Page 21 of Could It Be Magic?
Cora looked up quizzically. ‘Are you sure?’
The phone’s noise was becoming irritating now, and in her current state, Thea didn’t need any more provocation.
‘Yes,’ she said firmly. She really didn’t want to speak to him right now. She still couldn’t quite put her finger on why she was feeling so hurt: Nick could kiss whom he wanted under the mistletoe, but that didn’t mean she wanted to speak to him.
Cora passed her the phone, and she pressed the ignore button. Then, turning the torch on, she located the Christmas boxes, and the tree, and headed back down the ladder.
‘There you go, squirt,’ she said, passing the boxes to Cora. ‘That should keep your brother quiet.’
‘It’ll be worth it, Mum, I promise.’ Thea was surprised when her daughter leaned over and gave her a hug. ‘You seem really stressed right now, and we just want to make everything look really special for you, and for Christmas.’
Thea blinked back tears. ‘Thank you, darling.’ Sometimes, in the throes of adolescence, Cora could still surprise her.
‘Now, go and get in the bath and I’ll bring you another cup of tea.’
Thea smiled. ‘Sounds fab.’ She hurried into the bathroom, phone still in hand, but, as she dumped it on the windowsill before she turned the taps on, it rang again.
‘Not now, Nick,’ she muttered. She knew it was childish, but she couldn’t face talking to him after seeing him under the mistletoe with Tally. If he’d told her he was interested in Tally (and why wouldn’t he be?), she’d have been fine with what she’d seen. It was the fact that he’d kept that from her that was really annoying. She felt as though they’d been rekindling their friendship while she’d been working at the shop, and that, by not being entirely straight with her, Nick hadn’t respected that.
Trying hard to put him out of her mind as she sank, a few minutes later, into a warm, scented bubble bath that felt like the height of luxury, she found that she couldn’t altogether shake her irritation. She knew her trust issues were embedded deeply after Ed had so monumentally abused her faith in him, and she also knew that she was probably projecting much of that onto Nick. Just because they were becoming friends again, it didn’t mean he had to tell her everything. It was just that she did feel as though they’d had a couple of ‘moments’ of their own lately.
‘Do I fancy Nick?’ she asked herself. But then, was it really so ridiculous? He was her age, in good shape, handsome, and available. Well, maybe not after what she’d seen tonight. Sighing, she ducked her head below the waterline, feeling the warmth closing over her head and creating the temporary illusion of peace. If only she could stay underwater forever! Rising back to the surface, she steeled herself not to grab her phone to see if he’d called again. It could all wait until later. Tonight, all she wanted was to crash out into a warm bed and a dreamless sleep.
19
Thea felt relieved that she wasn’t due back at the farm shop until Thursday: she had enough to occupy her in school with the nativity play rehearsals and the other Christmas activities that were taking place. Her mind kept sliding off sideways to think about Nick’s kiss with Tally, and she firmly shut herself down every time it tried. Nick was a free agent, and he could kiss whomever he liked.
As such, by the time she got to the shop on Thursday, she was more at peace with herself. It wasn’t worth risking a friendship over, and she had no intention of losing Nick as a friend. She’d finally ’fessed up to Cora and Dylan about working a few days here and there at Saints’ Farm, but had said it was because Nick was short-handed in the run up to Christmas. They’d both seemed to accept this with little fuss, and Cora had even volunteered to make dinner tonight and tomorrow, to save Thea the trouble. Thea felt grateful that the two of them were so understanding.
‘Hi,’ Nick called from across the yard as she locked her car. ‘I’m just heading out to the barn to pick up a few more bags of coal and nets of kindling. There’s a delivery from the veg supplier due at 9.30, if you’re all right to count it in?’
‘Uh, yeah, of course,’ Thea stammered. Nick’s tone seemed a little off-hand, and she wondered why. Hurriedly, she walked into the shop, grabbed her apron and opened up the till ready for new customers.
It was an oddly quiet start to the day, and Thea found herself walking up and down the aisles of the shop, straightening wonky groceries and re-stacking bags of flour and dried fruit to pass the time. She hated to admit it, but she was as much of a stickler for order as Tristan was, especially when she felt under pressure, and this strange atmosphere that seemed to have fallen between herself and Nick since she’d witnessed him and Tally under the mistletoe seemed to be pervading.
Nick seemed to be absenting himself from the shop floor as much as possible during the morning, and once the veg order came in and Thea had ticked it all off and put it out, she was too busy to notice whether he’d checked in or not. It wasn’t until midday that he came back in, and suggested she take her lunch break.
‘I can man the till for an hour – I think I’ve got everything in from the barns, now.’
‘OK,’ Thea replied. She opened her mouth to say something else, but then realised she wasn’t quite sure where to start. Feeling more than a little dispirited, she mooched into the back office and unwrapped her sandwich. Bloody Tally and her commandeering of Nick under the mistletoe! She knew she had no claim on Nick other than his friendship, but it still irritated her that he seemed to be avoiding her. In an attempt to take her mind off it, she pulled out her phone and was surprised to see a WhatsApp from Annabelle. She and Annabelle were good friends, but their lives often took them in different directions. However, she smiled when she saw the message thanking her for stepping in to cover at such short notice. She messaged back replying that it was no problem, although she could have done without a bloody annoying TV director putting her stamp on the place quite so thoroughly. Annabelle’s laughing emoji was swiftly followed by a wry:
That’ll be Tally, then. Did she try it on with Nick again, this time?
Thea paused before replying.
Let’s just say the mistletoe’s had a good workout this year…
Annie’s shocked face emoji made Thea smirk. The smile, however, disappeared when Annabelle replied with a:
Well, he is STILL a free agent, poor lonely saddo that he is. He can kiss whomever he likes.
Thea paused before replying. Annabelle was right, but she still felt unsettled by Tally’s behaviour towards Nick. She had the distinct feeling that Annabelle was leading her, trying to get her to admit to something, but she was wiser than that. She merely added, ‘Yeah, but I thought he’d have better taste than that. She’s so OBVIOUS!’ before signing off. Perhaps she shouldn’t be grumbling about Nick to his sister, especially since he was the one who’d given her this job, but she had to talk to someone. And Tristan was out of the question; he’d take the piss even more than Annabelle would. Sighing, she put her phone down and picked up her book. She’d tried to make more time to read, lately, and she had half an hour before she was back on the counter. As she tried to lose herself in the latest Mick Herron novel, she wondered if she ought to just have it out with Nick. It was going to be a bit tricky if he kept avoiding her, seeing as they were the only ones staffing the shop.
After about twenty minutes, she closed her book and headed towards the counter again. Just as she was about to walk through the doorway of the back office, she encountered Nick coming the other way.
‘It’s all right, I’ll get back out there now,’ she said. The doorway was tight, and as he stepped in, she stepped out. Their bodies brushed together, and Thea felt a jolt of electricity between them as they made contact. She laughed nervously and looked up at Nick, who was staring down at her, a look of surprise and consternation on his face.
‘Look, Thea, can we talk?’ he said.
