All I Want For Christmas (A Sweet, Contemporary Romance) (Romance In The Lakes Book 1)

by Tracey Mayhew

  “The tearooms?” he says again. “I was in there earlier when Holly and Amy were decorating-”

  I groan, closing my eyes. “Oh, God, tell me it doesn’t look like Santa’s Grotto.”

  “What’s wrong with Santa’s Grotto?” he asks and I can hear the amusement in his voice.

  I open my eyes to find him grinning at me. “What isn’t wrong with it?” I mutter.

  “Er, nothing!” he exclaims. “It’s where kids get to tell Santa their greatest wishes for Christmas!”

  I raise an eyebrow at him. “Do you know how silly you sound right now?”

  The grin falls from his face as he watches me. “Uh oh; don’t tell me you’re a Scrooge?”

  I scoff, waving his accusation away. “I’m not a ‘Scrooge’,” I insist, using air quotes to emphasise my point. “I just don’t act like a child at the mention of Christmas.”

  He shakes his head, laughing. “That definitely sounds like Scrooge to me,” he points out. “I bet you hate Christmas songs and moan about Christmas getting earlier every year, too!” He laughs even harder when he sees the look on my face. “You do, don’t you?”

  Okay, now I officially hate him.

  “Well, that settles it, then,” he says decisively.

  “Settles what?” I ask, bewildered.

  “Well, you clearly need someone to show you what Christmas is all about,” he says. “A Christmas guru, if you will.”

  I laugh at the absurdity of the idea. “And, let me guess, that’s you is it?”

  He nods determinedly. “You bet it’s me; I love a challenge.”

  “So, you think you’ll get me loving Christmas in the next few weeks, do you?”

  “It can’t hurt to try, can it?” he asks, holding out his hand. “So, Jess Harrison, I guess all you need to ask yourself is: do you trust me?”

  I can’t help smiling, wondering what my mum would say right now; I know she’d hate the idea of me hating Christmas (it was her favourite time of year, after all) and I’ve always felt guilty for giving up on it. Looking into Glenn’s hopeful gaze, I can almost hear Mum encouraging me to take him up on his offer, and I know that, between them, this is a fight I have no chance of winning.

  So, reaching out, I take his hand. “Okay, Christmas guru; challenge accepted.”

  Chapter 15

  The week passes quickly and I find myself falling back into Keldsthwaite life as if I’d never been away. I didn’t think it would be this easy; I didn’t think I could come back and just pick up where I left off but, it seems, I was wrong. Now that the initial interest in my return has worn off, I’ve just become part of the furniture once more.

  Glenn’s been in and out all week, picking up a take-away coffee in the morning, a sandwich for lunch and, occasionally, even stopping by on his way home from work to check in and say hi to the kids; it appears that, in the time he’s been living here, he’s not only become Josh’s hero but Amy’s, too. I can’t help watching his interactions with them and often find myself grinning like an idiot when he attempts to help with Josh’s coursework (trigonometry is definitely not his strongpoint, by the way).

  Holly, it seems, has noticed the way I behave whenever he’s around and I’ve taken to ignoring the knowing looks she gives me whenever he stops by, satisfied that, as long she’s teasing me about my love life, she isn’t focused on her cheating ex-husband (who she still hasn’t really heard from, except for a vague promise that he’ll call her soon to talk about Christmas with the kids).

  I must admit, spending time with Glenn has only made me like him more and I have to keep reminding myself that nothing can happen between us; after all, I’ll be heading back to London in three weeks… A fact I’m constantly reminding myself of when my thoughts start to run away with me.

  Before I know it, Saturday arrives and the whole village is abuzz with the Christmas Light Switch-on. Stalls have been set up on the green selling everything from homemade jams and local craftwork, to photographs and paintings of Lake District scenes. Visitors from nearby villages have turned out for this great event and to get a head start on their Christmas shopping. The local radio has set up a booth on the stage and have been blasting out Christmas classics all day – much to my frustration, I might add.

  “So, are you looking forward to tonight?” Holly asks as she puts out another batch of mince pies.

  I glance up from the cups I’m putting out. “What’s happening tonight?” I ask, deliberately playing dumb.

  “Your date with Glenn.”

  “Okay,” I sigh, turning to confront her annoying, smiley, face, “let me make this perfectly clear, yet again: it is not, nor has it ever been, a date.”

  Holly shrugs, holding her hands up in the air. “If you say so.”

  “I do say so,” I state flatly; I can feel myself going off on one. “I’m still going with you and the kids, it’s just that Glenn will also be there. As a friend,” I remind her firmly.

  Holly grins. “If you say so.”

  “I like Glenn,” Amy declares as she approaches the counter, her hungry eyes taking in the sight of the mince pies.

  “Oh, you do, do you?” I ask.

  She nods, swiping a mince pie. “It would be so cool if you two got together,” she continues, watching me as she bites into her treat.

  I turn to Holly. “What have you been saying to her?”

  “Nothing!” Holly insists.

  “It’s just so obvious you two like each other,” Amy points out. “Even Josh agrees.”

  I glare at them. “You two are so annoying, you know that?” Their laughter follows me out into the kitchen. “And you’ll be paying for that mince pie, Missy!”

  I look up as the door to the tearooms opens and see Glenn walking towards me, grinning.

  Wow, he looks good, I find myself thinking, even with that hideous jumper he’s wearing.

  And it’s true: the jumper truly is hideous. Whatever possesses grown adults to think it’s funny to wear a Christmas novelty jumper? I mean: it’s utterly ridiculous. And the one Glenn’s wearing has to be a 10/10 on the Ridiculous Scale: I mean, it’s bright red with a cartoon snowman on it, which would be okay if it stopped there. But it doesn’t: this snowman has a pointy, orange cone (clearly meant to be a nose) protruding from the jumper.

  “Oh, I love your jumper!” Amy cries, stuffing her face with yet another mince pie she’s swiped from the counter (seriously, that girl has to start paying for stuff; we’ll see how much she eats, then).

  “Don’t encourage him, Amy,” I mutter.

  Glenn’s grin widens as he ignores my comment. “Thanks; I wore it especially for Jess,” he says, his eyes finding mine.

  I know what he’s doing; he’s trying to wind me up. Part of me likes it but the other part of me wants to rip that stupid orange nose from his chest and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. That’ll teach him. “I thought you were joking about that thing,” I say, recalling the promise he’d made earlier in the week about wearing a Christmas jumper.

  “I never joke about Christmas,” he says, aghast.

  I roll my eyes, shaking my head, as Holly comes out of the kitchen. She smiles upon seeing him.

  “Glenn, hi! You’re a bit early, aren’t you?” she asks. “I thought we were meeting in an hour?”

  That would make it four, an hour before the lights are due to be switched on; plenty of time to have a look around the stalls, eat our fill of burgers and hotdogs (the part I’m especially looking forward to, by the way) and listen to the local primary school kids sing their carols. Then we’ll head back here and open up again for a couple of hours for anyone wanting hot chocolates or cakes.

  Glenn looks a little guilty at this. “Well, yeah, that was the plan…” he starts.

  “Are you cancelling on us?” I ask, a little too quickly, a little too disappointed.

  Holly and Amy glance at me, the latter sending me an ‘I told you so’ look (which I immediately ignore).

  “No, I�
��m not cancelling,” Glenn replies hurriedly, “it’s just... I was wondering if I could…”

  I sigh. “Well, spit it out, man; we haven’t got all day.”

  He looks to Holly. “Could a steal Jess away a little earlier than planned?” he asks quickly. “As in… now?”

  “What are you…?” I exclaim. “Of course you can’t ‘steal me away’; I’m working, for a start and-”

  “Of course you can!” Holly agrees, ignoring my protests.

  And, just like that, my best friend betrays me!

  I turn to her. “What are you talking about?” I demand. “This place is busy and-”

  Holly dismisses my arguments. “Don’t worry about that; I have Amy to help out and, anyway,” she adds, looking around, “the rush has certainly died down now.”

  Well, I can’t argue with her there; we were so busy this morning and at lunch but, now, as the time is drawing closer, people have left in favour of picking their spot for the carol service and switch-on.

  “Yeah, she has me!” Amy agrees eagerly, jumping up and bounding over to the counter, as if to prove her point.

  “So, you two go and have fun,” Holly encourages me, gently nudging me until I move.

  I bat her deadly fingers away, scowling at her. “Alright, alright, I’m going!” I mutter. Pausing, I point to Glenn. “But I’ll only come on one condition,” I state.

  “And, what’s that?” he asks, his blue eyes boring into mine.

  Ignoring the butterflies now swarming around in my stomach, I point to the offending article. “You need to take that horrendous thing off,” I state flatly.

  He looks down at himself, holding his jacket open, displaying the full horror, in all its glory. “What, you don’t like it?” he asks, bewildered.

  “I hate it,” I state firmly, “especially that thing sticking out of your chest.”

  His head snaps, somehow managing to look sad and disappointed all at once. “But that’s Snowy’s nose,” he protests.

  I gape at him. “You’ve named it?” I see the look that passes between him and Amy, a slow smile spreading over their faces, and frown. What’s going on with them? I look to Holly, who looks just as confused as I do. And then it dawns on me. “This was a joke, wasn’t it?” I demand as they both crack up, Holly’s laughter quickly joining in.

  “She really fell for it,” Amy laughs. “I didn’t think she would!”

  Glenn high-fives her. “Great plan, kid.”

  I glare at Amy accusingly. “You came up with this idea?”

  “You have to admit, it was funny,” she points out. “You should have seen your face!”

  “It was a picture,” Glenn agrees.

  “Do I look like I find it funny?” I demand but, even as I say the words, I can feel the stern look slipping from my face as I try to hide a smile: I think it’s probably more from relief than anything else. Thankfully, Glenn isn’t that mad about Christmas. “So are you going to take it off or not?” I demand.

  Glenn grins wickedly at me, raising an eyebrow suggestively but says nothing. He whips the jumper off, leaving his hair messy, revealing a white long-sleeved T-shirt underneath; I turn away, busying myself with retrieving my bag before my mind can get carried away with anything else… I turn back, relieved to find he’s now wearing a black jumper.

  Holding up a rucksack I hadn’t even realised he’d been carrying, he asks, “Can I leave this here; pick it up later?”

  “Of course,” Holly says, taking the bag. She looks between us, smiling sweetly. “Have fun!” she adds.

  “Oh, we will,” Glenn assures her. Hurrying to the door, he holds it open for me (a, surprisingly, chivalrous move I wasn’t expecting). “After you,” he says, sweeping his arm elaborately towards the door.

  “I’ll text you when we leave here,” Holly calls. “Oh, and if you see Josh, remind him he agreed to meet us later.”

  I send her, and Amy, a final glare before turning and leaving the tearooms with Glenn, the butterflies now back with a vengeance.

  Chapter 16

  “Now, come on; tell me the truth,” Glenn says as we move aside to let some kids pass through the crowd, “this hasn’t been as bad as you thought, has it?”

  I smile at him, barely able to hear him over Elton John’s Step Into Christmas being blasted out of the speakers near the stage; no, this last hour wasn’t as painful as I had expected but I put that down to the company. “It’s been okay, I guess…” I say, letting my words trail away.

  Glenn rolls his eyes. “You’re really going to make me work for this, aren’t you?” he asks.

  “What?” I exclaim. “So far, you’ve taken me around a few market stalls and bought me a burger,” I point out, enjoying teasing him.

  “I haven’t bought you a burger, yet,” he shoots back.

  I laugh. “No, that’s very true; well, you’d better ask me again in five minutes.”

  “So, are you saying your enjoyment of this evening hinges on whether you get a burger or not?” he asks in disbelief.

  “Glenn, if we’re going to be friends, you need to know that my enjoyment of anything hinges on whether I get food or not.”

  He nods. “That’s good to know.” The couple being served ahead of us moves away and he smiles up at the woman standing in the hatch as we move forward. “Two burgers, please.”

  Within minutes, we take our burgers and make our way to a quieter, darker corner of the green, away from the stage. The crowd is definitely bigger now as the time for the carol service and Switch-on draws near; I look around, searching for any sign of Holly, Amy, or, even, Josh and his friends but they’re nowhere to be seen.

  Oh well, I can’t help thinking, glancing at Glenn whose attention is fixed elsewhere. At least, I get to enjoy time with him without being teased - every cloud and all that.

  “Hey, come on; I have an idea,” Glenn announces as I finish my burger. Taking my napkin, he tosses it into the nearest bin before grabbing my hand and leading me across the green.

  Catching sight of where we’re headed, I try to pull away. “Oh no, you can’t be serious!”

  “Why not?” he asks. “It’s empty, we have a few minutes until the others join us… It’s the perfect time, if you ask me.”

  “Yeah but it’s for kids,” I point out, mortified that he’s even suggesting this.

  “For your information, I saw adults in here, earlier,” he retorts. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

  I scoff. “I highly doubt that!” I declare.

  “But you said I could do anything I wanted to get you back into the Christmas spirit again.”

  I laugh. “I’m not sure they were my exact words.”

  “Whatever; that’s not important. You’re doing this!” he declares. “We both are.”

  Pulling me forward, he leads me to the giant snow-globe that has been set up at the edge of the green. That’s right, people: a snow globe. And, yes, I did see kids in here earlier, having snowball fights as the rest of the ‘snow’ swirls around them while the owner of the globe took pictures for their parents to treasure. But that’s what kids do, isn’t it? They believe that a giant plastic ball filled with fake snow and a painted background is actually real. I, on the other hand, can’t seem to get past the fact that this is all just a ploy to make money.

  In the darkness, the globe’s bright light is almost blinding as we approach it but it doesn’t seem to bother Glenn in the slightest.

  “Hey,” he greets the man as he approaches. “Two please.”

  “Let me pay,” I insist. “After all, you paid for the burgers.”

  “No way,” he protests. “I accepted this challenge so I’m happy to pay a few quid; anyway, it will all be worth it, in the end.”

  “I admire your confidence,” I mutter skeptically, looking up at the snow globe, towering above us.

  “Do you want props?” the man asks.

  “I’m sorry, what?” I ask, doing a double take as I spot him holding up woolly hats and sca
rves. I cringe at the thought of wearing either. “Er, no, it’s-”

  “Yeah, sure; why not?” Glenn enthuses, taking the items from the man and shoving a red and white striped scarf and hat towards me.

  Great, so, not only, will I probably get nits from this but I’ll look like ‘Where’s Wally?’ to boot.

  “Are you kidding me?” I hiss as I follow Glenn to the opening in the globe. “Have you any idea how many people have worn these?”

  “Relax; what’s the worse that can happen?” he asks, already winding his blue and white scarf around his neck as we step into the globe.

  “We could get lice,” I point out, recalling a time when I had been turned away from the hairdressers because either Josh or Amy had given me nits. It was the most embarrassing thing…

  “Chill out, will ya?” Glenn asks, taking the scarf from me and gently wrapping it around my neck as I try desperately to steady myself and thereby avoid falling into him. “Has anyone ever told you you worry too much?”

  “Maybe… once or twice,” I admit quietly, suddenly very aware of how close he is. He has really nice eyes…

  “Well, stop it,” he says, steadying himself on the undulating floor. His eyes are locked onto mine and, for a moment, I wonder if he’s going to kiss me…

  “You two ready?” the voice of the vendor calls out from the doorway.

  “Yeah, ready,” Glenn calls back, moving away as he shoves his hat onto his head.

  Wanting to distract myself from what may have almost happened between us, I put my own hat on, pushing all thoughts of lice out of my head. Glancing at Glenn, I can’t help wondering if he would have kissed me if we hadn’t been interrupted; surely not. But, really, I guess the million-dollar question is: had I wanted him to?

  Thankfully, I don’t get the chance to dwell on this for long as the wind inside the machine picks up and the fake snow starts to swirl around us. I roll my eyes; I can’t believe I’m actually about to do this…

  Suddenly, I’m spluttering as I’m hit in the face by a barrage of fake snow.