The Best Little Christmas Shop. Maxine Morrey

my life right now.’

      Or any time soon.

      ‘And yes, I did fix his car, which resulted in him never contacting me again.’

      ‘Oh, I’m sure that wasn’t the reason,’ Giselle said, then realised she was in a sticky position. ‘I mean …’ She put the plates down on the table and pulled a face.

      ‘It really was the problem.’ I waved her awkwardness away, filling her in. ‘I ran into him a few months later in a pub. His very pretty, very feminine, then girlfriend nipped to the loo and he mentioned that he had been planning to see me again right up until the moment I fixed his car. It was a “turn-off”, I believe was the phrase he used.’

      Xander shook his head. ‘Idiot. Didn’t deserve you then anyway.’

      ‘No. Exactly,’ I agreed with as much emphasis as I could before thanking Giselle and tucking in to the meal in front of me.

Chapter Four

      ‘So, what was that about Cal not having had a very good childhood?’ I asked Xander later while on my third glass of wine as I sat waving goodbye to my normal resolve to avoid gossip.

      He topped up my glass then his own as he pondered his reply. ‘He’s not said a lot to be honest, has he, Gis?’

      Giselle didn’t need wine to enjoy a good gossip so long as it wasn’t hurting anyone. ‘Not really. From what I can gather he spent a lot of time in care.’

      ‘Does he have any family?’

      Xander shook his head. ‘Nope. Just him and George.’

      ‘What about George’s mother?’ I asked, snagging a couple of gingerbread men from the tray and handing one to Xander.

      Giselle raised an eyebrow. ‘Honestly. You two are as bad as one another.’

      I beamed and fluttered my eyelashes at her innocently then stopped when I realised it was making the room spin. Obviously, that was the reason. Absolutely nothing to do with the wine.

      ‘Not interested in seeing him. The little one was a complete accident. She was pretty horrified to find out she was pregnant apparently. Some high-flying career type who absolutely didn’t want to be a mother at that point. Actually ever, from what Cal intimated. I didn’t like to ask too much else, but he said they worked something out in that she’d go ahead with it all and once the baby arrived, he’d take full responsibility.’

      ‘Tricky situation.’

      ‘Mmmn.’

      I took another sip of wine. ‘What do you think he would he do if she turned up now?’

      ‘I think he’d let her in, but I think he’d also be really careful. George is his world and he’ll do anything to protect him from getting hurt. But, either way, it seems an unlikely scenario to be honest. I mean, she resented the baby from the moment she knew about it. That didn’t change even once he came into the world. I think Cal sort of thought she might have a change of heart once she saw the little one, but she definitely didn’t.’

      ‘That can’t have been easy for him though. Raising a newborn on his own, with no family to help him? Did he have friends?’ I said, a little intrigued, not to mention a tad in awe.

      ‘It sounds like it was pretty much just him. He eventually found the childminder who’s still with him now. Lovely lady. Widowed early and dotes on the lad. But I think Cal resisted even that for a long time. She came with him down from London. I think it’s done her good too as she’s met a lovely chap here. Derek, you know, from the plant nursery?’

      I did know Derek. Ever so shy but a very sweet man who’d spent many years caring for his elderly parents who’d now passed away. It was nice to think that he’d met someone.

      ‘Anyway, Cal was doing all this as well as trying to run a business. I think he finally realised he wasn’t superman. He had to ask for some help,’ Giselle added.

      ‘And now he probably gets all sorts offered here.’

      ‘I should say!’ Xander chuckled.

      I slid my elbow along and jolted his. ‘I didn’t mean sexual help. I meant … general help.’

      ‘But you wouldn’t be averse to offering either?’

      I rolled my eyes. ‘That’s the last thing I’m offering anyone right at the moment. My life is already a mess.’ I put my head down on the table. ‘I really don’t need to be thinking about adding a bonk with Cal Martin into the mix.’

      ‘Sorry. I did ring the bell …’ Cal’s deep and disturbingly sexy voice drifted into my ears and I fervently hoped that I was mishearing. The fact that, momentarily, both Xander and Giselle went suspiciously silent confirmed that I probably wasn’t. Oh God. OK. It’s fine. I’ll just stay here and perhaps he won’t notice me.

      ‘Hi, Lexi.’

      Bugger.

      I dragged my head up off the table and shooshed my fringe with my hand.

      ‘Hi!’ I said, very casually as though I hadn’t just been talking about bonking him when he walked in. I wondered if there was any way of persuading him to wear a cowbell in the hopes of avoiding three awkward encounters in a row.

      ‘I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?’ he asked, his eyes scanning the table and our faces, lingering a little longer on mine with what I could clearly see now was a twinkle of mischief.

      ‘No! Not at all. Sorry about the doorbell. I’ve been asking someone to put new batteries in it for the last week,’ Giselle said pointedly, looking at Xander as she poured water into the kettle. He pulled a face as if suddenly remembering.

      ‘Can you stay for coffee?’

      As much as I loved Giselle and would do anything for her, I could also have quite happily throttled her right then, albeit temporarily.

      Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

      ‘That’d be lovely, thanks.’

      Damn.

      ‘Martha’s with George and he’s already asleep. I was passing and just wanted to drop off the details of a couple of finds I’ve discovered to see what Xander thought about them.’ He took the seat that Giselle offered him, opposite Xander, and next to me, passing the files across the table.

      ‘How was the one today?’

      Cal blew out a sigh. ‘Waste of petrol, mate. Nothing like the description really. For the time we’d have spent out on it even a really good auction price would barely cover it. And an average one definitely wouldn’t. Not worth the risk and effort.’

      ‘These look promising though,’ Xander said, scanning the paperwork. ‘Here, Muppet, take a look at that.’ Xander went to push the files towards me and then halted, glancing over at his boss. ‘I mean, if that’s all right? It’s just, you know, she knows a lot about cars.’

      Cal grinned. ‘Of course.’

      I took the paperwork and studied the pictures and descriptions of the classic cars, both in a very sorry state of repair.

      ‘Oh … this makes me so sad.’

      I looked up to see Xander rolling his eyes. ‘We shouldn’t let you have wine.’

      I slapped him with the papers. ‘Oh shush. You know what I mean. Cal will know what I mean.’ I scooched in my seat a bit more to face him. ‘You know what I mean, don’t you?’ I said, pointing at the pictures.

      ‘It’s sad that such beautiful machines have been left to rot.’

      ‘You see!’ I threw Xander a slightly inebriated, and very smug glance. ‘Exactly. That’s exactly what I meant. I