“I can’t imagine ever going away for Christmas,” Janice said, scowling. “At least not somewhere hot. I much prefer the cold this time of year. It’s more festive.”
“I’m sure the Australians would disagree,” I said, wondering why on earth Janice had been put in the holiday and travel section.
“Christmas in sun,” she said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
The staffroom door opened, and we all looked round to see Ruth, the shop manager, breeze into the room. “Sorry, folks, it looks like we’re a staff member down today.” She headed straight for the coffee machine. “Annie’s had to take the day off.”
Richard groaned at the news. Out of everyone, he had always been the most work-shy.
“Not to worry,” Ruth said, upon hearing the dissent. “Between us we’re more than able to pick up the slack.”
Richard muttered something under his breath.
“After all,” Ruth continued. “Annie’s never had a problem stepping in for one of us when called for.” She turned, focusing her pointed gaze on Richard. “Has she?”
“Nothing serious, I hope?” Janice asked, her tone going up at the end of her question.
I rolled my eyes. Like most of the local folk, she did like a bit of gossip.
Ruth, who was a stickler for staff confidentiality, looked at Janice like she should have known better. “Not too serious, no,” she replied, drinking a mouthful of coffee.
While Janice tutted in disappointment, Samantha focused on her ring finger, and Richard frowned at the extra workload, I smiled at the news of Annie’s absence. Ruth might not have said anything, but unlike the others, I had a pretty good idea why Annie needed the time off. If what she’d said over lunch the other day was true, Annie would be ferrying her daughter and her daughter’s belongings back to where they belonged: safe and sound in the home Emma shared with Josh.
“Right,” Ruth said, as she checked her watch. “Time to get to it.”
Unlike my colleagues who remained slow to move, I jumped up from my seat and headed for the door, ready to embrace the morning ahead.
“Come on, come on,” Ruth said, clapping her hands at the others. “These books won’t sell themselves.”
“Holly,” Ruth said, calling me back as the others began filing out of the room.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her.
“Before you disappear, can I have a quick word.”
“Of course,” I replied. I suddenly felt nervous, wondering what I’d done wrong to warrant such special attention. After all, I must have done something. Ruth only ever wanted one of her little chats when all wasn’t well.
My colleagues looked at me, their eyes questioning. But as much in the dark as they, I shrugged my shoulders in response. I watched Janice slow her step, as if no one would notice her loitering.
“Chop-chop, Janice!” Ruth said, her voice stern. She waited until dawdler Janice was out of sight and earshot before speaking again, despairingly shaking her head at the woman before she could, at last, turn to her attention back to me. “It’s nothing to be concerned about, I’m simply passing on a message while I can still remember.”
“Okay,” I replied, unsure as to what the message could be.
“You know what it’s like around here when it gets busy, everything goes clean out of your mind. Anyway, Annie asked if you could give her a ring?”
“Really,” I said, surprised. I didn’t have a clue what could be so important she’d asked Ruth to play intermediary. Especially when Annie could have easily rang my phone and left me a message. “Did she say why?”
Ruth shook her head. “Nope. Just that she needs a favour.”
I considered the last time Annie needed my help; on that occasion I ended up with an unexpected house guest.
“I haven’t a clue what it entails, I’m afraid. Although I hope I’m not speaking out of turn when I say it probably has something to do with her daughter.”
“Probably,” I replied. Poor Annie, I thought. Emma did tend to expect an awful lot of her mother.
“Anyway, I said you’d ring at around half-ten, when you’re on your morning break.” Ruth tilted her head and smiled. “Don’t look so worried, it’ll be something and nothing.”
I smiled back, telling myself that Ruth was, doubtless, right. Emma might have only been at her mum’s for a few nights, but knowing Annie’s daughter, the odds were she simply had too much stuff and Annie needed a bit of help to shift it all.
“So, I can leave that with you?” Ruth asked.
I nodded.
“Good,” Ruth said, efficient as ever. “In the meantime, we’ve got work to do.”
17
Time usually flew by when the shop was busy. But despite dealing with one customer after another, my morning break seemed to take forever to come around. Since talking to Ruth I’d carried around a nervous anxiety no amount of self-reassurance could shift. The last thing I wanted to hear was that Emma wasn’t going home yet. My staycation couldn’t go the same way as my holiday – down the pan. Wrapped up in my coat, with a cup of coffee in one hand and my phone at the ready in the other, I could just imagine Mum’s face if I had to do a U-turn on Christmas and spend it with the rest of the Noelles, after all.
I headed for the shop exit, having decided to make the call to Annie away from prying eyes and piqued ears. I couldn’t risk the likes of Janice overhearing our conversation only to put two and two together to make six. “I won’t be long,” I called out to Ruth.
Busy dealing with a long line of customers at the till, she looked my way and stuck up her thumb in acknowledgement.
I shivered as I reached the door and stepped out into the open air. The numerous shoppers, weighed down with bags as they trudged about the square, appeared as miserable as I felt. Some kept their heads low as they went from one store to the next, while others chatted amongst each other. Their red noses, woolly hats, and sheepskin mittens reminded me that I only had lowering temperatures to look forward to that Christmas, instead of the balmy days and nights that should have lain ahead. Turning my attention to my phone, I scrolled down the screen in search of Annie’s number, all the while pacing up and down and sipping on my drink, trying to keep warm.
No sooner had I hit the call button and Annie had answered. “Holly?” she said, “Have I got news for you.”
A far cry from the doom and gloom she’d expressed over lunch a couple of days prior, the excitement in Annie’s voice surprised me. I immediately relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, pleased to hear all was well and that I’d been fretting over nothing.
“Emma’s pregnant,” she said, before I got the chance to speak.
I stopped still. “Excuse me?” Whatever I’d expected to hear, it wasn’t that.
“I know. Isn’t it fantastic?”
“Wow,” I said, needing a second to let the news sink in. “Since when?”
“About three months, which explains why she lost the plot over a lasagne,” Annie said.
“And where her sudden yearning for ice cream came from,” I said.