Page 36

I give a short laugh. “Yeah.” I sigh. “I feel bad for not coming up here when Julia died.”

Lying next to him, Jake plucks a grape from the bunch he’s holding and pops it in his mouth. “I was surprised not to see you at the funeral.”

“I thought Jayden was going to be here. I didn’t want to interfere,” I say without thinking, then remember that nobody’s supposed to know how I feel about Vix.

Neither of them looks surprised, though. “Are you going to interfere now?” Ollie asks, lips curving up.

I hesitate and look over at her. As my gaze passes across everyone, though, I see that Rudolph, who’s sitting at the edge of the group, talking to a couple of friends, is looking at me and Millie. I have to fight not to throw her off in guilt.

“No,” I say, having a swig from my beer bottle. I look back at the guys. “I live in Wellington, remember?”

Ollie shrugs. “Things change.”

“Very profound.”

“Don’t take the piss. I was being philosophical.”

“That’s a first,” Jake says, and I chuckle at Ollie’s indignant expression.

Luckily, we’re interrupted by a burst of laughter from the girls, which makes us look over and smile.

“What’s the joke?” Ollie asks, raising his voice.

“What game do reindeer play at sleepovers?” Emma says.

Ollie shrugs.

“Truth or deer.” They all burst into giggles again.

Ollie’s gaze slides to me, and I just chuckle and shrug.

“Is there wine in that Sprite?” he asks suspiciously.

Vix grins. “We’re just confirming who’s who in the Sleigh Belles. We’re going to wear costumes.”

“Leotards and tights?” Ollie suggests.

Emma gives him a sarcastic look. “No.”

“Shame.” He swigs from his bottle, giving her a mischievous look.

“We should do some carols,” she says to the others. “Like… We three kings of Orient are…”

“One in a taxi, one in a car,” Ollie, Jake, and I sing, and we all burst out laughing.

Millie rouses then, rubbing her eyes, and I lift her up. “Aw, sorry, did we wake you?”

Rudolph gets to his feet and comes over to pick her up. “Come on, sweetheart, time to go.”

“I want to stay,” she mumbles.

But he says, “No, time for dinner, bath, and bed.” He smiles at Vix as she gets to her feet. “You stay, love.”

“Are you sure?” She comes over and kisses Millie.

“Yeah, it’s about time you had some fun.” He waves goodbye to the rest of us, and I blow a kiss to Millie. Then he heads off across the park with her draped over his shoulder like a scarf.

“He’s such a lovely grandad,” Emma says as Vix lowers herself back onto the blanket.