Page 126 of Under the Mistletoe with You

‘My wife is the scariest woman in the world.I’m going to have a bite to eat if that’s all right.’Shaz sends the tall woman off to take a seat at the table with a pat on the bum.

‘Hang on a minute,’ Christopher says to Shaz.‘You’re ...together?!’

‘What, Gar?’she asks, thumbing in the direction of the tall woman, now happily eating her dinner.

‘She’sGar??’

‘Who else did you think Gar was?That’s Gabrielle!Gar for short.’The look Shaz is giving him lies somewhere between baffled and extremely amused.

‘I ...I don’t know,’ he murmurs and then realises the embarrassing truth of it all.‘I thought you were married to a Gary.’

‘You thought my wife’s name was Gary?’Shaz snorts with laughter.

‘Well, no ...’

‘Hang on,’ says Shaz.‘Did you not notice that Tegan is my step-daughter?’

‘You talk to everyone so ...’Christopher stumbles to find a word, ‘soShazlythat I didn’t think you were actually related.I thought that was just a You Thing.’

She bursts into raucous laughter.‘Oh dear, I am either a shite step-parent or really good at bossing everyone around if that’s the case.’

‘And I’m ...I’m really sorry, I presumed the straight default.That was weird of me.’

At this, she softens a little, her laughs subsiding if not diminishing completely.‘Christopher, you big lug.Why do you think I was so insistent on coming in every day and getting people to come?Why do you think Gar and I were so keen for Tegan to come and work for you?’

Dizzy with the revelations, Christopher doesn’t answer, because how do you answer when all your preconceptions are so obviously wrong in the first place?

‘Because I wanted to support a new queer business, you big wally.One of my friends, Kim, is obsessed with bakestagram or whatever you call it.She sent me your announcement about opening here, and I clocked your subtle little blackberry and raspberry layer cake on International Bisexual Visibility Day, so I wanted to come out and make you feel part of the community.Hell, it’s not like we’re overrun with gays here, but I thought it might be nice to know one seeing as you were coming up from London.And luckily, I liked you, so I stuck around.’

‘Oh,’ he says, a warm ache forming in his chest.Before he can say anything, tears prick at the corner of his eyes.

‘Come here, you big fanny.’Shaz wraps her arms around his middle and he bends down a little to tuck his head against hers.

‘No one’s ever said that before,’ he murmurs into her hair.

‘What?Come here, you big fanny?’

He snorts with laughter.‘Not that, thankfully.’

‘I don’t know.Could be a good come-on.I’m sure you’d oblige it if Nash asked.’

Oh no.‘Is it that obvious then?’

‘Oh, you bet, you’re giving me all the gory details tomorrow.While you two were back here cooking, half the gossip in the village hall was about whether we reckoned you’d snogged yet.Thelma wanted to start a betting pool.’

He laughs and takes a moment to find the words to say what his heart is yelling.‘This is a little hard to explain,’ he begins.‘So, you know my sister is gay.’

‘I know, Gar and I met her when you guys were up here in the summer.She and Gar couldn’t stop talking about shelving, the fucking weirdos.I think they swapped emails and everything.They’re like mutual close friends on Instagram now.’

‘Wait, hang on.So everyone knew but me?’

‘Apparently.Not that it was a secret.You just apparently can’t put two and two together.Or just two lesbians I guess.’

‘Well, I feel very silly.’

‘Anyway, we were having amoment, let’s not get side-tracked,’ she urges.‘What were you trying to say?’

‘So yes, Kit is gay and a few of my friends are queer or trans, and I’m still really kind of finding my feet with everything ...with being bisexual.It’s ...it’s notnewnews.But it’s new that I’membracingit, and have been doing so since Laurel and I broke up.’