Page 11 of A Winter Wish

Theo perched on the corner of Ange’s desk, slurped his own tea. “Which Mike loves, I’m sure.”

Ange said nothing, but a look passed between them—so perhaps there was another reason Mike hadn’t come along to say hi.

“Then there’s me, obviously,” Ange went on, pushing her gray hair back. “But I just do a bit behind the scenes, I’m not the one doing the important bits.”

“I’d beg to differ there,” Theo said quietly, in a tone that surprised Lexie a little.

Ange offered him a small smile before carrying on. “We have a couple of girls who work part-time, and then Harry. Say what you want about the boy, but at least he shows up when you need him.” She clapped her hands together. “Now, how about we all show some holiday cheer, hmm? We’re supposed to be the ones people come to when they want an epic holiday somewhere they’ve never been before—and one look at the two of you on the shop floor earlier would suggest that we are, instead, the place to come when you want a holiday filled with disappointing overpriced food and a mediocre hotel room.”

Lexie couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips.

“Why don’t you show her the Iceland trip you and Richard were working on, Theo?”

A shot of unpleasant electricity ran down Lexie’s spine. “Iceland?”

“It’s a trip your dad was thinking about for years, but we’ve never been able to get it off the ground. Theo, have you got the folder?”

She gave him a little push and he put his tea down, heading to the back of the room, where a filing cabinet was half hidden among the clutter.

“We have folders for each new idea,” Ange explained to Lexie, “and the idea is to be creative, stick on things that might work, lots of just throwing everything in before the team sits down and works out what the holiday will actually be.” She smiled encouragingly. “It’s the fun part. And there’s loads to love about Christmas in Iceland—they have thirteen Father Christmases, which we figured would draw in the family crowd. And the geothermal pools, for the honeymooners. Theo! Where is the folder?”

“I’m trying to find it, give me a chance.”

But Lexie had put her mug down on Ange’s desk and taken a step back. She felt suddenly light-headed and took a breath to steady herself. “No, that’s OK. I don’t need to see it.” She put a hand on the handle of her suitcase. “Actually, do you know what? I think I’m done. I’m so sorry. But it’s Christmas and I’ve got loads to do and I just can’t…We can make a plan another time, OK?”

Theo frowned at her from the corner of the room, one hand still inside the filing cabinet. “You can’t just—”

But Ange cut him off with a look, before turning to give Lexie a searching look. After a moment, she nodded. “OK. Don’t worry, we close early ahead of Christmas Eve anyway—I for one want to spend some time with my family over the next few days, and I have an appointment at the panto with my granddaughters this evening. You’re right. I’m sure this has all been overwhelming. We’ll sit down and make an action plan after Christmas, OK?”

“Yes, thank you,” Lexie mumbled, feeling a rush of gratitude toward Ange. Then, without looking back, she grabbed her suitcase and lugged it from the room, taking the escape route she’d been offered.

The door had only just closed when Lexie heard Theo’s voice. “What did I tell you? I knew she wouldn’t even last a day. Harry owes me ten quid.”

Despite herself, Lexie hovered, listening.

“For Christ’s sake, Theo! And as if you’re placing bets on her. You’re behaving like a complete dolt, and you know it.”

There was a pause, then, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just…Ange, I don’t want the company to flop, after years of…you know. Building it up. Especially after the last couple of years. He wouldn’t have wanted that either and I don’t want everything he did here to be lost.” He. Richard?

Ange’s voice was a little gentler when she spoke again. “Well, the one way to ensure it does flop is to act like you are.”

“She doesn’t want it to work. She clearly didn’t care about her dad, so why would she care about the company?”

“Why don’t you give her a chance instead of deciding for her what she does or doesn’t care about? Her dad’s just died, she’s been thrown into this, and all she can do is her best—but you’re making that impossible. You ought to know better than that.” The last statement was loaded—like there was a reason he ought to know better.

But Lexie didn’t want to know. She started walking again, dragging her suitcase through the shop, past the desks and Harry, who quickly shoved his phone out of sight and pretended to look busy, and onto the street outside. It was just getting dark, and the Christmas lights had lit up around the city, giving the whole place a golden hue.

She blew out a breath. She didn’t care, she told herself. She didn’t care about Theo betting against her, wanting her to fail, and she didn’t care about his stake in the company. She didn’t give a fucking damn about the company one way or the other. Maybe she should walk away now. If she walked away they both got nothing, right? And maybe that was what she wanted.

Iceland. She knew all about Iceland at Christmas. She knew about the thirteen Yule Lads, and about the geothermal pools. She knew, because that was supposed to have been her holiday. It was the holiday they’d been planning—the three of them—for Lexie’s eighth Christmas. They’d been talking about it for months, like they did every year, planning what to do. Lexie had been researching Iceland, telling her friends about it. That September, she’d stuck up a chart on which she could cross off the days until Christmas. She’d made her dad tell her all about the types of food they ate there, and she’d begged her mum to buy her a new swimsuit, because of the pools.

Then, at the beginning of October, her dad had left. And Lexie had spent the remaining weeks before Christmas hoping—sure that he couldn’t just leave, because the three of them needed to be together, and because they had their holiday to go on, something they did every year. The week before Christmas, she’d placed a wish in her wish jar. Wishing for her dad to come back. Wishing for Iceland. But by that point she hadn’t really cared about the holiday—and she’d written a postscript under the wish, explaining that it didn’t matter, as long as he came home. But he hadn’t—and Iceland had never happened. Instead, years later, he’d remembered that trip, the one they’d never been on, the one it still hurt to think about, and had been planning to monetize it. So do you know what? Screw him and his company. And screw Theo. They could damn well do this without her.

Chapter Five

Lexie took the coffee her mum offered her on the sofa, and readjusted the blanket so it covered her bare feet—the fire was on, but the room was still warming up. It was quiet in the living room, and Lexie took a minute to drink that in. There was something different about quiet on Christmas morning, a sense of anticipation. Even as an adult, even moving around every year, it was something she hadn’t been able to shake. Outside, the sky was a pearly gray, waking up slowly, and inside her mum’s cottage the Christmas lights on the tree flashed in a soothing rhythm.

“Happy Christmas, my love,” her mum said, sitting down on the sofa next to her.