street was already packed by the time we, and practically everyone else from the square, congregated on the green and walked down together. Exactly as the posters had advertised, the whole area was alive with festive music, extra decorations and a whole host of mouth-watering smells.
‘Here,’ I said to Zak, handing him a soft bread roll from Blossom’s which was crammed full of sliced turkey, pigs in blankets and cranberry and gin jelly.
‘What’s this?’
‘A thank you for sorting out my sink,’ I told him.
‘Luke’s already seen me right for that,’ he pointed out.
‘Just eat it, will you?’ I told him, as I swallowed down the first delectable bite of mine. ‘I can’t manage two.’
He followed my lead and was soon making yummy noises of his own. We tried the deep-fried brussels sprouts next, which were far tastier than I could have imagined, and washed it all down with orange and cinnamon infused mulled wine. Last on the festive food list was Christmas pudding ice cream, which Zak insisted on paying for.
‘I’ve got to head off,’ he said, bending his head so I could hear him above the Salvation Army band which was belting out a rousing rendition of ‘The Holly and the Ivy’. ‘I’m meeting a mate, but maybe I’ll see you later, in the pub.’
I nodded in response and he kissed my cheek before wandering off, leaving me feeling rather shell-shocked.
‘Was that Zak you were with?’ shouted Chloe, who then appeared arm in arm with Hannah.
‘Yes,’ I told her. ‘I owed him a bite to eat after fixing my sink.’
Chloe didn’t say anything.
‘Nice to see you again, Hannah,’ I said. ‘I’m so, so sorry about last week.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ she said, pulling Chloe closer. ‘It all got sorted in the end.’
The pair grinned at each other and I was pleased my silly comment had been forgotten.
‘Have you seen anyone else?’ Chloe asked.
‘Everyone except for Finn,’ I told her. ‘I don’t think he’s coming. He certainly didn’t walk up with the rest of us.’
I had wondered if he would be here already. His height ensured he would be easy to pick out in a crowd, but there was no sign of him. Not that I had really been looking.
‘Are you going to buy anything?’ Hannah asked me.
‘Yes,’ I said, holding up my reusable shopping bags. ‘I’m hoping to get most of my present-buying done tonight.’
‘Shall we look around together, then?’ Chloe suggested.
‘No,’ I said, ‘I’m all right on my own. I’ll see you in the pub.’
‘As long as you’re sure,’ she frowned.
‘Of course,’ I insisted. ‘Go on.’
It didn’t take long to fill my bags with homemade edible treats, handmade crafts and unusual gifts, the likes of which you’d be hard pushed to find online. Considering the weight of the bags, versus the few people I had to buy for, I couldn’t help thinking that the person I had treated most was me. It didn’t happen all that often though, so I wasn’t about to feel guilty about it.
When I had reached the point where I had so much crammed in my bags that I couldn’t put them down to look at anything else, I decided to call it a day and head for the pub. A lot of my neighbours had already decided to do the same and I squeezed into a seat at the table with Poppy and Jacob, Mark and Neil, Harold and a lady I hadn’t seen before, and Heather and Glen, who had managed to bag babysitters for the evening and were making the most of their child-free time. Lisa and John had already taken their three home and Graham, Carole, Luke, Kate, Jasmine and Abigail had gone with them. There was no sign of Chloe and Hannah or Zak and Finn.
‘So,’ said Neil, who had kindly squeezed closer to his husband, Mark, to make room for me, ‘how are you settling into life in Nightingale Square, Freya?’
‘Very well, thank you,’ I told him, ‘and I absolutely love working in the garden.’
‘Luke was saying earlier,’ commented Mark, as he leant around Neil, ‘how pleased he is with it all. He said you were bringing it back to life and that the new Winter Garden is already looking amazing.’
I felt my face flush with pleasure. I hadn’t said as much, but I thought that it was looking good too, and it was wonderful to know that Luke was happy enough to be talking about it to other people. Deciding to get Graham on board had been a good