Page 51 of Yule Party on Sunflower Street

‘I’ll hang this above the door.’

‘What and have all the customers snogging on the way in and out?’ Sadie giggled.

Tara shrugged. ‘Well, there are worse things.’

‘Indeed!’

Tara got some string from behind the counter along with a stepladder from the stockroom, then she hung the mistletoe above the door. After she’d tidied the ladder away again, she peered up at the mistletoe and warmth spread through her.

‘That’s nice, love,’ her mum said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

‘Yes. It was a gift from a local man, but he walked off before I could thank him,’ she said.

‘Mistletoe is meant to symbolise peace and love and to ward off evil spirits.’

‘Why do people kiss under it then?’ Tara asked, looking at her mum’s lovely face.

‘I think it’s a blend of Norse mythology and Victorian romantic notions.’ Her mum laughed. ‘Something to do with it symbolising love and peace, and the Victorians made quite a thing of kissing under it at parties.’

Tara looked up at the mistletoe and goosebumps rose on her skin. If the Victorians could do it then so could she. The stranger had left the mistletoe for a kind reason, but she could interpret it as a sign that here in the shop she would find her nerve and speak to Seth about her future.

After all, she would only miss the shots she didn’t take…

26

SETH

The village looked spectacular. Seth had been involved in the party planning, but he hadn’t been prepared for this. Life had shown him recently that he could still be surprised by things and most of those things had been linked to Tara.

‘What do you think, Mum?’ he said, turning to his parents who’d come to Wisteria Hollow for the party and brought his nieces.

‘Absolutely wonderful, Seth. And you said this all came about because of one of your tenants?’

‘She’s a tenant and a friend,’ he said, willing himself not to blush.

‘Like that is it, son?’ His dad’s laugh boomed in the cold air.

‘I think it looks amazing, Uncle Seth,’ Gertie said, flashing her megawatt smile.

‘Thanks, Gertie,’ he said.

‘I do too.’ Sonia grabbed his hand. ‘You are the best uncle in the world for bringing us here.’

‘Well, that has made my day.’ Seth pulled his wallet from his pocket. ‘It’s a good job I bought some Yule Party tokens earlier, then. You can choose something for yourselves.’

The tokens were one of Tara’s suggestions. People could buy them at the party and use them at any of the stalls, giving the event its own little currency. Leftover tokens could either be exchanged back into cash or donated to the local animal sanctuary.

His nieces squealed with delight as they accepted the tokens, then asked if they could go and look around the green.

‘We’ll come with you,’ his mum said, flashing him a knowing look. He knew what the look meant. Left to their own devices, the girls would spend their tokens at the first stall they came to and then spot something they wanted even more five minutes later.

While his family wandered away, he admired the stalls and the green. He found himself humming along to the carols the choir were singing and even feeling a bit festive. Something had definitely changed inside him, and he hoped it was for the better. Earlier on, his mum had said he looked better than he had done for a long time because he had colour in his cheeks and a sparkle in his eyes. He’d asked if she was going to comment on his waggy tail next and she’d laughed and told him he wasn’t too old for the naughty step. This had made his nieces howl with laughter, and his dad had nodded and said he was regularly sent there himself.

It was no wonder Seth’s chest was filled with warmth and joy today. But he knew there was only one thing, or rather one person, who would make it even better, and he decided to head over and see her right away.

After all, what was the point in delaying any more? He had a question he wanted to ask Tara and he didn’t want to lose his nerve.

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