The Best Little Christmas Shop

‘You really don’t have to keep apologising,’ I said, as he pulled the car into the large driveway in front of the farmhouse and garage. ‘It’s already forgotten.’ Looking up from where I’d been fiddling with the ribbon I’d attached to my mittens after losing one of a pair four times in a row, I met Cal’s gaze. If I hadn’t already met him, I’d have said it was the wine causing the slight hypnotic effect I was now feeling. But as I’d also had that feeling whilst perfectly sober, I knew it was pure Cal Martin.

‘Whatever it was in your past, I’m really sorry you had to go through it.’

And me blabbing was pure wine.

‘Thanks.’ He smiled, not seeming to mind. ‘Long time ago now.’

‘That doesn’t always mean a lot.’

He drew a breath in and let it out slowly. ‘No. True. But life’s good now. I have George, and my business, and moving to this village has definitely been good for me.’

‘Really?’

‘Oh yes.’

‘I’m sorry if I kicked off some painful memories.’

‘I told you. Forget it. It’s all good now.’

I put my hand on the catch of the door, then hesitated, my brain telling me to leg it and my mouth, as usual, ignoring the sensible advice and doing its own thing.

‘When you came in at Xander and Giselle’s, you didn’t happen to overhear …’

‘Yep.’

I risked a look up. He was grinning. Damn.

‘I didn’t mean … it’s just that what you heard …’ Cal moved his head a smidgeon to the side, encouraging me to continue with my explanation, the smile still firmly in place. ‘What you heard was out of context. It’s really not what it sounded like.’

‘OK,’ he replied, with a tone that implied he didn’t a believe a word of it.

‘I should go. Thanks for the lift.’

‘My pleasure. I’ll see you around.’

‘Ummhmm,’ I said, noncommittally, waved, and took the few steps to where the metal stairs ran up to my little dwelling.

What I hadn’t taken into consideration as I ran up the staircase was that the sleet, now coming into contact with the cold metal, was freezing over. As I neared the top, one leg went one way and the other went in the opposite direction. I was so glad George wasn’t there because the expletives were out and proud before I even thought about it as I wrapped my arms around the banister and hung there for a moment, a foot dangling in mid-air either side of the steps.

‘Lexi!’ Cal’s concerned call came as I heard the car door slam. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Parfait!’ Oh God, now not only did I look an idiot, I sounded like one. What on Earth had possessed me to channel Giselle right at that moment, especially since I could guarantee this was not a situation my elegant friend would ever find herself in?

‘Stay there. I’m coming up.’

‘No! Don’t! I’m not going to be responsible for you breaking your neck,’ I said, flinging my feet around in mid-air, trying to get a purchase on the step. Unfortunately, every time I tried, it slid straight back out.

‘And I’m not going to be responsible for leaving you like that.’ The stairs reverberated through my arms as Cal’s bulk stepped onto them.

‘Jesus,’ I heard him mutter.

‘What’s the matter?’ I tried twisting around to see him.

‘Nothing. It’s just slippy. Don’t look back at me. Just hold on.’

I flung my feet again and managed to get one on the step, at least lessening the strain on my arms momentarily before it slid and joined the other. On the plus side, I was no longer a starfish.

‘Here. Hold on to me.’ Cal’s voice was now right behind me.

‘Umm … that would mean I have to let go.’ I glanced down at the bare branches of the bushes beneath me. ‘So I think I’m going to go with a no. I’m fine. I’ll just wait here until it thaws.’

Cal’s laugh was deep and warm and I could feel it in his chest as he wrapped an arm around me, the other gripping the metal banister.

‘Let go. I promise I won’t drop you. Xander and Giselle would never forgive me, not to mention my son.’

‘Ummm …’

‘Trust me.’

I turned my head as much as I could to try and see him. He leant forward and met my eyes.

‘Let go.’

Squinching my eyes closed, I did. Cal pulled me back up and lifted me a couple of steps up so that we were both standing on the coir mat that lay outside my front door. Cal was big and the mat was small so it was kind of a squeeze. A little bit of my brain sent out an alarm that this should bother me. Another bit smacked the alarm with a hammer and the noise stopped.

‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome. You need to get some salt or grit on these. That could have been nasty.’

‘As opposed to just incredibly mortifying,’ I mumbled as I fished around in my pocket for my key.

‘I wouldn’t go as far as saying “incredibly” …’

I tilted my head up to face him in the half-light of a waning moon. He was smiling and doing that thing that made the world disappear.

‘I would,’ I replied, plunging the key into the lock, and giving it a turn. Risking a look back up, I saw that the smile was still there.

‘You sure you’re OK?’

‘Perfectly.’

‘Parfait?’

‘Oh crap. You heard that too.’

‘I’m hearing a lot this evening.’

I rubbed a hand over my face. ‘Like I said, that thing before was out of context.’

‘I’d love to know what it was like in context then.’

‘I don’t remember.’

Cal laughed, deep, warm, and worryingly sexy. ‘That’s such a cop-out answer.’

I shrugged.

He quirked a brow at me. ‘And so’s that.’

‘It’s my speciality.’

‘Is it now? I shall have to remember that.’

‘Actually, if you could just forget the whole evening, that’d work better for me.’

‘But not me.’

I let out a sigh.

‘Go on, get in before we both freeze.’ Cal squinted against the shimmering moonlight. ‘It’s actually turning to snow now. And for God’s sake, be careful going down those steps tomorrow.’

I gave him a mock salute and he rolled his eyes at me. But even in the low light, I could see the humour in them.

‘Night, Lexi.’

‘Goodnight, Cal.’

I waited until he got back in the car and had turned over the engine, then gave a quick wave. He flashed the lights twice, swung the Landy in a circle, and began pulling back onto the main road through the village.

I closed the door, peeled off my outer layers, and flopped backwards onto the bed.

Oh dear. As I had stated earlier, the very last thing I needed in my life was more complication. But I knew for certain now that there was a real possibility I was in danger of developing a quite mahoosive crush on Cal Martin, and that really wouldn’t do.

Chapter Five

‘But you look so adorable, darling!’

I gave my mum a look that showed her what I thought about that statement.

‘Honestly, it might have been worth a night on a park bench in order to avoid this,’ I grumped.

Mum straightened my elf hat, topped up my rosy cheeks with her lipstick, and told me not to be so ridiculous before welcoming a group of late-night shoppers and tempting them with the taster plate of Christmas Infused Chocolate Fudge she was brandishing.

‘You know it’s tradition.’ Dan wandered up, his enormous feet encased in curly elf shoes.

‘Just because something is traditional doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea.’ I waved my hand around him. ‘Whoever saw a six foot three, seventeen stone elf anyway?’

‘It’s called getting into the spirit. Use your imagination, Lex. Plus, we know for a fact that it helps attract customers. Proven statistics. Assuming said elves haven’t got a face like a professional lemon sucker.’

I gave him a very fake grin.

‘Where’s your beard anyway?’

‘I may have donned the costume, hat, and shoes but I drew a line at the beard. Last time I wore it years ago I had a rash on my face for a week.’

Dan yanked his own nylon one down for a moment and took a big glug of mulled cider before letting it ping back in place.

‘So … how’s things?’ he asked.

‘Huh?’

Before he could answer, a group of late-night shoppers, already laden with bags, came upon us. Dan did a brilliant job of making them laugh and enticing them into the shop with the promise of mulled wine, cider, and nibbles. But not, of course, before they had insisted on taking around a hundred and two selfies with us, immediately posting some to Facebook, and tagging the shop’s website in the post. Excellent. Any hopes I’d had of keeping my humiliation confined to the village immediately disappeared. But, on the bright side, it was always possible nobody would recognise me.

‘So?’ Dan prodded.

‘What?’ I asked, pulling my phone from the pocket of my elf shorts and unlocking the screen.

‘I hear Cal Martin dropped you home the other night. Rumour is he had his arms around you.’

I turned to my brother. ‘Really? You’re believing gossip now? How would you even know that anyway?’

‘So, it’s not true.’

‘Well, technically it is true –’

Dan opened his mouth and I cut him off.

‘But! Only because I’d fallen through the bloody banisters and was having trouble getting upright.’

‘According to my sources there’s quite a few women around here who would like nothing better than to have trouble getting upright if Cal Martin is involved.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘It’s not like that.’

‘What is it like then?’

Another ping on my phone distracted me, which was just as well as I had no idea what it was like … or what I even wanted it to be like.

‘You can’t shut everyone out for ever, you know, Lex.’ Dan’s voice was soft now and I shook my head, not looking at him.

‘I’m not.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.

Maybe.

I returned my concentration to my phone. ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!’ I was staring at the laughing face emoticon put in the comments to the elf picture by one of my ex-colleagues at the Formula One team.

Dan leant over. ‘Ooh … shared. Good advertising. Well done, Lex.’

‘Nooo, it’s not! Sodding Facebook. All it’s done is advertised what an idiot I look. That’s now popping up on the timeline of various team members, other teams, and drivers! I’m a bloody laughing stock!’

Dan wrapped an arm around me. ‘No, you’re not.’

‘No one who sees that will ever take me seriously.’

‘It’s Christmas and you’re helping out your family. You’re dressed as an elf, Lex. It could certainly be worse.’

‘How could it possibly be worse?’

‘Oh, talk of the devil. Here comes Cal.’

Great. It just got worse.

‘Hello.’

I waved a large-gloved hand. ‘Hi.’

‘Hey, Dan, how are you?’ Cal and my brother shook hands as I glanced back towards the shop front, wondering if I could make a run for it. My gaze drifted down to my oversized, curly-toed shoes. Running was most definitely out of the question.

‘Lexi!’ George appeared from a group of children and came charging towards me. Instinctively, I bent down and caught him, lifting him up and swinging him around for a moment before popping him back down. His cherubic little cheeks were rosy from the cold and excitement and his bobble hat kept slipping a little over his eyes. Cal bent and tugged the hat back a bit.

‘You look like a real elf!’

‘What makes you think I’m not a real one?’

George giggled. ‘You’re too big.’

‘I’ll have you know that Father Christmas likes all sorts of shapes and sizes when it comes to elves, just as he should.’

‘But you don’t have a beard.’

‘That’s because I’m a girl.’

He thought about that one for a minute, then shook his head, still giggling. ‘I don’t really think you’re an elf but I like that you look like one.’

Dan crouched down to join us. ‘I heard a rumour –’

I shot him a glance and beneath the fake facial hair I could see the lines around his eyes crinkle.

‘– that the elves inside the shop have some free cake and biscuits. Do you want to come and see if that’s true?’

George looked up at his dad. Cal nodded. ‘I’ll be in in a minute.’

Dan bent down. ‘It’s kind of busy in there so up you jump. We don’t want someone stepping on you now, do we?’

‘No! I definitely don’t want to be stepped on,’ George said, all seriousness. Cal smothered a smile.

With barely any effort, Dan hefted George onto his back and trudged into the shop, lifting his feet high with each step in order to accommodate the ridiculous shoes.

‘How are you?’ Cal asked, his eyes scanning my face.

‘Fine, thanks.’ I looked down at my shoes.

‘Are you embarrassed about something?’

‘What?’ I looked back up.

‘It’s just that your cheeks are quite red …’

I gave him a rap with the large candy cane I’d had hanging in my belt. ‘Very funny. Anyway, what are you doing here? Xander had assured me that you wouldn’t be coming tonight. Some meeting or something?’

Cal took the cane off me and studied it for a moment before beginning to twirl it between his fingers, absent-mindedly.

‘Finished early, luckily for me,’ he said.

‘Unluckily for me.’

‘Wow. I’ve made that good an impression?’ Cal took a small step back and I suddenly realised how that sounded.

‘Oh no! I mean … I just sort of hoped you wouldn’t be here tonight.’

‘Right.’ He gave a nod.

‘Not because I didn’t … it’s just that … oh for goodness’ sake, Cal. Look at me!’

He took the step back closer again. ‘I am looking.’

‘I look a complete idiot.’

‘I think you look cute. In fact –’ he leant towards me so that I could feel his warm breath on my ear, contrasting exquisitely with the crisp, cold air of the night ‘– I think you might be the cutest elf I’ve ever seen.’

Never in my life would I have believed I’d ever think this but – thank God my mum drew big rosy cheeks on me earlier – because right now, I was pretty sure my own would have been indistinguishable from them.

‘You’re making fun,’ I croaked out, before clearing my throat quickly.

Cal smiled and held out the candy cane. I kept my eyes focused on it for a moment before I closed my hand around it, my fingers brushing Cal’s. Slowly my gaze began scanning up the broad chest, over the day-old dark stubble, and finally arrested when it met those intense grey eyes.

‘I’m really not,’ he said softly, his voice almost a whisper, but roughened with the raw edge he always spoke with.

I swallowed, not sure how to respond. I was out of practice at all of this. Way out of practice.

‘Oh,’ I eventually squeaked out.

A fleeting expression of amusement mixed with confusion scudded across Cal’s eyes. He held my gaze for a moment longer as he released his hold on the cane entirely.

‘Thank you,’ I mumbled, dropping my gaze as I felt the warmth burn again beneath my make-up.

‘I should go and find George.’

I nodded.

Cal gave a half-smile accompanied by a tiny headshake and headed off into the shop behind me. As he left, I realised I’d been holding my breath. I let it out in one slow movement, waving at the passing shoppers as I tried to pretend I was feeling perfectly normal and parts of me weren’t currently a lot more … alive … than they had been in a long while.

‘Ooh la la!’ Giselle exclaimed as she appeared beside me and gave me a big hug. She was followed by Xander who did the same.

I glanced down at my costume. ‘Not the first expression that came to mind when I saw it again, I must admit.’

‘I wasn’t talking about the costume. I was talking about you and Cal!’

‘I … what?’

‘We were just on our way over when Dan went into the shop with George and left you two alone. Very tactful by the way.’

‘He wasn’t doing it to leave us alone. He was …’ I looked from Giselle to Xander. OK. So, apparently he was. I’d totally missed that.

‘And from the looks of it, Cal was pretty pleased about it. All that whispering in your ear, and then the whole candy cane thing … Oh my!’ Giselle flapped a cerise leather gloved hand just under her chin.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Did you two have popcorn whilst you enjoyed the show? Really, it was nothing. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. He’s probably just had a mulled wine or two.’

‘Cal doesn’t drink.’

‘Oh.’

‘Well … maybe …’

‘Maybe he likes you?’ Giselle tilted her head at me. ‘Ever think of that?’

I fiddled with the pompom on the end of my hat. ‘Honestly? No.’

Giselle gave Xander a glance.

‘Maybe it’s time you did think about it, Muppet. And you know I wouldn’t be telling you that if I didn’t think he was good enough for you.’

I nodded. ‘I know. But honestly, that’s the last thing I’m looking for. Especially right now. Plus he has a little boy.’

‘So? I would’ve thought you’d be the last person to be put off by that.’ Xander frowned at me.

‘I’m not put off. It’s just … it’s another consideration. I made a complete mess of my last relationship and I’m not about to launch into something else feet first again, even if Cal was interested. Which, by the way, I don’t think he is. Things get messy and painful and I’m certainly not going to involve a five-year-old in that!’

Xander gave me a quick squeeze around the shoulders. ‘You can’t think all relationships are going to end messily, you know.’

‘I don’t.’

‘Good.’

‘Just mine.’

Xander blew out a sigh and gave me a look. Giselle patted him on the arm.

‘We shall see,’ she said, enigmatically. ‘Now, we’re going to head off and do some pressie shopping. See you later.’ Giselle kissed me on my bright red cheek and they headed off towards to the warm glow of the little shops, all decorated for the season, their soft lights enticing shoppers in out of the cold.

Before I got a chance to think much more on the subject, another group of shoppers surrounded me, and the inevitable elf-selfie session ensued. As they moved to swap places, over the top of them I caught a glance of Cal. George was boosted up onto his hip, resting his head on his father’s shoulder with Bear cuddled into him. Opposite him was a tall, elegant woman. Her long, slim legs were encased in denim and finished off with boots that had a fur trim, as did the fitted jacket she wore. On her head she wore one of those big Russian-style fur hats. Her make-up was flawless and she looked – as did the young child whose hand she held – like she’d stepped from a magazine. Giselle was most definitely right about Cal and his play date popularity status.

I smiled at the camera for the group still surrounding me before letting my eyes wander again. The woman laughed at something Cal said, her hand resting briefly – but a touch longer than was necessary – on his arm. He smiled and dipped his head as he hoisted George a little higher.

The group of shoppers thanked me, and headed into the shop. Dan was right. The costumes definitely helped boost sales. I glanced at the woman and Cal and then down at my stripy legs, and the curly-toed shoes, which were now slowly wicking up dampness from the ground. I flicked the pompom on the end of my hat as it dangled in front of my nose. Sales it might boost; ego it most certainly did not.

Chapter Six

The newly installed bell tinkled on the back of the door and from my position at the top of a ladder restocking the top shelf, I saw Cal and George enter the shop. I called out a greeting and received a smile and wave from Cal and an unusually half-hearted response from the little boy.

‘Be with you in a minute,’ I said as I descended the metal steps and then folded them up, carrying them quickly to the back stock room and leaning them up against the wall. ‘Hi!’ I said, emerging again.

‘Hello.’ George’s greeting was as lukewarm as his wave.

I glanced up at Cal.

‘George isn’t feeling too great and his friends are all playing snowballs but he’s not really up to it so I thought we’d stop in here and see if we couldn’t cheer him up a bit.’

‘Oh no! Well, obviously I’m very happy to see you but I’m not happy you’re feeling a bit under the weather.’ George looked above his head briefly in response to my terminology and Cal and I stifled a smile.

‘What’s feeling poorly then?’

George leant against his dad’s leg. ‘My tummy hurts.’

‘Oh dear. That’s not good, is it? I hope Bear’s looking after you.’

George let out a sigh and nodded.

I ran a hand gently over the little boy’s silky hair, being incredibly careful not to bump into his father’s thigh. If that happened, even if George didn’t have a temperature, I was pretty sure I might.

The doorbell tinkled and I glanced up, waving a hello to the Warner sisters, a couple of older ladies who had lived in the village for as long as I could remember. They were lovely, but it did pay to be careful what you mentioned to them as it had a way of soon becoming known by far more people than you’d originally intended.

‘He doesn’t feel warm but he does look a bit pale,’ I said, resting the back of my hand against George’s forehead.

‘Yeah. I’m going to take him home in a minute and get him into bed. I think he just overindulged in Christmas treats earlier. He was just keen on coming in to say hi and I thought it might take his mind off things for a minute.’

‘I’m glad you did. Is there anything I can do?’

George had now relinquished his hold on his dad’s leg and wandered across the shop. Cal glanced over to where his son was now talking to the ladies as they all looked at the individual crackers piled into a large, wide wicker basket threaded with red silk ribbon, their marbled paper making each one unique. His gaze moved from his son and landed squarely on me. The smile it brought with it made my insides go all flippy and warm.

Doing my best to ignore that, and deciding instead that I needed an immediate distraction, I began unpacking a box of handmade lollipops, sticking their handles in a large piece of florist’s foam I’d sprayed white earlier. One dome was for the gingerbread-flavoured ones, the other for peppermint.

‘No, I don’t think there’s anything you can do,’ Cal answered, ‘but thank you anyway.’

I nodded without looking at him and finished displaying the lollies. Reaching behind me, I grabbed a gingerbread man from the shelf. ‘Ginger’s good for the tummy. And if George doesn’t want it, you’ve already taste tested them so I assume you approve and you can just eat it as … support.’

Cal’s mouth quirked. ‘A support biscuit?’

I nodded my head at George. ‘If he’s anything like our lot when they don’t feel well, believe me, you’re going to need it.’

Cal brought out some change from his pocket but I pushed his hand away. ‘It’s on the house.’

‘You need to stop giving me stuff for free. Don’t you know anything about business?’ The quirk grew into a wider smile.

‘You’d be surprised what I know.’

George was now on his way back to us, the ladies completely enamoured with him, but not entirely missing the opportunity to give his dad a quick once-over with their eyes. One of them had clearly caught the end of our conversation. As I smiled at their approach, she gave a quick eyebrow raise at me and winked. Cal noticed the exchange and chuckled, shaking his head. I blushed, grinned, and studied my shoes for a moment.

‘I’m dreading what interpretation of that comment is going to be across the village by tomorrow,’ I whispered.

Cal smiled. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll reassure them it was all perfectly innocent if questioned.’

For some reason, this made me blush even more and I decided it was vitally urgent to get some gift bags ready for the next purchase and ducked my head under the desk, feeling my skin cool now I was no longer under Cal’s direct gaze.

‘Can I help you, ladies?’ I asked, as I popped back up, smiling and hoping to affect an immediate diversion of their thoughts.