Page 64 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

Chapter 20

Daniel couldn’t believe how quickly the days were racing by. Yet another weekend would soon be here and Christmas was growing ever nearer.

He’d had a couple more stints as Father Christmas, which was helping to keep the wolf from the door, and the more he played Santa, the easier he was finding it, but today he was thrilled to bits to be able to do what he was trained to do and what he loved doing more than anything else in the world – gardening. Although, if he was honest, working in the garden had been replaced as his top-most-love, by spending time with Seren. He couldn’t get enough of her, and she consumed his every waking thought. Talk about smitten!

So it was with a light heart and a spring in his step that he headed off to his job today. The only fly in the ointment as he’d driven towards Mr and Mrs West’s house, the elderly couple whose garden he was about to tackle, was spotting Gina and Amelia when he came to a halt at a junction.

Thankfully, neither of them noticed him. He still felt a pang whenever he thought about the little girl, and seeing her hopeful face would have crucified him. It had hurt him dreadfully when he’d cut off all contact with her, and he disliked himself intensely for it, but he’d not had any choice. It wouldn’t have been fair on either of them.

Trying to regain his earlier upbeat mood, Daniel pulled up outside the West’s house and began uploading some equipment from his truck.

Today’s task was clearing leaf-fall from a choked-up pond, and planting various spring bulbs. It was a little late in the season to be putting spring bulbs in the ground, but as Mrs West had explained over the phone, her husband had desperately wanted to do it himself the way he always had done, but he’d been unwell. Having put it off as long as they’d dared, Mrs West had finally persuaded him that unless someone else planted them, there would be no riot of colour in their garden next spring; and they did so love their garden.

‘Can I make you a cup of tea before you start?’ the old lady asked. She was tiny, only reaching to his armpit, stooped and frail, with a mop of frizzy white hair like a halo, and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen.

‘That would be lovely, thanks,’ he said. ‘I won’t come in, though.’ He nodded towards his feet, and the scuffed work boots he was wearing. He was also eager to get going. Pond-clearing wasn’t his favourite activity as it was usually smelly, slimy and involved getting wet, even though he had thick waterproof gloves for the occasion and a long net.

Mr West was even frailer, bless him, Daniel saw, when he went around the back of the house and noticed the old gent sitting in front of the picture window with a tartan rug spread over his knees and a woebegone expression on his face.

‘Would your husband like to point out what he wants me to plant where?’ Daniel asked, after he’d quickly slurped his tea and Mrs West had opened an old coal shed to show him where the bulbs were being stored. Many of them were already starting to sprout. Daffodils, crocuses, tulips, grape hyacinths and fritillaria, all needed to be planted.

Conscious of the old man’s baleful gaze, and understanding that Mr West might be feeling resentful that the tasks he usually performed himself were having to be done by a stranger, Daniel tried to involve him as much as possible. And when he wasn’t looking, Daniel also took it upon himself to tidy up the edges of the borders and do a bit of discreet pruning. That rosebush could do with chopping back, for a start: a good prune now would ensure more vigorous growth in the spring, followed by healthier and more abundant blooms.

He hoped Mr West would be in a position to do his own pruning and planting next year, but for now Daniel would do whatever he could to help. After all, one day it might be Daniel himself watching another, younger man, working in his own garden, and feeling resentful about it.

Seeing Mr and Mrs West together, and how she lovingly tucked the rug around her husband’s knees, Daniel hoped he’d be like that when he was their age – still in love. And he was beginning to hope he might have found the very person he wanted to grow old with.

Seren wasn’t rolling in money, but she had made a modest profit from her travelling Christmas van sales this week and she knew what she was going to do with it – treat Daniel to an evening out. He’d taken her curling last weekend, and then onto that karaoke bar, so it was only fair she did something nice for him. And, as he’d pointed out, it was a shame not to fully indulge in all the wonderful Christmassy things on offer since they only happened once a year. She was thinking that anything they missed this year could be enjoyed next year, as she was hopeful they’d still be together. The way their relationship was progressing, she was quietly optimistic that they would.

They still had some way to go – they hadn’t even spent the night together yet, although they’d come fairly close – but it was only a matter of time before they took that final step, and the thought made her insides fizz and her heart flutter with longing and excitement. Daniel aroused her like none of her previous boyfriends ever had, and although she was desperate to consummate their relationship, she also appreciated he was taking things slowly. If it had been Tobias who she was dating, she had a feeling she’d have had to fight him off with a stick by now. She also had a feeling that Tobias would have lost interest in her if she hadn’t let him get into her knickers straight away.

Daniel was more reserved, less eager to jump in and be damned, and she appreciated him taking the time to get to know her before leaping into bed with her. This relationship might be new, but it was being built on solid foundations and would hopefully be all the stronger for it.

‘A barbeque?’ Daniel asked doubtfully when they arrived at their destination that evening.

‘This is going to be fun!’ Seren exclaimed, leading him over to a bench and sitting down.

‘It’s the middle of winter,’ Daniel pointed out.

‘I know, silly, but the firepit is kicking out a fair amount of heat, and they provide faux fur blankets. Look!’

Ten or so benches were clustered around a central fire pit, and beside each bench was a basket containing several fake fur blankets. Most of the benches were occupied, and everyone was taking advantage of the additional warmth those blankets provided. Off to the side, a hog turned on a spit, and the delicious smells of roasting pork and frying onions mingled with the aroma of wood smoke and hot spiced wine.

‘It’s a kind of Viking theme,’ Seren explained, pointing at the serving staff, who were wearing tunics and helmets, and there were drinking horns and large shiny shields dotted around. The pop-up bar was in the shape of a Viking longship, complete with a carved wooden dragon’s head at one end, and tail at the other, and fairy lights twinkled along its length. To top it off, the theme music from the TV seriesVikingsfilled the air.

Seren had no idea how authentic any of this was, and it didn’t have anything to do with Christmas as such, but it was fun, and the selection of cocktails had made her keen to try a couple. After the delicious hot buttered rum last week, she wanted to indulge in other unusual and tempting combinations.

‘What will you have?’ she asked, gesturing to the bar.

‘Surprise me,’ Daniel said, looking bemused.

She was about to ask him what flavours he might prefer when Seren’s breath caught in her throat. His eyes were glittering in the light from the fire and his breath clouded around his head. With a fur blanket draped around his shoulders, he looked rather like a Viking himself and Seren felt a surge of desire. God, he was sexy!

‘Down girl,’ she muttered as she walked over to the bar where, much to her relief, her lustful thoughts were replaced by the rather nice problem of trying to decide which of the tantalisingly mouth-watering cocktails to go for. How about a gingerbread martini? Made from vodka, Baileys Irish Cream, spiced caramel sauce, and a little gingerbread man on top, it sounded divine. Or how about a Christmas pudding? Consisting of gin, brandy and Amaretto, along with orange, lemon and cinnamon, it sounded incredibly luxurious. Then there was the scrumptious-sounding White Christmas martini, which had Malibu, marshmallows and maraschino cherries in it.

Ooh, she was spoilt for choice! Deciding to order two different drinks for her and Daniel, on the premise that they could each have a taste of the other’s concoction, she carried the cocktails carefully back to their bench, inhaling the mouth-watering smell. Seren didn’t usually drink anything more exotic than wine or sometimes cider on a hot summer afternoon, but Christmas was an exception. Aunt Nelly always insisted she have a glass of sherry with her, her dad loved his eggnog so of course she had to have a taste of that, and how could she resist mulled wine? But these cocktails took festive drinks to a whole new level.

‘Mmm,’ she murmured, sipping at her straw, the taste of gin and marzipan busting on her tongue.

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