oh, wow, it is? That was hilarious!’

‘Not if you’re a small child with a fondness for marmalade-sandwich-loving bears and a vested interest in Santa’s dietary preferences. You know, should you put out a mince pie and glass of milk on Christmas Eve, or your most beloved teddy bear for him to rip to shreds under the Christmas tree?’

Oliver is laughing so hard that he’s leaning back in his office chair. ‘Oh, that is brilliant. You’re famous! That window spread round the office like wildfire yesterday. My bosses don’t usually encourage meme-sharing in working hours, but even they got in on that one. You really got sacked for that?’

‘It was a big deal – a big responsibility. I should have been on top of it and I wasn’t. I wasn’t intending to tell you, but…’

‘It seems that I’ve said a few things I wasn’t intending to share on this call too…’

‘And knowing that doesn’t make you not trust me to decorate your castle?’

‘Are you kidding? I feel like I need your autograph,’ he says, still laughing. ‘No, seriously, I’ve looked through your portfolio and your work is outstanding. I assume that wasn’t your intended vision for the window, and if we could try to keep murder and bloodshed to a minimum, then I need someone who can start right away. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to decorate a place this size, or if you’re used to working with a team of people, but I can help when I’m not working and I’ve got a housekeeper and a groundsman who are happy to pitch in. Other than that, it’ll be up to you to make this place glow. Let me show you a photo of what you’ll be working with…’

He leans forwards and his attention shifts away from the camera as he focuses on his screen and taps the ‘share screen’ option. I gasp so loudly that my hands fly up to cover my mouth and hold back a squeal.

The castle in the photo he’s showing me is beautiful. It screams Victorian Gothic architecture, with steps leading to a door framed by large columns, multiple arched windows, and one central tower standing tall in the centre with a spire at the top, glinting against the bluest sky imaginable.

‘You seriously live there?’ I haven’t taken my hands away from my face yet because my jaw is still hanging open and my hands might be the only thing stopping it from falling off altogether. The thought of getting to decorate somewhere like that makes me hold back a squeak of excitement. Even getting to stay somewhere like that is the sort of thing that doesn’t happen every day.

‘Yeah. It’s actually pretty cosy for a castle. It was my father’s pride and joy and I inherited it. It… er… it looks better than it is. It has a lot of upkeep problems and if I don’t get this promotion then I’ve got no idea what I’m going to do.’

It looks like something out of a fairytale. There’s no way Princess Aurora isn’t sleeping at the top of that tower, and my mind is flooded with ideas of where I can put lights to accentuate every Gothic curve and steep gable. I have no idea how I’m going to get up there, but that spire needs a light on its very tip.

‘What do you think?’ Oliver clicks something else and the screen is filled with his face again. ‘They’re arriving on the 23rd. Is that enough time?’

‘It’s incredible. Inspirational. And the timeframe is…’ I swallow harder than I meant to. I might love decorating for Christmas, but there’s a vast difference between being part of a team installing window displays and the sole responsibility for decorating an entire castle. I have no idea how many rooms there are, or what decorations he has or if things will need to be ordered in, but at the same time, this is a dream of a job. I can’t imagine a more magical way to spend the festive season.

‘…doable.’ I finish the sentence what seems like hours after I started it, with very little clue whether it is doable or not.

‘Sorry, the job advert was purposely vague in case it somehow got back to my bosses that I was hiring a decorator.’