Page 47 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

Chapter 14

Seren awoke on Sunday on cloud nine. Yesterday had been brilliant, both in terms of the Christmas fayre and being asked out on a date by a fit, hunky fella, and she was still fizzing with excitement, a warm glow enveloping her. She felt she was on the cusp of a whole new life.

Even being told to check the sell-by dates on the chilled meals section didn’t dampen her spirits, and neither did she let Pamela’s whingeing about how she should have been in yesterday and not swapped her shift, get to her. Staff swapped shifts all the time, but for some reason the store manager had got a bee in her bonnet about it.

Bah humbug, Seren thought. Some people were just born miserable and some people worked hard at it – she wasn’t sure which category Pamela fitted into, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let the woman’s sour mood bring her down.

Not having another Saturday off between now and Christmas was going to be a problem though, because most of the Christmas markets and fayres Seren fancied attending were on weekends, but she fully intended to make use of her day off on Thursday. She wasn’t expecting miracles, but she had been in touch with her aunt’s care home to ask if she could visit, and another old people’s residential complex on the other side of town had been happy for her to take her van along. It was a start, if nothing else.

She also planned on taking Dippy out for a drive to see if she could drum up any trade. The thought of trawling the streets with assorted Christmas tunes blaring out like a festive version of Mr Whippy (with handmade luxury chocolates instead of a 99) was daunting, but after all, that was what she and Aunt Nelly had envisioned when they’d got the idea of a travelling gift shop. To be truly mobile she had to go to the customers and not expect them to come to her. If she only concentrated all her efforts on events such as markets, she would be no different to those outlets on the high street.

With happiness flooding through her, Seren got on with what she was paid to do and tried not to think about her burgeoning business, or her date with Daniel on Friday. Because she’d found that if she wasn’t thinking about one of them, then she was thinking about the other, with Daniel occupying the lion’s share.

It was while she was daydreaming about his hazel eyes and strong-looking hands that her phone vibrated in her pocket, making her jump. Furtively, she hurried to the back of the shop and through a door marked ‘Private’. Only then did she take her mobile out to check to see who the caller was.

Her heart did a flippy-flip when she saw it was Daniel.

‘Just a sec,’ she hissed into it, and darted out to the loading bay. At this time of day it was usually empty and the store had had a delivery earlier, so she wasn’t surprised to see she had the area all to herself.

After wedging the door open with a piece of wood for that express purpose, and making sure she was standing just outside the reach of the CCTV camera which was trained on the loading bay, she turned her attention to her phone and the man on the other end of it – the man who made her have butterflies in her tummy whenever she thought of him, the man whose face she couldn’t get out of her mind.

‘Hi,’ she whispered. ‘Sorry about that. I’m at work, so I’ve got to be quick.’ She glanced through the crack in the open door but didn’t see anyone.

‘I’ve spoken to Miss Carruthers and she says you can have all the ivy you want, but you’ve got to take it away asap, otherwise it will be burnt.’

‘I see. Um…’ Seren dithered, wondering how much greenery she could feasibly get in the van now that it was full of stock. She could always borrow her dad’s car, but it was only a small hatchback and he was ever so fussy about it. All the leaves, twigs and other assorted flora which would inevitably need cleaning up would drive him to distraction; no matter how thoroughly she vacuumed up the mess, he would spot a bit she missed.

Daniel solved the problem for her. ‘I’m here now with my truck,’ he said, ‘so how about I load some on and drop it round to yours this evening? You can pick out the best bits and I’ll get rid of anything you don’t want.’

‘That’s kind of you. I’ll be home by five, so any time after that.’ She gave him her address and was about to say she was looking forward to seeing him, when she heard a noise beyond the door. ‘I’ve got to go,’ she whispered, and swiftly ended the call and slipped the phone back into her pocket.

‘There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing out here?’ Pamela glared suspiciously at her.

‘I… erm… just needed some fresh air,’ Seren said, hoping her face didn’t show her guilt at telling a porky.

‘Have you had enough?’ her manager asked, sarcastically. ‘Or would you like some more?’

‘I’ll come back in now,’ she said, feeling rather cross. Perhaps she shouldn’t be out here when officially she should be on the shop floor, but there was no need for Pamela to be so shitty about it. The woman was quick enough to reprimand her for the smallest infringement, but there was never any mention of the times Seren had gone above and beyond, staying after her shift ended to sort out a problem or skipping her break because they were short-staffed. It wasn’t as though Seren made a habit of popping outside for a cigarette, unlike others she could mention (she didn’t smoke), and she rarely took phone calls at work. But she’d been praying Daniel would keep his word and give her a ring.

She was so pleased she’d taken the call – even if it had landed her in hot water with Pamela – because with Daniel dropping off some ivy for her, she’d get to see him again a whole lot sooner than Friday. Yay!

‘I think your fella is here,’ Patrick said, sticking his head around the shed door and letting all the warmth out. ‘A van has pulled up outside. Do you want me to show him in?’

And risk her dad saying something Seren wished he hadn’t? No thank you! ‘It’s OK, I’ll do it. I’ll ask him to bring the van around the back, rather than traipse half of Sherwood Forest through the house.’

Seren had been trying to keep herself occupied by sorting out her garland and wreath-making materials in the shed (the only place her dad would allow her to make them), and her tummy turned over as she hurried through the house to the front.

Daniel was just getting out of his truck when Seren shot outside, shutting the door firmly behind her and dashing onto the pavement.

‘Hi,’ she said, suddenly coming over all shy. She peeped into the open bed of the truck and saw a mass of green foliage. ‘Is that for me? Gosh, it’s a lot.’

‘I knew I had the right address when I saw your van,’ he said, then he made a face. ‘Did I go overboard?’

Just a bit, she thought. She’d never use all that. ‘A little, but at least that means I get to pick out the best bits. I need to find somewhere else to park the van,’ she added. ‘It’s a bit big to leave outside the house on the road. The neighbours will start to complain. But I don’t want to park it too far away because I want to be able to keep an eye on it.’

Daniel looked towards the house and Seren followed the direction of his gaze. One of the drawn curtains twitched and she knew her dad was watching.

Quickly she said, ‘Can you drive your truck around the back, then I can put the ivy straight in the shed. It’ll save tracking it through the house.’

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