Page 7 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘Deal.’

After that we ate together every day. I brought something from home, and she bought enough food from the cafeteria for us to share. It was the best meal and the highlight of my day. The friendship wasn’t all one way ; I was a far better student than she was and regularly helped her out with her work. And I encouraged her to eat more healthily, which eventually led to her getting interested in nutrition. Our backgrounds couldn’t have been more different: she was posh and privileged and had parents who smothered her and I … well, I didn’t. But Nell didn’t care, she loved me for me, and I loved her right back.

These days, she was still posh, but quite a bit poorer after marrying Olek, whom her parents disapproved of : Olek was a locksmith, divorced, with a thirteen-year-old son, Max, and he was ten years older than Nell. She’d compounded their disapproval by opening Nell’s Nuts, a stall in Wetherley market selling dried fruit, nuts and seeds. It was a far cry from the life of luxury they’d envisaged for her, but Nell was much too in love to care what they thought.

Now, as Nell finished her coffee, I caught her taking in the state of the garden : the overgrown hedge and the swathe of thistles and brambles tangled into the border. ‘I know it’s a bit of a mess,’ I said, ‘but it’s mine and that’s what counts.’

‘You’re incredible.’ Nell shook her head slowly. ‘Being made redundant, setting up Merry and Bright, ending a relationship that wasn’t working for you and then moving house. I’m proud of you.’

‘Thank you. Although,’ I gave her a secret smile, ‘full disclosure: I wasn’t made redundant. I volunteered for it.’

‘What ?’ Nell’s eyes widened. ‘Why would you do that ?’

‘Because if I hadn’t then one of my colleagues, Trisha, might have been selected and I couldn’t let that happen to the poor woman.’

Tractor World had announced that redundancies were imminent, and Trisha was convinced she’d be chosen on the basis that she hadn’t been there very long. She was supporting her husband who was ill and was saving for her daughter’s wedding. I’d found her crying in the corridor and had taken a snap decision to volunteer in order to keep her job safe.

‘You loon,’ Nell laughed. ‘You’re too soft.’

I shrugged. ‘Things happen for a reason. I never really had a passion for working there. Besides, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try and turn making candles into a business. Because that is something I do have a passion for.’

‘Just like that ?’ Nell marvelled. ‘Amazing. It took me about four years to pluck up the courage to set up Nell’s Nuts.’

Unlike me, Nell was the world’s slowest decision-maker. Not bad, just slow.

The only time she had made a split-second decision was when her father told her he wouldn’t support her marriage to Olek because he wasn’t what he had had in mind for his only daughter. He forced her to choose between her boyfriend and her family. Good-natured Olek with his broad shoulders, shock of blond hair and total devotion to Nell won the day and planning began for the wedding the very next morning.

Relations had thawed a little since, largely because Olek, a family man, had encouraged Nell to keep trying with her snooty parents. Apparently her dad regularly boasted to his chums at the golf club that his daughter was a trader, which was true, except that she dealt in currants instead of currency.

‘It was a risky move,’ I admitted. ‘Luckily it worked out. Unlike my marriage proposal. That was one risk too many. Daniel’s right ; I don’t look before I leap.’

‘You’re spontaneous !’ Nell protested. ‘That’s what makes being your friend such an adventure.’

‘In that case …’ I stood up. ‘Shall we spontaneously go and tackle some of the boxes in my kitchen ?’

She swiped the last biscuit and got to her feet with a groan. ‘Yes, m’lady. After I’ve visited the smallest room.’

I showed Nell into the bathroom, which led off the kitchen.

‘Won’t it bother you,’ she asked, ‘having to go downstairs for a wee in the night ?’

‘Probably,’ I admitted, shuddering at the thought of my bare feet on the cold flagstones. ‘There you go, you see. I make rash decisions without considering the consequences.’

I got started on the boxes in the kitchen while she was in the bathroom. I filled the drawers in the dresser with cutlery and stacked crockery on shelves.

‘But you keep keeping on,’ Nell continued, drying her hands on her jeans. ‘You pick yourself up and move on to the next challenge.’

I directed her towards the box of saucepans which needed unpacking and she got stuck in.

‘But I don’t want to keep moving,’ I said glumly. ‘When Daniel turned me down, he said it wasn’t me, it was him. But what if it is me ? I might keep keeping on, but I’m getting closer to forty and no closer to settling down.’

She eyed the row of mugs I’d already arranged on the dresser. ‘You look pretty settled to me.’

‘You know what I mean. No, I’ve been thinking that it’s time for a fresh approach.’ I leaned back against the counter. ‘Being spontaneous and taking risks is all well and good, but it isn’t getting me to where I want to be. I don’t want to go through the pain of another break-up like I’ve just had. If I want stability in my life, I’m going to have to be organised. No more rash moves. Make a plan and stick to it, that’s my new motto. Look, I’ve even got myself a diary.’

I picked up the desk diary I’d bought at a knockdown price because we were already so far through the year and waved it at her. So far it only had one entry in it : move into Holly Cottage.

‘This new motto.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘This isn’t about trying to get Daniel back ?’