Page 77 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘Nice. You ought to open a shop in there,’ said Nigel, ‘it would do well, I reckon. And it’s been empty for too long. The more the merrier, I say. Get it ? Merry ? Anyway, got to get back to my own shop, got a delivery of neon reindeer due in this afternoon.’

‘Thanks, Nigel, see you Sunday.’ I stifled a giggle, imagining Nell’s face when she found out ; at least they weren’t inflatable.

The scent of coffee pulled me back to the moment. I poured myself a cup and took it through to the front room and looked down at the marketplace. It was always busy on Friday afternoons with people stocking up on fresh produce for the weekend, but even so I could pick out Nigel in his Christmas pudding bobble hat waving a sprig of mistletoe at Audrey on the china stall.

I turned my gaze to the newly installed Christmas tree which sat only a few metres away from the entrance to the old bank. It was a gorgeous tree ; even Astrid had commented on what perfect proportions it had. Its regal green branches were hung top to bottom with giant shiny baubles in jewelled colours of emerald, ruby, sapphire and topaz and topped with an oversized gold star which would be lit from within from Sunday. It reminded me a bit of Astrid, who after a brief foray into the world of muted dress, I was glad to say, had reverted to full-on technicolour.

Strings and strings of multi-coloured lights zig-zagged its branches, and garlands of matching lights encircled the marketplace too. There was a rope cordon around the tree to keep little fingers away from the electrics, and yesterday the other committee members and I had been given a demonstration of how to orchestrate the official lights switch-on. Daniel was going to be in charge of the PA system so that Hester could do a countdown over the microphone before pressing a big fake button, and Nigel was going to flip the actual switch. It was all beginning to feel very real and the responsibility of getting it right regularly set my stomach to ‘fast spin’ whenever I thought too deeply about it.

My phone rang again, sending my heart into a flap for a second time in as many minutes. It was Nell.

‘I can see you skiving at the window. Wave,’ she said. In the background I could hear music from another stall and someone shouting the price of tangerines and mandarins.

I spotted her waving her arm high in the air, her copper curls squashed under a cream woolly hat and I waved back.

‘I’m not skiving,’ I said, holding up my mug. ‘Coffee break.’

‘All right for some. Hey, guess who was just here at my stall buying nuts ?’ Nell said, her voice bouncing with glee. ‘Cole !’

‘Really ?’ I said casually, immediately scanning the market for him. ‘Did he mention me ? What did he say, what did he buy ?’

‘Not that you’re at all interested,’ Nell sniggered.

‘Nell, tell me !’ He must still be down there. I could get my coat and go for a wander and pretend to bump into him.

‘Ten minutes ago, caramelised almonds, and he didn’t really get a chance to talk about having the hots for you, even though he probably wanted to, because I had a queue of customers at the time. Honestly, Merry, I always forget how busy it gets in the run-up to Christmas. And this year, people can’t get enough Brazil nuts all because there’s a trend on Instagram for nut-based—’

‘What was he wearing?’ I interrupted impatiently. ‘His yellow coat, or his black ski jacket ?’

Why couldn’t I see him, I thought irritably. It should be easy. Perhaps he’d gone and I’d missed him. I hoped not.

Nell laughed. ‘Yellow coat.’

‘Can you see him from where you are ?’ I demanded. ‘Keep looking.’

‘You’ve really got it bad, haven’t you ?’

‘No,’ I said. A blatant lie. ‘It’s just that I haven’t seen him since that night and I feel like we won’t be able to move past it until we’ve met in person again. He was so kind to me, you know.’

‘He put his arms round you, and he said you were safe and you almost cried with relief,’ Nell recited. ‘Yes, you’ve mentioned that. Once or twice. And stop stressing, Merry. He likes you.’

Did he ? I wondered, or did he simply feel protective towards his anxiety-ridden tenant ?

I let out a breath. ‘I’m overthinking it. It’ll be fine.’

‘So how are your Cole-scented candles doing ?’ she said. ‘Have you managed to capture the essence of builder yet ?’

‘Almost,’ I said absently. ‘I’ve just made some more – I might have cracked it this time.’

‘Try adding brick dust and stewed tea,’ she said with a snort.

‘You may scoff,’ I said, refusing to be drawn, ‘but if I can make a candle that smells as good as Cole, I’ll be a millionaire this time next year.’

‘Of course you could always text him. Dear Cole, what aftershave do you wear because I can’t stop thinking of the smell of your skin and I kept that jumper on in bed so I could sniff you all night.’

I bit my lip, worriedly ; did I really talk about him all the time, as Nell was implying ? Perhaps she was right ; maybe I did have it bad. ‘Shut up. I only did that once.’

‘Oh, I can see him again !’ Nell squeaked. ‘Heading towards the Buttermarket.’