Page 65 of A Winter in Wonderland
As if he could read my mind, he asked, ‘Are you going to call your mum today?’
‘Yeah, at some point,’ I replied.
‘Shay wants to ring her a bit later because of the time difference in Malta.’
I nodded. I loved my mum, of course, but we weren’t close any more. She had a whole new life and family, and she was happy, which was great, but it didn’t undo the fact she left us. ‘Are you turkey-ing today?’ I asked them, pushing thoughts of Mum aside for the time being.
‘Yes, we got one that feeds ten,’ Shay said with pride.
‘For three of you?’
‘Four, excuse me.’ She pointed at her stomach and licked her lips. ‘What will you do today?’
‘I’m on snowmobiles, I think.’
‘Good luck!’ they chorused.
‘Oh, before you go,’ Shay said, and I saw her reach for her phone and start tapping. ‘I got you something.’
‘What? But we don’t do presents,’ I said. Several years ago, when I’d stopped spending Christmas with my family, I’d told them not to worry about buying me gifts and that chatting to them on the day was enough. I know, who gives up presents, right? But it was just something I was able to control at the time. So over the years, although Shay and Dad exchanged gifts, I kept myself out of it.
‘I know,’ Shay said, ‘but it’s from all of us.’
‘I told Shay that her getting you that job in Lapland was present enough,’ Tess said, bluntly, and I smiled. I’d always liked Tess.
‘Done,’ Shay said, and my phone tinkled with an incoming email. ‘I didn’t want to send it over until today, but there you go.’
‘What is it?’
‘It’s a ticket to go to an ice bar. You know, one of those experiences where you get shut in for half an hour and drink vodka through ice sculptures or some such thing.’
I gasped. ‘No way! Wasn’t that expensive?’
‘Well, I just thought it would be fun for you to be a tourist one evening. There’s a restaurant and bar made of snow and ice not that far from you, it’s built every year and looks amazing. Besides, I’m using it as another bribe to stop you quitting early. You’ve made it this far.’
‘When is it for?’
‘Whenever you like – you have until the end of January, obvs, but you’ll need to check availability on the day.’
‘Shay … ’ I said, touched, looking at my sister’s face, all those miles away.
‘Well, shush, I’m allowed to treat my baby sister from time to time and it looked nice.’ She waved me away. ‘Enjoy, and take photos.’
‘I will. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’
When I’d hung up the phone, I smiled to myself for a moment, reading the email confirmation Shay had forwarded to me. That was so nice of her. I wish I’d got them a Christmas present, now. And then I remembered … I had. Thekuksathat I’d bought at the Siida museum. And the reindeer for my dad. I’d bought them all Christmas presents without even realising …
OK. I had to go to work now.
I put a little make-up on my face, including a red lipstick, because it probably was the right thing to do in Lapland on Christmas Day, not because I was feeling festive or anything like that, and certainly not because I wanted to draw attention to my lips in case I ran into Josh because all I could think about was the longing to kiss him.Totallynot for those reasons.
Leaving the room, I made my way downstairs to where the kitchen was a mess but the members of staff who weren’t on first shifts were cleaning up with a spring in their step.
I joined them, and was dumping cold rice porridge remnants in the bin when Angelique walked into the kitchen carrying some more empties and said, ‘You know who I feel for today? The elves.’
I turned. ‘What do you mean?’
