Beatrice thought fast. The Grinch’s dogwasbrown in the film. ‘That’s because this isn’t Max. This dog’s name is Rex, and he’s keeping the Grinch company because Max is off practicing to be a reindeer, because he’s not very good at it, is he?’
Sadie thought about it, then nodded, the explanation accepted.
Finally, it was Taya and Sadie’s turn.
Beatrice watched the entrance to the cave expectantly and chuckled when the Grinch stuck his head out. He glanced at them, paused, then went back inside as though he couldn’t stand the sight of them, and slammed the door shut.
The girls looked up at her. ‘Is he coming back out?’ Sadie asked.
‘We’ll have to wait and see,’ Beatrice said.
A few seconds later, he shouted, ‘What are you waiting for? Come in if you must.’
‘Ooh, he’s really grumpy, isn’t he?’ Beatrice said to the children, as she ushered them inside, then she said to her mumwho was behind her, ‘I don’t think he’s acting either. I reckon it’s genuine.’
‘Shh!’ her mum hissed. ‘He’ll hear you.’
Beatrice giggled. ‘Oops, for a minute I forgot I was working here.’ Whoever the Grinch was, she didn’t want to upset him, not if they had to work together. She didn’t think she’d met him yet, although there was something about his voice that was familiar…
Abruptly her good mood dimmed. How bizarre that someone wearing a Grinch outfit reminded her of a man she had tried so hard to forget. And for the remainder of the brief visit to the Grinch’s grotto, Beatrice kept her attention firmly on her girls.
The last person she wanted to think about right now was Mark Stafford.
‘Don’t bother telling me your names,’ Mark said to the two children standing before him. ‘I don’t care. And I’m not interested in what you want for Christmas, either.’ He scowled. ‘Christmas shouldn’t be allowed. How old are you anyway?’ He aimed this comment at the younger one.
‘Five.’ She gazed at him confidently, not the least bit intimidated by his (or should he saythe Grinch’s) grumpiness.
‘Pah! That’s too old for Christmas. Or too young.’
‘Why is your face green?’
‘Why is yoursnot green?’
The child giggled. ‘You’re funny.’
‘No, I’m not. I don’t like funny. If I give you a smelly sock, will you go away and leave me alone?’
She nodded and he made a show of shoving a sock at them both. The eldest, a girl of about nine or ten he guessed, looked far less impressed with his performance than her sister.
The youngest one said, ‘Mummy, can I give him a hug?’
’No!’ he cried, louder than he meant to. ‘I hate hugs, and I hate children who want to give them.’ He didn’t look at the mother. He daren’t. But he did notice her left hand. It was ringless. Did that mean she was no longer married?
His stomach fluttered for a second, before he told himself that it didn’t matter.
Mark kept the scowl on his face until Beatrice and her family left the cave, then he slumped into his seat.
He’d recognised her instantly of course. How could he not?
His whole body tingled from the shock of seeing her, and it had taken all the strength he possessed not to react. She hadn’t recognised him, and he was grateful for that. How embarrassing if her first sight of him in almost twenty years was when he was dressed from head to foot in lurid green fur and wearing a rubber mask.
She hadn’t changed much – she still had the same eyes. Eyes that had once looked deep into his soul. Eyes he had run away from because he had begun to fall in love with her and she hadn’t loved him back.
If he’d thought for one instant that seeing her again would make him react like this, he would never have returned to Picklewick.
It briefly occurred to him that he should leave, go back to Bristol. But being in the city hadn’t worked out too well for him recently, and he was here now, so… Anyway, he had only reacted like that because he hadn’t expected to see her here, that was all. It had been a bit of a surprise, but he was over it now. If he bumped into her again (which he probably would, considering Picklewick wasn’t very big) he’d be more prepared. Not that he had anything to prepare for. They’d dated for a while, but it hadn’t been serious. She was an old flame, nothing more. Or so he told himself.
Mark drew in a deep, calming breath, then let it out in a whoosh when he heard her voice coming from just outside the grotto.
