I chewed the hairy face of the cow, a horrible thought growing. I needed to tell Grace … didn’t I? Yes, she’d be upset, and I had to hope she’d forgive me, but she’d rather know. Right.

Right?

… but maybe I’d do it on the train back, so she could enjoy Edinburgh first.

“A gingerbread latte, please. But no coffee.” I dropped the horns I was eating. Was that…? “Just hot milk and syrup. Oat milk, please.”

The guy behind the counter smiled. “You mean the kids’ one?”

“Well, you say potato, I say potato…” Nothing. “Yeah. The kids’ one.”

The guy ordering was in a long dark grey coat, beanie pulled down. Was it just coincidence he sounded American? But when he turned round and saw me in the corner, he smiled. A big Rudolph smile.

I felt a happy jolt. Then a damp one as a chunk of cow bum fell into my drink, and my hand got splooshed.

“Can I join?” Ru nodded to the entirely empty bench next to me. “Or is it a breakfast for one situation?” He paused. “Or … am I going to keep on talking until I get the hint you’re not talking to me any more.” Another pause. “And then apologize again for what happened yesterday…” I still hadn’t said a word. “And then maybe see if I can reverse that by offering you these…” It was a bag of beautifully iced Lebkuchen, the ones I said were my favourite back in Liverpool. “Thought I’d beat the crowd and get here early as apparently, it’s the best bakery in town.” He bit his lip, embarrassed. “And maybe, maybe, Elijah said that maybe you were staying around here and maybe, maybe I kind of hoped I might bump into you. And give you the aforementioned Lebkuchen.” He shook his head and looked down, looking all kinds of awkward. “And maybe I should stop saying Lebkuchen. Or just stop talking altogether.” He stepped back and rubbed his forehead. “I should go, shouldn’t I?”

And I wasn’t sure if it was the hot chocolate or the thought of him trekking all the way here before 8 a.m., but I did feel less cross.

“I am talking to you.” As of this exact second only. “But mainly to say I accept all baked gifts.” I slid my coat out of the way, making room for him. Even a certified Jingle Lady could have a friend-based hot drink with someone.

Ru pulled his coat off, taking his phone out of the pocket and sliding it into his black jeans pocket. “Excellent not-at-all Christmassy sweater by the way.”

I tried to look annoyed. “Snow people are for life, not just for Christmas.”

“Course.” Ru grinned and stirred his drink. “Seriously, though, I’m really glad I ran into you. Everything was so chaotic yesterday and I really thought I would be there, but then something came up and then my signal went and it was just … a mess.”

Now was my chance. If he really wanted to apologize, he could be honest with me for a change. “So, what came up?”

Was it bad that I wondered if being vague meant it could be “better half” related after all?

He shrugged. “Oh, boring stuff. Elijah stuff.”

Aaaaaaand.

Don’t speak, Molly. Make him sweat. Make him spill some actual details.

I sipped my drink to stop my mouth opening.

Be intimidating! Be firm!

“It’s a long story.”

I continued sipping my drink. “Well, I have a lot of time.”

Ru sighed. “It’s just, I should never have said yes to this job, I guess. But my parents kind of said I had to. And with them knowing the bosses … everything I do gets back to them. Like going AWOL at the premiere. And since then, just when I think I’ve got a moment for myself – like yesterday at seven p.m. – somebody finds something for me to do.”

Well, that made sense, I guess.

“But you do get to go to all these places.”

He nodded, embarrassed. “I know, I’m sorry. I need to stop whining! Privilege, much? I’ve done some awesome things and met some great people.” He looked up. At me. Did he mean me? But before he could say any more, his phone alarm went off. Fumbling in his coat, mumbling “sorry”, he pulled out a battered old phone and switched it off

“Um, do you have two phones?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Not through choice. Elijah makes all crew have them. Soooo, how was it yesterday. I didn’t really get to see it. Everything go OK with the animals?”

Oh yes! Why else would I be here? “Yup. All went very smoothly. A very well-behaved flightherd.” I nodded, trying to look wise.

“Any pictures?” He pulled at his beanie like he was starting to overheat. “Missing Derek was a real let-down. I think we had some major chemistry.”

Great, now I was overheating too. I scrolled through my camera roll.

“I don’t actually have any on my phone.” I shrugged. “Don’t like to mix work and pleasure.” What was I talking about?!

“Are they on Instagram?” Ru said, genuinely interested.

“No account,” I snapped. “My parents are weird about privacy.” Could not be further from the truth. “Reindeer privacy.”

“Well, I’m with them. I don’t have any accounts either.” But did this mean he was safe from seeing the post about me being Elf Girl? Finally, some good news!

“But you can see this fearsome creature.” I showed him a photo I’d taken a few days ago of Sosig.

Ru zoomed in. “Pomsky, right?” Wow, no one usually knew what Sosig was. And bigger wow – I’d dodged the imaginary-reindeer bullet. “I used to have one really similar. Ziggy. Before my parents went all ‘no pets’ and ‘no ties’ and we never stayed anywhere long enough to even get a cactus.” He fiddled with his saucer. “And they’re not the kind of people I can bribe to change their mind … not even with cute cookies.”

“Well, their loss.” He’d never told me properly what they did, but they sounded intense. “Are they here with you in Scotland?”

He cricked his neck. “Kind of. But last night they had some kind of crisis meeting… And they jumped straight back into it this morning. When Mom started on her third coffee, I figured it would be a good time to head out.”

“Sounds stressful.” Last night for me had been trying to stop my dad making Maeve show him every single filter ever invented.

“Everything with my mom and dad is stressful. And I don’t even have a Jess or a Tilly to share it with.” Cringe. Ru was never going to meet my sisters, but I still felt awkward that I’d made up their names.

“You can borrow J—” No, I couldn’t say it again. “My sisters anytime. Anyway, what did you get up to last night?” He’d already told me he was really looking forward to looking round the city. “Was ice skating good?”

“Didn’t do it in the end. Pizza for one in the hotel sounded more tempting.” I felt a tiny twinge of guilt. Should I have at least invited him out?

“Did Elijah get you a good hotel? Ours has a Christmas tree that goes right up the stairs.” He raised an eyebrow. I quickly corrected myself. “Not that I like Christmas trees.”

“No.” He tried not to grin. “Who does? Especially somewhere as picture-perfect holiday-season as Edinburgh.” I loved how he said it. Ed-in-broooo. He took his first sip of his drink. “Oh, hold up…” He took another. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were on to something with this?!”

“You can take it back “home” and pretend it was all your idea.” Not that I even knew where “home” was, other than somewhere in America. “Wherever that is…”

“San Diego. Did I not say?” Nope, I was starting to realize the closest I’d got to a fact was the pickle hunt. “Well, it was Toronto for a bit, but now I’m back in Cali. If you’re into beaches, I would recommend. But if you want some of this…” He nodded to the big window.

“Bin lorries?”

“No,” he snorted. “Snow. These trad Christmas vibes. Then I’d give it a miss.”