Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
CAROLINE
‘ A w come on Ruby… you know you want to!’ wheedled Caroline, fluttering her eyelashes at her friend.
Ruby shook her head firmly and took a sip of tea as she settled further into the depths of the squashy sofa. She’d made a kind of writer’s nest around herself, complete with laptop, blanket, and assorted notebooks.
The three friends were piled into the back room of Crumbleton Bookshop. It wasn’t quite the setting Caroline had imagined when she’d called an emergency meeting… but Ruby had taken to writing on the giant sofa nestled between the bookshelves. It was practically impossible to get her to leave her perch when she was in the middle of a work in progress.
Golden lamplight reflected off the gilded spines of Oli’s collection of antiquarian books surrounding them. The only sound other than their own chatter was the gentle tapping of Oli’s laptop drifting through from the front of the shop. There were definitely worse places to hang out on a chilly, grey day a week before Christmas!
‘Told you she wouldn’t do it,’ said Milly with a smirk from behind her own mug.
‘But it’s just the switch on of the Christmas lights,’ said Caroline with a pout. ‘It’ll only take you two seconds… just a little speech and the flip of a switch. Look at it like this - it’s your civic duty.’
‘Nice try,’ laughed Ruby, rolling her eyes, ‘but you used that line last time you wanted me to cut a ribbon.’
‘But you’re my go-to celebrity!’ said Caroline.
‘I’m sure Milly wouldn’t mind doing it for you,’ said Ruby, unmoved. ‘I mean, the switch is up at the museum – and her shop’s literally two doors down!’
‘Yeah… but I’m not a celebrity author!’ said Milly with a grin.
‘Me neither,’ muttered Ruby.
‘Nice try, Rubes,’ said Milly, ‘but considering you’ve got a film being made of your last book… you definitely are!’
‘Well, it doesn’t matter either way,’ said Ruby with a shrug. ‘I really can’t. I’m sorry, but I’ve got this deadline.’
‘So how come you’ve got time to drink tea with us, then?’ said Caroline.
‘Totally different,’ said Ruby. ‘This is professional procrastination. Besides, you said there was an emergency, and then you guys basically invaded my office.’
‘She does have a point,’ said Milly, stretching out in the comfy armchair, looking like she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
‘I’m really sorry, Car,’ said Ruby. ‘But I’ve got until Christmas Eve to get this draft to my editor. She’s already doing her nut in that I haven’t sent her any chapters yet, so I’m going to be deep in the trenches this week. Even Oli’s going to struggle to get a coherent sentence out of me until it’s done!’
‘Fairy snuff,’ sighed Caroline.
‘Anyway… I don’t get it. Where’s the emergency? Haven’t the lights been on for a month already?’ said Ruby.
‘Yes… but we need to turn them off so that they can be officially turned back on,’ said Caroline.
‘Seriously?’ said Ruby with a snort, raising an eyebrow at Milly as she started to giggle uncontrollably.
‘It’s important!’ huffed Caroline. ‘A tradition.’
‘I’ll take your word for it,’ said Ruby. ‘But if it’s so important, how come you’ve left it so late to find someone?’
‘You really do lose grip on reality when you’re working on a book, don’t you?’ chuckled Milly.
‘Maybe a bit,’ said Ruby, looking surprised. ‘Why?’
‘Because I had a whole event planned for it back in November,’ said Caroline. ‘Then we had that stupid storm, so I had to cancel it.’
‘Then she got the flu,’ said Milly, helping herself to a custard cream from the tin on the low table between them.
‘Oh no – you poor thing,’ said Ruby. ‘I hope you’re feeling better?’
‘Four weeks later, I’m loads better, thanks,’ said Caroline, shaking her head. ‘Anyway, we need someone really good to turn the lights off and back on again before Boxing Day arrives and it’s too late.’
‘Couldn’t you just… let it go?’ said Milly gently. ‘Just… let it pass by… just this once? I mean, it’s not like Crumbleton’s going to be deprived of their lights, is it?’
‘Wash your mouth out,’ said Caroline with an exaggerated huff. ‘No way, not on my watch. I’d never live it down!’
‘Okay, okay!’ said Milly, holding her hands up in surrender. ‘Right, if it’s not going to be Rubes, who else can you ask?’
‘How about the Cheswell Cup winner?’ said Ruby. ‘Kendra.’
‘Already tried her,’ said Caroline. ‘She’s gone away with her parents until New Year.’
‘Shame,’ said Milly. ‘Erm… we could see if the mayor would do it?’
‘No one’s going to come to see the mayor!’ chuckled Caroline. ‘Bless her heart.’
‘How about Cath?’ said Ruby. ‘Any money raised on the night is meant to benefit the museum, right?’
‘It is,’ said Caroline, ‘but – as lovely as she is – I don’t think Cath’s quite the right person either.’
‘Where is she this evening, anyway?’ demanded Milly. ‘Doesn’t she know she’s missing tea and very important gossip? Should I head upstairs and grab her?’
‘Andy’s taken her away for a few days,’ said Caroline.
‘Wait,’ gasped Milly. ‘Andy Morgan has actually stepped beyond Crumbleton’s City Gates?’
‘I know… it must be love!’ said Caroline.
‘Oh, it’s definitely love,’ said Ruby with a broad smile. ‘Have you seen the pair of them together? It’s like the entire world stops existing and…’
Ruby trailed off, her eyes glazing over. Then she snapped back into focus and grabbed one of her notebooks. Drawing the biro out from behind her ear, she started to scribble.
Caroline shot a wink over at Milly, and Milly grinned back. This was a regular occurrence when they got together and something sparked Ruby’s imagination. The pair of them sat back and sipped their drinks in silence, waiting for her to re-emerge at the end of her thought.
Ten minutes later Ruby was still scribbling furiously in her little notebook, her pen a blur as she filled page after page. Caroline got to her feet and Milly followed suit. With whispered farewells, they made their way quietly through to the front of the shop.
‘Hey!’ said Oli in surprise, smiling at them from behind the till. ‘You guys off already?’
‘The muse has struck,’ said Caroline with a tilt of her head towards the back room where Ruby was still hard at it.
‘Mid-sentence, in fact,’ added Milly.
‘Finally!’ said Oli, with a look of relief. ‘Let’s hope it sticks this time. I swear, I’ve never seen our flat this clean – she’s been avoiding writing anything for days now.’
‘And here I am, offering her the perfect excuse,’ said Caroline, ‘and she goes and turns me down!’
‘Christmas lights?’ said Oli.
Caroline nodded.
‘She said no?’ said Oli.
Caroline nodded again.
‘Thank goodness!’ said Oli. ‘No offence, but at least it means she’s serious about getting to the end of this draft.’
‘We’d better go,’ murmured Milly with a tiny nod towards the back room.
The three of them turned to peep at Ruby, only to find her glaring right back at them.
‘We’ve officially entered writer-in-residence status!’ whispered Oli. ‘Run! Save yourselves!’
Caroline blew Ruby a kiss, and then she and Milly shuffled out of the shop, giving Oli a tiny wave as they pulled the door closed behind them.
‘You heading back up to the shop?’ said Caroline.
‘Nah,’ said Milly, shaking her head. ‘I’ve left Jo in charge for the rest of the afternoon. It’s mostly just people picking up their Christmas wreaths today, so I’m going to spend the afternoon decorating the trawler.’
‘Oh, nice,’ said Caroline.
It wasn’t her idea of fun, but after a whirlwind romance earlier in the year, Milly had moved in with Murray and now the pair of them lived on his giant trawler out in the middle of the marshes. It was strange what some people did for love.
‘Shall I walk you down to the wharf, then?’ said Caroline.
‘I’m meeting Murray for lunch first down at the Dolphin and Anchor,’ said Milly. ‘Fancy joining us?’
Caroline shook her head. As much as she’d love to skive for the rest of the day, she had work to do.
‘I’d better head back to the office and scan my contacts again.’
‘Seriously?’ said Milly.
‘The event’s not going to organise itself,’ said Caroline.
‘When is it, anyway?’ said Milly as they set off down the hill together.
‘Whatever night I can kidnap some random celeb and drag them to town!’ said Caroline.
‘Well, good luck with that,’ said Milly.
‘As long as the weather behaves itself…’ said Caroline, eyeballing the dark grey duvet of cloud that had settled over Crumbleton and the marshes while they’d been in the bookshop.
‘Erm, I don’t think it’s going to,’ said Milly. ‘Look!’
Caroline watched as her friend stuck out her hand. Sure enough – a soft white flake floated down to settle on her palm.
‘I love Crumbleton at Christmas time,’ she sighed.
‘My first on the boat with Murray!’ said Milly, with a broad smile.
‘On that note, hadn’t you better hurry?’ said Caroline. ‘Just in case this turns into proper snow.’
‘Good thinking,’ said Milly, pulling her in for a quick hug. ‘Good luck on the celebrity hunt!’
Caroline waved as Milly trotted off, before following her down the hill at a much more leisurely pace. She wasn’t in any kind of rush to go back to the office… but she really did need to find someone to switch the lights on.
‘Lee!’ she said, in surprise.
The antique shop’s large, slightly beaten-up van drew to a halt next to Caroline just as she reached the little courtyard in front of the Crumbleton Times and Echo offices.
‘Hey Cazzzarooney!’ said Lee, his grinning face appearing as he wound down the mud-splattered window.
‘I thought that name had died out the minute we left secondary school,’ huffed Caroline, wrapping her arms around herself. It felt like the temperature was plummeting, and she could swear the soft white flakes were already falling thicker and faster.
‘You’ll always be Cazzzarooney to me!’ said Lee.
‘Wonderful,’ sighed Caroline. ‘You’ll always be an idiot to me!’
‘Charming’ laughed Lee.
Caroline grinned at him. They’d known each other since they’d been in nursery school, and Lee would never be anything other than the idiot who’d taken a pair of elephant safety scissors to her pigtails when she was six.
‘Where’s your nan?’ said Caroline, wondering why Geraldine wasn’t in her usual spot behind the wheel.
‘She didn’t fancy her chances getting up the high street later tonight if this weather gets any worse, so she’s up at the shop and I’m doing the rounds early.’
‘Good idea,’ said Caroline.
‘Actually, I’ve just been out delivering to Crumbleton Sands,’ said Lee. ‘That’s why I stopped… I’ve got a bit of a scoop for you.’
‘Oh yeah?’ said Caroline, her ears pricking up.
‘Yeah,’ he said looking smug. ‘You still trying to find someone to turn the Christmas lights on?’
Caroline nodded. She knew better than to get her hopes up, though – this was probably just the start of one of Lee’s stupid jokes.
‘Then I might have the perfect person for you,’ he said.
‘Oh yeah?’ she said again, raising a sceptical eyebrow.
‘Jack Jones.’
‘Sod off,’ chuckled Caroline.
‘Hey – he’d be perfect!’ said Lee.
‘Yes… he would,’ said Caroline, ‘what with him being a massive Hollywood star and all.’
‘Well,’ said Lee, ‘I just delivered a whopping set of bookshelves to that particular Hollywood star’s house.’
‘You’re pulling my leg, right?’ said Caroline.
‘Hey, you’re the one who broke the story about him buying a holiday home there,’ said Lee. ‘In fact, I seem to remember you went on a lovely long rant about it. Unfair to the local community… blah blah blah… full-of-himself knob-head … blah blah blah!’
Caroline cringed. Yep. She’d said something along those lines. She’d also given his most recent film a less than favourable review. She’d called his performance wooden… and then she’d given him a lowly three stars.
Overcompensating much?!
The truth was, she had an enormous crush on Jack Jones. Always had – ever since his first walk-on part in the rom-com that had kick-started his career. The film had been awful, but that hadn’t stopped her from falling head-over-fantasy for the dark-haired demi-god.
Caroline shifted her weight uncomfortably, suddenly glad that Lee wasn’t a mind reader.
‘Well… crap,’ she muttered. ‘That’s not going to help my case much, is it?’
‘I’d agree with you if there was any chance he’d actually read any of your rants,’ said Lee, cocking his head, ‘but let’s face it – Jack Jones reading The Crumbleton Times and Echo? Not very likely, is it?!’
‘You cheeky blighter,’ huffed Caroline.
‘I’m a truthful one, though,’ said Lee with a broad grin. ‘Besides, he’d be perfect for what you need, right? A genuine film star… even if you can’t stand him.’
Caroline nodded. Lee was right – about the film star bit, at least.
‘So…’ she said, doing her best to sound nonchalant, ‘what’s the security like at his place? Cameras? Bodyguards?’
‘Ah man, you’re not going to break in and hold him hostage until he agrees, are you?’ snorted Lee.
‘No,’ said Caroline, ‘but I am going to go straight over there to ask him if he’s up for it.’
‘You’re not serious?’ said Lee, looking wary. ‘Now?’
‘Now,’ said Caroline. She might as well strike while the iron was lukewarm.
‘Leave it till tomorrow, Cazza,’ said Lee, shaking his head. ‘I know this snow doesn’t look like much right now, but it’s meant to get worse – and I swear I hit a slippery patch on the way across the marshes… even with all the salt in the air!’
‘Aw cute – you’re worried about me,’ said Caroline with a cheeky smile. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll go careful.’
‘Fine,’ said Lee, rolling his eyes. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though.’
‘Cheers for the tipoff!’ said Caroline.
‘Good luck,’ said Lee. ‘Be nice to him…’
‘I’m always nice!’ said Caroline.
‘Uh-huh,’ said Lee, raising an eyebrow. ‘Poor bloke. Bye Cazzzarooney.’
Caroline watched as he disappeared off up the cobbles, and then stood for a long moment in the courtyard. Was she really going to do this?
Glancing up at the heavy clouds, Caroline rubbed her hands together, wishing she had her woolly gloves with her. Surely the snow wouldn’t get too bad… she’d have time to nip over to Crumbleton Sands, wouldn’t she? It shouldn’t take long.
‘Come on,’ Caroline whispered to herself, her breath pluming in the chilly air. ‘Let’s go meet Jack Jones!’