Page 10 of Christmas, Actually

‘Of course not!’ Eleanor’s cheeks pinked. ‘He might be handsome, but he’s far too young. Only a couple of years older than me. You know I prefer mature men. I clearly have a thing for emotional baggage.’ She looked embarrassed. Clara knew her godmother usually wouldn’t consider dating anyone who wasn’t at least a decade her senior, but there was something about the stiffness in her shoulders that made her wonder if she was considering making an exception to that rule.

‘Besides, he’s grumpy and way too critical.’ She flapped her hands over her skirts looking flustered. ‘He hates Christmas and the man could seriously do with lightening up.’ Her eyes flashed wickedly. ‘In the seven months he’s been living in Hollythorpe, I’ve been trying to find ways to do just that.’

Clara was about to ask more when something stroked against her foot and she shrieked. ‘What’s that?’

Eleanor leaned down and picked up a large white rabbit. ‘This is Bugs. He belongs to Joe – he used to work with him when he was a magician, apparently. He often pops up in the shop.’ She looked around and shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea how he gets in, but he’s good friends with Chirples, my budgie. You’ll see him flying around at some point.’

She smiled at Bugs. ‘I’ll take you back to Joe later.’ She snuggled her face into the rabbit’s soft fur before putting him on the ground, then she watched as Bugs shot across the room and disappeared into one of the smaller ones on their right.

‘Do you want to try your Mrs Christmas outfit on?’ Eleanor asked, glancing around. ‘It’s not that busy and I can keep an eye out for customers from the back room.’

She didn’t wait for Clara to respond – instead, she hopped and skipped through three of the rooms before guiding her into a small office. Clara could see the dress, which had been hung on a hook in the wall, from the entrance. It was red and velvet, similar to Eleanor’s own clothing. There was a beautiful red cape with a draping hat edged in pure white fur. It was beautiful.

‘How about you try it on?’ Eleanor said. ‘I’ll pop back into the shop to give you some privacy. Ezra AKA Ebeneezer will be here with his camera in about—’ She checked her watch and her eyes widened. ‘Five minutes. He takes all the pictures for the community events, he’s really quite talented…’ She drifted off frowning. ‘Liam won’t be far behind. He was going to pop home to change after replacing the socket in my bedroom. I doubt he’ll be long.’

She spun around and disappeared, leaving Clara to put on the costume. She looked at it for a moment wondering exactly how her life had taken such an odd turn. A couple of days ago, she’d been hard at work at her desk, had barely even noticed Christmas was on its way. Now she was here, about to play Mrs Christmas with a man who set her pulse racing while her fiancé…

As if it had read her thoughts, her mobile suddenly pinged in her pocket and Clara drew it out.

Okay, fine, you’re right. The truth is Abigail kissed me, and I was fighting her off. I didn’t want to tell you because she’s your friend and I knew you’d overreact. Are you going to come back now? I need you here to finish organising the party. H

‘The party is organised,’ Clara muttered before gazing at the screen for a good thirty seconds. Then she put the phone back in her pocket. She had a tendency to forgive and forget, to gloss over and say things were okay even when they weren’t. She needed to give herself time to digest what Hudson had told her. Time to consider and decide if he was telling the truth.

It’s not like he’d attempted to call her and the only thing he really seemed to care about was the party. In some ways, the texts felt cowardly, like he was hiding behind words. She felt guilty for thinking that about her fiancé, but a call would feel more honest – especially since Hudson was in the wrong. And why, now she was away from New York, was she suddenly thinking her fiancé had faults?

She heard the jingle of bells which signalled that someone had walked into the shop, then the sound of a bark and guessed that Liam and Figgy had just arrived. She felt her heart leap into her throat and quickly made her way across the storeroom so she could change.

‘You look perfect!’ Eleanor declared a few minutes later as she came to search for Clara as she finished zipping the dress. It was the right length and almost the right size. ‘We’ll pin it here and here.’ Her godmother said, gently taking up a handful of material and securing it in place with safety pins. ‘Hazel is a whizz with a sewing machine, so I might see if she can take it in properly later.’

‘If I keep eating trifle for breakfast, she won’t need to,’ Clara said dryly, wondering if her godmother had a set of scales somewhere in her flat. She’d have to register on the app her mother had signed her up to later or she’d be in trouble. Her mother prided herself on being a perfect size eight and expected Clara to feel the same way. The fact that she wasn’t obsessed with her weight regularly caused problems between them.

‘You’re gorgeous, love. You always have been,’ Eleanor said as she finished pinning the waist and stepped in front of her so she could look Clara in the eye. ‘Sometimes people—’ She squeezed her lips together as if trying to hold in her words. ‘I’m not sure how to say this kindly. But sometimes people can be far too critical of others. It’s important that you learn to look beyond other people’s opinions.’ Her forehead creased. ‘To understand and accept that what you think matters. You’re perfect –’ She shrugged. ‘– just as you are. But I know I can say that until I’m blue in the face and you still won’t believe me.’ The corners of her mouth edged down. ‘It’s what you think that matters – what you believe. But it’s Christmas.’ She perked up. ‘Which is a time for re-evaluating, actually. Perhaps it’s the perfect time for you to finally realise what a gorgeous treasure you are?’

The bell at the front of the shop went off again and she glanced over her shoulder. ‘That’ll be Ebenezer now – we’d better get those photos and then I thought you and Liam could practise your song…’

‘I really don’t think—’ Clara said as she turned to follow, but her godmother was already gone.

Clara stood staring, feeling her insides twist. Her whole life felt like it had been tossed in the air. Suddenly she wasn’t sure she wanted to be engaged to Hudson, and she was questioning her mother’s constant implications that she wasn’t enough. Suddenly she was thinking about what her life could be like if she made a change. The only problem was, she wasn’t sure what that change should be…

8

CLARA

‘This is your doing, I presume?’ Ezra said, shaking the toy elf that Clara had seen her godmother leaving her kitchen with this morning, as she joined them both in the front of the shop a few moments later. ‘I just found it in the children’s corner of my bookshop.’ He looked annoyed. ‘It was sitting with a pile of books on the floor and there were these baubles laying there too – we had customers, they had no idea what was going on.’ His dark brown eyes fizzed with annoyance animating his handsome face. ‘They thought we’d been vandalised.’

‘By an elf? I’ll bet the kids loved it,’ Eleanor chuckled.

‘That’s immaterial,’ Ezra said grumpily. ‘I know all about the elf on the shelf.’ He carefully draped the toy over one of the branches of the Christmas tree Eleanor had been loading with baubles earlier. ‘But he’s not welcome in my shop. I don’t have lights, trees, twinkles or sparkles of any kind. Nothing to do with Christmas is welcome – especially not elves.’

Eleanor shook her head as she went to rescue the toy and tucked it into the pocket of her dress. ‘For a man who hates this time of the year so much, I’m surprised you’ve agreed to be on the Hollythorpe village Christmas fayre committee at all,’ she said.

He shrugged. ‘Aye, well, I believe in supporting my community. Even if I’m not on board with everything they do.’ His full mouth tightened and Clara noticed her godmother stare at him for a moment too long.

Ezra fiddled with the large camera dangling from a strap slung around his neck and turned his attention to Clara. ‘Shall we get on with these photos?’ he asked kindly. ‘The costume seems to fit you okay.’ He glanced around. ‘Where’s Mr Christmas? I thought I saw him coming in here earlier. Have you let another elf loose and buried him under an avalanche of baubles too?’

‘I’m here,’ Liam said, suddenly appearing from one of the smaller rooms to their left with the golden retriever. ‘Sorry, Figgy made a beeline for the festive tablecloths.’ He tugged his dog closer to his side as Clara studied him, trying not to gape.

Liam was wearing a Santa costume – but it was unlike any festive suit she’d ever seen. There was no rounded belly and no white beard for a start. The suit itself was red and perfectly tailored to hug his frame – with trousers that accentuated Liam’s narrow hips and the length of his long muscular legs. Clara let her eyes work their way up to the suit jacket which had been cut with him in mind. It emphasised his flat stomach, powerful shoulders and the sharp lines made him look elegant and stylish. Was the suit Armani? It could have been.