CHAPTER ONE
Bundled up against the cold, I stood outside my flat, waiting, until an ancient Volvo rolled around the corner, Mariah Carey’s whistle tones filling the formerly quiet street. Shaking my head, I smiled as the car stuttered to a stop in front of me and the tinted driver’s side window rolled down slowly to reveal the cheerful face of my cousin, resplendent in a pair of fluffy reindeer antlers. It was Christmas Eve.
‘Ho, ho, ho, Gwen Baker! Have you been a good girl this year?’ Manny asked in a deep and booming voice. He watched as I walked over to the car, struggling with my little suitcase and the several bags full of gifts hanging from my arms, making absolutely no move to help.
‘Depends who you ask. What about you?’
‘Depends on your definition of “good”.’ He reached over his seat to open the back passenger door. ‘You’ll have to chuck your stuff in here. I can’t open the boot without the key and if I turn the engine off, it might never start again.’
I heaved everything into the car, filling the empty back seat with my precious cargo. ‘I feel like I’m going to regret asking this, but where are your presents? Please don’t tell me we’ve got to stop at the twenty-four-hour Tesco to do your Christmas shopping? Again?’
As usual, Manny was one step ahead of me. He patted the left-chest pocket of his jacket and grinned. ‘Oh, ye of little faith. I’ve cracked it this year, everyone’s getting Amazon gift cards.’
Slamming the back door, I climbed into the passenger seat and stared at him through a damp tangle of red-brown hair. ‘Everyone? You’re giving the kids gift cards?’
‘Yes.’ Manny’s grin dissolved into a dismissive frown. ‘Don’t look at me like that, they’re awful kids anyway. You ready to go?’
‘Not in the slightest,’ I replied as he gunned the engine.
‘No sleep till Baslow!’ He raised one fist in the air as we pulled out into traffic, only to be immediately stalled by a red light, both of us straining against our seatbelts when he slammed his foot on the brake.
‘Sorry. Only legally required stops till Baslow!’
‘I’ll be impressed if we make it there at all,’ I whispered as the light changed and we sped off into the night.
‘I cannot wait to get home,’ Manny declared once we were safely on the motorway and following what felt like half the country up north, headlights to tail lights all the way home. ‘This year has been a bear and not the good, sexy kind. I thought Christmas was never going to come. On a scale of one to Elf, how giddy are you?’
He held his hand out for a sweet, more interested in a sugar fix than my answer. This was our deal, Mannydrove and I was in charge of the CD player and the tin of Quality Street, two very important jobs and both of them just about within my capabilities. I pulled out a Toffee Penny and put it right back. Manny was soft centres and nut-based truffles only. I got first dibs on the fudge, Dad got the hard toffees and Mum liked the big purple ones, a statement that caused no end of entertainment after a couple of Christmas brandies. My sister, Cerys, didn’t like sweets. My sister, Cerys, was a monster.
‘I’m trying,’ I said as I passed him a Strawberry Delight. ‘I just don’t know if I’m in the mood for it.’
‘Not in the mood for what?’
‘Oh, you know. Christmas.’
He gasped so loudly, I almost rolled down the window to make sure there was enough oxygen left in the car for me. ‘What’s wrong with you? Are you sickening for something?’
I shook my head and popped a chocolate triangle into my mouth. ‘No. I’m not really feeling the festive spirit, that’s all. No big deal.’
‘But you love Christmas. You’reobsessedwith Christmas.’
‘Don’t exaggerate, I’m not obsessed.’
‘How many advent calendars did you have last year?’
I looked down at my nails, giving my shoddy home manicure a close examination.
‘One.’
‘Liar.’
‘Two?’
‘You’re a liar who lives in a house of lies.’
‘Fine, I had five,’ I replied, ignoring his indignant caw. ‘A Cadbury one and a Galaxy one.’
‘Entirely reasonable. What else?’