Page 36 of Make You Mine This Christmas

‘That’s Luna,’ Christopher says. ‘And this is Stella.’

‘How can I tell them apart?’ she asks, glancing between the two identical dogs.

‘Luna has the greyer beard. Stella is podgier. They have the same parents, but they’re from different litters. Luna is the older one.’

Stella joins Luna in sniffing Haf all over, until they successfully discover the bag of treats in her pocket, and begin gently pawing for her to give them over. She shifts to take two out of the bag, one in each hand, and presents them to the dogs who snaffle them up eagerly.

‘Friends?’ she asks, and the girls respond with a quick wag and big round eyes, hoping for more.

‘They’ll love you forever now.’ Otto laughs, and clearly all is forgiven.

‘All right, one more,’ she says, getting the dogs to sit and give paw.

‘Sorry I was so long. Is Christopher back?’ shouts a voice from another room.

‘We’re all in here,’ calls Esther.

‘It’s completely fucking Baltic out there.’

‘Kit, don’t say “fuck”, it’s vulgar,’ admonishes Esther.

‘In fairness, you just said it too,’ she says, her voice getting closer.

‘Stop being obstinate and come say hello to Christopher’s girlfriend.’

As Kit walks into the room, unwinding the thick scarf around her neck, she locks eyes with Haf.

And a stone drops in Haf’s stomach.

She would recognise that smile and that bitter-chocolate hair anywhere. In fact, she spent half of today looking everywhere for her.

Haf just didn’t expect to find her here in Christopher’s living room.

Kit is the girl from the bookshop.

Chapter Seven

How can she behis sister?

What monumental coincidence and absolute fuckery has the universe thrown Haf’s way? This is officially a completely cursed year.

It’s definitely her. The dark eyes Haf’s spent all day thinking of stare at her in confusion.

This is one thing too many. She wants to faint, be sick and run away, all at once. Or maybe not all at once, but at least one of the above seems like a better option than standing in this room looking at the first person she’s felt anything for in like a year while standing next to the man she’s supposed to be in love with and the parents she’s trying to prove this love to.

‘Hello?’ Kit says, one dark eyebrow arched in a sleek curve. She looks from Haf to Christopher and back, another question unsaid.

‘Kit, come say hello to Haf. She’s Christopher’s new girlfriend, remember?’ says Esther, unfolding an arm in Haf’s direction. ‘I’m sure Laurel must have told you about meeting her.’

Haf’s stomach flips as the bookshop girl, asKit, meets her eyes.

Again.

Her mouth is slightly ajar, a confused smirk in the corner of one lip.

Does she recognise her? Did that moment mean anything to her, like it did to Haf? Maybe Kit has people falling all overher in bookshops all the time. She’s so beautiful that perhaps it happens all the time, and maybe it was simply another part of her day. Perhaps it didn’t even register as amomentto her.

But there’s a hesitation. A too-long pause after Esther’s introduction that Haf doesn’t think is just her own sense of time stretching out into slow motion due to a feeling of impending doom.