Page 78 of Merrily Ever After
He didn’t get to the end of the sentence because Emily’s lips were on his. And – thank heavens – he kissed her back and she was so grateful that he didn’t pull away and stare at her in disgust that she kissed him again. And she would probably have kissed him for even longer if some teenagers hadn’t walked past and made vomit noises at them and shouted at them to get a room.
‘Oh my God,’ Emily whispered. ‘We just snogged outside my sister’s shop. I hope she hasn’t got CCTV.’
‘You are a bad influence on me, Emily Meadows,’ said Will, his eyes bright with mirth. ‘I was going to wait until our second date to kiss you.’
‘Oh well,’ she said, grinning at him. ‘You know what they say, life’s short, so eat the cake, buy the shoes and kiss the boy.’
‘Do they say that?’ he asked, amused.
She laughed and shrugged. ‘I don’t really know, but they should.’
And checking the teenagers were no longer in view, she kissed him again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Merry
12 DECEMBER
Astrid handed me a takeaway cup of hot chocolate decorated with whipped cream and topped with a chocolate flake.
‘Danke schön,’ I said, picking out the chocolate and biting straight into it.
It was Saturday afternoon, and we were manning the Merry and Bright stall at a Christmas Fair at Springwood House where Astrid’s friend Maude was a resident.
‘Bitte schön,’ Astrid replied. ‘Are you hungry?’
My stomach gave a hollow rumble. ‘A bit. I missed lunch.’
I’d left home this morning without having breakfast either. Nell had told me yesterday that she thought I looked thin, and I’d told her that ironically it was called the ‘too much on my plate’ diet, which we’d both thought hilarious. On the plus side, by starting at the crack of dawn today, I’d managed to pour four hundred candles, giving us a head start for next week, which meant that at least I could have tomorrow off.
Astrid perched on a stool and narrowed her eyes. ‘You are working too hard. I worry about you. Drink up.’
‘Yes, Mum,’ I teased. I sipped my hot chocolate, its sugary hit giving me an instant energy boost. ‘There’s noneed to worry. It’s Christmas, we’re all working too hard. But not Fred,’ I added quickly. ‘I’m making sure he takes a proper lunch break and leaves on time. We need to keep him fit and healthy for your big trip.’
My smiled wavered, only for a fraction of a second, but Astrid eyed me shrewdly.
‘It will work out, you know, after Fred has gone,’ she said, patting my arm. ‘You are afraid of the unknown, that is all. You will find somebody just right to work at Merry and Bright. Put it out to the universe and see what it delivers.’
‘A customer by the look of it,’ I replied as an elderly lady with long silver hair clutching a sequinned handbag approached us.
‘Sit,’ Astrid ordered. ‘I can serve this lady.’
I didn’t argue.
I’d agreed to attend the fair when Astrid had mentioned it back in the autumn before I knew I was getting married. She’d seen a poster advertising for stallholders during one of her visits to Maude. It had crossed my mind to cancel as I was so busy. But the proceeds of today’s event were going to a dementia charity, and I knew it meant a lot to Astrid. So here I was.
I was having a nice time with lots of random chats with people, including the bubbly receptionist who’d bought some candles for her mum. All the staff here were lovely and the event was very organised.
‘It’s actually quite nice to do something other than wedding planning,’ I said when our customer had gone. ‘Christmas has got lost a bit this year since the wedding took over.’
‘Unlike last year, when Christmas tookallyour attention,’ replied Astrid. ‘Well, nearly all – I think Cole featured quite heavily in your conversations too.’
We exchanged smiles. I’d only just come out of a relationship and hadn’t wanted to meet anyone new. But Cole and I had found more and more reasons to spend time together and by Christmas Eve, I’d fallen in love with him.
‘He still does,’ I admitted. ‘I’m even more head over heels now.’
And now that I knew Freya wasn’t really against her dad marrying me, the wedding couldn’t come soon enough, nothing was going to keep us apart.
