Page 13 of A Merry Little Christmas

‘Give me a good deal on a couple of candles, will you, love,’ said Sadie, decanting a pile of pound coins from her pocket onto the counter. ‘One of my barmaids is leaving and the customers had a whip-round last night. There’s thirty quid here.’

Nell picked out two bestsellers, added a couple of little freebies and gift-wrapped them while Sadie leaned on the counter.

‘No Merry?’ Sadie craned her head through the doorway leading to the studio where Merry was usually to be found. ‘Not had the baby, has she?’

‘The doctor persuaded her to put her feet up for once,’ Nell replied vaguely. Telling Sadie anything interesting was akin to publishing it in the Wetherley Gazette.

‘Doctors.’ Sadie pulled a disparaging face. ‘Always so flippin’ cautious. When I went into labour with our Jack, I finished my shift and locked up before going into hospital. And I was back by lunchtime the next day to open up.’

Nell resisted raising her eyebrows. If she’d had a baby, she’d want to relish those first few hours – and days and weeks – with her little one, to fall in love and create that precious bond. Why would anyone want to prioritise work at such a special time? And now she might not ever experience it …

She felt her eyes begin to tear up and gave herself a shake. ‘Please don’t share that story with Merry, she’s already causing enough trouble on the antenatal ward.’

Sadie’s eyes widened. ‘So she’s in hospital, is she? I’m sorry to hear that.’

Nell cursed herself for letting it slip. ‘Only for the day. Nothing to worry about.’ Hopefully.

She held the door open for Sadie and ushered her out before she gave away anything else, then forced herself to send a message to Olek.

Sorry I haven’t returned your call. It’s been all go at Merry and Bright. I’ll see you at home for a proper chat later. Love you xxx

Look forward to it! Max has invited himself round, says he’s got something to tell us. He’s asked if we can have pierogi for dinner, so I’ll cook. Love you too xxx

Nell squeezed her eyes tightly shut for a second. On any normal occasion, she’d love to see her stepson, but tonight she’d assumed they’d be talking about this afternoon’s revelations. They couldn’t do that if Max was there. Although maybe fate was lending a hand and giving her some extra time to process what had happened. And she did love the little Polish dumplings called pierogi which Olek had been taught to make by his grandmother when he’d still lived in Poland, so every cloud …

There was a steady stream of customers for the rest of the afternoon and Nell was grateful for the distraction. Her forte was sales – a skill honed in her previous career as a stallholder on the market just across the street. Nell’s Nuts had been an institution for almost a decade before she’d sold it last Christmas to a couple who’d since renamed it The Nut Hut. She’d had enough of working alone and outdoors, and when Merry had offered her a partnership in Merry and Bright, she didn’t hesitate to accept.

For almost one year, she and Merry had worked alongside each other in perfect harmony: Nell taking over the retail side and Merry focusing on production. Harley helped out on Saturdays and Max had worked for them during the long summer holidays. Cole’s dad, Fred, had officially retired, but couldn’t resist popping in now and then for an hour or so, to ‘keep his hand in’ as he liked to call it. With the addition of some of the Airbnb guests, the two women had so far managed without taking on any other staff.

Now it was closing time and for the first time in her life, Nell was dragging out the last few jobs in order to postpone going home. She finally flipped the sign from open to closed and as she was about to lock the door, Cole appeared on the other side of it.

She stood back and let him in.

‘Glad I caught you.’ He kissed her cheek, his skin rough against hers. He held out his arms to show her the two bulging bags he’d brought with him. ‘Merry asked me to drop in these Christmas decorations urgently. She said you’ll know what they’re for?’

Nell narrowly avoided rolling her eyes. Despite saying she would leave Nell to dress the Airbnb for Christmas, Merry clearly hadn’t been able to resist getting involved. And had roped poor Cole in unnecessarily too. He had dark circles under his eyes and that, coupled with the several-day-old stubble along his jaw, told Nell all she needed to know about how worried he was about Merry.

‘I do,’ she said, opting to keep her opinions to herself, since voicing them wouldn’t help Cole. ‘Thank you, you’re a lifesaver. Are you going back to the hospital now?’

‘Oh yes.’ He shook his head fondly. ‘She’s given me a list of stuff to take in. She’s going to write all the Christmas cards, order curtains for the new house and embroider the kids’ names on some new Christmas stockings she’s bought.’

Nell laughed. ‘And this is her idea of complete rest?’

‘Tell me about it.’ He set the bags down and rubbed his forehead wearily. ‘Please can you visit her tomorrow and make her see sense? She’s refusing to listen to me. She’s still adamant that we’ll be moving house before Christmas.’

‘Merry is a “can-do” person,’ Nell reminded him. ‘Always has been. And she hates accepting help. For her, it’s a sign of weakness.’

Cole nodded. ‘I’ve learned that about her. I’ve tried to tell her that helping her makes me happy, but she can’t see it.’

‘Life made her tough out of necessity; she learned to be self-reliant when her mum died,’ she told him. ‘For her, the hardest thing in the world is to relinquish control.’

‘But she and I are a team now, and I don’t want to control anything, I just want to make life easier for her.’ Cole looked bewildered and Nell’s heart went out to him.

‘I know you do and, deep down, she loves you for it.’ She smiled, remembering how Cole had come to see her for her advice before he proposed to Merry. He was such a gallant and thoughtful man and she’d been so happy for her friend when the two of them had got together. ‘And I hear you. She and I are a team at Merry and Bright, but trying to get her to hand stuff over to me is like prising a bone off a dog.’

‘With sharp teeth.’

‘And a killer gleam in its eye.’