Page 90 of All Wrapped Up
‘I don’t know really,’ he laughed. ‘You just seemed a bit… odd after the walk last night.’
‘Odd?’ I squeaked.
‘Perhaps that’s not the right word.’ He chuckled at my reaction. ‘Sorry. Just not quite yourself, I suppose is what I really mean.’
‘That’s probably because I felt a bit bad about telling Amber and Jake that we didn’t really think the trail worked in the dark,’ I suggested, thinking his description of how I’d been wasn’t actually all that wide of the mark.
‘But they didn’t seem to mind and Jake said he was happy to make further improvements ahead of the festival next year, didn’t he?’
‘I suppose. Perhaps you’re right. I am actually feeling a bit… strange. Maybe I’m coming down with the bug that’s doing the rounds. Or perhaps it was the influence of being out under the just waning moon… or something.’
Even I rolled my eyes at that, but there was something going on with me that I couldn’t account for. I’d ended the trail with Ash feeling like a completely different person to the one who had started it.
‘I think it must be the bug,’ Ash responded teasingly. ‘Perhaps you’ve got a temperature because you sounded almost delirious then.’
‘Hey!’ I objected.
‘You sounded more like Molly than Clemmie. That’s the sort of thing that she’d come out with.’
‘Well,’ I said. ‘Perhaps it’s time I embraced my… inner witch.’
‘Definitely delirious,’ Ash laughed. ‘Shall I call round?’
‘No,’ I said, perhaps a little too quickly. ‘Thank you,’ I then more calmly added. ‘I’ll be fine. If the bug does strike, I have all the meds, blankets and fluids I need to see myself throughit. You don’t want to risk catching it. You were lucky not to pick it up from Will.’
I still couldn’t think about his boss without a flush of embarrassment and felt my cheeks turning pink.
‘Well, as long as you’re sure?’ Ash asked, sounding serious at last.
‘I am.’
‘In that case, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you’re not up to announcing the window display winners on Saturday and I’ll do it on my own.’
‘Oh, I’m sure I’ll be fine for that.’ I really hoped I wasn’t going to have to miss playing my part in the announcement because I was delighted with our choices. ‘But perhaps you could pick up the box from the town hall with the public votes in and take care of those?’
‘Consider it done,’ Ash promised. ‘I’ll pick them up and count them and I mean it, Clemmie, if you need anything in the meantime, anything at all, just call.’
‘I will,’ I said. ‘Thanks, Ash.’
‘My pleasure.’
I flopped back in the chair when he’d hung up and stared at my phone as if it might contain the answer to something. When I looked up, Pixie was watching me curiously, with her head cocked and wearing the same puzzled expression I imagined I was.
‘I don’t know either.’ I shrugged. ‘Perhaps I need a tonic or something.’
I managed without the tonic and the bug didn’t land, so I was able to potter about the cottage, update AutumnEverythingand even have another quick tidy up in the garden ahead of the weekend. By the time I set off to Wynbridge late Saturday morning, I was feeling excited about the prospect of going around and letting the shop winners know where they’d been placed.
There were autumn stalls set up on the market and I could see the yarn bombers had been out in force again. Every bollard, post box and sign now had something adorning it and the square looked utterly idyllic. Someone had even added some real pumpkins to the central display and it was with an almost happy heart and feeling almost full of the joys of autumn, that I made for The Mermaid to meet Ash.
I say almost, because there was something that was stopping my buoyant mood from being completely pumped up. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was and tried my best to brush the feeling off, but the confusion slash apprehension was determined to linger and ensure my utterly blissed out state didn’t quite scale the heights that the sight of Wynbridge decked out in autumn colours should have reached.
‘Hey, Ash.’ I smiled, when I spotted him waiting for us in the pub and Pixie and I headed over to his table, thankfully with no silly reaction occurring within the confines of my ribcage.
My heart was already skipping along after my walk around the chilly square, so its increased pace was doubtless the result of that.
‘Hey,’ he said, looking up and taking me in. ‘How are you feeling?’
I settled Pixie under the table, then unwound my scarf and took off my coat. Jim and Evelyn had a fire roaring and Ash’schoice of table was quite close to it which explained the sudden rush of warmth I was experiencing. Coming in from the cold and into the heat of the pub was bound to make me feel hot.
