I went over.
‘Yes, they look just the thing. Let’s open them up to check.’ The lids weren’t pressed on too tightly and we were easily able to pry them off with our fingers. ‘Oh yes, this is them!’ I exclaimed, taking a small object wrapped in tissue paper and carefully opening it. Inside was an exquisite teardrop shaped glass bauble, delicately gilded with swirls and tiny dots. ‘It’s stunning.’
‘Even I’m beginning to look forward to decorating a tree with these,’ said Nick, opening another package to find a similar bauble, but in cranberry-coloured glass and in the shape of a pinecone. ‘Come on, let’s take these down.’
The chests weren’t particularly heavy, and I could easily carry one back downstairs to where Angela and Marilise were sitting looking at the photograph albums again.
‘You found them!’ said the old lady, her face lighting up.
‘Exactly where you said they would be,’ said Nick. ‘We’d better get going to the shops for everything else – you could go through these while we’re out.’
‘No,’ said Marilise. ‘Much as I would love to see them again, I wouldn’t dream of unveiling such treasure when India and Sofia are at school and cannot join in. I will be patient, and we can do it all of us together, when we have a tree for them to live on.’
The drive to Taunton wasn’t long and we were soon walking to a pop-up Christmas shop I had found via a quick Google search. The town, already charming, had its lights up and a festive display in every window. As we walked past a little food and drink van parked next to an enormous, lavishly decorated tree, a waft of cinnamon and peppermint hit me and I stopped dead.
‘Ooh, look,’ I said. ‘Christmas hot chocolate.’
‘Do you want to get one?’ asked Nick.
Any December of the past three years would have found me saying a firm ‘no’, wrapping my arms tightly around myself and walking away, trying to hold back the tears. But today, looking at Nick’s warm smile and remembering Marilise’s joy in finding her forgotten ornaments, a rush of festive spirit washed over me.
‘I’d love to,’ I said. ‘Will you join me?’
‘Why not?’ said Nick, and we walked over.
‘What can I get you?’ asked the friendly man behind the counter.
We studied the menu.
‘It’s hard to choose,’ I said. ‘But I think I’ll go for the Christmas Cracker. Cinnamon, ginger and popping candy sounds too good to turn down.’
‘And I’ll have an Old Saint Nick,’ said Nick. ‘White chocolate with caramelised orange, and named for me, too.’
‘Excellent choices,’ said the man, and a few minutes later, we were presented with huge mugs, topped with whipped cream.
‘Oh dear,’ I said. ‘I thought we’d be able to drink them on our way to the shop.’
‘Take a seat,’ said the man, his eyes twinkling for all as though he was one of Santa’s elves and gesturing towards a small table beside the tree. ‘Enjoy the season, the hot chocolates and each other; no need to rush.’
His comment made me feel a little shy, but now that we had our china mugs, there wasn’t much option other than to sit down.
‘Maybe we should send Marilise a selfie,’ I said, half joking. ‘She’d be glad to see us getting into the spirit of things.’
‘Let’s do it,’ said Nick unexpectedly, and took out his phone. We held up our mugs and grinned. He showed me the photo. ‘Happy with that?’
‘Yes, it’s a good one,’ I said, and it was. With the tree behind us, our cold, rosy faces and our elaborate hot chocolates, we looked like an advertisement for Christmas.
He pressed send and we sipped our drinks, which we agreed were both delicious.
‘So… what should we get?’ asked Nick. ‘Now that I’ve agreed to this, I want to go all out, but I’ve got no idea what to buy.’
‘Well, you chose the right person to come shopping with,’ I said. ‘I already have an image in my mind, but your father wouldn’t like it at all.’
‘Marvellous,’ said Nick. ‘Maybe that should be our theme. Forget, oh, I don’t know, candy cane stripes or Nordic Christmas, ours should be “He would have hated it”.’
‘Hmm, I’m not sure we’vequiteimbued you with the Christmas spirit,’ I replied, ‘but we’re definitely getting there.’ I finished the last of my hot chocolate. ‘Shall we head off?’
He nodded and we handed our mugs back to the vendor and went to the shop. It was an incredible sight, even from down the road. Around the window of the large storefront was greenery a foot wide and thick, laced through with every colour of tinsel you could imagine, from metallic gold, silver and bronze, through all the colours of the rainbow and even an iridescent white, which I immediately added to my mental shopping list. The window itself had an enchanting display of a winter forest at night, with frosted trees surrounding a party that was being set up on tree stumps, figures of woodland creatures placed to look as if they were scurrying to and fro. Mice carried trays of food, hedgehogs poured drinks and squirrels sprang from tree to tree with strings of lights. A beautiful deer watched through the trees while a fox arranged presents and two owls swooped overhead.
