Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6) by Issy Brooke Page B

left.
     
    * * * *
     
    Penny couldn’t get through to Drew so she left him a
voicemail, downplaying the incident so he wouldn’t panic, and then she spent
the day getting on with her Christmas orders from the website. To her delight,
Drew turned up at her door unexpectedly that evening, clutching a handmade
holly wreath for her door, a cake in a patterned tin, and a small gift-sized
bottle of whisky.
    “Do you drink whisky?” he asked doubtfully as she led him
to the kitchen.
    “I’ve never drunk it in my life,” she said. “Why did you
buy it?”
    “I don’t know.” He placed all his gifts on the kitchen work
counter. “I was in the shop, trying to think what to bring someone who had been
nearly run over. My mind went blank. I just went into a buying frenzy. It will
be nice in hot chocolate, maybe.”
    “I’ll try it. Thank you. Were you at The Acorns all day?”
    Drew sat down and Kali flopped down at his feet, leaning
hard against his legs. He reached down to scratch her ears. “Yes. Destiny is
still there, doing half a day. She seems to be settling down.”
    “That’s good to hear. She’ll be back full time at the High
School after the holidays.”
    “She will be fine,” Drew said. “She’s not really cut out
for school but we’re giving her ways to cope. So, tell me about the car! Your
message was vague. You’ve spoken to the police, right?”
    “Yes, I have. But listen, I haven’t told my sister Ariadne.”
Penny quickly outlined the events of the previous night.
    Drew’s expression was hard and angry as he listened. His
knuckles whitened as he clenched his fists. Penny felt an odd flutter in her
stomach as she watched him transform into a protective caveman.
    But she didn’t really want him to launch into full-on
superhero mode. She said, as she finished her recount, “It could easily have
been an accident. The police said that to me. People lean down to grab their
phones, or drop a cd, or whatever, and the car swerves. It could have been
that. They might not have even known I was there.”
    “And do you believe that?” Drew said.
    “Maybe. I think it’s a possibility.”
    “Hmm.”
    “Or if it was deliberate, it is likely to have been
mistaken identity.”
    “Hmm.”
    “Drew, please. Don’t look so worried.” She waved the bottle
of whisky in the air. “Fancy a tipple?”
    “No,” he said, still very serious. He sighed. “Okay, at
least you reported it. But please, we’ve got a killer on the loose, and now
this … don’t go walking around at night on your own again.”
    She wanted to say, “You’re not the boss of me,” but she
didn’t. It was nice to be cared about. Instead, she nodded. “You’re right.”
    He regarded her for a long moment, his dark eyes narrowed
in contemplation. Eventually, he said, “You are special to me, you know.”
    She swallowed. “Yes. I mean, sorry, no, thank you. I mean,
you are to me. Special, I mean. Oh, bother.”
    It broke the tension. “Now then,” he continued, finally
smiling. “About this badger watching. Shall we try again? When are you free
this week?”
     
    * * * *
     
    She decided not to take her camera out on the badger
watching session. She felt it would be unnecessary clutter. She wanted to focus
on the possibility of seeing the shy creatures, and also on the still-new joy
of spending time with Drew.
    He collected her as darkness fell in the late afternoon.
Once again, he spoke the caveats he’d mentioned before; the badgers might not
be around, that if they were, it could be too dark, and so on.
    She didn’t mind. She was well wrapped up and had some
portable hand-warmers in her pockets. The night was warm for the time of year,
with no frost, and the sky was half-covered in light clouds. Even as full night
fell, they could still see the shapes of the trees in the gloom.
    “Are you okay?” he asked as they tramped into the woods,
their pace slowing as their feet had to do the seeing as much as their