Page 74 of Under the Mistletoe with You

‘Well, it is.And look, you’ve been walking this whole time.’

Christopher realises that Nash is right.He wasdistractinghim, the absolute bastard.

‘Bloody hell,’ Christopher laughs.

‘It’s amazing what you can achieve when you’re irritated with me.’Nash flashes a wolfish grin, and irritation rises in Christopher’s chest.Well.He’s pretty sure it’s irritation.

Typically, Nash’s smart advice taken from experience works.Slowly, they make their way across the road to the community centre, which is already open and bustling with activity.

The refreshments table is already set up and being manned by the same woman as yesterday, though to his embarrassment Christopher realises that he’s forgotten her name and instead can only think of her as the Hot DrinksLady.Hopefully he’ll overhear someone speak to her so he can update his memory.

Shaz waves them over, a steaming cup of something molten in one mittened hand, and a gingerbread reindeer in the other.‘Morning, sunshines.’

‘Where did you get that?’asks Nash with hungry eyes.

‘Your man here,’ she says, laughing when both of them look annoyed at the implication that either of them belong to the other.‘You pair of prickly pears.By the way, putting some in with the dinner yesterday – which was delish by the way – was very kind but the piranhas got to them.This was the only one I could prise away from their hands.’

‘You stole a cookie from your kid?’

‘And I’d do it again, so this one had better make some more.’

‘Noted,’ Christopher says.

Nash peers closer to the biscuit, sniffing at it.‘It smells good.’

With a groan, Shaz breaks off a piece and hands it to him.‘You owe me at least two now.’

But the words fly over Christopher’s head, as his focus is all on Nash, eyes closed as he chews the gingerbread.A moment of pure bliss.The look.Chasing that on people’s faces was part of what Christopher wanted when he opened the bakery.Somehow, it feels even more special right now, probably because the man never normally shuts up.

He will definitely make some more gingerbread later.

ForShaz, obviously.

‘Hang on, what’s in that massive great bag?’she says, peering around Nash.

‘Supplies, in case we get in trouble.It’s a go-bag, I guess.’

She squints her eyes at him.‘Are you a prepper?One of those guys with a basement full of guns?’

‘Obviously not.The basement is for the nuclear bunker.’

‘Oh aye, of course.Silly of me.’They both laugh at that, and Christopher is slightly lost but it’s nice to see them getting on.

‘So, where are we needed?’Christopher asks, dragging his eyes away from Nash’s contented face.

Mouth now full of gingerbread, Shaz points to the other side of the room.Tamara stands in front of a whiteboard, pen in hand, while staring with deep concentration at a laptop on the table.

‘Morning, Ms Yang,’ Nash says as they approach.

Tamara looks up from the computer with a prepared politician’s smile, the kind that expresses that they are glad to see you even if they have no idea who you really are, and that they would also like to confirm you are voting for them.

‘Please, just Tamara is more than fine.Thank you so much for your help yesterday.I’m just getting things organised but it looks as if you and the van will be needed this morning to pick up Priti from Myffy’s.’

‘Me and Christopher can go get her.Anything else?’

‘Well, what would be most helpful right now is if you could assist with checking in on everyone.We didn’t get particularly far yesterday because of the weather, and the power keeps going on and off in some bits of the village so we can’t rely on phoning everyone.’

She directs them to the canvassing map she’d used yesterday, where a number of houses have been coloured in.It’s clear that people have been starting at the community centre and working outwards, because the streets off the high street are all marked in bright-pink highlighter.It’s the roads further up the mountain that haven’t even been touched.