Carole Singer's Christmas by Emily Harvale

glancing in the rear-view mirror when she reached the T-junction at the end of the lane. Sebastian was still standing there, staring after her.
     
    ***
     
    Carole pulled up at Four Seasons Gardens and was surprised to see that Nick’s Land Rover wasn’t in one of the parking bays. The gates of the centre were wide open but there was no sign of life. Well, not human anyway. Only plant life.
    She noticed that the mass of shrubs, trees, and plants appeared to be in some semblance of order and it surprised her for some reason. She remembered what the place used to look like in the old days, when it was just an old-fashioned plant nursery, and she smiled.
    Nick’s Land Rover appeared from nowhere and screeched to a halt beside her Toyota Aygo. She almost jumped out of her skin as the sound yanked her from her memories. She caught her breath and got out of her car smiling at Nick. He opened the passenger door of his vehicle and Nicodemus leapt out and bounded towards her.
    ‘Good morning,’ she said cheerily. ‘You gave me such a fright just then. I was miles away, dreaming of days long ago.’
    ‘I can imagine. You’re late!’
    Carole felt the temperature drop by several degrees.
    ‘So are you. At least I’ve got an excuse. I had to–’
    ‘Yes, I saw what you had to do. I didn’t have you down as that sort of girl. Clearly, I was wrong.’
    Carole blinked several times in bewilderment. What was he talking about? Realisation dawned.
    ‘Oh my God! You saw Seb kissing me!’
    ‘I couldn’t really miss it.’
    ‘Were ... were you watching me?’
    He was lifting a box from the back of the Land Rover but his head turned towards her and a look of contempt swept across his face.
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You really do have a very vivid imagination, don’t you? If you hadn’t been so ... wrapped up in what you were doing, you might have seen my Land Rover parked outside Matilda’s cottage. She wants to have a Christmas tree planted outside in the front garden and we were discussing the best position for it when ... when she commented on ... your morning activities. I think she was even more surprised than I was – if that’s possible.’
    ‘Matilda saw me?’
    ‘That would be a very definite yes. And she did watch. Every long minute of it. And gave me a running commentary.’
    He grabbed the box and headed towards the doors of the centre whilst Carole stood, open- mouthed and shaking from head to toe. She wasn’t sure whether it was from fear of the possible repercussions once her gran and everyone else no doubt, heard about it, or from anger at Nick’s arrogant and holier than thou attitude. She decided it was the latter and stormed after him with Nicodemus following at her heels.
    ‘For your information, Mr High and Mighty, that wasn’t what I was going to say, or why I was late. I was late because, apart from oversleeping as you know I did, I had to clean up the mess you made on Gran’s kitchen floor!’
    He turned and glowered at her. ‘The mess I made! Well, I’m so sorry about that but you were the one who nearly broke my nose let’s not forget, and I did offer to clean it up but you said you’d rather do it because – and let me get this right – you’d “make a better job of it” than I would.’
    ‘Well, it’s true! You’ve only got to look at your kitchen here to see that cleanliness isn’t high on your list of priorities. And I wouldn’t have nearly broken your nose if you hadn’t been loitering in Gran’s kitchen at six-thirty in the morning without telling me that you were there!’
    ‘Well, forgive me! You moan at me for waking you up and bringing you coffee in bed at “some ungodly hour” to let you know I’m around. Now you moan at me for not waking you up and telling you I’m there. It seems I can’t win with you. Give me your mobile number and I’ll send you a text message in future.’
    ‘Don’t be facetious. And you have my mobile number. You called me to berate