Page 4 of A Manny for Christmas

He’s a Sorrel Farm member who seeks me out whenever he’s working out of the Oast House, though it’s taken a while for me to thaw out enough to agree to a date with him. After what Felix did to me, I will not be letting a man into my heart—or my knickers—anytime soon.

‘I agree with Jess,’ Nora says. ‘Saoirse and I have huge girl-crushes on you. We’ve discussed it endlessly. She still asks me how you are.’

I laugh. Nora organised the wedding here for Theo’s brother Miles and his adorable now-wife Saoirse, and I created their wedding cake. ‘I’m pretty sure Saoirse is far too taken by her delicious husband to be thinking of me at all. But you’re very sweet.’

‘The Montague men really are delicious, aren’t they?’ Nora asks no one in particular, and I smile despite myself.

‘So where’s Paul taking you?’ Clara asks, and a flutter of nerves hits my stomach.

‘I don’t know. He’s left it up to me. What should I say? Dinner feels very formal. I don’t want to be trapped at a table with him for two hours. What if I have no conversation beyond the gingerbread village and the rising cost of school uniforms?’

I’m spearheading the construction of a vast and intricate German-style gingerbread village for the farm’s festive display. It seemed like a great idea at the time and now is proving to be an epic labour of love, hence all the sugary shit in my hair this evening.

There are concerned expressions around the table.

‘Maybe dinner’s too much pressure for you,’ Evelyn says, leaning forward to pat my hand.

‘Pressure?’ I’m alarmed. ‘You mean if he buys me dinner, he’ll expect me to have sex with him?’

Oh my God. Oh my God. Yes, he’s handsome, but I have no intention of having sex with an actual, real-life man, no matter what a pretence I make about being upset over the others’ sex lives.

‘God, no,’ Sadie says. ‘Chill out, Molly. Evelyn just means that dinner could be quite intense if you don’t know the guy. As you said, you don’t want to feel like you have to make conversation all night. Why not just suggest going to the Christmas market together?’

‘That’s a great idea,’ I say. The farm has a Christmas market which started a couple of weeks ago and runs the whole way through until Christmas. ‘We can stroll around, listen to some carols, have a couple of glasses of mulled wine. Good. Good.’

‘There you go,’ Jess says cheerfully. ‘All sorted, babes.’

‘I don’t have to kiss him on the first date, do I? Oh, God. I am so out of practice.’ And so fucked.

Sadie wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. ‘Only if you want to.’

‘Oh, God,’ I say again.

‘Wear your hair down for him,’ Evelyn suggests. ‘It’ll knock him out.’

‘You don’t know what my hair looks like down,’ I counter.

‘Exactly. We all want to see it.’

‘We’ll be lurking in the bushes at the market, watching you,’ Nora says. ‘I’m far too obsessed with wondering what your hair looks like loose.’

‘Thanks, ladies,’ I say, ‘but it stays up. Nobody sees my hair down unless I’m sleeping with them.’ Which, of course, means nobody sees my hair down, full stop.

2

MAX

Fucking excellent.

There’s a barricade across the fancy gates of my brother’s home. It bears a sign sayingCONSTRUCTION SITE. NO UNAUTHORISED PERSONNEL.A porta-loo and a giant skip in the driveway underscore this message all too clearly.

Where the actual fuck is my brother living? I kill the engine on my rented bike and kick stand it before wandering closer on foot. As I peer pointlessly through the gates, my plan to crash with him and Ev until after Christmas falls to pieces before my eyes. Spontaneity can get me halfway around the world, but apparently it can’t get me a bed at my brother’s obnoxiously large pad.

I dump my duffle bag at my feet and pull my phone out from my lightweight jacket. Fuck, it’s cold in Britain. I don’t remember it being this cold in winter. I tug my helmet off and hit my brother’s number.

He answers with a perkyhello, mate.

‘Where are you?’ I ask, stamping my feet to stop them from going any more numb.

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