Whitecott Manor by Emma Jane

Author:Emma Jane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, gay, lgbt, paranormal, contemporary, ghost, intrigue
Publisher: NineStar Press

Chapter Twenty

Despite the fact that Saturday evening was as cold as it had been in a long time, Noah turned up on my doorstep wearing a tracksuit and hoody. He didn’t look bothered by the weather, though, and dragged me out the house as soon as I’d grabbed my duffle coat.

“It’s really not going to be that exciting,” I warned him. “The lights aren’t even that nice.”

“Don’t care,” Noah said. “It’s nice just to be out doing stuff.”

My breath puffed in front of me as I walked, making it look as if I was smoking. I had my hands thrust deep into my pockets, but I really wanted to take hold of Noah’s.

“Aren’t you cold?” I asked.

“Nah. I’ll warm up when we get there anyway with all the bodies around.”

I chuckled. “How busy do you think it’s going to be?”

When we reached the village green, there were actually more people there than I’d been expecting. I noticed a little merry-go-round had been set up for the kids, and a hot dog cart had parked up on the other side of the road. A group of carol singers converged near the tree, and beside them stood a man holding a reindeer by the halter.

Noah tugged my arm to point the animal out to me. “Dead good this, innit?” he said. “Dead villagey.”

“Yeah, dead villagey,” I agreed, amused by his excitement. I wondered if they did this sort of thing up in Manchester. Probably not as quaint. I was just about to offer to go and buy us hotdogs when I spotted my dad through the crowd. I would’ve waved if I’d caught his eye, but noticed he seemed preoccupied with someone.

“Isn’t that your dad?” Noah asked, realising what I was looking at. “Who’s the lady?”

I frowned. “The lady from the shop,” I said. She was laughing, her face alive with amusement—even my dad was smiling; he was smiling.

“They look friendly,” Noah commented.

“They do.” I half wanted to go over to see how my dad’d react with me there, but somebody else caught my eye—a man pushing his way past the people carrying a ridiculous tuba. I laughed when I realised it was Emmett.

“What’s funny?” Noah asked.

“Uh…” I watched as Emmett joined the carollers and lifted the tuba to his lips. “Nothing. Just happy.”

“Yeah?” Noah said. “Me too.”

I smiled at him, and he held my gaze. A man’s voice carried above everybody else’s, but I missed what he said. When the crowd cheered, I realised we’d just missed the lights going on. Noah and I turned to the tree and clapped, though I personally didn’t think it was worth cheering. The singers began Away in a Manger.

“You know the lights, right,” Noah said, thoughtfully, “why don’t they set the tree on fire?”

“They don’t get hot enough,” I said.

“Oh right. You think the tree’d go right up. Aren’t pines like, ninety percent resin or something?”

I just gave him a bemused smile and headed towards the hot dog stall.

“Come on,” I said, “I’ll get you something to warm you up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.