‘Now, are you definitely sure you don’t want to stay here for your first Welsh Christmas?I’m sure we could squeeze you in on the kids’ table.I mean, you’d be wedged firmly into someone else’s armpit, but you’d be welcome.’
‘Thank you, but I’m sure.I wouldn’t want to impose anyway.’
‘It’s not imposing if I’ve offered.Plus, you’re on your way to being a local here – hardly anyone calls you “that one from London” or “English” any more.Sure, they don’t know your name yet, but at least they know you’re the baker guy.’
‘I’m practically born and bred.’
‘Don’t get any notions,’ she laughs.‘Unless you were making a bread pun.Born and bread, get it?’
‘I wasn’t, but I wish I had.’
‘You’re staying with your sister and your ex-girlfriend-now-friend-slash-her-real-girlfriend, right?’
Christopher sighs, regretting that he had ever explained the intricacies of his family drama from last year to Shaz.‘Haf and I weren’t evertechnicallydating.’
‘Oh yeah, fake-dating or whatever you kids call it,’ she says, as though this is something people regularly do, or as though she’s much older than him – Christopher is fairly sure there’s only a decade between them.
‘My parents are stopping by on the way to my grandparents’ up in Scotland.And I think our friends, Ambrose and Laurel, will come up the day after Boxing Day.’
‘Ah yes, Laurel.Your real ex-girlfriend.’
‘Correct.’
‘That sounds like a nice big reunion.Send me some photos so I can remember what grown-up Christmases look like while I’m being screamed at about Lego andFrozenand whether someone can have another snack.’She already looks tired.‘Before I forget, you’re leaving the bakery keys with the house guest, yeah?’
‘Oh.I was going to take them with me?’
Shaz fixes him with a look that says,You’re an absolute dingbat, though she’d probably say something much ruder than that.
‘Pop them through mine on your way, or if you run out of time, I’ll pick them up from your guest.I’d tell you to bring them over tonight, but the piranhas will be in the middle of their feeding frenzy, and trust me, you don’t need to see that.Plus, I figure you’ll want to check you’ve turned everything off a good few times before you go.’
It’s a little scary how well she knows him already.
‘Thanks, Shaz.That’s really kind of you.’
‘I know, I’m a saint.’
‘But if anything goes wrong—’
‘Itwon’t.And if I’m not sure of anything, I’ll get Tegan to come have a look.And if I’mreallynot sure, I’ll call you, all right?’
That seemed like a pretty decent plan, he had to admit.
‘What’s their name anyway?’
Christopher pulls up the booking confirmation on his phone.‘Tessa Nichols?’
‘Hmm.Never heard of her.Must be a hermit.’
‘She’s not a hermit ...I presume.She’s probably just visiting family.’
‘Nah, I’d recognise the name.Not like there’re many Nicholses around.Anyway, I’ll know her what with her being inside your house and all.I’ll make sure she doesn’t nick anything.’She’s joking, what with her wink and raised bicep, but Shaz is trulyquite terrifying in thatmums know what is happening at all timeskind of way.
She downs the last of her coffee and hops to her feet, keys jingling in her hand.She rushes round the counter, where sheknowsshe’s not allowed to be, and pulls him into a big hug.‘All right, I’ve got to go find out where I left my kids.Text me when you go tomorrow, yeah?And wrap up warm.The weather says it’s going to get somehow even worse.’
‘Will do.’
She peers over the counter.‘Who is left to pick up their puds?’
