Page 64 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
Why hadn’t Jodie thought of that?
‘Well, they start at the pub, and they go right through the village to Anna’s shop at the far end. Lights up outside as many houses as possible.’
‘And the boats,’ Anna added.
Nina nodded. ‘Some of the small boats put lights round the cabins or up the masts.’ She smiled. ‘That’s my favourite part. My father started that years ago. My Pavel organises that now. You’ll have toliaisewith him.’ She turned to Anna. ‘Liaise is what they call it in business, you know.’
Jodie’s body and brain flashed back to a moment in the ballroom a few hours before. She could liaise vigorously with Pavel Stone.
‘And this year, the lights are going to be all white,’ Nina added.
‘Yours might be,’ Anna muttered.
‘They all will be.’
‘It’s been red and green for years. Red and green was good enough last year. I don’t see why it’s not good enough now.’
‘It wasn’t all red and green. It was white and red at the pub, and then blue at the community hall. It looked like we’d all come out for different football teams.’
There was a noise from the seat by the fireplace that almost sounded like someone suppressing a giggle.
‘Are you all right, Veronica?’ Jodie asked innocently.
She was biting her lips together as she nodded. ‘Absolutely fine.’
‘OK. So predominantly white lights,’ Jodie continued. ‘Right through the village?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Does the castle get involved?’
Nina shook her head silently, shooting a very definite sort of look in Veronica’s direction. ‘I think the previous laird thought it was a bit frivolous, perhaps.’
Veronica wasn’t laughing any more. ‘I’m sure my son had his reasoning. However, the Lowbridge family did used to get involved.’ She turned to Anna. ‘Don’t you remember coming to carols by candlelight here when we were children?’
‘Even after you were the lady,’ Anna confirmed.
‘Yes.’ Veronica nodded sharply.
‘Why don’t we do that then?’ All of a sudden Jodie had a vision of the Lowbridge Christmas lights switch-on in her mind. And it didn’t require a single pop star or loose woman to be lured to the middle of nowhere with the promise of a night in a room above the pub and one of Nina’s pies for dinner.
‘Do what?’ Nina asked. ‘I mean, anyone can get some random celebrity to come and press a big red button.’
‘Not anyone apparently,’ Anna snipped.
Jodie ignored her. ‘What’s special about Lowbridge is that the lights are done by the whole community, so what if we gave the whole community the chance to shine and then finished up here for carols to kick off the festive season?’
‘What do you mean?’ Nina asked.
Jodie could see it all. ‘We make it a rolling light switch-on, so we start at the shop at the far end of the village and then it’s a slow walk along the coast road and people put their lights on as we go past and then join the walk, until everyone’s together and we come to the pub and then over the Low Bridge to the castle, which is lit up last, and then Jill could lead a…’
‘Jill could do what?’ The woman herself appeared in the doorway – Reverend Jill, who was, apparently, perfect for Pavel.
Jodie couldn’t quite meet her eye. ‘I was wondering if we could end the Christmas lights switch-on with carols in the chapel here.’
‘Oh, that would be wonderful. The chapel hasn’t been used for years, apart from…’ She stopped and glanced at Veronica.
‘Apart from my son’s funeral. It’s all right, dear. Say what you mean.’
