A Winter's Tale (The Shakespeare Sisters 2)

He shrugged, the movement making his black jacket rise up. ‘Yeah. They were good days.’ She saw him glance down at Jonas, who’d finally noticed his arrival. ‘Hey, Jonas, enjoying it?’

Jonas’s face lit up at his uncle’s attention. ‘You’re here!’ he said, beaming. ‘I didn’t think you were coming.’

‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world.’ Adam’s voice was thick.

‘Do you see the fire truck?’ Jonas asked him. ‘Do they have lots of candy? You’re much taller than me, I can’t see a thing.’

‘You want me to lift you up?’

Jonas nodded enthusiastically, and the next moment Adam was picking his nephew up and putting him on his shoulders. Kitty couldn’t help but smile at Jonas’s delighted expression, King of the Castle with the best view in town.

Adam noticed her smile, and cracked one of his own, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. Neither of them said anything for a moment, though their gazes were locked together. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, matching the rhythm of the band. Why did she react like this to him every time?

‘Can we talk after the parade?’ Adam asked her quietly enough that Jonas couldn’t hear.

Her glance slid up to the boy. ‘Jonas is with me,’ she reminded him. ‘Maybe later?’

His reply was drowned out by the squeal of a hundred children as the fire truck finally joined the parade. Jonas wriggled until Adam put him down, and he ran back to his space by the barrier, the best spot to claim his candy. Kitty and Adam stepped back to allow the other children to join him, all of them jumping up and down as Santa waved at them from his spot on the top of the fire truck. The firemen walked alongside, their elves’ outfits looking ridiculous on their muscled frames, but each one of them was enjoying himself, passing handfuls of candy to the kids.

She felt proud of Jonas when he took his portion of candy and stepped back, allowing other children to fill his space. She hadn’t even had to remind him to take his turn, he’d done it naturally anyway.

‘Can we go over to the bandstand?’ Jonas asked her, already ripping the wrapper off a chocolate bar. ‘They let the kids sit at the front when the concert begins, I want to get a good spot there, too.’

She followed Jonas as he weaved through the crowd, clearly used to the running order of the parade. In previous years his grandmother had brought him, and by all accounts she’d enjoyed it as much as Jonas had. It was a real shame she couldn’t make it this year.

Adam shadowed close behind her, and she liked the way that felt. Technically Adam and Jonas were family, and she was the interloper, but somehow Kitty didn’t feel left out at all. It was as though for once she was the heroine of her own story, at the centre of things, and she liked it. Maybe a little too much.

As they made it to the town square, Jonas joined the other kids on the bleachers somebody had placed out in front of the bandstand. The white structure was lit up, decorated with wreaths of holly and icicle lights hanging down from the roof. Inside, the band had already set themselves up, wearing red Santa hats, their music stands edged with tinsel. As soon as the fire truck arrived at the end of the parade, Santa was helped down from his perch on the roof, and he walked over to the crowd of children gathered in the square, as the band struck up a jaunty arrangement of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’.

‘You want a coffee?’ Adam asked her, inclining his head over at the catering truck to the side of the square.

‘Sounds good.’

Five minutes later, Adam was back, carrying two festive Styrofoam cups and a bag of cookies. He handed her a cup, then pulled a cookie out for her, and for a moment they drank and ate, listening to the music.

‘You did a good thing bringing Jonas here,’ Adam said, after chewing the last mouthful of his cookie. ‘He always says it’s the best part of Christmas.’

She smiled. ‘Apart from opening gifts on Christmas morning, I bet.’

‘Yeah, that too.’ He took a sip from his still-steaming coffee cup. ‘I’m glad I saw you two here, I wasn’t sure I would.’

‘I didn’t expect you to come,’ Kitty said. ‘It doesn’t really seem like your thing.’

He tipped his head to the side. ‘What is my thing, do you think?’

She blinked a couple of times, thinking about his question. How well did she really know him? Oh, she knew the things she’d read online, and from all those encounters she’d had with him over the past week.

‘I guess I don’t really see you as a spectator,’ she said, trying to work out where he did fit in. ‘You seem more of a participant than anything else.’

‘I make documentaries,’ he said, his voice light. ‘You don’t think that’s the ultimate in spectator sports?’

‘No, I don’t think so. I’ve seen some of your documentaries, you’re on screen quite a lot. You’re definitely part of the story.’

His face warmed up at her words. ‘You’ve seen them?’

She found herself smiling again. ‘Who hasn’t?’

‘I guess I didn’t think you’d be that interested in them.’