Page 51 of Could It Be Magic?
At close of business on Christmas Eve, Nick was alone in the shop. Annabelle had left earlier in the day, since she was cooking Christmas dinner for the family and needed to get started on the mammoth task of catering for them all. She’d hugged him goodbye as she’d left, and he’d promised to get round early on Christmas morning to give her a hand and mediate between the relatives. Their mother’s sister, Gladys, was coming down to stay with their parents, and was a stickler for things being done just so on Christmas Day, so Nick wanted to provide some extra support.
As he switched out the lights and locked up, he remembered a comment Thea had made about Dylan being into Pokémon cards. He was pretty sure that the collection he’d had when he was a kid might still be in the attic at his parents’ place and wondered if he’d have time to root them out before he saw Thea and the kids again. He hadn’t got anything planned, for once, on Christmas Eve, so he thought he’d pop round and see if he could find them.
At Holly Ridge Cottage, his parents’ house, his mother was pleased to see him. While she made him a cuppa, he ascended the rickety ladder into their roof space and was soon immersed in the archived memorabilia he found. Although his parents had downsized some years ago, a lot of the stuff that he and Annabelle had been given as children had, unaccountably, ended up at their smaller place, and he’d been meaning to reclaim his portion of it for quite a while. Searching through the boxes of possessions he’d not seen for decades, his walk down memory lane was in danger of distracting him from what he’d come over to find. Delving into one of several plastic storage boxes marked ‘Nick’, he smiled when he came across a wallet of old photographs from the mid-noughties. He spent a couple of minutes flipping through them, noting with amusement the clothing and hairstyles of himself and his friends, and wondering why they’d ever thought the styles that looked so great on the popstars of the time would ever suit them. His heart sped up when he saw a picture of Tristan, Thea, Annabelle, Jamie and himself, snapped during some party or other, looking young, carefree and completely at ease in each other’s company. He remembered, with a jolt, that this must have been the infamous night at Gina Hodge’s place, but it had obviously been taken before they’d all got plastered on stuff they were too young to drink. His arm was around Thea, and he wished he could go back and tell his younger self to be brave and tell Thea how he’d felt back then.
Shaking his head, he put the photo in his back pocket and returned the others to the archive box. He vowed to himself that his new year’s resolution would be to get all of his stuff out of his parents’ attic once and for all, but for now it would have to wait. As he looked in the next box, he found what he was searching for, the boxed set of Pokémon cards, and just before he put the lid back on, he noticed a small jewellery case tucked away in one corner of the storage box. Carefully pulling it out, he smiled as he flipped it open. A gift from a relative many years back, he remembered wondering when on earth he’d ever have reason to wear it. But now, it seemed like the perfect last-minute gift for Thea. He didn’t want to give her anything extravagant, but it didn’t seem right not to mark the season, somehow. Carefully descending the ladder once more, he headed downstairs to have the cup of tea with his parents.
‘You and Thea looked pretty cosy on Saturday evening,’ his father said as they sipped their tea in the small, neat living room of the cottage. ‘Anything we should know, at last?’ Rob wasn’t blessed with his wife and daughter’s diplomatic skills, and Nick had braced himself for an interrogation.
‘Early days, Dad,’ he said quickly. ‘But we have been spending a bit of time together.’
‘Funny… didn’t see you much after dinner. You youngsters lack the stamina to stay out all night!’ Rob snorted. ‘Not like your mother and me. We didn’t get home until half past two!’
‘And you were like a bear with a sore head all day Sunday,’ Maggie chided. ‘Leave Nick alone. It’s about time he got his act together with Thea. Don’t jinx things with your questions.’
Nick threw his mum a grateful look. ‘Is there anything I need to take to Annie’s for Christmas Day?’ he asked, keen to deflect the focus from his love life.
‘Not that I can think of,’ Maggie replied. ‘I’m sure she’s got it all under control, but you could always check with her.’ She gave a stage whisper. ‘A pair of ear plugs to filter out the worst of Aunt Gladys’s rhetoric might be advisable.’
Nick grinned. He knew his mother loved her sister, but they did not share the same outlook on life. ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ he said. Kissing his mum and dad goodbye, he headed back out of the door with what he’d salvaged from the loft. As he drove the short distance back to his own cottage, he found he couldn’t pull his mind away from Thea. He wondered how cross she’d be if he dropped by. Looking at his watch, he shook his head. She’d be really busy now, getting stuff ready for the next day. All the same, as he drew up outside his house, he felt an almost irresistible urge to play Santa Claus and drop the cards and the small gift he’d discovered in the box over to her tonight. Perhaps, if he only stayed for five minutes, it would be OK. If she didn’t answer the door, he’d leave them on the step.
He managed to last four whole hours before he gave into the temptation.
45
‘Ssh!’ Thea hissed as she pulled Nick through the front door and closed it quietly. ‘The kids are finally asleep, and I really don’t want to wake them up again.’ It had been a hectic Christmas Eve, and Thea had been looking forward to flumping on the sofa and relaxing for a couple of hours before heading off to bed herself. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day of family, fun and, if Lorelai was on her usual form, far too much food, so a couple of hours to herself was a must. However, Nick was on her doorstep now, and her body and mind were telling her she wanted something entirely different.
‘Your wish is my command,’ Nick murmured. ‘I won’t make a sound, I promise.’
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked. ‘Shouldn’t you be bracing yourself for the Saint family Christmas shindig?’
‘I’m not expected at Mistletoe Barn until mid-morning tomorrow,’ Nick replied. ‘And since Charlotte, Tristan, Annie and Jamie are all tied up with their own last-minute preparations, I found myself lonely and at a loose end on the night before Christmas.’ He turned hangdog eyes on her that looked so self-consciously gloomy, Thea couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Well, I’m sorry to hear I’m your last resort!’
‘You were my first, actually, but I didn’t want to interrupt your family celebrations.’
‘The kids would have been pleased to see you,’ Thea replied. ‘You can do no wrong in their eyes since you rustled up the tree for them.’
‘Glad they liked it,’ Nick said. His face suddenly grew serious. ‘There was something else, as well.’ He reached into the pocket of his thick winter jacket and pulled out a small, gift-wrapped box. ‘Don’t panic,’ he said. ‘It’s not that. I’m not quite so impulsive as to propose three days after we’ve slept together.’
Thea snorted back a laugh, still mindful of the kids upstairs. ‘Sometimes I forget we’ve been friends forever.’
‘Me too.’ Nick’s eyes met hers, and she felt the warm, welcome pressure of his lips as he somehow managed to keep the present in one hand and move her closer to him with the other. His mouth began to explore hers, and her knees grew weak. It had only been a few days since their night together, but she was suddenly aching for more. Deepening the kiss, she pressed closer to him, slipping her arms inside his jacket so she could feel him against her. Thea could feel Nick’s body stirring, too, and she wished she could just whisk him upstairs and make love to him with the same freedom they’d had on the night of the Midwinter’s Eve Ball.
Gasping slightly, she eventually pulled away again. ‘You are far too good at that,’ she murmured. ‘You’re a dirty kisser, Nick Saint.’
Nick raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’ His tone might have been confident, but the flush on his face gave away the effect the kiss had had on him, too. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to have to leave here with this ridiculous hard-on!’
Thea smirked. ‘If my children weren’t upstairs, I’d deal with that, but they’re both light sleepers, and it’s far too risky.’
Nick pulled her close again and groaned. ‘My ears hear you, but the rest of me is determined to ignore the warning…’
Thea giggled, then, shocked at the sound, she kissed him again. ‘So I can feel.’ She reached a hand downwards and felt Nick pressing back against her. It was so tempting to keep playing, right here in the hallway. Nick gently pushed her back against the wall, and they continued to kiss for a little longer, until both of them were flushed and breathing heavily.
‘I want you so much, Thea,’ Nick breathed into her neck, sending tingle after tingle over her skin.
‘I want you too,’ Thea replied, her voice low and slightly shaky. ‘You are the best Christmas present I could ever have.’
