Page 32 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

Chapter 9

Seren had her heart in her mouth when she walked into the garage a few days after her damp squib of a date with Tobias on Friday, but it wasn’t because she’d be seeing him again – it was because this was the day she was going to pick up her ice cream van that was now a gift shop.

As she stepped inside and saw it parked in the corner, tears gathered in her eyes.

It was beautiful.

Gone was the unicorn horn of an ice cream cone on the roof. Gone was the depiction of various kinds of ice cream along its side. The previous owner’s name had also been obliterated.

Instead, she was staring at a van with the same outline as before, but the colour was the muted creamy one that Tobias had shown her in the photos the other night, with the addition of a spray of holly above the side window, along with ivy, mistletoe, and candy canes. It seemed that Tobias had been listening to her after all when she’d wittered on about making wreaths and garlands.

‘Do you like it?’ Tobias asked, appearing at her side.

‘It’s wonderful,’ she whispered, awestruck at just how perfect it looked. ‘Are those—?’ She pointed to the pictures, hoping they weren’t permanent.

‘Stick on? Yes. As we discussed.’ He shrugged. ‘You can change them if you want.’

‘I’m not changing anything,’ she replied, adamantly. ‘Can I take a closer look?’

Tobias laughed. ‘You can do what you like with it – it’s yours.’

Seren stepped forward tentatively, scared it wouldn’t look as good in close-up, but to her relief it looked even better, as she could now see inside.

‘I’ve given you as much storage as I could, without hindering your movements,’ Tobias said, as she stood on tiptoe and peered into its depths.

The wall opposite the sliding window contained several shelves, each of them angled downwards slightly, and for a second she wondered why that was until she realised that the angle would showcase her stock better to her customers. To prevent everything from falling off, Tobias had placed a clear Perspex barrier along the edge of each one.

Opening the driver’s door, she climbed in and went into the back. It looked equally as wonderful from this perspective, and she could see the cupboards underneath the counter and the craftsmanship that had gone into everything. There were boards either side of the window with holes in them and hooks hanging from them, and when she went to slide the window across, she realised that instead of the one pane of glass sliding across the other leaving an opening half the size of the window, Tobias had altered it so that both sides slid back, meaning the opening was twice as large. He’d even constructed a tiered display to sit on the exposed counter.

Blimey, he’d thought of everything.

Leaning through the hatch, her eyes glistening with tears and her heart full of gratitude, she flung her arms around him and gave him a massive hug. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’

Laughing, he hugged her before gently extricating himself, and pushing her back inside so she didn’t fall out through the window. ‘You’re welcome. Even if I say so myself, she does look good, doesn’t she?’ He waited for Seren to join him on the ground before he asked, ‘What are you going to call her?’

‘Um… I hadn’t thought about it,’ Seren admitted.

‘You have to have a name for your business,’ Tobias insisted.

‘I’ve been so busy concentrating on getting it up and running, I haven’t thought about a name for it.’

‘How about The Christmas Gift-mobile? Or Wheelie Great Gifts?’ he chuckled.

Seren groaned. ‘That’s awful. I’ll have to have a think.’

‘When you’ve decided on a name, give these people a call.’ Tobias handed her a piece of paper. ‘They make decals. They’re not too expensive and can do a fast turnaround. That’s who I used.’

‘I don’t know how I can ever thank you,’ she said, still feeling emotional, although she wasn’t sure which emotion was taking pride of place – delight, excitement, fear, apprehension…

She caught the look he gave her and wrinkled her nose. ‘Let’s don’t go there,’ she warned playfully. ‘I think we both know dating each other isn’t going to work out for us.’

‘Pity,’ he said, sounding sincere. ‘You’re a beautiful woman.’

‘Aww…’ She could feel her cheeks reddening. ‘Flatterer.’

‘I know, I practise.’ He grinned and she simply had to grin back. He was irrepressible and she liked him, but not in that way. He definitely wasn’t boyfriend material.

‘There’s a couple of things I want to show you before you take the van away,’ he said, opening the cab door and indicating she should sit inside.

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