Page 141 of Make You Mine This Christmas

‘I’m so proud!’

‘Me too!’

Around them, a chorus of cheers and applause starts up, echoing around the cavernous train station. ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ sounds from one of the community pianos across the concourse, and Haf could swear the pianist is Bryn.

Christopher steps forward and pulls both of them into a hug.

‘You two have some talking to do,’ Kit whispers, slipping out of his embrace after a moment.

Haf sniffs hard and wipes her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Christopher. I feel like I ruined everything. We put so much effort into it, and I tanked it by being a horny goblin.’

They both laugh through thick tears.

‘You might be a horny goblin, but you didn’truinanything. You helped me so much. I never thought I’d tell my parents their hopes for me weren’t what I wanted. You helped me be brave enough to do that. And I told them about all of this.’

‘Oh no. How did they take it all?’

‘They’re a little . . . confused,’ he begins.

‘That’s putting it lightly. Esther even swore.’ Kit snorts. And in a perfect impression of her mother, she says, ‘Bloody hell, Christopher, go bring that girl right back here this instant.’

‘“I cannot believe you made me throw out a perfectly nice young woman on Boxing Day, Christopher,”’ adds Christopher in a similarly flawless mimic. ‘Honestly, I can’t believe that we managed to fool anyone that we were romantically involved.’

‘Hey, I’m a hot little piece. Youcouldhave been dating me,’ Haf protests.

‘Imagine what a mess that would have been,’ Ambrose noisily agrees.

‘Anyway, all I did was balls up a gingerbread house and cause a few scenes,’ Haf says.

‘While technically true, that’s not all, and you know that. Maybe it was fate that had us meet, because we both needed to grow up a little, and to be brave. And you’ve done that. Your friendship, your confidence in me kept me going and pushed me towards choosing the life I really want,’ he says, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

‘Okay, that does sound like a bit more,’ she says, glancing at Kit. ‘Thank you for introducing me to the love of my life.’

‘Gross!’ Kit yells, wrapping her arms around Haf.

‘I’m going to dine out on this for a long time,’ he says.

‘Who is that?’ Kit asks, pointing to the man Laurel is talking to.

When Haf realises who it is, she laughs. ‘It’s the bookseller who tried to get me to leave my number for you.’

‘Let’s go say hi, then,’ laughs Kit giddily, dragging her over.

As they approach hand in hand, the bookseller shrieks with glee. ‘I knew it! You don’t witness an emotionally charged moment over classic of lesbian literature every day. Iknewyou were destined to meet again. It’s not every day you get to see the start of a great love story.’

‘No, it’s not.’ Laurel beams.

‘So what now?’ Ambrose asks.

That question, which could feel so very big, doesn’t feel quite so scary under the Christmas tree.

‘Let’s go home,’ Christopher suggests.

‘What? Back to Oxlea?’ Haf asks nervously.

‘Why not? I drove, so there’s enough room for us all,’ Laurel interjects. ‘Except...’

She looks at the bookseller, who holds up his hands.