Page 32 of A Merry Little Christmas

‘Absolutely,’ Nell nodded. ‘We like to be as sustainable as possible, hence the cotton, but you can—’

Merry cleared her throat. ‘Sorry, Nell. Can you just look at your phone?’

‘Excuse me, one second,’ she smiled an apology at the old lady.

It has NOTHING to do with Woody!! I wanted you to make the Lemon candles.

I’m a partner in this business. Treat me like one. I repeat this is NO BIGGIE!

Nell turned her phone onto flight mode. Merry could reply all she wanted now, but Nell wasn’t going to read the messages.

‘Actually, ladies,’ Merry piped up from the laptop, her voice an octave higher than usual, ‘I’m going to pop in and say hi myself. See you in twenty minutes. My sister can drive me.’

Nell positioned herself in front of the screen, blocking everyone else’s view. ‘Oh no you don’t, Merry Robinson. That baby is counting on you to relax and take care of yourself. That’s your priority right now.’

Merry’s face was like thunder. ‘I am sick and tired of being told—’

Nell gently closed the laptop and turned back to the group. ‘Oh dear, it looks like we’ve lost her. Never mind, where was I? Oh yes, wicks …’

Chapter 12

Merry

‘No way. I don’t believe it.’ Merry stared at the black screen for a few seconds, waiting for Nell and the studio to reappear, but nothing happened. ‘Nell just cut me off.’

She checked her Wi-Fi connection, just in case she was doing Nell a disservice. But there was nothing wrong with it. Of course there wasn’t. Nell had deliberately ended the Zoom call after having preached to her first about her priorities. How dare she? How bloody dare she?

Emily brought them both grilled cheese sandwiches, set Merry’s down on the table and bit into her own. ‘Never mind, eat this instead.’

Merry gave her sister a look of apology. ‘I can’t, Em, I’ve got to get in to work. Can you drive me to the shop, please?’

After visiting their father, they had come back to Holly Cottage. Emily was going to stay in the kids’ room for a couple of nights, at the end of which, hopefully, Ray would be over the worst. Merry had decided to do the Zoom from the living room. Emily had lit a fire; the lamps were on and, as usual, a selection of branded candles were burning cheerily around the room, layering the fragrance to suit Merry’s mood. At least that had been the plan. She’d been feeling cosy and comfortable before speaking to Nell. Now, if she’d had a cat, it would be in danger of being metaphorically kicked.

‘Is that wise?’ Emily said in a rhetorical sort of way. ‘Budge up.’

Merry, who was sitting in the centre of the sofa, leaving little room either side of her, stuck her hand up. ‘If you help me up, you can have my space.’

‘Not until your face has reverted from beetroot to its normal English rose pink,’ said Emily. ‘You don’t want your blood pressure to skyrocket again. Not on my watch. Now, give me some room, fatty.’

Emily attempted to make herself spherical by inflating her cheeks, sticking her belly out and holding her arms out to the sides.

‘Rude.’ Merry conceded a giggle. Despite her frustration with Nell, it was incredibly nice to have a bit of sibling teasing in her life these days after believing that she was an only child. ‘Fine, then.’

She shifted over and Emily squeezed in beside her.

‘What have you got your knickers in a twist about?’ Emily took another bite of her sandwich.

‘We’ve got eight people on our first candle-making course. We had a deal that it only went ahead if I was virtually supervising, because Nell doesn’t really have the skills to make candles, let alone to teach. The students hadn’t even started, and she cut me off. She’s out of order.’ So much for her staying at home and taking it easy, Merry could almost feel her veins thrumming with stress.

‘But is she really out of order?’ Emily dipped the corner of her sandwich into mayonnaise.

Merry gave her a sideways look. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘From what I overheard, you might have been a bit bossy.’

‘Don’t fall into the “bossy trap”, Em,’ she warned, crossly. ‘Women get called bossy while men are admired for being assertive.’

‘OK, unfairly critical, then.’ Emily passed her sister her plate and gestured for her to start eating. ‘Does that work better for you? Or how about you were being a control freak?’