Page 5 of Could It Be Magic?
‘Wait and see,’ she said, after a beat. She didn’t want to rule it out, but she’d definitely have to shop around to find the best prices for Christmas presents, this year more than ever.
Dylan grinned at her through a mouthful of marshmallows. ‘Thanks, Mum.’
As she drove towards home, Thea tried to put Christmas out of her mind. Usually, she looked forward to the time off and the chance to eat, drink and be merry with the family, but the financial worries were beginning to infringe on that sense of relaxation. She knew, come the new year, she’d have to work something else out to get more money coming into the house, or things were going to get a whole lot more stressful.
4
The following Monday, Thea found herself back at Saints’ Farm. The mobile library stopped in the car park once a fortnight and this was the last chance before Christmas to stock up on some books. It was a lovely, mutually beneficial arrangement because people returning books often popped into the shop for impulse buys, and those already coming to the shop were prompted to start, or continue, their book borrowing habits. Thea had been taking both children to the large, cheerful bus since they were toddlers, and although Cora’s reading habits had declined since she got a smart phone and started secondary school, she still tagged along with Dylan and Thea to see what new titles had been added to the collection.
The bus was staffed by volunteers, and the Saint family had taken to providing them with a coffee when they made their stop at the farm shop. As Thea pulled up and parked, she could see Nick retrieving the coffee cups from the bus, and he waved a hand in greeting as he headed back into the shop. Thea resolved to pop in after the kids had chosen their books – she owed him another thank you after he came to her rescue last Wednesday. She’d also reserved another Throw Bag, after the varied contents of the first one, and wanted to pick it up. With the much-needed cash injection of her part-time teacher’s salary hitting her bank account on Friday, the first thing she’d done was fill the tank of her car, so she wouldn’t end up in the same predicament again.
‘I thought you’d read that one?’ she said to Dylan as he pulled one of the Percy Jackson novels off the shelf of the fantasy section.
‘Nope,’ Dylan said confidently. ‘I skipped ahead in the series ’cos someone got it before me, so I want to catch up with what I missed.’
‘Fair enough.’ Thea smiled at her son. ‘Have a look and see what else you want.’ She glanced over at Cora, who was engrossed in something on her phone, as per usual.
‘Anything catch your eye?’ she asked her daughter pointedly.
Cora shook her head, not bothering to look up from the screen. Thea suppressed the urge to stride over and snatch the damned device from her daughter’s hands. She hoped Cora would come back to reading in her own time, which was why she still insisted that the girl visited the mobile library regularly. The novelty of having the world on a screen in your pocket had yet to wear off, though, and Thea had to accept it as a necessary evil, for now.
‘I’m just going to pop into the shop,’ she called again to Cora. ‘Can you keep an eye on your brother for me?’
Dylan rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t need keeping an eye on, Mum.’
‘I know.’ Thea ruffled the top of his hair affectionately. ‘But indulge me.’
Grumbling, Dylan ducked away from her and continued to look at the shelves. Cora looked up and gave Thea a brief grin of acknowledgement and then returned to her phone. Thea smiled at Bess, the volunteer who staffed the Monday afternoon session, and stepped back down into the car park.
As she entered the farm shop, Thea was surprised by how festive the place looked. In the few days since her last visit, Saints’ had gone all out to make it feel like Christmas. Hanging from the wooden beams that ran in parallel lines across the shop were strings of warm white fairy lights, twinkling away and catching the colours of the decorations on four pine trees, one in each corner of the shop, themselves glinting with coloured lights. Each tree had a colour co-ordinated theme, and Thea was amused to see that the one nearest the counter was decked out in the navy blue and gold colours of the shop’s branding. An unobtrusive compilation of seasonal songs played softly over the shop’s PA system, and Thea had to suppress a laugh when she saw Nick behind the shop counter, sporting a very fluffy and festive Christmas bobble hat.
‘It suits you,’ she said as she approached him. ‘Maybe you should think about wearing it all year.’
Nick grimaced. ‘It was Annabelle’s idea, although I’m half tempted to chuck it up onto the roof now that she’s left the country!’ He pushed the white band of the hat up a little, where it had sagged over his forehead.
‘Have they gone for some winter sun?’ Thea asked, then sighed. ‘I could certainly do with some!’
As Nick filled her in on Jamie’s last-minute deal and the holiday destination, Thea felt envious. How lovely to be married to someone who’d plan something like that and then make it a sun-drenched surprise. No chance of anything happening like that for her and the kids, she thought. Getting through Christmas without blowing a fortune on the central heating was about as glamorous as it was going to get for her.
‘So, it’s left me in a bit of a pickle,’ Nick was saying as she caught the thread of the conversation again. ‘Dad and I are working flat out, but we really could do with some extra staff in the run up to Christmas. Mum’s cracked a hip, so can’t really help too much, either.’
‘Sounds stressful,’ Thea commiserated. ‘How did she do that?’
‘She slipped on the back steps of the cottage while she was going out to put some bread on the bird table,’ Nick replied. ‘Thankfully it’s only a hairline fracture so it’ll mend with rest and time, but it’s giving her a fair bit of gyp.’ He paused before adding, ‘She didn’t let on to Annabelle how bad it was before Annabelle and Jamie left because she didn’t want Annie to worry, but it does leave me rather short-handed with just Dad to call on during the week.’
‘Poor Maggie,’ Thea said. ‘If I know your mum, she’s going to be really frustrated about not being able to help out here.’
Nick grinned briefly. ‘She is. And the bloody film crew are coming back at the end of this week, too.’
‘Film crew?’
‘Yup.’ Nick paused, seemingly embarrassed. ‘A couple of years ago, we were featured on a TV show for Channel 5 – Britain’s Loveliest Farm Shops. It was Annabelle’s idea, and because it was so soon after we’d had a refit, we all thought it would be great publicity to apply to be featured. Anyway, it all went so well that they asked us back in the summer if we’d mind doing another segment for a festive catch-up show. They’re going to be using a lot of the footage from the first time around, but they want to do a kind of “Farm Shop at Christmas” thing. Annabelle said yes to it, but didn’t realise she was going to be whisked off on holiday during the filming, so it’s down to Dad and I to handle that, on top of everything else.’
‘Can’t you pull out?’ Thea asked. ‘I’m sure they’d understand.’
‘Nope. It’s all been arranged, and they’re coming in on Thursday to do some filming. They hope to have it all done by the middle of next week so they can air it over Christmas. Their schedule’s quite tight, and the publicity’s too good to pass up.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I managed to stay off camera when they were here before, although they did catch me a few times, but now they want me front and centre.’
‘Makes sense, really,’ Thea teased. ‘I mean, filming Nick Saint at Christmas – what a coup!’
