Page 38 of Merrily Ever After
29 NOVEMBER
‘I think this tree might even be more gorgeous than last year’s.’ Hester cuddled up to her husband, Paul, and tucked her hand in his pocket.
Tonight was the annual Christmas lights switch-on and, as per tradition, Wetherley market square was packed with people in celebratory mood. Frost sparkled on pavements and stars dazzled in a velvet sky. Lights were strung from lamp post to lamp post, zigzagging across the cobbled streets which surrounded the square. Most of the shops, mine included, had added fairy lights to their window displays and the whole of the town centre looked impossibly charming. The assembled crowd was singing along to the Christmas music blasting out from the stage which had been erected beside a ginormous Norwegian spruce. All we needed now was for the tree’s lights to be turned on by this year’s celebrity, and the festive season would be officially under way in Wetherley.
‘It is certainly well hung,’ said Astrid, in her clipped German accent, glancing up at the tree’s decorations. She bent down to pick up her little dog, Otto, who was pawing at her legs and missed Nell and me smothering our giggles at her turn of phrase.
‘We’ve brought flasks of mulled wine and hot chocolate with us,’ said Fred, doing his best not to react. He unzipped the bag at his feet. ‘What would everyone like?’
‘Hot chocolate please,’ I replied.
‘Me too,’ said Cole, slipping an arm around my waist. ‘Christmas or not, red wine and cinnamon should never share a glass in my opinion.’
‘Bah humbug,’ said Hester, poking her tongue out at her brother as she accepted a cup of mulled wine from her dad.
Nell and her husband Olek opted for mulled wine too and Astrid handed round some of herlebkuchen, delicious, chewy biscuits, full of Christmas spices. I bit into one and as I did, I caught the eye of the DJ on stage. It was Nigel, who ran the hardware store and who’d overseen last year’s music too. We waved to each other, and he shouted down to me to save him one of Astrid’s biscuits. Just then, the rest of the Christmas committee joined him on stage and Nigel lowered the volume of the music.
‘I feel quite nostalgic,’ remarked Hester. ‘Last year, it was us up there in the spotlight.’
‘A grand job you made of it too,’ said Fred, smiling proudly.’And you, Merry.’
Last year, I had overseen the committee, and although not without its challenges, the project had been great fun. Cole had been my landlord at the time, and when I’d admitted that I couldn’t find a celebrity to switch on the lights, he’d persuaded Hester to do it. Everyone had agreed it had been a great event and a successful start to Wetherley’s festivities.
The main celebration was traditionally held in the market square on Christmas Eve after all the traders had finished work. I’d had the idea of filling the whole areawith Christmas trees, each one individually decorated by a different community group. All had gone swimmingly until we’d had a power cut. While I’d distributed Merry and Bright candles to everyone, Cole had fetched a generator to provide us with an emergency electricity supply. I couldn’t have managed without him, and it had marked the start of our love story.
The Christmas Project last year had been on a much grander scale in order to pay tribute to an elderly man who’d passed away and who’d been a popular member of the community. This year, apart from tonight’s switch-on, there’d just be a few mince pies and carols in the market square on Christmas Eve and so Nell and I weren’t needed on the committee.
It was just as well; as Hester had pointed out during my last visit to the TV studio, I had enough on my plate. I’d been extra-vigilant with Fred since then, looking for signs that he had had enough of working for me. I hadn’t brought up the subject with him, or Astrid for that matter. I knew it was a bit cowardly of me, but I feared his answer. I’d decided to put my head in the sand for now and tackle the staffing issues just as soon as I’d got the wedding out of the way. Until then, we’d just have to manage; I didn’t have time to train up new staff.
‘Merry, you look miles away.’ Paul waved a hand in front of my face. ‘I was just saying that this year’s switch-on has got its work cut out to beat your success last year.’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ I inclined my head towards Tasha Sandean, the head teacher of Wetherley Primary school, who was posing on the stage beside a tall muscular man in a leather biker jacket while a photographer took their picture. ‘Our leader looks pretty on it to me.’
‘Wow,scharf!’ said Astrid with wide eyes, feeding Otto a small piece of biscuit. ‘I have never heard of this celebrity boy, but he is very handsome.’
‘His name is Jaden Hall, he is a footballer,’ pointed out Olek. ‘Plays for a second division side. I’m surprised to see him in Wetherley.’
‘I heard Tasha was at university with his brother,’ I said. ‘And she can be very persuasive when she wants something.’
Tasha had turned Wetherley school around by all accounts. If I ever had children, I’d want them under her care. She had also swept my ex-boyfriend, Daniel, off his feet this time last year. Which, although I’d found hard to swallow at the time, was a blessing in disguise because our breakup led to me falling in love with Cole.
‘As are you, darling, seeing as your idea was voted the winner last year,’ Cole reminded me.
‘We did the right thing, standing down, Merry,’ said Nell. ‘If you don’t step back and let others take a turn, you get taken for granted.’
‘Besides,’ added Cole, sipping his hot chocolate, ‘Christmas Eve is going to be the start of our married life. My fiancée will be too busy to organise Wetherley’s celebrations.’
Everyone whooped and cheered at the mention of ‘my fiancée’.
‘Ahhh,’ said Hester. ‘I’m so excited for this wedding. Do we have a venue yet?’
Cole and I exchanged glances. We’d just come from the Claybourne Hotel, where the wedding organiser had shown us the garden room. Cole had been impressed with it when he’d been by himself, and so, as agreed, we’d gone back together. He’d wanted to book it there and then. I knew we didn’t have a lot of time, but Iwanted a bit longer to mull it over. The atmosphere in the car driving back hadn’t exactly been frosty, but it wasn’t relaxed either.
‘Possibly,’ I said diplomatically. ‘We’ve seen one, but I think we should see some others before we decide.’
‘Have we got time to do that?’ asked Cole, not unreasonably. ‘It’s taken ages to find a moment when we were both free to visit this one.’
‘If you have found one still available, I would book it quickly in case someone else does,’ Olek advised.
