Page 36 of Christmas Ever After
His eyes flick between us. ‘I didn’t know either of you were looking.’
‘We’re not,’ Raff and I say in unison.
‘Just trying to repay a favour,’ I continue. ‘Because I’m not letting him go in January either.’
‘I’ll give it some thought. My son’s not long gone through a bad break-up; he could do with someone to take his mind off it.’
‘What are you trying to do?’ Raff asks me when Mitch leaves.
‘The same as you are. Help out. You’re doing what I can’t do, so let me do what you can’t do too and find some couples to…’ I trail off, having run out of words that rhyme. ‘…glue?’
‘You’ve taken on the tone of a Dr Seuss book. You’re going to be going on about the Whos of Whoville in a minute.’
I put a hand on my hip and give him the same stern look he gave me earlier. ‘I don’t want you to go, Raff.’
‘For years, you’ve wanted to see the back of me.’
‘And now, I quite like seeing the front of you.’
‘Awwww. That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.’
‘And that’ – I nod towards the arch – ‘is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me, along with everything else you’ve done since the accident, so let me help, okay?’
I have a renewed purpose. I might not be able to make nutcrackers, but I can help out someone who makes this street better just by being part of it, and maybe it’s not too late to undo the situation I caused by not seeing that earlier, and make sure thatbothof us get to stay on Christmas Ever After next year.
‘Are youhelpingRaff Dardenne?’ Marnie sounds dubious when I go into A Tale As Old As Time later that morning.
‘No,’ I protest, trying to pretend I’m distracted by looking around her Beauty and the Beast-themed bookshop, a gorgeous place that you can easily lose hours in.
‘Wasn’t it your idea to evict him in the first place?’
‘No,’ I say again. We both know that both ‘no’s are a lie.
‘Isn’t it youorhim?’
‘Not if I have anything to do with it.’ I tell her a bit about my plan to prove that we can work together and both deserve our places here. ‘Anyway, is your new assistant single?’
Marnie laughs. ‘Now that’s a question I wasnotexpecting. Why don’t you ask her? Nina?’ She beckons her new bookshop assistant over and introduces us. ‘Franca’s got a question for you.’
‘This is going to sound weird, but bear with me. Are you single?’
Nina, who can only be about eighteen or nineteen, nods shyly. She’s wearing a blue dress and has got long red hair inplaited bunches, making her resemble Anne Shirley fromAnne ofGreen Gables.
‘You wouldn’t happen to like Joshy from the carousel, would you?’ I ask, because I’ve noticed a few coy glances between her and the lad who took over the carousel earlier this year, when the previous operator went to play the Mad Hatter with Cleo in The Wonderland Teapot.
‘He’s, um, really sweet. But he’s so far out ofmyleague. You’re not going to tell him I like him, are you?’
‘I was hoping you might like to go on a date with him. He’s single and I’m convinced he likes you. Raff and I are trying to match a few couples before the Christmas market, and my thinking is that everyone from Ever After Street will be coming anyway, so we should spread a little love around ourselves this year. What do you think?’
‘Do you really think Joshy will say yes?’ Her cheeks have gone redder than her hair. ‘He’s so nice. Have you heard the way he sings made-up songs to entertain visitors? He sounds like an opera singer. I could listen to him for ages!’
‘And you frequently do,’ Marnie interjects with a laugh, making Nina blush even brighter red.
Joshy and Nina are about the same age. I get the impression that they’re both quite bookish and a bit shy, and there’s something indefinable about them that suggests they’d be a good couple. Trying to help Raff has got me thinking about all the little interactions I see between our fellow shopkeepers, and if anyone deserves a little happiness brought into their lives this Christmas, it’s the lovely people who work alongside us on Ever After Street, and I’m certain that the way to find love in the world is nothing to do with magical snow globes and everything to do with quiet observation and noticing the little things that suggest people would have something in common.
Nina isn’t convinced by my impassioned plea and is certain that she’ll be humiliated when Joshy refuses a date, and she won’t agree until I promise to talk to him and furtively find out about his feelings towards her.
Imogen, on the other hand, is all too happy when I nip into Sleeping Beauty’s Once Upon A Dream, a shop full of bedtime delights like pyjamas, fancy bedding, blankets, eye masks, candles, and bath bombs. ‘Oooh, I’ve always wanted to try one of the snow globes! Do you think one might match me with Ali?’
