Page 33 of The Mission

What to buy for a guy he didn’t know very well, but wanted desperately to get to know really well? He wanted to see Arlo’s face light up when he opened the gift, which wasn’t going to be a Rolex.

Good news and bad news about Kitzbühel. It was an upmarket resort and the brightly painted facades of the buildings made it look attractive and charming, but sadly, everything was expensive. High-end boutiques and designer labels abounded. There was no Primark or Pound Stretcher in sight.Not that he wanted to buy Arlo something cheap. But he didn’t want to go mad either.

The views were spectacular. He’d love to live in a place like this. Mountainous panoramas, Christmas everywhere he looked, beautifully decorated shopfronts and a Christmas market. Though that wasn’t open until after lunch. He had no idea what he was looking for but he did spot some attractive scarves and bought ones for Arlo’s parents. No one would expect him to buy presents for all the brothers, wives and children, would they? One joint gift seemed the best bet.

Conrad was beginning to give up hope of finding anything different for Arlo when he spotted a little gift shop on a side street. Almost immediately, he knew what he wanted to buy. It was a well-made, intricate wooden puzzle box that required several clues to be solved before the box could be opened.

“How easy is it?” Conrad asked in German.

“Not very easy. I can do it quite quickly but I’ve been doing them for years. People bring them back when they can’t get them open. It takes several hours for most people to figure it all out.”

“If I wrote a message, could you put it in the box and reassemble it?”

The man smiled. “I can do that.” He gave Conrad paper and pencil and started to dismantle the box. Once Conrad had written his message, he folded it up and waited until the central box was open so he could slip it inside.

It wasn’t the only gift he bought in there and he slotted his purchases into his backpack.

Arlo was staring into the jeweller’s window when Conrad came up behind him.

“That will be the one he buys me,” Arlo said. “Or maybe that one. Only twenty-three thousand Euros.” Then he turned. “Oh, you’re here.”

Conrad gave him a quick kiss. “Who were you talking to? The invisible man? What do you need to buy?”

“It depends on what I see you smiling at.”

“You don’t need to get me anything, especially from this shop, but I want to buy a game for your family. Let’s look for a toyshop and you can tell me which ones you already have.”

They had fun shopping, even though Conrad spent more than he’d intended. But he’d never had anyone to buy gifts for at Christmas – apart from Big Arsehole—what a waste that had been. Conrad had no idea what Arlo had bought him because Arlo sat him on a bench with two cups of Glühwein, then disappeared. He came back with a bag, slipped it into one of his other carriers and picked up his drink.

“We need wrapping paper too,” Arlo said. “Mum has plenty of Sellotape and tags.”

“Do you give gifts tomorrow or on Christmas Day?” Conrad knew it was a tradition in Austria to open presents on Christmas Eve.

“Christmas Day. Lehner Christmases are a mix of British and Austrian. All my brothers’ wives are British, so Mum and Dad compromise.”

“Church?” Conrad asked.

“Not unless you want to. Do you want to?”

Conrad shook his head. If he’d been on his own, he might have gone tomorrow. There was something lovely about a Christmas Eve service—the singing, the music. A reminder of what Christmas was really about.

“What do you have planned for this afternoon?” Conrad asked.

“The Christmas market, then lunch out or we can go back to the chalet and have lunch there. Then we can choose between paragliding, ice diving, ski jumping, skeleton bob sleigh, ice climbing—though they did say it was a bit early in the season so not entirely safe—but hey, we can take the risk, or an ice hockey experience—definitely not safe, freestyle aerial skiing—easy peasy, or snow kiting.”

Conrad made sure he kept his face straight. “Or?”

“No, that was it. That’s the choice. But…”

“But what?

Arlo gave him a slow smile. “Everyone is out this afternoon. The kids are with their parents and grandparents visiting Santa Claus, poor guy, then they’re going ice skating and I thought how tired you must be after yesterday and how lying down would be good for you, especially if it’s somewhere comfortable. I could massage bits of you.”

“Are you any good at that?”

“Particularly good at some bits, yes. Want me to show you?”

Conrad gave a quiet groan. “Yes.”

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