Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
JACK
I t wasn’t very often that Jack found himself speechless… but the sight of Caroline Cook standing in his kitchen doorway, all fresh and pink from her bath, with her hair slightly wavy from the steam – well it had nearly been enough to topple him right off his kitchen stool.
Now here she was, bouncing around with excitement after pulling a couple of the cheap Christmas crackers Brian had bought him as a surprise from Bendall’s.
‘Come out come out come out!’ she chanted, rattling her end of the cracker in an attempt to encourage the cheap plastic toy out of its crepe paper prison.
Jack was busy pulling on an orange, tissue paper crown from his own cracker. He had no idea where his toy had gone… maybe it had flown across the kitchen and disappeared.
‘Got ya!’ cheered Caroline, as something small and pink whizzed from her cracker and skittered across the table between the cheese board and the jars of chutney.
‘Ooh, classy!’ chuckled Jack, fishing it out from its resting place underneath the bowl of olives. ‘Here.’
He tipped it into Caroline’s waiting palm, doing his best not to notice the zing of electricity that passed between their fingers at the contact.
‘A pencil sharpener?’ said Caroline.
‘A pink, glittery, festive pencil sharpener I think you’ll find!’ said Jack.
‘What did you get?’ said Caroline, craning her neck.
‘Nothing,’ said Jack.
‘Bet it’s still stuck,’ said Caroline. ‘Give it here!’
Doing as he was told, Jack passed her the end of his cracker and watched in amusement as she gave it a good shake, sending something rattling onto his plate.
‘There. Told you!’ she crowed in triumph.
Sure enough, there was a large, rather ugly yellow plastic ring sitting right in the middle of his plate… complete with a sparkly plastic diamond.
‘Wow, now that’s expensive!’ said Jack with a grin as he picked it up with exaggerated reverence. ‘It’s way too small to fit me – hold out your hand!’
Caroline raised an eyebrow and then extended her left hand, wiggling her fingers at him.
‘Perfect fit,’ he said, nestling it straight onto her wedding ring finger.
‘Oh. Blimey!’ said Caroline with a laugh of pure surprise.
Jack stared at her for a long moment. He had two choices… he could get all idiotic and tongue-tied, or let his inner actor take over.
‘I’ve been planning to make an honest woman of you for the longest time,’ he said, his voice low and booming as he smacked himself hard on the chest.
Caroline rolled her eyes, but he wasn’t about to stop now.
‘The time is finally right. I hope you’ll take me, flaws and all. I know you deserve better, Imelda Gertrude Caroline the Great – but I hope you’ll have me! We can make it work… I know we can. It’ll take work… and at least eight or nine children!’
‘Eight or nine?!’ snorted Caroline, her shoulders shaking with giggles.
‘You’re spoiling the scene!’ hissed Jack from behind his hand.
‘ Fine!’ She sighed and cleared her throat. ‘Jack Plonkerus Jones the third…’
They both winced as her accent fell somewhere between Texas and the Welsh Valleys.
‘I do declare… I don’t know what my daddy will say… nor my ten ex-husbands… but… but… I…’ Caroline’s words dissolved as her giggles took over.
Jack swiped at his eyes and took a swig of his wine. Well, she might not have given him an answer to his imaginary proposal, but it didn’t look like he was about to get that ring back in a hurry!
‘I think we’d better eat something,’ said Jack once they’d both had the chance to calm down a bit. ‘Maybe it’ll help that awful accent of yours!’
‘Cheeky blighter,’ said Caroline, with a loud huff. ‘But yes please – pass me the Pringles?’
‘First things first,’ said Jack, handing her a paper napkin.
‘Snowmen napkins, Jack?’ she laughed. ‘Really?’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t have my best linens ready,’ he said with a broad grin. ‘I didn’t expect to have a special guest.’
‘I guess I’ll let you off then,’ said Caroline, shooting him a wink. ‘Besides, I quite like your festive side.’
‘As long as it doesn’t get out,’ said Jack. ‘I do have a reputation to uphold, you know!’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Caroline, her voice suddenly serious. ‘It won’t.’
Jack shot her a look and then smiled. He didn’t know why – but he trusted her completely. Maybe it was something to do with the fact that she’d already publicly torn him to shreds on multiple occasions. He had no doubt that she’d happily tell him to his face if she was angling for a story while she was there.
‘Alrighty then,’ said Jack, giving himself a little shake as he did his best to tear his eyes away from two little drops of water as they made their way slowly down the curve of her neck. ‘If you think I’m going to let my guest dine on Pringles alone, then you have another thing coming!’
‘Where do you want me to start then?’ said Caroline.
‘Anywhere!’ said Jack.
‘I’ll have the pink Pringles then, please,’ said Caroline with a grin.
Jack grudgingly handed them over and then grabbed her plate and started to pile it with a bit of everything within reach. Caroline guided him with little nods and shakes of the head as he went. He soon noticed that the shakes weren’t exactly frequent, and were mainly aimed at anything containing chillies.
‘There,’ he said, popping the mounded plate down in front of her. ‘For when you’ve finished your starter,’ he chuckled, eyeballing the tube in her hand as she rummaged in its depths.
‘Want one?’ she said, crunching away happily.
Jack shook his head.
‘Sticking to veggie juice with added vitamins?’ she said. ‘Or are you holding out for oatmeal?’
‘You wish!’ laughed Jack. ‘I just prefer the blue ones.’
He grabbed his own tub of salty snacks and added a not-so-healthy heap to the side of his plate before tucking into the cheese board.
‘Weirdo!’ said Caroline.
It wasn’t long before the pair of them had munched their way through their first helpings and were busy swapping bowls and passing boards of cold meat between them, loading up ready for a second innings.
It felt easy and relaxed… and Jack realised that he was suddenly feeling decidedly Christmassy. In fact, if this was the only moment of true celebration he had this year, it would still go down as the best Christmas he’d had in years.
‘Hey, Caroline?’ he said, leaning back in his chair and picking up his glass of wine.
‘Yeah?’ she said, grinning over at him.
‘Toast?’
‘Go on then,’ she said, mirroring him.
‘Thank you for making Christmas arrive early.’
‘Aw,’ she crooned. ‘You cheesy sucker!’
Jack snorted in amusement. ‘I’m serious, though. It’s Christmas, and I tell the truth at Christmas.’
‘Well, I’m having the best time too,’ said Caroline, her smile easing into something more gentle. ‘I know it sounds stupid, but I’ve been getting so stressed out about the blasted lights thing. It’s been plaguing me so much that I’ve been wishing for Christmas to be over. But… you’ve reminded me how it’s meant to feel.’
‘Me and the several feet of snow outside?’ said Jack.
‘No. Just you.’
‘That’s the wine talking, Miss Cook,’ said Jack.
‘Nope, not the wine,’ she said with a slow smile. ‘Maybe the bath though… at least a little bit!’
‘Well, that’s fair enough,’ said Jack with a shrug. ‘It is quite an exceptional tub. I missed it while I was away.’
‘I don’t think I’d ever be able to leave it behind if it was mine,’ said Caroline.
‘Yeah… I know what you mean,’ said Jack quietly. There was no way in the world he’d admit that he wasn’t talking about the bathtub anymore. ‘Anyway,’ he said quickly, shaking his head and doing his best to undo the spell that seemed to have descended on him, ‘the answer to your question—’
‘What question?’ said Caroline, sitting back with a little sigh.
‘The question that’s been plaguing you and causing you all that stress,’ said Jack. ‘The answer’s yes. I’ll turn on the Crumbleton Christmas lights for you… if you’re sure you want me.’
‘I do!’ said Caroline with a little squeal. ‘I want you!’