Page 109 of All Wrapped Up
‘Can I smash it up and make another one?’ he pleaded, making his voice sickly sweet.
‘Nope,’ I said, with a nod to the clock. ‘There’s not enough time.’
‘Perhaps I’ll just tear it up and not have one at all then,’ he pouted.
I placed it back in front of him.
‘You could,’ I shrugged and he went to grab it, ‘but then you won’t have anything to carry in the Halloween parade, will you? You’re going to terrify everyone with these monster shapes.’
He quickly shoved the lantern out of reach and away from temptation.
‘You’ve never made that,’ I heard his mum say when she had finished her own lantern and was ready to head off.
He shrugged as if it was nothing, but I could tell he was pleased.
‘Thank you,’ the woman mouthed to me and Joanne and then took him off for chips from the market as a treat for being good.
‘You saved me there,’ Joanne said. ‘He was testing my patience.’
‘I think he’d be enough to test the patience of anyone.’
‘You’ve got a way with kids,’ Lizzie said to me.
‘That,’ I told her, ‘was a one off. Beginners’ luck. I have no experience of kids.’
‘Me neither,’ Joanne shuddered. ‘Yuck.’
And nor was I ever likely to have, but whereas Joanne might have made a choice about staying child-free, my hand had been forced.
‘Well, be that as it may,’ said Lizzie, as she wiped her hands down her apron, ‘today has been a huge success and you’ve shone again, Clemmie. You are going to come and work for me, aren’t you?’
‘I haven’tcompletelydecided yet,’ I told her, ‘but I think I’ve almost got my future all wrapped up.’
‘I’m delighted to hear it,’ she smiled, warmly.
Chapter 24
It was a classic case of famous last words because the next morning, in the library, Jason threw a grenade into what I had started to envision as my increasingly tidy future and blew the wholeall wrapped upplan to smithereens.
After the successful workshop and an evening of further pondering, I had decided to accept Lizzie’s job offer, but Jason’s grenade didn’t have anything to do with my future employment. His bomb was far more intimate than that.
‘I didn’t expect to see you here,’ he said rather gruffly, while I waited in line to return a couple of the books I’d previously checked out and somehow managed to find the time to read and enjoy. ‘You didn’t say you were coming when I said I was.’
Clearly, his social skills still needed some refining, but I was pleased to note his trademark scowl seemed to have been banished.
‘Good morning, Jason,’ I said, making full use of my manners. I then went to tell him about the note explaining the ballot box mystery, but didn’t because I hadn’t filled Ash in yet and as deputy, he should know first. ‘I didn’t mention it, because I wasn’t expecting to come. And I’m not staying for the discussion with Kay, because I’ve promised Pixie a long walk.’
‘Oh, right,’ he sniffed. ‘You’re out and about in town though, so you’re brazening it out, are you? The mention in the paper, I mean.’
I had known what he meant and flashed him a smile. ‘You’re smarter than you look,’ I quipped.
‘Hey,’ he objected.
‘Yes,’ I confirmed. ‘I’m brazening it out. I thought if I was seen in public, then my novelty value would soon wane. Though actually,’ I added, as I moved up a place in the queue and looked around, ‘I don’t think my bit of news has caused the stir I thought it might. Barely anyone has said a word, so thank you for whatever influence you had over your nephew, the journalist, who stuck to the window dressing story.’
Jason shook his head.
‘Am I wrong?’ I frowned. ‘About me being newsworthy, I mean?’
