Page 20 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘Thank you.’

Daisy found them at a table by the window, a view of the green and the oak tree with its supports, the scene picturesque despite the overcast day.

‘Daisy!’ Sophie waved and May smiled as she joined them, dumping her bag and putting her jacket over the back of the chair.

‘Thank you for letting me come.’

‘Of course,’ Sophie said. ‘You’re one of us, now.’

‘What does that mean?’ Daisy asked with a laugh.

‘It means you’ve fallen foul of Fiona and Ermin and their events machine,’ May said.

‘You mean because I suggested the ball?’ Daisy raised her eyebrows. ‘I don’t know why I did that. I don’t know what came over me.’

‘Exactly,’ Sophie said. ‘Two years ago, I randomly offered my services to help plan the Oak Fest, and that’s how I got to know Harry. It’s almost like there’s some kind of … enchantment going on.’

Daisy rested her chin on her hand. ‘What about you, May?’

‘Oh, I always get involved in whatever’s happening.’

‘But you haven’t felt forced, somehow?’

May shook her head, but her dark eyes were sparkling. ‘Is that how it was for you?’

‘I have no clue,’ Daisy said, which wasn’t strictly true. Her clue had been sitting behind her, wearing a hoody and workmen’s boots. But she wasn’t going to admit that to his sister. ‘What about last year?’

‘Last year we had the ice rink,’ Sophie said, ‘and an evening of festive plays. Imogen fell in love with Dexter while they were rehearsing, so that’s another one, I think.’

‘Why isn’t Imogen here, then?’ Daisy remembered the pretty, dark-haired woman she’d met with Lucy and their ridiculously named dog, Artichoke.

‘She’s in the hotel,’ May said, ‘but she runs the community hub, so she’s working.’

‘A hotel with a community hub, and I saw the post office sign on the way in. Mistingham is working hard not to slip into coastal decrepitude.’

‘We would never let it,’ May said. ‘There’s so much happening here; even in winter it’s got a lot going for it.’

‘I can see that.’ Daisy’s mind wandered to the bookshop. It was a good-sized shop, in a perfect location, but it was standing empty. She would have to talk to Harry about that: see if he had any plans for it, or if he was struggling to let it go for sentimental reasons. ‘What are you ordering?’

‘Here.’ Sophie handed her a menu. ‘The club sandwich is excellent, but so is the fish finger sandwich. They’re all great.’

‘It depends what you’re in the mood for,’ May added.

Daisy ordered a Reuben sandwich, with salt beef and added chicken breast alongside the Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. While they waited for their food, talk returned to Christmas.

‘It used to be the Oak Fest and nothing else,’ May told her. ‘And it’s always been fun. Stalls selling local produce and last-minute Christmas presents, games like hook-a-duck and skittles, usually some sort of musical entertainment. The year Sophie and Harry ran it, they ramped it up.’

‘We had an open mic session, and Harry was a grumpy Father Christmas,’ Sophie said with a laugh. ‘But it’s at the mercy of the weather, so having indoor and outdoor options is ideal.’

‘Avery’s not really got time to make a whole load of Christmas-themed sculptures, has he?’ Daisy kicked herself under the table. She had serious tunnel vision, and it was the wrong bloody tunnel.

‘I wouldn’t put it past him,’ May said with a shrug. ‘He’s the most “can do” person I know. Usually, anyway.’ A neat line appeared between her eyebrows. ‘I asked if he could fix a few things in my cottage when I bought it at the end of last year, and he spent three months renovating it, repairing things I didn’t realize needed repairing, making a butcher’s block for the kitchen, adding decking to the tiny garden. He did such a wonderful job. Then he went off to Great Yarmouth, worked on some old B&B renovations there, and I thought after that he’d go back to Norwich. But it turns out he had already agreed to run Mary and Winnie’s build, so then he was here again, assembling his team and project planning like a man possessed.’

‘Maybe he’s fallen for Mistingham all over again.’ Sophie shot a glance Daisy’s way. ‘That is a thing, you know. Coming here and then finding it almost impossible to leave.’

‘More of the weird magic?’ Daisy asked cynically.

‘Perhaps. Although it’s changed quite a bit from when you were all growing up here, hasn’t it, May? That’s what Harry says.’