told her, ‘and the food is coming later this afternoon.’ I had no idea I would be able to shop local in the middle of the city and get it delivered. I thought that sort of thing was reserved for more rural towns.
Although, that said, the isolated position of Broad-Meadows often meant that suppliers didn’t want to drive all the way out to deliver. Living in Norwich had gifted me the best of both worlds.
I wondered if Jackson had factored any of that into his Broad-Meadows rejuvenation equation. If the weather really turned bad, the whole estate could be cut off for days. I bet he hadn’t given any thought to weighing up how easy it would be to run a luxury hotel in the middle of another Beast from the East. The weather might well end up giving him as much trouble as the locals, and I felt rather delighted about that.
‘What about you?’ I asked, quickly pulling my thoughts away from his potential difficulties. His problems weren’t mine and they never would be.
‘All done and dusted,’ Chloe grinned. ‘And Hannah and I spent a fortune at the Christmas Fayre in the cathedral.’
‘On what?’ I laughed. ‘I thought you said you didn’t need anything else.’
‘Gin mostly,’ she mused, biting her lip. ‘I had no idea there were so many local distilleries.’
‘And you thought it was only fair that you sampled and took away a little from each, did you?’
‘Exactly,’ she laughed along with me. ‘Hannah’s in the trade after all.’
I wasn’t sure about her reasoning but I was delighted to see her so content. She and Hannah were truly kindred spirits (and not only because of their mutual appreciation of gin), and I was extremely happy to see my friend and colleague ending the year in a very different place to where she had found herself twelve months before. Finding our courage and taking the plunge had worked out very well for both of us.
‘What have you got for Finn?’ she asked me after we had swapped our bags of gifts.
I wrinkled my nose and let out a long breath.
‘He told me he didn’t want me to get him anything,’ I sighed. ‘He said there was nothing he wanted or needed.’
‘So, does that mean he hasn’t got a present for you?’
‘I doubt it,’ I whispered, ‘because I ended up getting him a little something anyway.’
‘Oh yes,’ she purred, raising an eyebrow.
‘And I’m certain he will have got something for me too.’
‘You hope,’ she nudged.
‘He’s promised to start work on a sculpture of Nell in the New Year.’
‘I suppose that counts then.’
I didn’t actually mind whether I got any presents at all. Living in Nightingale Square with Nell, surrounded by my new friends and working somewhere so beautiful in the heart of a wonderful city, was more than enough of a gift for me.
My life had changed beyond all recognition and I was still thanking my darling Eloise for that timely prod from my re-tuned radio.
‘Anyway,’ I said, blushing as I nudged Chloe back, ‘Finn’s more than present enough.’
‘And I’ll bet he takes no time at all to unwrap,’ she giggled.
* * *
Christmas Eve arrived with leaden skies and, according to the local weather report, the possibility of a falling snowflake or two. Not enough to give us a white Christmas but enough to ramp up the festive feeling even further, not that we really needed it.
As I stood in front of the bedroom mirror, I turned this way and that, admiring the elaborate plait Finn had created for me, and I could hear him singing carols in the shower. The expression on Nell’s face suggested that she didn’t think much of his voice, but I thought he sounded pretty good. With the bathroom door firmly shut anyway.
We were getting ready to go over to Prosperous Place for a party and I was very much looking forward to it. I had little gifts for everyone and I knew that Kate had further decorated the house and that all the foodie folk had created a beautiful buffet. It was going to be quite a celebration and of course, pets were included.
‘Oh Freya,’ Finn gasped, when he finally appeared, still dripping and with a towel draped loosely around his hips.
‘I hope that’s a good “Oh Freya”,’ I mimicked as I twisted around trying to do up the zip on my dress.
‘It is,’ he said keenly, ‘it certainly is.’
I had no idea what everyone else was going to be wearing but I had