Page 24 of I’ll Be Home for Christmas

‘I have to do my own, so I add on theirs too. No big deal.’

‘I hear Mum keeps you in food in return.’

He laughed. ‘Yes, and I won’t be complaining about that.’

Even his laugh was sexy. Meg wished the journey could’ve been longer.

Back on his driveway, she thanked him for the lift.

‘It was my pleasure.’ He went around to the back of the pickup truck and opened up the tailgate.

‘Let me help,’ she offered.

‘You want to carry wood?’

She huffed and rolled her eyes, stepped closer. ‘I’m quite capable.’ She took out a few pieces bundled together with cable ties and rested them in her arms. ‘Where do you want these?’

‘Down the side of the house for now would be good.’

Between them they had it done quickly, but when his phone rang, the moment was over and she said goodbye. She couldn’t resist looking over her shoulder one more time as she walked down the front path to her parents’ chalet, and she wasn’t sorry to see him still standing in the same spot, watching her.

Perhaps life wasn’t so bad after all with Jonathan living next door.

Sarah was coming out of the chalet just as Meg lifted her hand to slot the key into the lock. Her niece was beautiful, with thick, dark hair beneath her woolly hat, hair that was much like Meg’s had once been before she’d had to go for regular touch-ups to cover the grey that became more persistent the older she got.

‘I’m walking into town,’ Sarah told her.

‘It’s a lovely day for it.’ They both acknowledged the sun beaming in the bright blue sky which almost matched the colour of Sarah’s puffy coat.

‘Nanna told me to try the chocolate shop.’

Meg felt guilty that she hadn’t gone to town with her to do that before, even though it had been a suggestion at the dinner table on her first night. ‘Good idea,’ she said, chickening out of saying anything else.

But Sarah must’ve been thinking along the same lines because she asked, ‘Do you want to come with me? You know, seeing as chocolate is kind of your thing.’

The invite was simple, but it felt huge to Meg. Her legs ached. Thoughts of Chrissie churned in her head. But Sarah looked nervous as if she was worried about the answer, and it made Meg forget all the reasons why she shouldn’t spend time with her niece. ‘Sure, I’ll come.’ Shutting herself in a bedroom under the pretence of working had been making her feel lonelier than ever, despite being here with family.

‘I might look for some more gloves while we’re in town,’ said Meg as they went down the path and she realised hers had a hole in one finger. She held it up to show Sarah. ‘From memory there are a couple of good shops I can try. Winterbruck is a great location to flog winter gear to tourists.’

They talked some more about the town, and as they reached the inn marking the start of the main street ahead Sarah asked her whether she’d always wanted to work with chocolate.

‘Ever since I was a teenager. I had a bit of a detour along the way, studied, worked in different jobs, but came back to the dream eventually.’

A big group disembarked from a coach outside and they went around the crowds.

‘What did you study?’

The snow on the pavement was piled high, so they carefully crossed the street to the other side where the walkway had been cleared and gritted. ‘Food science.’

‘What exactly is that?’

She thought of the best way to explain. ‘On the course I did, I analysed nutrients and flavours, textures too. It was about converting raw materials into food and topics covered food safety standards. My first job was in quality assurance for a water bottle company, then I was a food technologist for a manufacturer collaborating with global brands, then it was on to a contract in the meat industry.’ She scrunched up her nose. ‘Let’s just say that job turned me vegetarian.’

Sarah’s laugh was just like Chrissie’s when she asked, ‘How so?’

‘I was responsible for doing inspections. I saw carcasses hanging more times than I can remember, and the smell… Well, it put me right off.’

‘How did you go from that to chocolate?’