Snowflakes and Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland by Heidi Swain

Author:Heidi Swain [Swain, Heidi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Chapter 18

With so much going on, it wasn’t too difficult, most of the time, anyway, to compartmentalise my confused feelings for Gabe, and I also managed to put my silly bet with Anna to the back of my mind, although I made sure I did nothing to remind her about it. I spent a couple of chilly afternoons out in the grounds sketching the fern garden and summerhouse, my mind’s eye turning them into a snow-encrusted and fairy-lit magical grotto, and next up was the shiny sleigh that Angus kept locked away in a barn for eleven months of the year.

I couldn’t resist running my fingers lightly along the glossy red paintwork and giving the sleigh bells a little shake before I settled down to draw. The tinkling attracted the attention of Gabe and Bran who happened to be passing on their way back to their cottage.

‘Show yourself, elf!’ called Gabe, poking his head around the door.

I popped back up and peeped over the top of where, in a few weeks’ time, Santa, aka Angus, would be sitting, resplendent in his fur-edged red suit and massive black boots.

‘Hey, Hayley,’ said Gabe. ‘Long time no see. Have you been avoiding me?’

It had hardly been a long time, but I had been trying to keep out of his way for the last few days. The conversation we had on the way to town kept popping back into my head at inopportune moments, in spite of my efforts not to think about either it or him.

‘Oh man,’ I said, walking around the sleigh again to make sure I had picked the best angle and opting to brazen Gabe’s observation out. ‘You sussed me.’

‘I thought so.’

‘It’s been what, three days?’

Thankfully, he decided not to make more of an issue out of it. After all, three days really wasn’t all that long, even if we were living and working within spitting distance and could have tripped over each other at every meal time. Had one of us chosen to take her meals at the table with everyone else that is, rather than tucked away in her studio on the pretence of putting in a few extra hours to get her new job underway, instead.

Consequently, Gabe’s next question was pretty astute.

‘How are things working out in the studio?’ he asked. ‘Jamie said you’ve been pretty full-on with the project. I can’t wait to see the results.’

I still hadn’t shown anyone what I had come up with so far, but I would have to soon in case they didn’t like the style I had gone for and I had to start again. I had always been so secretive about my work that it was a hard habit to break, and I had no idea how I would feel seeing the designs launched into the wider world. As long as my name didn’t appear on them, and no one other than the few of us at the hall knew they were mine, then I was hopeful I’d be able to handle it.

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