Chapter Six #2
‘So, I’m guessing you must be a huge fan of Christmas then?’ She followed his gaze as a young boy held his toasted marshmallow aloft whilst his mum blew on it in an attempt to cool it down.
Taking a deep breath in, Felix let out a sigh. ‘I guess it must run in the family.’
Snapping her head back to look at him, she frowned. ‘The family? I hadn’t realised Nick had brothers.’
‘Not brothers, no.’ He looked back to her. ‘I’m Nick’s cousin. It’s a long story, but...’
‘Excuse me, do you have any with a yellow ribbon, please?’ A man holding a four feet Christmas tree to his chest hurried over, speaking before he’d even reached the stall. ‘I need yellow. A golden yellow. Not any of that washed out pale stuff.’
‘Sorry.’ Felix mouthed towards Merri before answering the man. ‘One moment, let me just serve Merri here and the I’ll get to you.’
Holding her hand up, she dismissed him. ‘It’s okay. I’m going to give Elsie a quick call to see what colour and style she wants anyway.’
‘Okay, if you’re sure?’ After waiting for her nod of confirmation, Felix turned to the man. ‘I’m afraid I don’t have any golden yellow ribboned wreaths here, but I can pop and get some golden yellow ribbon while you choose which wreath you’d like to buy and then I can swap the ribbons for you.’
‘Thank you.’ The man mumbled as he set his Christmas tree down, carefully leaning it against the edge of the stall before picking up the wreath closest to him and inspecting it.
‘Great. I’ll go and get that for you now.’ As Felix walked past her, he grimaced.
Perhaps her statement of all the customers here at the farm had been a little sweeping. Judging by the scowl on this guy’s face and the ton in which he’d just spoken to Felix, she didn’t think the festive ambience here was having much of an effect on him.
Stepping away from the stall, she pulled her mobile out of her coat pocket and scrolled through to Elsie’s name before pressing the Ring button.
As she listened to the rings, she watched as the man picked up wreath after wreath, bringing them close enough to his face that she was concerned he might prickle his nose with a holly thorn before huffing and placing them less than carefully back down.
‘You have reached the voicemail for the phone number...’ The robotic voice of the answerphone kicked in and Merri ended the call.
It seemed the decision on which wreath to choose for the bakery would be down to her.
Walking the few short steps back to the stall, Merri made sure to stand at the opposite end of the stall to the man as she looked at the wreaths. They were all absolutely gorgeous.
‘Hmmph.’ Turning, the man picked up his Christmas tree and began to walk away.
‘Are you not going to wait for the yellow ribbon?’ Merri called after him as sighed as the man shrugged dramatically in response before quickening his pace.
Charming! He’d sent poor Felix on a wild goose chase in search of a length of ribbon the perfect shade of golden yellow for absolutely nothing.
Shaking her head, Merri turned and saw Felix jogging across the courtyard towards her, clutching a beautiful golden yellow ribbon.
‘Where’d he go?’ Coming to a stop in front of her, Felix spun slowly on the spot, searching for the man amongst the other visitors.
‘He just upped and left a couple of minutes ago.’ Merri waved her hand in the direction the man had gone.
‘Typical.’ Rolling his eyes, Felix chuckled. ‘What was that you were saying about it being nice ot work here because all the customers were happy?’
‘Haha, I take that back.’ Merri reached across the short distance between them and ran her finger across the soft fabric of the ribbon. ‘This is lovely though.’
‘Do you want me to fix it to Elsie’s wreath?’ Walking back behind the counter, Felix held the ribbon against the dark green foliage of one of the wreaths. ‘It does look good.’
‘Umm, and I’m pretty sure Elsie loves yellow.’ She shrugged and lowered her voice. ‘I couldn’t get hold of her though, so I don’t have a clue which one to get.’
‘Maybe think about what colours you like and what style? From what I know about Elsie I’m sure she’ll be happy with anything.’ He shifted position. ‘Do you see one similar to one you had on your door last year?’
‘I didn’t have one last year.’ Merri shook her head, an uneasy feeling churning in the pit of her stomach. She could sense where this conversation was going.
‘Okay, well, think back to a favourite of yours you’ve had in the past. Did it have a modern twist, with baubles or feathers? Or do you prefer the strictly traditional style?’ Felix indicated examples of the various styles as he said them.
Looking down at the toes of her trainers, she spoke quietly. ‘I don’t know. I’ve never had one.’
‘Umm... how about as a kid? Did your parents have one on their door?’
Merri shook her head. Despite feeling the urge to explain, she bit down on her bottom lip as she looked back up at him. She didn’t need to offer an explanation. It wasn’t so strange not ot have a wreath. Her grandparents never had and they’d always had a tree.
‘Right. Okay. That’s not a problem. In fact, it’s pretty exciting because this makes this moment even more special.’ He grinned, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
‘It does?’ She tilted his head. It was difficult not to grin back at him, to mirror his energy but she couldn’t fathom out why this would be more exciting.
It was just a wreath and surely it just made her decision on which one Elsie might prefer all the more difficult because she had no past experiences to base her choice on. Zero.
‘Oh, course it does. Not only will this wreath be for the bakery, but it will be for you too. Your first wreath. And being as you’ve never had one before you can go wild.’
‘Go wild? On a wreath?’ Merri laughed. His enthusiasm was contagious.
‘Yep, as wild as you like. In fact, being as it’s your first ever wreath, if you see anything else you want adding to one or anything, we can do that.’ He glanced down beneath the counter. ‘Gabby’s left some accessories down here.’
Grinning, she shook her head. ‘It’s okay. I don’t think I’d know where to start with adding anything and they all look perfectly lovely as they are. Although I do like that yellow ribbon.’
‘You want the ribbon? Choose a wreath and I can swap ribbons for you.’ Picking the roll of ribbon up from the table, he began unwinding it.
‘Thanks.’ Placing her palms on the top of the counter, she looked around the stall again before making a decision. ‘I’ll take that one please? The one with the pine cones and red berries.’
‘Great choice.’ Grinning, he unhooked the wreath from where it was hanging against the swath of velvet and laid it on the counter. ‘I’ll just swap the ribbons for you.’
Merri nodded before shoving her hands in her pockets. She’d made the right decision, hadn’t she? To go traditional? She thought she had. And it would definitely look great hanging on the bakery door.
‘Excuse me please?’ A woman approached the stall, her young daughter trailing behind.
‘Evening, what can I do for you?’ Felix answered cheerfully.
‘I’m sorry but my daughter has just been to the angel making class but it’s just fallen apart.
’ The woman placed a willow weaved angel next to Merri’s wreath.
‘Is there any chance you could help us fix it please? The craft teacher left straight away after the class and we’ve both had a go but I can’t for the life of me work out how to stop it unravelling. ’
Picking up the willow angel, Felix turned it over in his hands. ‘I’m afraid I don’t have a clue. I can try to find someone who might though.’
‘That would be amazing please? My daughter had her heart set on taking it into school for Show and tell tomorrow, didn’t you, Evie?’ The woman held her hand out towards her daughter, encouraging her to step forward.
‘May I?’ Smiling at the woman, Merri held her hand out for the angel. ‘I can take a look for you, if you like? I can do willow weaving.’
‘Oh, that would be fantastic. Thank you! I’m Hannah and this is Evie.’ Hannah hugged her daughter around the shoulders.
‘I’m Merri.’ Taking the angel, Merri leaned her hip against the counter and began weaving the willow. ‘We just need to secure the end, that’s all.’
‘Are you watching, Evie?’ Hannah glanced at her daughter who was watching Merri’s every move.
Having finished, Merri held the angel in front of her, turning it to face Evie. ‘There you go, that should stop it from unravelling again. She’s very beautiful. You have a real creative talent there, Evie.’
‘Thank you.’ Evie grinned as she took the angel back. ‘She looks as good as new.’
‘Yes, thank you so much.’ Hannah smiled.
‘You’re very welcome. Merry Christmas.’
‘Merry Christmas to you too.’ Evie said before they turned and began walking towards the car park.
‘Wow.’
Hearing Felix’s voice, Merri twisted to face him and shrugged. ‘It was nothing.’
‘Nothing? That was not nothing. The way you just...’ He moved his hands as though miming willow weaving. ‘...what you did, that was skilled. Super skilled. I didn’t have you down as a willow weaver.’
Frowning, she shook her head. ‘What did you have me down as then?’
‘I don’t know but not someone who can create what you did in two minutes flat.’
She shrugged. ‘You don’t know me.’
‘No, I don’t.’ Felix swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he did. ‘But I’d like to. I’d like to get to know you.’
Was he trying to say what she thought he was? Raising her eyebrows, Merri cleared her throat before she answered. ‘What do you mean by that?’
Felix met her gaze. ‘I’d like to take you on a date. If you want to?’
She grinned. He had meant what she’d thought. And he had felt something between them in the bakery earlier. ‘Okay.’
‘Okay?’ Felix rubbed his forehead.
‘Yes, okay. A date would be nice.’ It really would be. She hadn’t dated since she’d split with Nile a year and a half ago. She had neither wanted to or had anyone ask her. She’d never been a fan of the dating sites, and less so since discovering that’s how Aggie had met her boyfriend.
‘Fantastic. Well, before I embarrass myself any further, I present to you, your first ever wreath. On the house.’ Picking up the wreath, he turned it to face her, after swapping the ribbons, he’d also added a few extra pine cones which had been sprayed gold and perfectly matched the colour of the ribbon.
‘Oh that’s beautiful. Thank you.’ Holding her hands to her cheeks, Merri grinned. Hopefully this Christmas might just be the festive season of firsts she’d hoped it would be.