Page 47 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘I needed to get up early, anyway,’ I said, dismissing his apology. ‘Lots to do.’

‘Messages from her kissable landlord to reply to,’ Nell piped up.

‘Her landlord who dropped the fact that he has a wife and daughter into the conversation,’ I reminded her.

Nell pulled a face. ‘Shame, he seemed really perfect for you. Never mind, there are plenty more pebbles on the beach. We’ll find you someone – I’ll make it my mission.’

‘Please don’t.’ I exchanged resigned looks with Olek, who shrugged helplessly. ‘Thanks again,’ I said to him. ‘For letting me stay in Max’s room. I appreciate it.’

‘You are very welcome in my house, Merry.’ He gave his wife a pointed look. ‘Everybody is welcome here.’

‘Come here and kiss me goodbye.’ She hooked a finger at him. ‘Before you go and set the world free from behind their jammed locks and snapped-off keys.’

He kissed Nell on the lips, which felt a bit intimate as I was close enough to feel the warmth of his breath. He patted my head with a grin before leaving the room.

‘My hero,’ she said with a dreamy sigh after he’d gone. ‘Literally not a bad bone in his body.’

‘He is lovely,’ I agreed, simultaneously wondering if Cole’s wife was kissing him goodbye this morning and thinking the same thing. I hoped so. I also hoped there was someone out there somewhere waiting to be my hero. If there was, I wished we’d hurry up and cross paths. ‘What did he mean about everyone being welcome ?’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘Mum and Dad invited us to their house for Christmas. Their cruise has been cancelled and they don’t want to spend it alone. But we’ve already promised Max and Olek’s parents that we’re spending it here, so we can’t go to them. Olek wants me to invite my parents here instead.’

‘Ah.’

‘Exactly,’ Nell said heavily. ‘I mean I love them, but you know what they’re like.’

I nodded. Nell couldn’t relax when her parents were here. She felt like she had to be on her best behaviour all the time and whenever they did come and visit, she’d spend weeks spring cleaning and in some instances even redecorating just to impress them. It all stemmed from their initial disappointment with her choice of partner ; she’d never stopped trying to prove to them that she hadn’t lowered her standards by choosing Olek. I did understand how she felt but I still thought she was lucky. I’d lost my mum, and there was an empty space on my birth certificate where my father’s name should have been. I’d choose difficult-to-please parents over no parents at all.

She pasted on a smile. ‘Anyway, what does the message from the big bad builder say ?’

‘It says Morning Merry, I’ve been thinking about you all night, are you free this morning for brunch ?’

Nell nearly choked on her coffee. ‘No way !’ she spluttered.

I laughed. ‘Correct, no way at all. But he did ask if I could meet him at the market at ten a.m. because he’s got something to show me. Do you think he’s got somewhere for me to work in the centre of town ? I hope so ; that would be great, we could have lunch breaks together.’

She smirked. ‘Perhaps he’s rented that vacant stall for you. Can you even make candles al fresco ?’

One of the market traders close to Nell had given up their stall recently. A man called Twiggy had been selling fake Bonsai trees and had been reported to the trading standards agency.

I shook my head. ‘It’s not a theory I want to put to the test. I asked him for somewhere warm and dry.’

‘Does he know what your work entails ?’ Nell asked, easing her legs back out of bed and taking my empty mug from me.

I cast my mind back through our various conversations. ‘I didn’t specify, but there was a windowsill full of candles, jars of essential oils and my various bits of kit, so there were plenty of clues.’

‘I can’t speak for all men, obviously.’ She examined her face in the mirror and poked at a spot. ‘But Olek would need a lot more to go on than that. Besides, Cole would probably have been too busy gazing into your sad puppy eyes.’

‘Looking at the ruined skirting boards, more like.’ I climbed out of bed and opened the curtains ; the red Liverpool FC curtains, obviously. ‘Do you want to have the first shower ? I’ll go after you, I need to wash my hair.’

‘For your date at the market ?’

‘For myself. I would never ever flirt with a man who I knew wasn’t single,’ I said, rummaging in my holdall for the jumper which brought out the colour in my eyes and whenever I wore it, people said how well I looked.

‘I know,’ Nell replied contritely. ‘I’ll stop teasing. And you don’t have to take Cole up on his offer, whatever it might be. You can stay here, you know, take over the dining room with your candles. We don’t use the room much anyway except for high days and holidays.’

‘Like Christmas Day with all the family ?’ I said.

‘Hmm.’ She frowned. ‘I love Christmas but stressing over Mum and Dad will squeeze the joy out of the day. Anyway, the offer is there if you need it.’