Page 78 of The Secret Mistletoe Promise
‘Felix is a dear, and so is Harry.’
‘Everyone helps each other here,’ Imogen said. ’It’s not about winning or being the best or the richest, or who is the star at the top of the corporate tree. It’s about who needs help, how we can have fun, how we all make everyone’s lives a little bit better.’
‘They should let you come up with the new village motto.’ Birdie pointed an outlandishly large parsnip at her.
‘Anyway,’ Imogen grinned, ‘I don’t think Icouldget bored here. There’s always something going on. Mistletoe thieves or Snow Show rehearsals, storytelling and musty cellars with pigeons trapped inside. Ice rinks, walks on the beach …’
‘Daily specials at the bakery.’ Birdie raised her eyebrows and waggled a sprout tree.
‘Gran! Is that … are you trying to be phallic with your sprout tree?’
‘It’s got a big stick, little baubles.’ She looked at it thoughtfully.
‘Oh my God.’ Imogen covered her eyes.
‘Being serious for a moment,’ Birdie said, and Imogen took her hand away. ‘Your relationship with your mother is none of my business, and I don’t want to talk ill of Stella, but I firmly believe that people should live how they want to, without undue influence from anyone else. Guidance and advice can be helpful, but it should be a light touch, and I think we can both agree that your mother’s touch isn’t the lightest.’
‘We can.’ Imogen took a fortifying sip of tea. She’d made it too strong, but didn’t want to interrupt her gran’s speech by getting more milk.
‘So I have been reluctant – although maybe I’ve gone too far in the other direction – to tell you how much I love having you here. Not just because it’s nice to have someone younger in the house, and because you’re willing to deliver my parcels. I have loved getting to know you again, seeing how kind you are, how eager you are to get involved and help others, despite everything you’ve been dealing with recently.’
‘Gran.’ Imogen was going to cry if she wasn’t careful.
‘So I don’t want to pressure you, or make you feel as if you need to stay because of me. But if, after you’ve thought everything through, you would like to do it foryourself, then I can’t think of anyone else who fits here better, who the other villagers have taken to so quickly. If you think you could be happy here, then I would love that.’
‘You would?’
‘We could paint your bedroom, bring it up to date, squeeze a double bed in. It’s on the other side of the stairs to my room and I wear ear plugs at night so—’
‘Don’t point another vegetable at me!’ But it was too late; Birdie was waggling a giant carrot in her direction.
‘You could have Dexter here for sleepovers.’
Imogen cringed all the way to her toes. ‘I’m thirty-one.’
‘Then I won’t need to worry about you.’ There was a twinkle in Birdie’s eye. ‘He’s a lovely boy.’
‘He’s thirty-four.’
‘Still a baby.’
Imogen groaned. ‘Winnie mentioned that they might be looking for someone to manage the community hub.’
‘A role that you would be ideal for. Though it’s not as glamorous or heart-pounding as your London job; all those rich lawyers and high stakes.’
Imogen thought of how, in London, every party required a new dress and shoes, because God forbid she would be seen in the same outfit within a twelve-month cycle. The handbags, the expensive dinners out, treating herself to a latte on the way to work for four pounds a time. The posh hot chocolates they’d got at Two Scoops had been less than that, and had come with syrup, creamandmarshmallows.
‘My part has never been high stakes,’ she said. ‘Meeting minutes are incredibly tedious, and the photocopier is a thorn in my side. I often run out of staples and I’m sure someone steals all mine, which is stressful when I need to print bundles of reports. How’sthatfor glamour?’ All the things she had spent so much time fretting about, wanting to get right. She sighed. ‘But, being serious for a moment. Can you really not get same-day Amazon deliveries out here?’
Birdie bopped her on the nose with a bunch of kale.
‘Whatthingcan possibly be so important that you need it the same day? That would be a good habit to get out of.’
‘You’re probably right.’
‘You still have time to decide, Imogen, and it’s not something thatcanbe rushed: what you want your life to look like. All we need to think about now is Christmas. We could have it here, just the two of us, but we’ve also been invited to Harry and Sophie’s. We can contribute whatever they need, food-wise, and when it comes to Christmas Day, the more the merrier, don’t you think?’
‘I agree,’ Imogen said, but she could barely concentrate on anything except the back-and-forth inside her head. Return to London and follow her head (and obey her mother), or take a chance on Mistingham, so different from a big city, but with a whole lot to recommend it, even though Dexter wanted her for an amazing time, not a long time?
