‘Well, I’m sure we don’t have to worry about that for a long time yet,’ she said. ‘I don’t honestly know if I’ll ever be ready for marriage again.’
His face softened. ‘After what Liam did I’m not surprised. But if you one day fall in love with therightperson, I hope you’ll change your mind.’
She wasn’t sure that was likely but she decided to change the subject before Quinn started digging into what her dreams were. Becausehewould be at the top of every list.
‘Leaving our hopes and dreams aside for a moment, do you think I should reply to St Nick?’
‘Oh yes, the more you get to know about him the more chance you’ll have of guessing and winning thatcustom bauble. Ask him everything, let’s see what he comes back with.’
‘OK,’ said Alex. ‘He says he’ll only give me one clue a day but I guess I could ask him some generic questions and see if he answers.’
‘Worth a shot.’
Alex saw someone walk down the corridor towards her shop. ‘I better go. I’ll show you my reply later. Maybe we can work together to work out who it is.’
‘Sure thing.’
She paused as a new thought occurred to her. ‘Do you think I should publish his reply onThe Lovegrove LighthouseFacebook page, open up the challenge for everyone to try to find him? That way everyone gets a chance at the custom bauble not just me.’
Quinn immediately shook his head. ‘If he wanted that he would have replied to your post more publicly, not sent you a private message. He even addressed the message to Barnaby, rather than the readers ofThe Lovegrove Lighthouse. This challenge is specifically for you so go for it.’
She smiled at that. ‘Why would he want to do the challenge just for me?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe he likes you, or maybe he just wants to do something nice for you. I wouldn’t read too much into it, just enjoy it.’
She nodded, waved goodbye and headed back to her shop.
CHAPTER 5
Alex looked at the paper bauble she had just finished making with a lone reindeer standing on a small hill. Something simple like this was almost as popular as the more elaborate designs. She glanced around her studio: a quarter of her stock was already gone and she was trying to make more and capitalise on the last-minute Christmas rush. She nibbled her lip while she thought about what she could make next.
Her thoughts turned to St Nick. It would be lovely if she could givehima bauble instead as a thank you for all his kindness and generosity. But what could she make for him that was specific to him in the same way his baubles were specific for other people? She needed to know more about him even if she didn’t know who he was.
She grabbed her phone and reread his message. She hadn’t had a chance to reply yet as she’d had quite a lotof customers since she’d come back from her disastrous date.
She quickly typed out a reply, wondering if he would give her any more information as she had already used up her allotted clue for today.
Dear St Nick,
I can’t tell you how excited I was to receive your message today. I’m definitely up for the challenge. As you addressed me as Barnaby, you already know I love a good mystery. Are you a fan of cosy mysteries? If so, do you have a favourite TV show or book?
I also want to thank you personally for Zara’s beautiful bauble. She was over the moon with it. Not only did it capture her love of roller skating but her favourite colour too. Not many people would know that. I think that kind of eye for detail would make you a great detective too or at least an amateur one like me.
So what do I know about you so far? You live in Lovegrove Bay, and with a population of around five thousand people I bet I can narrow that down quite significantly. You talk to a lot of people and you really listen to the answers. How else would you know that Mr Malik’s son loves chess or that Mrs Kendall is a keen entomologist? I speak to her quite regularly but we’ve never spoken about her love of insects before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so excited to receive a bauble witha beetle painted on the side. So your job probably brings you in contact with a lot of people. Perhaps you are a milkman, a postman, a hairdresser, they always talk to their clients, or perhaps you work in a shop that sees a lot of footfall.
And I do think you’re a man. I think a woman would sign the gift tags with a female nom de plume, something like Mrs Claus or Elf Holly, not hide behind a male pseudonym, but maybe that’s just me.
Would you like to confirm or deny any of these things?
I do think you are incredibly talented and so very kind. You have brought joy to so many people and I want to thank you for that. Whatever happens at the end of this challenge, your anonymity is safe with me.
Warmest wishes,
Alex (Barnaby)
She read it through wondering if it was too many questions and assumptions but it was worth a try to get closer to unveiling the truth. She pressed send. Then she noticed she had a reply from Pip. Opening it to see what he said, she smiled to see that he had replied to her message about inventions for the future.
An all-seeing medical bed is a lovely thing to want for the future and says a lot about the kind of person you are. I’d still like to see a talking car like Kit from Knight Rider. What does that say about me?
