‘Must be. I doubt it’s about the size of anything else.’ They moved on to discussing the latest billionaire to marry someone a quarter of his age. ‘He’d be too old to even do it, wouldn’t he? At least not without a hefty dose of Viagra!’
The two girls giggled the night away, and by the time Evie left Lizzy’s apartment, she felt better. Even Nicole didn’t know everything about her and sometimes it’d been hard to bear, but tonight she’d turned to a friend, something she hadn’t genuinely done in years. And now, the only cloud hanging over her was how she was going to prevent her uncle from ruining everything she’d worked for. He seemed intent on doing that and wasn’t going away, and it was going to take a lot more than a chat, a giggle and a bottle of wine to get rid of him.
Jack
In Hazelbrook, bundled up in their coats, Jack and Nate stood in front of the town clock where they’d set up their Christmas tree sales area. Nate had insisted he’d be fine alone, but this was Jack’s escape, and it was a welcome one. Last night he’d gone down to the shelter again and given Nicole Evie’s necklace—he’d replaced the chain but assured her it was a simple fix. He hadn’t quizzed her any more, but he’d kept an eye out for the man he’d seen last night, even walking past Evie’s apartment on more than one occasion to see if anything was amiss.
Jack nudged Nate as a man came towards them. ‘Looks like we have our first customer.’ He let his friend handle the sales side while he unloaded another couple of trees from the back of the pickup, lugging them over to the concrete base of the clock where he leaned them against the structure. It was all they could fit in for now, but when he turned around another family had flocked to Nate and the tree collection, all anxious to select the perfect specimen.
By mid-morning, all the trees were gone and they headed back to Hollyhock Farm to relieve Julia, who had another dress fitting scheduled. Two local boys, Johnny and Devlin, had been on hand this morning, as they were regularly during the festive season, to help families chop trees and lift onto car roofs. According to Julia, they’d had one of their busiest mornings yet, with families coming from New Haven, Manhattan, and others as far as Hartford and Burlington.
‘You’ve built up quite the empire here,’ said Jack when they finally stopped for a break. ‘I’m exhausted.’
‘Coffee?’ Nate pulled two cups from the kitchen cupboard.
‘Black and strong, please.’
While Nate made the coffees, Jack turned his attention to building up the fire. He buried a firelighter between logs and kindling and lit it with a match, but it would take a while before a decent amount of heat was produced.
‘Use the bellows.’ Nate set Jack’s coffee cup on the table and then pointed to an ornate wooden, almost heart-shaped contraption hanging beside the fire.
‘They’re for decoration, surely.’
‘We use them all the time.’ He shrugged. ‘I promise you, they work.’
With a smile and a shake of his head, Jack took the oak bellows down from the hook. He pointed them towards the heart of the fire where the kindling was beginning to burn and tiny flames crackled away, and he opened and shut them, blowing the air out the pointy end in the same way a concertina would move. The fire didn’t take long to move quickly across the kindling, and soon the flames were licking around the larger logs and they had the roaring winter fire they’d wanted.
‘Told you.’ Nate smiled. ‘After Julia singed her hair on more than one occasion, trying to blow onto the flames to encourage them, we ordered those online; much safer.’
Jack picked up his coffee. ‘What time’s she back from the city?’
Nate sank back into his armchair. ‘You know women and Manhattan. They’ll be going to the dress shop and then somewhere for lunch, and that’ll take them well into the afternoon.’
‘And your job is to leave them to it, no doubt?’
‘Got it in one.’
Jack let the black coffee and the heat of the fire warm him through. Even wrapped up outside in his coat and gloves, the cold had got at him from every angle. ‘I saw Nicole last night.’ He’d confided in Nate about his concerns with regard to her relationship with Evie.
‘And how is she? Still taking in strays?’
‘She works at a homeless shelter in the city.’
Nate nodded. ‘Sounds like Nicole. She’s one of those people who seems lost without somebody to spoil. And I mean that in a good way.’
‘I’m still concerned about her.’
‘Whatever for? It sounds as though she knows what she’s doing with this young woman.’
Jack’s face said otherwise, and he told Nate all about the man he’d seen hassling Evie outside her apartment.
‘He sounds like bad news.’
‘That’s why I’m worried. Whatever Evie’s involved in, I don’t want Nicole dragged into it. She doesn’t deserve it.’
‘And you didn’t look at the photograph?’ Nate shook his head. ‘Could’ve given you a few clues, dude.’
‘She begged me not to.’
