Page 20 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

Chapter 5

The ice cream van rumbled onto the forecourt of T&M Conversions and Seren cut the engine. A man with his head under the bonnet of a clapped-out old VW camper van straightened up and turned to look at her as she got out, and she noticed his eyes widen.

Yep, she bet he didn’t get many ice cream vans rolling in… All she hoped was that he didn’t want to buy a 99 with a flake and strawberry sauce, because he was going to be disappointed.

‘What can I do for you?’ he asked, wiping his hands on an old cloth and stepping towards the van. ‘Is this yours?’ He nodded towards the ice cream van, but his attention was on her. He had come-to-bed eyes and a sexy smile played on his lips. To say he was good-looking would be an understatement. It was a pity he seemed to be well aware of just how attractive he was.

‘Apparently so,’ she said, pulling herself together. He might be incredibly sexy in a ‘man getting his hands dirty way’, but he wasn’t her type. Too cocky and self-assured for her taste. Mind you, if he asked her out, she probably wouldn’t say no. Fair-haired and blue-eyed, with a stubbly chiselled chin, she felt a pull of attraction. Crumbs, it was like buses – no good-looking fellas for ages, then two came along at once, she thought, as an image of Daniel flitted across her mind.

‘My father, bless him, bought it for me,’ she said, dragging her thoughts away from the handsome hunk in front of her, and back to the reason why she was there in the first place.

‘I remember… He said it’s to be turned into a mobile gift shop.’

Seren rolled her eyes. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘What’s your vision for it?’ he asked, and she blinked.

‘The scrap heap?’ she shot back.

‘Seriously?’

Seren shrugged. ‘It might be the best option for it. Look at it – not only is it ancient, it’s also flamingo pink with a ruddy great big ice cream cone on the top.’

‘I’m Tobias, by the way,’ he said, smiling at her.

She felt herself smile in return. ‘Seren Fletcher. Tell me how much it will cost to transform it into a kind of a travelling shop.’

‘Nice name. Do you have anything particular in mind, Seren?’

‘Not really. When I was looking at mobile gift shops, I was originally thinking of something bigger, like a bus, where people can get on and have a look around, but…’ She grimaced. ‘I was also envisaging it belonging to someone else.’ The sneaking excitement of yesterday evening had given way to major doubts in the middle of the night, and she’d woken up this morning with the conviction that it would have to be sold as soon as possible. She was only bringing it to the garage today to humour her dad.

‘Okaaay…’ Tobias was studying her intently and she realised the impression she must be making.

‘Sorry, I don’t mean to be such a grouch, but my dad bought this behind my back based on a conversation we had about trying to find a gift shop that would come to the care home where my aunt lives – like the mobile library does. I searched on the internet and such things do exist, just not close enough.’

Tobias said, ‘When I spoke to your father on the phone, he mentioned something about a care home and a mobile library, but I didn’t know what he meant.’

‘I wish I’d never told him about it,’ Seren lamented. ‘I’m not cut out for this.’

‘Why not?’ He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her.

‘Because…’ She blew out her cheeks and stared at him helplessly. ‘Where do I start? I’ve not got the time or the experience. It’s going to cost a fortune. I’ve already got a job. There’s no way it would be ready this side of Christmas, which is kind of the whole point.’ She checked off each item of concern on her fingers, then added, ‘I’m sure I can think of plenty more reasons, but those are enough to be going on with.’

‘When you say mobile gift shop, what’s the reasoning behind it? Is there a need for such a thing when you can order anything and everything online and it’ll be delivered straight to your door with just the click of a button?’

‘I blame my Aunt Nelly. She can be a right pain in the backside. It all started when an old gent moved into the home, and she wanted to buy him a “welcome to the prison” present.’

Tobias’s eyes widened. ‘It’s not that bad, is it?’

Seren giggled. ‘No, it most definitely isn’t. It’s a good home and the staff are brilliant. She just hates being there, but that’s no reflection on the home – she’d hate being anywhere. As far as she’s concerned, she should have died years ago. She says she’s lived too long and she’s nothing but a burden.’ Seren snorted. ‘As if! We love her to bits and wouldn’t want to be without her.’

‘The van?’ Tobias reminded her.

‘Oh, yes, how could I forget!’ She shot the ice cream van a sour look. ‘As I was saying, Nelly wanted to buy this man a present, but she poo-pooed everything I suggested and refused to let me show her anything online. She said she wants to see things for herself before she decides to buy. Then when the mobile library pulled into the car park at the home, we had the same idea about trying to get a mobile shop to pay the home a visit.’ She gave a deep sigh. ‘I looked online but there is nothing within travelling distance, and when I mentioned this to my dad, he must have got it into his mind that it would be something I’d want to do.’

‘Don’t you?’

She gave him a withering look. ‘Hardly!’ Hadn’t this guy listened to a word she’d said?

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