‘Mayor, how are you? Isn’t this lovely?’ From the corner of her eye she saw Niall bring up a large silver bowl full of mulled wine with a ladle sticking out the side.
‘It certainly is. How wonderful to see so many of our elderly citizens out and about, socialising and enjoying some festive fun.’
‘Speaking of which,’ said the mayor’s consort, ‘might have a little drop of that mulled wine. Looks delicious.’ Nell and Tom exchanged glances. Arnold Armstrong enjoyed his wife’s role as mayor as much as possible on account of all the free booze he was provided with. He was a lovely man but could sometimes over-indulge. Now, he helped himself to a ladle full, plopping it into one of the small glass cups provided. ‘Ah, lovely. You’ll have to give me the recipe for this, Nell. The best mulled wine I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve tasted a lot recently.’
Linda fired a warning glance at her husband, then surveyed the room. ‘This really is just wonderful to see, Tom. Thank you for inviting me. These wreaths are going to be beautiful. Whatever will you do with them all?’
‘I’m not really sure to be honest. Some will go back to the care home to decorate there and I know some of the residents have promised theirs to their families, but there’s going to be more than I thought. I’d anticipated some people wouldn’t want to do it, but everyone’s been so excited I’ve got more than I bargained for.’
Linda leaned in. ‘If you’ve got any spare, I could use them around town. We’ve got lights but there are a few strategic points I could hang a wreath. And a wreath made by some of our local residents in one of our local hotels would mean so much. I think we could do a whole marketing campaign about it. What do you think, Nell?’
‘That sounds great.’
Arnold came over with another glass of mulled wine. ‘And it’d get you some local publicity, dear, wouldn’t it?’
Linda carried on. ‘And I understand you’ve got the wedding fair this weekend and you’re hosting St Herbert’s Welcome to Christmas carol singing in a week’s time?’
‘Yes,’ Nell replied bouncing on her toes. ‘I’m going to be busy. I’m really looking forward to them both. I’ve never done anything like it before.’
‘I know the headteacher of St Herbert’s and she is so thrilled the night can go ahead. She was so worried all the children’s hard work would be in vain. You’ve saved the day.’
Nell could feel how cheesy her grin was, but she didn’t care. It felt amazing to be thought so well of. ‘A few of the older kids should be coming along at three to sing some carols. I hope you’ll stay for that. We thought the residents would like it.’
‘I’m sure they will.’ Linda’s forehead wrinkled as she frowned. ‘If only all our hotels were as welcoming as yours, Nell. It’s lovely that you’re such a part of the community. It’s just a shame that some seem to think they’re too high and mighty to deal with the riff-raff.’
Tom and Nell both looked at each other in confusion, but it was Nell who asked the question. ‘Is everything all right, Mayor?’
Linda sighed and took a glass of mulled wine provided by Tom. He poured another and handed it to Nell. The strong smells of deep, rich red wine, orange, cinnamon and clove filled her nose.
‘I was hoping to hold a winter wonderland Christmas party for my fellow councillors and everyone who works on the town council, and it was supposed to be held at the Langdon Mansion Hotel, but they’ve since told us they can’t accommodate us because there was a booking error.’
‘What sort of booking error?’ Nell asked.
Linda shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but they’re now making a big thing of the fact they’re holding a huge event for a travel company and it just happens to be on the same night as our do was.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Tom asked.
‘I guess I’ll have to cancel. There aren’t many venues that aren’t booked up already.’
Nell spotted Tom flashing his eyes at her, but she couldn’t figure out what he wanted. She looked around, checked her top for mulled wine dribbles and at last, admitted defeat. She gave her head a slight shake to show she hadn’t the slightest idea why he was wiggling his eyebrows at her. With a slight shake of his head, Tom gave in to her cluelessness. ‘What about holding it here, Mayor?’
‘Here?’ Linda looked around taking in the size of the room. ‘I’m not sure the dining room will be big enough.’
Nell finally caught on to what he was saying and grinned. ‘But we can open the double doors so the lounge and dining room are both open and the same for the conservatory so this will all make one huge space. Look.’ She strode over to the lounge and showed the mayor how the doors folded back. Nell pulled the doors closed again. ‘And behind you.’ In excitement, Nell jogged to the conservatory, weaving between staff from the care home, and folded the doors back there. The air was a little cold and a couple of grumbles sounded around her. Nell closed them quickly and went back to the mayor. ‘It’s what I’m doing for my friend’s wedding next month. In the lounge, we can remove all the armchairs and coffee tables so it’s another standing space, or just place seating around the edges. And we can place smaller tables around the edge of the dining room for refreshments and set up a bar in the conservatory. The conservatory is like another room too and if it’s dry,
