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It was another soft misty afternoon. Jago waited outside the primary school in the fading light, feeling self-conscious amongst all the, mostly female, parents. He felt one or two eye him up and smiled back nervously. He’d only occasionally picked up Merryn from her London school, where a man was apparently less of a rarity at the school gate. Avril always warned him about getting involved in school gate politics and cliques and he had no intention of doing so here either. Suspecting the other adults might be studying him with forensic detail, he concentrated on the enormous Christmas tree he could see in the school entrance. It half blocked the doorway and was chaotically decorated with what looked like child-made ornaments. It dripped with lights, which glowed warm and cheerful against the dank December afternoon. Seeing a couple of women whisper behind their hands, he was thankful he didn’t have to wait long. Merryn came running out, dark curls flying, her coltish legs looking skinnier than ever.
She threw her arms around his waist. ‘Mum didn’t tell me it was going to be you picking me up.’ At the sound of her name being called she looked back to the school entrance. ‘Hang on. Miss Martin wants me.’
Beside him he heard a woman say to another, ‘You can’t mistake who the father and daughter is there, can you. Not with those curls.’ He didn’t have a chance to correct them as Honor came up to them, hand in hand with his sister.
‘I’ve a huge favour to ask you. Merryn suggested you wouldn’t mind.’
‘Please, please say we can, Merryn pleaded. Pleeeese!’
‘Merryn has asked if she can be the one to look after Chestnut.’
Jago looked at her blankly. ‘Chestnut?’
‘The class hamster. It would be for the Christmas holidays. To be honest he doesn’t need much looking after and he’d come with full instructions.’
She smiled and Jago felt something twist inside. Today she was in some kind of navy cord pinafore and white polo-neck. It should have looked frumpy. Except it didn’t.
Merryn tugged his hand. ‘Pleeeese!’
‘Can’t see it being a problem.’ Jago studied Merryn. There was something missing. ‘Have you forgotten your coat, Mer? Go and get it.’ After she’d run back into school, he turned to her teacher. ‘Is there anything we should know about, erm, Chestnut, Miss Martin?’
‘Honor, please. And no, hamsters are pretty easy to look after. I’ll supply a list of instructions, it’s nothing onerous. A tip, though, put the cage somewhere he won’t disturb you at night. They’re mostly nocturnal. I really appreciate you taking him on.’
‘You’re welcome.’ For a moment neither of them spoke. Something electric fizzed in the air. He felt heat rise in his face and saw Honor blush slightly. It was extraordinary. When they’d met outside the church after the service, he’d dismissed his instant attraction to her as simple hormones; she was devastatingly beautiful. He’d always scoffed at the concept of love at first sight, putting it down to lust disguised as love. But now, he again felt this visceral pull towards her. And it was caused by something other than a hormonal surge; heyearnedto get to know her.
Emanating from the depths of the school he could hear childish voices rehearsing a song. It was vaguely familiar. Something about a night and a moment. It fractured what was passing between him and the woman in front of him.
Honor cleared her throat slightly. She blinked hard. ‘That’s the choir. They’re rehearsing a song for our nativity. It’s from the film.Nativity, I mean. One of my favourites. I watch it every Christmas. I’m a huge fan.’
‘Of the film?’
‘That, and of Christmas generally. I just love everything about it.’
‘Everything?’ He couldn’t resist teasing. ‘Traffic jams, crowds in shops panic buying, terrible muzak, TV Christmas Specials, overpriced office party meals?’
‘Absolutely everything.’ She smiled at him, and he wanted to dive into it.
Merryn ran out of school and hung off his arm. She had her coat worn as a cloak, only buttoned at the neck. Tearing his eyes away from Honor, he looked down at her and said, ‘Are you going to promise to look after Chestnut?’
Merryn beamed. ‘You said yes! Of course I’ll look after Chestnut. I’m a very good looker-after-erer.’
‘I’m sure she will,’ Honor put in, with another enchantingly twinkly smile. ‘Merryn is a very responsible young lady.’
‘Good to hear. Maybe you deserve a trip to the Sea Spray then?’
‘Yes please! Bye, Miss Martin.’
‘Bye, Merryn. Bye, Jago.’
He turned to go but something made him look back. He was desperate to catch one more glimpse of her, but she’d been swallowed up by a crowd of parents.
The café was packed. The steamy interior hummed with the sound of voices and wrapped a vanilla-sugary-scented hug around him the minute he pushed open the door. Standing at a loss for a second, not able to see an empty table, he sensed Merryn’s disappointment.
‘If you don’t mind sharing with me and this big fellow, you’d be welcome to join me,’ said a deep voice to their left.
Jago turned to see the man they’d spotted walking the Wolfhound along the prom on their first visit to the café. They were sitting in the window. The dog was sitting on its hind legs but its enormous head still poked above the level of the table. It was grinning, with its huge tongue lolling out.
‘Tiny’s very friendly,’ the man said with a smile. ‘He only eats people when there’s an x in the month.’
