Dylan
The car is buried under a thick blanket of snow, making it look like a large rock on the hillside. We set about getting it hooked up to the tow truck, and I used the keys to unlock it.
The boot is iced shut, but the de-icer that Rob tosses over soon has it open. Straight away, my attention is drawn to the gifts that are wrapped so beautifully even my icy heart thaws a bit. Little nutcracker men beam back at me as I haul the carrier bags out, and there’s a fair few of them.
“She must have a big family,” Rob comments as I raise my eyebrows.
“Not to my knowledge,” I mutter, hauling her bags over my shoulder. “Just her sister and her family.”
“Ah. She’s just a Christmas girl.” Rob smiles fondly as he tugs the boot shut. “If you want to drop those over to her, I’ll get this beast over to the garage whilst I can. It’s not looking good, though. The old girl took quite a battering.”
“Yeah, looks pretty bad.”
“She was lucky to get out without a scratch.” Rob frowns, and I can’t help but agree with him. “Must’ve been pretty scary.”
“That road is lethal in the ice. The council needs to get it gritted in the winter,” I mutter, heading towards Rob’s truck. “If you want to drop me off at my car, I’ll get her things over to her. Poor girl hasn’t had so much as a pair of pants the whole time she’s been with me.”
Rob grins at me, and I roll my eyes, batting off the innuendo of my words.
“She’s a pretty girl; I wouldn’t be surprised if you’dcharmedthe pants off her.”
“Nothing of the sort happened,” I scoff, shaking my head. “She’s an old school friend, that's all.”
Who I can’t stop thinking about. I already miss her, which is a stark contrast to my usual feelings once a woman has left my side. Waking up with our limbs entangled this morning and her sweet breath on my cheek nearly sent me off it.
“Are you still going to your folks for Christmas?” Rob hollers, lifting himself into the cabin of the tow truck. He glances back behind him, checking that Merry’s car is secure, before slamming the door shut behind him. “It’s as cold as Jack Frost's balls out there.”
“It sure is.” I chuckle, rubbing my hands together. “I said I’d go over at some point, but they know I’m not a fan of bloody Christmas. It’ll be over before we know it, and the nation is back in debt again.”
“You sound like Scrooge, old man.” Rob shakes his head as he guides the tow truck back to the road. “You need to focus on the now and the future. You can’t keep living in the past, Dill. You’re a good-looking man; you’ve got your choice of women.”
I gaze out of the window, refusing to enter into this argument. I’ll be having it soon enough with my mother tomorrow.
“How’s Nat?”
“Always changing the subject, your usual defence mechanism. You know, I saw the way you looked at your ‘old school friend,’ this morning.”
“Did you now?” I entertain him, flashing him a quizzical grin. “How did I look at her, exactly?”
“Like I look at a whiskey at the end of a cold day at work. Longingly.”
“Bullshit,” I scoff but turn away so he can’t see the way my brows knit together. “She’s just visiting anyway. She’ll be gone as soon as Christmas is over.”
“So?” Rob snorts, slowing his truck down beside mine, parked on the corner of the road. “How do you think people get together, youth? People move across the world to be with someone they’ve known for five minutes. People run off to Gretna Green to get married secretly. Hell, some folk find love in their eighties.”
“Maybe that’ll be me. Thanks for helping her out, Rob. I’ll drop you a bottle of whiskey soon enough for your time.” I push the door open, jumping down to the ground before reaching up for Meredith’s bags.
“Now, why wouldyouowe me the whiskey? I haven’t done anything for you.”
I avoid his faux innocent expression and carefully hook the bags with the gifts over my fingers.
“Have a good Christmas, Rob. Send my love to Nat.”
“Hey, Dylan,” Rob calls out as I’m about to shut the door. “Maybe you should believe in Christmas magic. Anything can happen.”
“I’ve got more chances of winning the Euromillions.”
Rob shakes his head laughing, pulling away from the curb as I gently place Meredith’s belongings on the passenger seat. I’ll get these over to her to relax, and no doubt stick them under her lovely little Christmas tree. I head to her sister's house, where I’d dropped her off earlier, balancing the bags carefully as I make my way down the icy slope to the door.
