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‘I don’t know. I think he just values their friendship too much to jeopardise it.’ Ginny shrugged.
‘Never mind. He’ll show his true feelings when he’s good and ready. In the meantime, we’ll carry on letting him cheat at Secret Santa.’ Susan pushed her chair back and picked up her mug.
‘Oh, yes, we will. One day, hopefully, they’ll both open their eyes and see what’s right in front of them.’ Alex pushed his chair back, too. ‘They’d make such a cute couple.’
9
Poppy shifted her cotton bag higher up on her shoulders and looked down the street. She’d been wandering around the shops in Trestow for the past fifteen minutes and so far hadn’t seen anywhere she fancied having a snoop in. She hated shopping. And shopping for Christmas presents was enough to make her feel sick. The only reason she was here was because Ginny had popped in to see Darryl at his offices and had offered her a lift.
Plus, after drawing Susan’s name in Secret Santa yesterday and with Christmas only being three weeks away, she didn’t have much choice but to join the crowds. Besides, they’d planned to pop into The Cornish Bay Bakery on the way back for one of Elsie’s famous cheese and onion pasties.
Sidestepping around another young family, Poppy averted her eyes and looked in the window of a convenience store, pretending to be suddenly interested in the price of orange juice and noodles. Anything to avoid looking at yet another happy couple carrying armfuls of bags whilst pushing their perfectly content young child around in some stylish pushchair.
No. Between the glossy posters in the shop windows of happy couples and families, and the real-life bubbles of couples swanning across the path or chatting over hot chocolates in the café windows, she realised it had been the wrong choice to come into town. How come other people managed to make Christmas shopping look so easy? Before Ben had left her to do the gift shopping on her own, it had always been a high-stress activity with more than the odd argument thrown in. Trestow town today was filled with couples strolling around the shops, stopping off at the coffee shop and seemingly enjoying the experience.
Because Ben had always got so grumpy when he’d joined her Christmas shopping, she’d stopped asking him for the last two years of their relationship. She’d gone on her own, rushing from shop to shop with a list of presents to buy as long as her arm thanks to his huge family. All he’d had to do was pretend he’d known about said presents when his family members opened them. Why had she done that? He’d never chosen or bought presents for any of her family.
‘Not a fan of Christmas?’
Tearing her eyes from the juice and noodle advert, Poppy blinked as she realised the person was addressing her and she blinked even more when she recognised it was Mack speaking.
‘Sorry?’
He held his hand up in a wave. ‘Sorry, you probably don’t remember me. I’m Mack, the vet treating Dougal. I just asked if you weren’t a fan of Christmas?’
Glancing down, Poppy tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘Oh, I know who you are. But, no, not lately anyway.’
Mack looked at her and frowned. ‘I guess it can get a bit much, huh?’
Poppy shrugged. What was she supposed to say? That she didn’t particularly feel like being happy at the moment? Or worse, that she didn’t like seeing all the happy couples shopping for Christmas? A day they’d spend together, giving each other carefully chosen gifts whilst drinking eggnog or Baileys or champagne or whatever their choice of drink might be? On top of that she was worried about Dougal. Mack had rung earlier to tell her Dougal needed to stay in longer. ‘I’m just not having much success finding the gifts I need.’
‘In that case, I might just be able to help you. I’m on my way to the Christmas market in Trestow Community Hall.’ He pointed down the road to the left. ‘I can show you if you like? There’s normally a decent range of stalls. It’s the go-to for difficult gift-buying solutions.’ He grinned.
‘Really? Okay, yes, why not? That’ll be great, please. Not that the person I’m buying for is difficult to buy for, it’s more that…’ She glanced back towards the shops.
‘That you’ve not found the right gift yet?’
‘Maybe.’ She fell into step next to Mack as they began to walk away from the shops. ‘How far is it? I’ve not got long until I need to meet Ginny back here.’
‘Just around the corner. Not far. I’ve not got long either. I need to get back to the surgery for my afternoon appointments.’ He looked across at her, softening his voice. ‘I’m sorry Dougal couldn’t be picked up this morning.’
‘It’s okay. I know it’s the best thing for him. Though I must admit, I did fear the worst when you rang.’
‘Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to give you such a fright.’ He ran his hand over his face.
‘Hey, stop apologising, you’re doing your best for him and that’s what he deserves.’
Shaking her head, Poppy laughed.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘It’s normally me that people tell to stop apologising, and it really irritates me. Sorry, I can’t believe I just said that to you.’
‘Ha ha, it’s a tricky habit to get out of.’ He indicated to his right. ‘Here we are. Trestow Community Hall. Recently refurbished after a fire about a year ago.’
‘Very nice.’
As they walked down the driveway and through the small car park, she looked up at the community hall. Small Christmas trees lined the entrance and festive tunes seeped out from the open doorway. Inside, stalls lined the perimeter of the hall, and another row was set up down the middle too. People bustled from one shiny gift to another, murmuring to their family, partners or friends. Small children skipped around wearing reindeer antlers and elf hats, their parents chatting and sipping hot chocolate bought from the kitchen at the far end.
