Page 103 of Under the Mistletoe with You

‘Being a handyman, Christopher.It’s very obvious.’

‘Well, no, I’m not.It’s the van that came with the bakery.One of the other people in the town managed to fix it up for me.’

Not entirely a lie, but it still yields a suspiciousHmm.

‘And how did you know I’m in a van?’

‘I can just tell these things.’Sometimes it terrifies him how omniscient she is.‘Has that man left yet?’

‘Which man?’

‘Don’t be coy.It doesn’t suit you.’

‘We found him alternate lodgings,’ Christopher says quickly.‘Anyway, Mother, I’m ringing because I need some help and I thought, with your vast network of contacts, you might be able to assist me.’Esther loves a bit of flattery, and he must admit, he’s a bit of a Mummy’s-boy suck-up, but it always gets the job done.

Christopher takes his time explaining Myffy and Mohan’s situation, and that he’s trying to source a car that Mohan could drive home.

‘Well now, you have been a busy bee,’ Esther says, and Christopher is almost positive he can detect a glimmer of pride in her voice.

‘Just trying to help everyone out.’

‘The insurance would be expensive to take out right now,’ he hears his father say in the background.‘Unless the chap has multi-vehicle coverage.’

‘Yes, well that’s something we’ll deal with if we can find him a car to drive.I didn’t want to get their hopes up until we could find a car.’

‘It’s not every day a man asks another man to entrust his vehicles into someone else’s hands,’ Otto says with all the seriousness of a prophet.

‘I know, but it’s important.If it was Kit—’

He doesn’t manage to finish the sentence because his mother answers.‘I’ll make some calls, Christopher, but there’s no guarantee.Give me an hour.’

And with that, she hangs up, clearly already beginning her mission to find a car.

Christopher rushes into the town hall, out of the freezing cold of the van, finally thankful for the permanent installation of the hot drinks table, even if both the tea and the coffee are little more than overheated metallic-tasting water.After grabbing a cup of what he thinks might be Earl Grey tea but frankly could be anything, he joins everyone at the Mission Control table.He doesn’t see Nash, and tries to act as if this is fine and good and he’s probably just in the bathroom, rather than walking back to LA.

‘I heard you’re after a car for Mohan.You called your mam?’Shaz asks, handing him a hot cup of tea she had already made for him in a mug that says World’s Best Grandma.

Unfailingly polite, Christopher takes it, then just stands there holding two blisteringly hot mugs at once.‘Yes, she’s on it.’

‘It’s a Christmas miracle.’

Shaz settles into a folding chair and pats the one next to her for him to sit down, too.It’s rather difficult to sit down while holding and not spilling two mugs, but he manages it.Maybe he should ask Nash for some tips about strengthening his core.

‘Have you been here all day?’Christopher asks.

‘I’ve been coordinating, slash, on Ursula duty.’

‘What does that entail?’

‘Making sure she’s not pissing off Tammy.’

Without looking up from her laptop, Tamara gives a thumbs up straight into the air.

‘See, I’m doing a great job.Plus, I’ve been walking prescriptions over to people’s houses, and I picked up all the dog poop from Mrs Llewellyn’s back garden.And I even went home to look after the kids for all of five minutes.’

‘You’re a saint.’

‘You bet I am.And the best part is, I think me being so community-minded might have inadvertently given me some bonus brownie points with Kathy.’