Page 16 of Hope and Hot Chocolate on Mistletoe Lane

Dylan quickly put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

‘Shall I cancel my family coming to stay?’

‘But I know how much you want to make things up with them,’ she replied, shaking her head.

‘Don’t worry,’ I said firmly. I could tell they were on the verge of cancelling it all. Maybe I was being selfish but I really wanted this to work. It felt like my last shot for my business. ‘We can do this,’ I reassured them. ‘I’ve seen your pumpkin patch and summer trail and they both looked great. They were really popular too. This is the biggest task yet but there’s no reason why we can’t pull it off. We just need to get a detailed timeline together. Make sure we know what to do each day and what help we need.’

‘You really think so?’ Willow asked hopefully.

‘Yes,’ I said, hoping I was telling the truth.

‘I think so too,’ Dylan said. ‘This farm has got so much bigger than we thought possible after the first pumpkin patch; we just need to decide how we can catch up and not overstretch ourselves.’

‘Exactly.’ I smiled at them. At that moment, my phone rang. ‘Wynter Wishes,’ I answered, leaving Dylan giving Willow a hug while I pushed the wheelbarrow back outside to get more bark.

‘Er, hi, it’s Paul.’

‘Oh, hi.’ I stopped. ‘Um, what’s up?’ I cringed inwardly; I didn’t think I’d ever asked that before in my life.

‘Elliot came through. He has a friend who rents synthetic ice rinks for events, and he doesn’t think it’s too expensive. Elliot said he could get the guy to come down to the ice rink this morning if you want to meet him?’

‘Yes, please!’ I cried with relief.

‘Great, I’ll pick you up in half an hour and take you there.’

‘Are you sure you’re free?’

‘Yeah, no worries.’

‘Thank you so much!’

‘Sure.’

He hung up but I didn’t mind the abruptness. This was a huge relief. I ducked back into the polytunnels and told Willow and Dylan the plan.

‘Phew, the ice rink was a big draw to selling tickets, I think,’ Willow said. ‘The one Elliot owns is about an hour’s drive away and there’s no outside rink for miles. The town would love it.’ Then she tilted her head. ‘I can’t believe Paul skates.’

‘I never knew that,’ Dylan agreed. ‘I’ve seen him with Elliot at the pub but didn’t think that’s how they knew each other.’

‘He was a really good skater when we were young,’ I told them. ‘Used to play ice hockey too!’

‘That man is a dark horse,’ Willow said, shaking her head.

‘He never wants to make conversation so I don’t know much about him,’ Dylan added.

‘But he was a big help the first year we did the pumpkin patch after that storm hit,’ Willow said. ‘So, I never join in when people say he should leave town.’

‘They say that?’ I asked, surprised.

‘Only because he always acts like he wants to live anywhere else but here.’

‘That’s just a joke, surely,’ Dylan replied. ‘I’ll owe him a beer if he sorts an ice rink for us.’

I shook off my curiosity about Paul and tried to focus on this event. ‘It’ll be a big expense but we can decide what to do budget-wise after I’ve spoken to the owner. I’ll try to negotiate as much as possible.’

‘I feel so much better,’ Willow said. ‘I’ll get this floor finished before the end of the day and I’ll organise us help to do the roof and lights tomorrow.’ She looked much brighter; her wobble thankfully seemed to have passed.

Dylan gave me a nod. ‘Thanks, Holly.’