Page 146 of Under the Mistletoe with You

Before Shaz can resist, he wraps his arms around her.‘You nightmare,’ he says.‘If you admit it, think of all the gratitude cake you’ll get from me.’

‘Oh all right, it was me then.’

‘Ha!Too easy,’ says Gar.

‘There’s one thing I was thinking, though,’ Christopher says.‘Have you thought about doing this the rest of the year?’

‘What, celebrating New Year’s Eve?It’s a rogue choice but—’

‘No, you dingbat.Organising.Getting involved.You’ve done so much the last week, smashed it,andyou loved it.’

She pauses.‘You really think I did a good job?’

‘Yes,’ he urges.

‘I had been thinking it was time to go back to work,’ she said, with a glance up at Gar, who looks down at her with glowing pride.‘Maybe I can speak to Tammy.Get into local politics and terrify everyone.’

Gar nods.‘You are very good at that part, bab.’

‘Thanks,’ she says.‘It kind of ...knocked my confidence when I lost the school job.It’s nice to be reminded I’m good at something.’

The sound of someone knocking on a microphone cuts through the party, and everyone turns to see Tamara standing in the middle of the room.‘Good evening everyone.Thank you all for coming.I think Pen-y-Môr has been through a real trial over the last couple of weeks, and you all rose to the challenge.So, this is our thanks to all of you for yourhard work and community spirit.Have fun, be merry, and Blwyddyn Newydd dda.’

She raises a glass of bubbly, and everyone does the same, chorusing variations on ‘Blwyddyn Newydd dda’ and ‘Happy New Year’.The music is turned up fully, and Ursula drags Tamara onto an impromptu dance floor with Joan, Cecil and Mervyn.

There’s a bittersweetness to all this that he doesn’t want to notice, but can’t help but feel.The lack ofhim.He would be flirting with Myffy or dancing with Ursula and Tamara or he’d have picked up a tray and would be serving everyone snacks and drinks.All the time flashing that Hollywood smile of his.

It’s not the first time Nash has crossed his mind in the last few days, but on this occasion, Christopher allows himself, just for a little while, to dream.

* * *

Quiet dreaming ends up not being the vibe of the night.Everyone of drinking age gets into Thelma’s rocket fuel, and soon the party is quite lairy.Having nursed a beer for the last hour, Christopher is feeling rather out of step with everyone else.

Especially so when Tamara appears in front of him with the microphone, which appears to be on, and slurs, ‘Christopher, you should give a speech.’

‘A ...speech?’he murmurs, but the microphone picks it up, blaring his words out over the speakers.

This, naturally, causes everyone in the room to start chanting the word ‘speech’ like a horrifying chorus.

Now he regrets not drinking any of Thelma’s gin.Courage, man, he tells himself.Just tell the people what they want to hear.

And perhaps even what he wants to say to them.

‘Ahem.Hi, everyone,’ he says, which is met with a couple of whoos from the crowd.‘I just wanted to say, I’m so glad tobe part of this community.Thank you for taking me in and giving me a home here.I hope that I get to stay here a long time with you all.’

His mind casts back to Christmas Day, the last time he was with all of these people.Celebrating then, too, yes, but also working together to protect Nash.

He takes a breath.

‘And, while he’s not here right now, I’m sure Nash would want me to thank you all for the way you took him in too.I’ve never seen a group of people so determined to fight the press.So, thank you.’

They’re all looking at him with big, sad eyes.It’s not pity, though, or at least it doesn’t feel like it.It’s more a shared grief.They’re taking his burden and splitting it out between them.But then, they got to know Nash along with him.Maybe not on the same level.After all, they tended to see Hollywood Nash.Christopher saw that version, the pissed-off version, and the quieter, vulnerable version of Nash that he hides away.

‘I ...I miss him too.It feels wrong in a way, celebrating everything without him here with us.But maybe one day, Nash will come back for us to thank him properly.’

And the man he’s been waiting for this whole time walks through the front door.

Chapter Thirty