Page 35 of Confessions of a Christmasholic

But there would be a begging bowl and lots and lots of laughter. This was the first time in years that he felt any sort of excitement to join in what had become a unique tradition in Conningworth, one entirely dependent on when Will and Eli were home. Sometimes it took place at the beginning of December, sometimes in January, but it was always regarded as a Christmas tradition. A weird one, but still a tradition.

Gus parked, cut the engine, and as he undid his seatbelt, Sutton’s phone flashed with an incoming video call. Her face lit up from the inside out, and Gus felt a smack of jealously for any man who could make her smile that way. He looked down. The face on the screen of her phone was young, mixed race and, from the little he could see, damn good-looking.

‘Jamie! Is everything okay? What’s happened?’ Sutton demanded.

‘Hey, can’t I just call my big sister out of the blue?’

Big sister?

‘You can, but youdon’t. You never call me! For all I know you could be married with nine children,’ Sutton whipped back, her smile now as bright as the sun.

Gus felt his jealously die down and he started whistling as he left the car to help the twins out of the car, unwilling to acknowledge his relief. When had he last been jealous? Ten, fifteen years ago?

When he opened the back door, both his kids were leaning forward, their eyes on Sutton’s screen. Within ten seconds, they were having a conversation with Sutton’s brother. Gus shook his head, his kids, well, mostly Rosie, were not shy about stepping forward.

‘And that’s Gus,’ Sutton explained, angling her phone so that her brother could see him. ‘I’m helping him with his twins for the next couple of weeks.’

‘I thought you said you’d rather walk on hot coals than look after ankle biters, Sutt.’

Sutton groaned. ‘Jeez, Jamie! When are you going to develop a filter?’ She threw him an apologetic look and he lifted his eyebrows, silently telling her he’d need an explanation later.

‘And anyone would be gun shy after looking after you three,’ Sutton told her brother.

‘I wasperfect,’ Jamie protested.

‘Perfectly revolting,’ Sutton shot back.

Gus had both the kids on the pavement, and he shut the back doors. He opened Sutton’s door. ‘It’s too cold to stand around, so I’m going to start walking,’ he murmured. ‘Catch up with us. And enjoy your chat.’

Sutton mouthed a ‘sorry’ and Gus smiled, closing her car door. Taking the twins’ hands, he walked away from her, hoping she wouldn’t be too long. He looked down the street, the starting point of tonight’s entertainment and saw Will, Eli, and Moira, standing in a huddle and stamping their feet. Next to Eli was a cooler box on wheels, and Gus wondered what liquid beverage would be on offer tonight. Last year it had been rum, the year before schnapps.

Gus felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and didn’t bother to haul it out, knowing it was a message to everyone on the village WhatsApp group, stating that the show was about to begin. Only a precious few people, the boys, Moira, and he knew the date of the boys’ annual concert. If it could be called that. A village knee’s up? A neighbourhood party?

‘Silent Night, Holy night…’

Gus shivered as Will’s deep voice broke the silence of the cold night, and Gus watched as front doors opened down the street, his friends and neighbours hastily pulling on coats as they hurried to hear Will sing. Gus always forgot how good he was, and even the kids stopped in their tracks, their little mouths falling open as Will’s voice danced on the cold air.

He looked around to see where Sutton was, and his heart settled as he saw her hurrying down the road to join them, her face alight with excitement. In her bright red coat, red and white scarf, and green beanie, she looked like a Christmas elf, and utterly gorgeous.

What did her brother mean by his offhand comment about not ever wanting to look after kids again? Was that a temporary or a forever thing? And why was he worried about it? He wasn’t thinking about her in a long-term way, was he? Because that would be…

Well, notbad. A little strange? But, crucially, he didn’t feel the urge to run down the street naked at the thought.

Sutton reached them. ‘Oh, are we carolling? Awesome!’

‘They’ll start with a few carols, but it won’t end there,’ Gus told her.

‘Daddy, there’s Nan and she has the begging bowl!’ Rosie tugged on his jacket. ‘Can we go to her?’

Gus let them run off and looked down at Sutton, who arched her eyebrows. ‘Are things that bad at the Hall that Moira has to beg from her neighbours?’ she teased.

He ran his thumb over her cheekbone, and wished he could kiss her cold lips. He smiled at the laughter in her eyes and realised that this was, so far, the best Christmas he could remember in years. And that was because Sutton was here, making the situation lighter and brighter, pushing his dark memories away. He wouldn’t say he was starting to love the season, but maybe he wasn’t hating it as much as he usually did.

Will and Eli launched into ‘Deck The Halls’and Gus noticed Moira pouring a shot of whiskey into the glass her neighbour held out. Right, money had to be hitting the bowl. You didn’t get alcohol without making a financial contribution.

He placed his hand on Sutton’s back and steered her to the group on the pavement. ‘So, how do I explain this? I guess it’s a combination of wassailing, mumming and Will and Eli being Will and Eli.’

‘I have no idea what wassailing and mumming are,’ Sutton admitted.

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