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What were they going to eat? Mabel had a stocked freezer and her fridge and pantry were full because she’d been careful to prepare well for the coming winter and storms like this one, but she hadn’t anticipated having six additional mouths to feed.

The complexity of it overwhelmed her.

She was spending the next few days with six strangers.

What sort of Christmas was this going to be?

11

Izzy

She was sharing a room with Jason. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. It was like being on a diet and then being given a job in a bakery and told that she couldn’t eat any of the goods. Was the universe rewarding her or tormenting her?

She’d thought sharing a car was bad, but how much worse would this be?

Still, looking on the bright side, she’d been braced to spend Christmas alone in her apartment, and instead here she was in this idyllic house with a bunch of people who seemed, on the surface at least, to be interesting. Not that she cared too much about that. She was just grateful not to be alone. Anyone with a pulse would have been okay with her. Another human so that she didn’t feel like the only person on the planet who was alone on Christmas Day. And yes, she knew that plenty of people spent Christmas on their own, but knowing that wasn’t much comfort because it wasn’t as if they all reached out to each other. Generally, she was fine being alone. She liked being by herself. She enjoyed her own company.

But Christmas was different, and now she had the company of a whole family including young children, a grandmother-like figure and cats. She loved cats.

Yes, that part was definitely an improvement on her usual Christmas. The only less than perfect part in all of this was being trapped with Jason.

He wanted to talk, and she knew what he wanted to talk about.

She, on the other hand, did not want to talk about it.

But she’d handle it. She’d avoided difficult conversations up until this point, so she’d just have to try to find a way to avoid them for a little longer.

She ignored the voice in her head reminding her that avoiding difficult conversations wasn’t exactly easy when you were sharing a room with someone. It had been different the night before at the inn. She’d sensed he wanted to talk and had pleaded exhaustion and headed to her room for an early night.

Now that wasn’t an option. The words he’d spoken immediately before the accident were still in her head. There’s something we need to talk about. I know we’ve both been avoiding the subject, but I think it’s time we—

It wasn’t time.

She had been avoiding the subject, and she intended to keep doing that. The key was to minimise time alone with him in this room, which should be relatively easy because there were other people in the house. And when they were alone, she needed to find ways to reduce opportunities for him to initiate that awkward conversation that she didn’t want to have. She’d spend ages in the bathroom and then pretend to fall asleep right away. She could even snore a little to add authenticity. Talk in her sleep. Maybe about another man. Oh, Romeo, Romeo …

Jason took a couple more photos and then put his camera back in the bag. “I think the storm might be worsening. We’re going to be trapped here for a while.”

“I think you’re right.” She managed not to punch the air. She was probably the only person on the East Coast of America who was celebrating the appalling weather. Now she had a plan, she was confident this was going to be her best Christmas ever.

“You don’t sound too disappointed. You’re coping well with a difficult situation.” Jason was looking at her with an intense curiosity, and she switched off her smile.

A normal person with a normal family life wouldn’t be happy in the current circumstances. They’d be complaining about the inconvenience and worrying about all the holiday plans that were going to have to be cancelled. Beaming with happiness would raise questions she didn’t want to answer.

“You know me! Trying to put on a brave face and make the best of it,” she said. “Inside I’m raging at the inconvenience and thinking of all those holiday plans that are going to have to be cancelled. Also, all the festive food going bad in my apartment.” To the best of her recollection, all she had was half a box of cereal and a slab of cheese that was past its expiration date, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Right.” He looked at her in that searching way she found a little disconcerting. She had a nasty feeling he could see right through the lies she was telling.

“Izzy is right,” Brooke said. “We have to make the most of it. Matt and I should probably start sorting out our room for tonight so that the girls can sleep when they’re tired, although goodness knows when that will be given the combination of jet lag and time change.” She was bracing and purposeful and Izzy saw Matt throw a look of concern her way.

Reminding herself that it wasn’t her business, Izzy waited for Brooke and her family to head back downstairs and then took her first proper look at the room they’d been allocated.

Her gaze swept the walls, the furniture, the soft throws on the bed and the curved window seat.

“This place is incredible.” Assessing her surroundings was instinctive. Every time she walked into a room she hadn’t seen before she thought about what she would change. How she would improve it. How she would live in it if it belonged to her.

In this instance, she would change nothing, and she couldn’t think of a single other occasion that she’d felt that way.

It was the most welcoming, cosy space she’d ever stepped into.