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‘I’led a little until she putanywhere until I knew that Jack was definitely okay Doctors, I kneere like huht ‘We were trying to organise a Christmas surprise for you And, well, for ourselves, too We decorated the whole street with lights, but then the power blew, and Jack fell … and now everything’s ruined’

‘A Christ astonished ‘For me?’

‘I’m so sorry we messed it up’

‘Darling, just the idea that you thought of me, at such a busy time of year …’ She reached over and kissed Holly on the cheek ‘Bless you, my dear Bless you’

‘Well, I don’t think there’s any per to his feet from where he’d been kneeled beside Jack ‘But I’ll want to keep an eye on you for a day or so, and absolutely no ladders Okay?’

‘Yes, sir’ Jack sat up again and, this time, everyone let him A man reached out a hand to help hihts back on around here, hey?’

‘Already on it,’ someone else called, from over by Holly’s house ‘My brother works for the electric coet soain in no time’

I shifted over to lean against Jack’s leg, just to check he was really fine That I hadn’t hurt him too badly

And yes, okay, to reerbread

‘Coot a lot to do before toerbread’

I barked hed ‘Of course he’s learnt that word’

She turned, Jack at her side, h the crowd to her own house She almost made it, too

But then, all conversation stopped, as the thundering voice of Mrs Teht

‘What the devil is going on here?’

It was nearly ht before Daisy and Oliver returned to the hotel Feeling fuzzy after several glasses of very lovely wine, Daisy clung to Oliver’s arainst the bitter French cold as they made their way back

Christht not be a total disaster after all They were all together, she’d had a lovely night out with her husband for the first tiht in a nice hotel before travelling ho The kind hotel owners had even let thee, so there was an outside chance the sood toe at the chateau There were li to chalk up for her Christmas dinner

No, all in all, things could be a lot worse Really, far, far—

‘Oh bollocks,’ she said, co to a sudden stop in the middle of the road

‘Oh hell,’ Oliver said, stopping with her ‘What now?’

‘Bloody Santa Claus’ How could she have forgotten the most important job she had on Christmas Eve? Santa needed his parent-elves after all And Jay would never understand if Father Christht

Oliver groaned ‘Maybe he couldn’t find us Maybe he’s left all the presents ready for us back at Maple Drive’

‘Yeah, because that’s going to ith Jay’ Daisy sighed ‘No, there’s nothing for it We’re going to have to go fetch all the presents from the car and break into their room’

‘Without waking Jay or Bella,’ Oliver said, sceptically ‘So’

‘I know’ Jay was a notoriously light sleeper There was no way they’d e it

‘Maybe the stockings could be hung on the door handle? Outside the rooested

‘That could work I’d just put them in our room, but you remember what happened last year’

‘All too well’ Oliver shuddered Apparently Jay bursting into their roo onto the bed and landing on a very sensitive part of Oliver’s anatomy had permanently traumatised her husband