Page 39 of Break the Ice

‘Oh, nonsense. It’s Christmas. Couldn’t have you three stranded on the roads,’ she says. ‘Obviously, clean up after yourselves, no naked flames, and just put the key through the letter box when you leave.’

‘How can we repay you?’ I ask. ‘You look like you’re entertaining. Can we assist?’

‘Oh my. I’m cooking for twenty and part of the bargain is that they all pull their weight. If you still find yourself here tomorrow, knock on the front door. You are very welcome to join us for Christmas lunch… promise?’

‘Promise.’ I reach out to give her a hug and she reciprocates. The way she hooks her arms around me makes me think of someone I miss so very much.

Then I feel another set of arms around us both and it’s Joshua, making us a hug sandwich. I laugh to see him so excited, to see his eyes lit up. ‘Thank you so much, Wendy. You’re an angel.’

She laughs, but then there’s silence as Joshua doesn’t let go. I hope she doesn’t think we’re weird.

‘Are you done with your selfies yet?’ I ask Joshua. I thought the ancient stones and the village pub were the peak of how excited this boy could get, but now we’re in a shepherd’s hut with a copper bathtub and a vintage floral duvet set and matching teacups and the boy is losing his mind.

‘The whole thing is on wheels,’ he says, his eyes wide as he scampers over to the bathroom.

‘I noticed.’

‘I can’t believe these sorts of things exist. And she rents this out? Do you think you could live in one of these?’ he asks me, taking a picture of the basket in the bathroom that houses home-made soaps.

‘I believe that’s what shepherds used to do,’ I tell him.

If Josh was looking for cosy then this is cosy personified. I lie back on the bed, looking out the full-length window beside it. Even in the darkness you can see the stars and the white glow of the fields. It feels good to stretch out, to take off my shoes and dry off completely. The kettle starts to whistle and I get up to fill up our Cup Noodles on the counter. I like how this Christmas is seeing us consume the very best of junk foods. I look over as Josh rearranges a three-foot Christmas tree that he seemed to have in the boot of his car.

‘Do you always carry that around with you then?’ I ask him.

‘I had to clear it out of my dorm room and your sister had a tree, so…’ he says as he hangs the decorations off the branches.

‘The pompoms are cute,’ I tell him.

‘Thank you. I thought, given we might be here for a while, we may as well have some ambience,’ he says, fiddling with the lights.

‘That’s what the Cup Noodles are for,’ I say, passing him a cup.

He smiles and takes them, and sits on a comfy chair in the corner of the hut. He complains but he’s still wearing my Juicy Couture trackies. Admittedly, they do make his arse look great. Maybe that was an inspired decision on my part. At the moment, he is very tickled by the log burner, how it’s heated up the kettle and dried our socks on a little wooden rack.

‘Well, Steve likes it,’ I say, looking at him curled up in his bed.

‘He liked the pub too, a dog after my own heart,’ Joshua says, winding his noodles around his fork. It’s a moment of calm in the chaos we’ve experienced on this journey. I watch him slurp his ramen animatedly. I like that you like Cup Noodles, that you helped me take on that kid with your snowball skills, but the jury is still out. I put down my noodles and reach down into my shopping bag.

‘Here, I got something to go with your strange multi-pocketed fishing trousers,’ I say. It’s a multipack of Christmas socks in an array of designs. ‘Look, these have sausage dogs on them and say “dachshund through the snow”.’

He looks at them and smiles. ‘Thank you.’

‘It’s only so I can get my leopard print ones back,’ I tell him.

‘How did you guess my shoe size?’ he asks.

‘I noticed when you were changing your shoes earlier.’

He takes the socks out of the packaging as I scroll through my phone. ‘BBC Wiltshire have started putting alerts on their website for when the roads get clear, I’ll keep an eye,’ I say. He’s not listening. He’s putting his socks on and admiring them on his feet. God, I’ve given a lot of men I know socks for Christmas and I never get this reaction.

‘Are we exchanging gifts now? It’s not even Christmas Day,’ he says. ‘Plus, I haven’t wrapped what I got for you…’

I laugh. ‘You have something for me?’

‘I saw these and thought of you.’ He reaches into his own bag and pulls out some handwarmers in the shape of cat faces. ‘I thought they could go with your cat gloves.’

I try to hold in a smile because they are very cute; possibly meant for toddlers, but he bought me something. They’re very sweet and practical. ‘That’s very thoughtful, Joshua.’