Page 14 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“It wouldn’t,” she said without looking back at him.

When he spoke again, he was right beside her. His breath sweeping over her ear made her jump. “Want me to grab you some food?”

“Would you?” Usually she’d bring a sandwich and snacks but in her rush that morning she’d forgotten to pack anything and had been hoping things would slow down enough that she could ask one of her neighbours to watch her stall while shenipped out to the food vans. Having Warren go for her would be great.

“Any special requests?”

“Anything. Whichever queue is the shortest. I just want food.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Warren’s mum appeared on the other side of the table. “Your wreaths are gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Anna said, while Jen admired her collection.

“The cards are beautiful, too.” She lifted one with a robin on a snowy postbox. “Did you draw this?”

“Yes,” Anna said meekly.

“What a talent,” she said, then twisted her lips. “I’ve seen them before.” Her eyes flicked to Warren. “You always send us one of Anna’s Christmas cards.”

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “I’m just going to find some food for Anna. She hasn’t eaten.”

Jen tutted and eyed Anna sympathetically. “Why don’t I keep an eye on things here while you have a break? Get something to eat with Warren and have a look around.”

“Umm…” Anna glanced around the room, which was quietening down. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Jen looked at her husband as he ambled over. “We can play shop for a while, can’t we?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Anna scanned her table. “Everything has price tags on,” she said, then pointed at her money tin. “There’s cash in here, and I have a card reader if anyone wants to pay by card… which you probably won’t know how to use…” She frowned.

“We’ll encourage people to pay with cash,” Jen said. “Or ask them to come back in a little while.”

“Thank you.” Anna grabbed her coat and followed Warren out from behind the table. “If there’s a problem, just call Warren.”

“Will do,” Jen said, and looked quite entertained by the idea of looking after things.

Wandering through the hall, Anna had a quick look at the other stalls, but her rumbling stomach led her out to the food trucks pretty quickly.

“That was nice of your parents,” she said, once they had burgers and hot chocolates and stood by a high table at the edge of the car park.

“Yeah.”

She covered her mouth with her hand while she chewed her burger. “Do you buy my Christmas cards?”

“Yeah.” Warren took a large bite of his burger and spoke with an amused glint in his eyes. “They sell them at the reception desk at the hotel. Way more convenient than having to go shopping.”

She rocked sideways to knock her shoulder against his.

“I’m only joking. I buy them because they’re really good.”

“Thank you,” she said shyly. “How’s it going with your parents?”

“Surprisingly painless so far.”

“How often do you see them usually?”

“I usually take a week off in January and go down to London.”