‘Twenty-four hours a day?’ The irritation was creeping back in and she pulled herself up. She softened her voice. ‘Surely not all day every day? Even you need a break sometimes. Come on. What do you say?’ She held up the pumpkin like a peace offering.
‘If it means that much to you—’
‘It does,’ she said, emphatically.
He rubbed his chin as if thinking it over. ‘I’ll come on one condition.’
‘Name it.’
‘You stop going on about Christmas.’
Now that was going to be tricky.
14
23rdOctober
Vicky and Eden were pondering options for their pumpkin whilst finishing off their soup. ‘I like the traditional look: big scary eyes and jagged teeth,’ said Vicky, because she knew how to carve those. That was how she’d been carving pumpkins for as long as she could remember and had managed to persuade Eden for the last few years that they were the best sort of pumpkins too. However, now Eden was a little older and influenced by the world around her, she had much bigger ideas.
‘Oscar says he’s going to carve his into a 3D octopus and Millie is doing a unicorn.’
They sounded complicated to Vicky. ‘You don’t want to copy them. You want yours to be different. How about one with big scary eyes and—’
‘But I likePaw Patrol,so Marshall or Everest or—’
‘Paw Patrolisn’t very Halloweeny though,’ butted in Vicky, to stop her daughter from listing off every character. ‘A pumpkin is meant to scare people,’ she added, pulling a monster face for effect.
Eden fixed her with a serious look. ‘No, it’s not. It’s to tell trick-or-treaters which houses have the best sweets.’
Vicky was about to put her right when Blythe walked in followed by a drop-dead gorgeous man who could only be the new guy. Vicky was aware she was staring so she put down her soup bowl and went to say hi.
‘You must be Sam,’ she said. ‘Come here.’ And she pulled him into a hug. Blythe looked alarmed but it had been her who wanted to show Sam how friendly the village was. Although he did look a little startled when she let him go. ‘Welcome to Holly Cross,’ she said. ‘I’m Vicky.’
‘Hello, Vicky.’ Sam gave an unsure smile.
‘You’ve got a little…’ Blythe was pointing at Vicky’s face.
‘What?’
‘There’s soup on your chin, Mum,’ said Eden.
Vicky hastily snatched up a serviette. Great first impression. ‘Whoops.’ She rubbed around her mouth. ‘Did Blythe drag you down here to carve pumpkins with the kids?’
‘It looks that way,’ said Sam scanning the room as a lump of pumpkin pulp sailed through the air and plopped at his feet.
‘It’s for adults too,’ said Blythe. Her eyes were getting wider and wider. ‘And we’d best get on with that.’ Blythe held up a pumpkin and nodded towards the carving table where children were already diligently chiselling away with plastic tools.
Vicky got the feeling Blythe was on edge. Oh well, at least she’d given Sam a warm welcome.
*
Blythe loved Vicky but being wrapped in a bear hug by a complete stranger with soup around her face, however well-intentioned, maybe wasn’t the best impression of the folk of Holly Cross. She scanned the tables as they approached. Lots of children were squeezed around the biggest table and pumpkin innards were flying in all directions whilst parents tried to scoop them into the buckets provided. They’d give that a miss. One table had Norman and Phyllis and her grandson who appeared to be carving a doughnut into his. Whilst she adored Norman and Phyllis they were both committee members and very keen on Christmas so she feared it wouldn’t be long before the subject cropped up. She gave them a wave and carried on by to join Jassi who was assisting their seven-year-old twins whilst also helping Sarvan serve the soup.
‘Can we join you?’ asked Blythe.
‘Have a seat,’ said Jassi, pulling out a chair. Blythe introduced everyone and they settled down with their pumpkins. Blythe handed Sam some tools.
‘You moved up from London didn’t you?’ asked Jassi.
