‘No need,’ Alex said.
‘I’m sure it’s very heavy.’
‘And I’m very strong.’
Immy sighed.
‘Look, why don’t I grab it?’ Max said. ‘I’ve got to run up there and use the loo anyway so I might as well bring it back down with me.’
Alex nodded. ‘OK, thanks Max.’
Max headed inside. Logan and Archer took the bags and followed him into the shop.
Xander turned back to Immy. ‘Why don’t you have a break for a little while? Sit out here on the bench with the little green goblin, enjoy your sandwich and get some fresh air.’
‘I can eat while I work.’
‘You need to take it easy,’ Xander said gently. ‘Carrying our little plum is going to make you a lot more tired than you would be normally. There’ll be plenty of hands in there to do the work.’
‘He’s right,’ Alex said, reluctantly. ‘You need to look after yourself. And Quinn and Zara will be over to help soon too.’
Immy still wasn’t convinced she had time for that. ‘I can take five minutes, I suppose.’
‘If you make it fifteen, I’ll give you a back massage tonight,’ Xander said.
Immy smiled at the coercion tactics but a backmassage did sound lovely, her body was already aching from the excessive vacuuming. ‘OK, you have yourself a deal.’
Xander smiled at the win and kissed her on the cheek. He turned his attention to Etta. ‘Will you stay out here for a while and look after Immy?’
Etta nodded. ‘I’ll take very good care of her.’
‘Good girl. Now, let’s get you out of this suit for a little while. You can put it all back on when you come back inside.’
He helped Etta out of her suit and took off the goggles and mask and, with another kiss on Immy and Etta’s cheeks, he went inside.
Immy glanced at Alex who had been watching him.
‘Well, you certainly bring out the best in him. I’ve not seen this side of him before,’ Alex said.
‘Daddy loves her,’ Etta sang.
‘Did he say that?’ Immy said.
‘No, but Max says you can tell because he has gooey eyes whenever he talks about you or looks at you.’
Etta went and sat on the bench with her own little snack bag.
Alex made a noise of disapproval. ‘We’ll see how long that lasts,’ she muttered before heading inside.
Immy rolled her eyes and went to sit next to Etta.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Xander was busily cleaning the walls with the dry sponges but there was just so much dust and soot everywhere, it felt like it was a never ending cycle. The walls weren’t too badly stained and, once they got the dust off, they would probably be OK, but this was certainly taking a lot longer than he thought it would.
There was a soft knock on the door and he turned round to see Judy hovering at the entrance. He wondered if she was here to help. They’d had quite a few offers of help from various people in the town already that day, and a few of them had stayed and cleaned for half hour or so, but there really wasn’t the room for so many people in here so they’d politely declined after that.
‘Hi Judy, are you OK?’ he said, lifting his mask so she could hear him. Everyone, including the kids, were wearing masks. They were very hot to work in, but thedust was getting everywhere so it was safer to wear them.
