Page 32 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘I am.’ She thought of Lars, all his polish and liquid looks. He was also charming, but in an entirely different way to Avery. Did he see her as more than a contractor?

‘What?’ He broke into her reverie.

‘What what?’

‘You had a strange look on your face. Do you not like who you’re working with?’

‘Oh no, I do.’ She waved a dismissive hand. ‘I knew Lars when I was a fresh-faced young apprentice. He’s bought a café in Norwich, and he looked me up. It’s flattering. My portfolio precedes me.’

‘I bet it does,’ Avery murmured, and she got the impression he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

‘What’s this all about?’ She circled her finger in front of his face. ‘You’ve gone all stormy eyed. Do you get that a lot, with your eyes being grey?’

‘Nobody has ever told me my eyes are stormy before.’

‘Really? That’s so sad.’

‘You can tell me they’re stormy all you like.’ He rested his elbows on his knees.

‘Ooh. A treat. Just for me.’

Avery’s mouth kicked up at one side, and it wasn’t a smile she’d seen before. It was secret and sultry and it made her insides feel like jelly, like he’d melted her skeleton with that one gesture. ‘Just for you,’ he repeated. Then, ‘Tell me more about Lars.’

She sighed. ‘There’s nothing to tell. He’s a client from a long time ago. He looked me up, he likes my work, he wants me to design his new café. I’ve just about finished the proposal, so the next thing is to work out which contractors we want. I’ll meet him soon to go through it.’

‘In Norwich?’

‘Yes. I don’t really want him coming to Mistingham.’ He was a skilled businessman, and if he wanted more cafés in Norfolk, she was sure he would make it happen.

‘Why not?’

She shrugged. ‘I’m just getting used to being here again. I don’t feel like I can be Mistingham Daisy and Business Daisy all at once.’

‘What about Mary and Winnie’s house?’

‘Oh. That’s …’ she laughed, embarrassed. ‘That’s different. I couldn’t help myself – my competitive nature coming out. This house is so great it needs me, too. Nobody else can do what I do.’

Avery smiled. ‘I love the confidence.’

‘Competitive, more than confident. And maybe …’ she thought of what Winnie had said, her hypothesis about why she’d become an interior designer. ‘Maybe it’s somewhere new in Mistingham, somewhere I can make my mark on. Like a fresh start, but with someone else’s house? That sounds idiotic.’

‘It doesn’t, though. I get it, and I’m sorry I was so annoyed about it.’

‘Why were you?’

He sipped his coffee. ‘This is my first big build. My first time being foreman. I’ve always … kept my expectations low, I guess. I didn’t fit in at the school my parents sent me to, I didn’t find my tribe there, and I never felt accomplished or successful. I’d always liked fixing things, building things, so when I left I got a job as a builder’s apprentice, but I stuck to the small stuff, knowing I could get it right, that I wouldn’t be disappointed in myself.’

‘You didn’t think you could handle something like this? Avery, that’s …’

‘I should have got over it.’

‘It’s so hard, though. What happens when you’re growing up shapes your whole life. So you got this big gig with Mary and Winnie’s house, and then I came along and tried to take over the design, and it felt like I was saying you weren’t good enough?’

‘Maybe. I’m a grown man, though. I should have realized that wasn’t what you were doing: that it wasn’t something you would accuse me of.’

‘What gave you the confidence to finally take on this project? May says you’re really “can do”, that you’re confident in your own abilities, but you’ve just told me the opposite.’

He looked away from her. ‘I can talk the talk when I need to. And this place – it was Mary and Winnie. It felt like a sort of … safe space to give it a go. Not every build feels like that. You must know, working with clients, it’s such a mixed bag. Expectations need to be met, and I always prided myself on my work being a high standard, but you can never predict how people will react.’