Chapter 2
Alex walked towards the Wonky Tree Studios a short while later, as tiny flakes of snow swirled through the air.
It definitely felt like it was cold enough to have a winter storm but right now the snow wasn’t even settling.
It would be nice if they had some proper snow for Christmas Day but that was a few days away yet.
Knowing the British weather they’d be having some kind of heatwave by then.
The Wonky Tree Studios was a large house on top of the hill overlooking Lovegrove Bay, earning its name from the wonky tree that stood next to it, bent at such an angle it looked like it had been caught in a hurricane.
The tree was currently covered in lights and various ornaments made by the artists who worked in the house.
The house was an art studio where ten artists, working in various different mediums, made and sold their goods.
She and Quinn each had a studio on the second floor.
The third floor held a café with the most amazing cakes and a gift shop that sold, among other typical gift shop wares, all the things anyone would need to try their hand at their own arts and crafts.
On the top floor lived the owners, Luke and Flick.
Alex walked inside and immediately the warmth of the house swallowed her.
Most of the artists were here already, getting ready for another busy day.
She spotted Luke, one of the artists and the owner of the house, and his wife Flick talking very excitedly about something.
She had become quite close with the two of them since she had started working at the Wonky Tree Studios, especially Flick who worked in the gift shop, upstairs.
Alex and Quinn had joined them for dinner sometimes too and the four of them always got on really well.
Alex waved hello and they gestured her over.
‘We got one,’ Flick said, her face alight with happiness.
Alex spotted the bauble in Luke’s hand as she walked over. ‘Oh wow, Immy found one this morning too.’
‘What did she get?’ Luke asked.
‘A pair of roller skates. She gave it to Zara, she loves roller skating and practically lives in her skates.’
‘It does seem that St Nick is creating these baubles for specific people, or at least in the hope that they find their way to specific people,’ Flick said.
‘What does yours have on it?’ Alex asked.
Luke and Flick looked at each other and Flick shrugged. ‘We might as well show her, it’s only just over a week away.’
Luke nodded. ‘We’re not telling many people right now. Quinn knows and Flick’s nan but we wanted to wait until three months, which would be on Christmas Eve. We also thought we’d wait until after Christmas so people didn’t feel obligated to buy us baby-related Christmas presents.’
Alex stared at them. ‘You’re pregnant? Oh my god, congratulations, that’s such wonderful news.’
She hugged them both.
‘I’m so happy for you.’
‘Thank you,’ Flick said. ‘We’re obviously over the moon. But this is the bauble that was left for us.’
Luke showed Alex the bauble and she saw a pair of knitted yellow baby booties surrounded by holly leaves and berries had been painted on the side. It was beautiful.
‘So we think we know who St Nick is,’ Flick said excitedly.
‘You do?’
‘Flick thinks she does, I’m not so sure,’ Luke said.
‘Well, who do you think it is?’ Alex said eagerly.
‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea to expose them,’ Luke said. ‘If Flick is right. Not when the mystery of his or her identity is what makes this so exciting for everyone. They’ve done an excellent job keeping it a secret and we don’t want to ruin it for them.’
‘I promise not to tell anyone,’ Alex assured them.
‘Not even the local paper?’ Flick asked.
‘No, I promise. I agree the mystery of who it is makes this whole thing so much more special. I actually want to ask whoever it is for a specific commission, well not for me but for Immy, so I definitely want to keep them on my side.’
Flick nodded. ‘OK, I trust you. You’ve never been one to spread gossip.’
‘Oh hell no, I hate gossip and I’d hate to be at the centre of it. If St Nick wants to keep his or her identity a secret, I’m guessing they probably don’t want to be the centre of attention either.’
‘OK, I think it’s Quinn,’ Flick said, quietly.
‘Quinn?’ Alex said, probably a bit too loudly.
‘Sshhh!’ Flick hissed, looking around, although no one was around this early.
‘Sorry,’ Alex whispered. ‘What makes you think it’s Quinn?’
‘If St Nick specifically painted this for us then it has to be one of a handful of people we told that we were pregnant, and only Quinn lives in Lovegrove Bay.’
‘It can’t be Quinn,’ said Alex. ‘He’s a metal artist, he’s not a painter.’
‘Can’t he be both?’ Flick said.
Alex weighed that up. Flick had a point, although she’d known him for four years and had never seen him paint anything.
‘See, I don’t think it was Quinn at all,’ Luke said.
‘It was Quinn who gave it to us, he said he found it outside so presumed it was for us. If he was St Nick, wouldn’t delivering the bauble by hand be a bit obvious?
It’s more likely that St Nick heard that Rose has just had a new granddaughter or, knowing how many people come through here on a daily basis, maybe he left a generic baby-related bauble knowing that someone would have a new baby in the family somewhere and so it would find the right home anyway. ’
‘See, that does make sense,’ Alex said. ‘There are probably several generic baubles that weren’t meant for a specific person at all but would fit several different people. Like painting a bauble with a chocolate bar on it – I bet there are hundreds of people in the town who love chocolate.’
‘I suppose,’ Flick said, obviously slightly deflated as Alex and Luke popped her bubble of excitement.
‘Is there any other evidence that it’s Quinn?’ Alex said.
‘Well, no, I suppose not.’
‘OK, so let’s put a pin in him for now. I’m not saying it’s not him, but let’s see what evidence we can gather, for and against,’ Alex said.
‘That’s probably very wise,’ Luke said, rubbing his wife’s back, consolingly.
‘And it is a beautiful bauble,’ Alex said. ‘You’re very lucky.’
Flick’s face lit up again. ‘It is beautiful, isn’t it. It will take pride of place on our tree.’
Alex smiled. ‘I was talking about the baubles this morning with Immy. Whoever it is has so much talent. This kind of thing would sell very well here in the studio, especially if people could buy custom baubles for their loved ones.’
‘We said the same,’ Luke said. ‘We’d love to get the person on board here at the studios, even if they were only here as a pop-up from October onwards, although I think Christmas ornaments sell well all year round.
But I’m not sure how we can find out who it is to offer them the opportunity and retain the mystery that’s so important to them at the same time. ’
‘We could get an assistant to run the shop side for them so they were never visible to the public, but at least they would get some recognition and payment for their work,’ Flick said. ‘Or I could just sell the baubles in my gift shop.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ Alex said. ‘Although, if they are doing hiding them secretly rather than selling their baubles, they probably like the gifting side more than the money.’
Luke nodded. ‘True, but I’d still at least like to offer them a place here, they can decide whether to take it.’
Alex nodded. ‘Right, I better get to work.’
She waved goodbye and went upstairs to her studio, her mind whirling with all the possibilities of who it could be and whether it could be Quinn.
A lot of people would know that Zara loved roller skating, but how many would know purple was her favourite colour?
Not that many. Probably only Quinn, Immy, Quinn’s mum Violet and a handful of Zara’s friends.
But still that was hardly conclusive evidence against Quinn.
And when would Quinn have got the time to paint all these baubles?
He was at the studio all day making his metal monsters and several of his evenings were taken up with social activities: rugby, his pub quiz night, even his kayaking club that met every week in the winter to practise in the local pool.
On his free nights he was mostly round her house, watching movies and cosy crime TV shows with her and Zara or playing board games.
The baubles would take a lot of time. And they were so different from his metal work, such delicate paintings seemed a million miles away from bending and shaping metal.
It couldn’t possibly be Quinn, could it?
But then if it wasn’t him, who was it?
Alex wrote occasional feel-good pieces for the local paper, The Lovegrove Lighthouse, and she had been intending to write an article about St Nick and his generous gifts.
She could use her role to try and find out who it was, not to out him or her to the town but purely for her own satisfaction of solving a mystery.
She and Quinn often watched Midsomer Murders and other cosy mysteries together and they loved trying to work out who committed the crime; this would be no different.
Plus she wanted to be able to offer them the opportunity of working here and maybe persuade them to do a bauble for Immy.
She pulled out her phone and logged into Facebook under The Lovegrove Lighthouse page where she posted nice, heartwarming stories from time to time. She quickly threw up a post.
Who is St Nick?
Since the beginning of December beautifully painted baubles have been mysteriously found all over Lovegrove Bay, with instructions from the equally mysterious St Nick to either keep, re-hide or gift to someone else.
So many of us have received these gorgeous baubles yet we have no way to thank the person who took so much time to paint them. Everyone wants to know who St Nick is.