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“Here,” she said, handing him a cup. “Can’t have a Christmas lights walk without hot chocolate and marshmallows.”
A smile spread over his face. “Awesome, thank you.”
He took a sip, and the velvety chocolate flowed over his tongue, laced with the sweet stickiness of the half-melted marshmallows. “Oh my God,” he practically groaned. “That’s as good as the one in the ski café.”
“Right?” Maya said as they started to walk. She gave him a wink. “Multitalented, that’s me. Numbers, hot drinks, cheating at pizza and chips races . . .”
Sam laughed. “I still haven’t forgiven you for that, by the way. Or for telling the kids my middle name’s Leonard.” He nudged her arm. “Revenge is still in the offing.”
Maya shrugged, sipping her drink. “I’m glad I don’t have a middle name. It used to annoy me when I was younger, but now I realize it can’t be used as blackmail material.”
“There are still plenty of other ways I can get back at you,” he said, enjoying the expression she flashed him—it was clearly meant to be withering, but on her, it just looked cute.
“Here’s the first one,” Maya said, tugging his sleeve to halt him in his tracks. She rummaged in her jacket pocket to take out a couple of pieces of card and handed him one, then got a pen out and gave him that too.
Sam studied the card. She’d noted down all the houses on their route, with an area to the side for them to be marked out of five.
Warmth unfurled in his chest. “You made us scorecards?” She was so cool and brilliant.
“Yes. We get to pretend that we’re big Glenavie movers and shakers, on the judging panel for the lights competition. Right. This one’s got those icicle-shaped ones. I love it.”
Sam nodded, taking in the display and scribbling a number. “Maybe on the way around we should decide what ideas we’d pinch, if we had our own house to decorate.” If we had our own house? Way to be inappropriate. He glanced over but she was smiling, so hopefully he hadn’t made her uncomfortable with that comment.
“Great idea. I’d want icicle lights.”
“Icicle lights,” he murmured, scribbling it on the other side of his card. “Noted.”
They set off for the next house.
“Why don’t you decorate your house for real?” Maya asked. “I tried to convince my parents, but Dad didn’t go for it.”
Sam shook his head as he sipped the sweet warmth of his drink. “Cat doesn’t like them. Reckons they’re tacky.”
Maya was silent for a second. “Yeah. I remember you saying that.”
Sam glanced over, aware that the last time he’d mentioned it, it had been to compare Cat’s opinion with what he’d assumed Maya’s to be, and it hadn’t gone down well. He cleared his throat. “Here’s house number two.”
“Ooh, inflatable Santa.” Maya put on a singsong voice. “Bonus points.” She gestured to his card. “Write that on our list.”
Sam gave her a salute. “No problem.” He scribbled inflatable Santa underneath icicle lights.
They both noted their scores, discussing the merits of the display as if it were a serious judging process, then moved on, and it was as if Sam’s soul were lightening with every passing minute.
As they neared number three, he gave her a nudge. “Not to bring down the mood, but what’s happening with Hana?”
Maya made a mock gag. “Nothing. She’s being cool and distant with me. And still won’t elaborate about why she turned up on the doorstep unannounced from England.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Thatched roof burned down?”
Maya laughed, and he appreciated the way the sound of it infused him with a warm glow.
“Who knows. Perhaps her perfect life was too perfect so she needed to create some drama.” Pausing, she sipped her drink. “Actually, that’s unfair. She works really hard and is clearly very stressed.”
Sam smiled at the way she automatically empathized with people’s positions, even when they didn’t seem able to do the same for her. “What about your mum and dad? Have they spoken to her?”
“Nope. In my family there are a lot of elephant-in-the-room situations. Everyone knows it’s there, but no one speaks about it so as not to rock the boat.” She sighed. “It’s like an imaginary circus in my house, tiptoeing around all the invisible pachyderms.”
Sam gave her a sideways glance. Conflict avoidance must have been the reason she hadn’t communicated directly to him that she didn’t want to continue seeing him when they were younger. Sending someone else as messenger had been easier when she disliked direct confrontation. But that was irrelevant now, and he certainly wasn’t going to mention it and spoil their blossoming friendship. Especially when she needed his support.
