Page 47 of Christmas All the Way

It was a fair point, Grace supposed. She was doing her best not to think much beyond this Christmas, let alone next year. ‘I suppose so.’ She eyed the mess of papers sympathetically. ‘Need some help to clear this up?’

‘No, don’t worry,’ Keeley said, smothering a yawn. ‘Believe it or not, there is method to my madness. It’s all exactly where it needs to be.’

At that moment, Grace’s phone buzzed. She pulled it from her pocket to see a message from an unknown number.

I was wrong about Bilbo not going far. I finally caught him in a garden three streets away, growling at a supremely unconcerned tabby up a tree. Raff

Smiling, she typed out an immediate reply.

What do you expect when you called him Bilbo? Of course he’s going to have adventures.

When she looked up, she saw Keeley was watching her. ‘Who’s made you all gooey-eyed?’ she demanded.

Grace blushed. ‘No one. Just a joke in the committee group.’

‘Really?’ Keeley said, sounding utterly unconvinced. ‘Then why are your cheeks pink?’

‘They are not,’ Grace said, even as she realised there was no point in denying it. Her phone vibrated again.

Good point. It was nice to chat again this evening. Hope to see you again soon. R.

Keeley’s gaze had narrowed. ‘Please don’t tell me you’ve developed a crush on Gavin. Because he might make a mean cocktail but he’s not the man for you.’

‘Of course I haven’t!’ Grace replied indignantly. ‘He’s far too young.’

‘Well, someone just made you light up like Oxford Street,’ Keeley said, continuing to eye her closely. ‘And I don’t believe it was a joke in the group chat.’

Determined not to give anything further away, Grace thrust her phone into her pocket. ‘I’m going to head up to bed. Goodnight.’

Keeley’s amused drawl followed her as she left the room and made for the stairs. ‘Sweet dreams. Whoever he is.’

It wasn’t until Grace was safely in her room, with the door firmly closed, that she dared to open Raff’s messages again. It had been a surprise to see him in the pub, and lovely to walk along the moonlit path with him, even if the subject of their conversation had been downbeat. But she would be a fool to read anything other than good manners into his offer to walk her home, just as she was certain he didn’t mean it when he said he hoped to see her soon. In two months’ time, their paths would diverge and it was unlikely they would cross again. She needed to remember that when her imagination got the better of her and she started to wonder what might have happened if Bilbo had not run away. Because that kind of thinking could only lead to disappointment.

The weeks that followed flew by faster than Grace would have believed possible. Santa’s Secret was open seven days a week in November, and she found herself working so many additional shifts that it was now the equivalent of a full-time job. In between her hours there, she was also doing her best to help at Juniper Cottage, where higher visitor footfall continued to stretch Keeley’s team. As the final week of November approached, and the night of the Freezy Tye lights switch-on drew near, Grace was almost overwhelmed by the volume of messages in the group chat and emails in need of a response. The only upside was that she had less time to fret over the weather forecast.

The installation of the light trail mercifully went without a hitch. Raff’s tree farmer was as good as his word and delivered an impressive, twelve-foot beauty to the village green just after lunchtime on the 27th. He and Raff had ensured it was securely tethered in place, and then Raff had worked with Paul to drape the cone-shaped net of lights over the top. Grace couldn’t help a gasp of delight when Paul pressed the on switch and the tree twinkled with a thousand pastel-coloured lights that chased each other through the branches. Pink danced with silver, green followed blue, and gold flirted with white.

‘All it needs now is the fairy on the top,’ Raff said, standing beside Grace to admire the effect. ‘Want me to hold the ladder for you?’

Her gaze flew to his face and she wondered whether he was remembering the last time she climbed a ladder. ‘Um, yes please. If you don’t mind.’

He smiled, and something in his eyes warmed her insides. ‘I don’t mind at all.’

She didn’t dare look down as she attached the exquisite Sugar Plum Fairy to the spike at the very top of the tree. Instead, she focused on making sure the figurine was secure, tightening the cable ties she’d brought in her pocket and adding a few more for good measure. The last thing they needed was for the fairy to fly off in the first puff of wind.

‘Careful,’ Raff said, and held out a gloved hand to steady her as she made her way down the ladder. ‘Take it slowly.’

‘Thanks,’ she said, accepting the support gratefully and feeling more than a little reluctant to let go once her feet were both firmly back on the ground.

‘What’s next?’ he asked, as Paul switched the lights off on the tree. ‘The toy box?’

She nodded, squinting across to the west side of the green. ‘I think it should be almost set up by now.’

Sanjay was just finishing the installation as Grace and Raff arrived. ‘All set,’ Sanjay said cheerfully, hammering the last peg into the hard ground to hold the metal frame of the box in place. ‘Freddie’s gone to connect the power.’

A few minutes later, Freddie reappeared, looking satisfied. ‘I’ve plugged everything in and tested the connection to make sure it’s safe. Want us to switch it on?’

‘Yes, please,’ Grace said, allowing herself a squiggle of anticipation. She’d seen pictures of the various stops on the light trail but she doubted any of them had done it justice.