Free A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson

to peer in through the boarded-up windows; then he tried the door. As if it would be open, huffed Eve, consulting the map as
she strolled on. She would have had serious words with the builders if it was. She heard Violet laughing behind her at something Jacques was saying and felt a prickle of betrayal.
    Eve swept her eyes over the not-quite-finished buildings in front of her and began to visualize how it would all look when it was completed. It was mid-October already. Could they really get
enough of it ready to open for this Christmas? Maybe – if the workmen were here 24/7.
    As if Jacques – perish the thought – had delved into Eve’s head and seen her thoughts, he said, ‘It could be ready for this Christmas if we get our act
together.’
    ‘Surely not,’ said Violet, visualizing the amount of work that would take. She looked to Eve for her reaction and was surprised to see her head slowly nodding an affirmative.
    ‘All the major building work is done and if we draft in more builders to work around the clock to finish everything off, I don’t see why not. Obviously it’ll take a few years
to build up to its full potential, but I reckon there will be enough here to merit an entrance fee this year. It’s going to be close – mid-December I’d guess – but, yep,
it’s possible,’ Jacques went on.
    ‘I agree,’ said Eve. Not to cash in on the major money-making period around Christmas would be an epic failure – and Eve didn’t do failure. In the light of Shite
Christmas’s questionable success, other winter theme parks would spring up like pesky dandelions on a lawn, and Winterworld needed to be up and running and bloody fantastic, grabbing all the
limelight. Yes it could be good, and now was the ideal time to do it, with so many builders out of (and desperate for) work. They could make this happen.
    Eve walked on, imagining the completed park –
over there the fast-food restaurant, the souvenir shop and ice-cream parlour.
She tried not to think about the must-have Santa’s
grotto. Maybe she could leave that with Jacques Glace to sort out. She imagined he’d be very good at playing with toys.
    ‘I was just telling Violet,’ said Jacques, coming up behind her and using her cousin’s name as casually as if he had known her for years, ‘that apparently the only
completely finished building on site is the wedding chapel. He grinned and stared at her with a look that was longer than necessary. ‘Wonder why Evelyn put that top of the list? It’s
behind the enchanted forest.’
    ‘God only knows,’ Eve exclaimed. Damn.
    ‘I think I might have guessed,’ he said. ‘I bet your aunt thought we’d get along very well.’
    Eve ignored that.
    They walked along the path to the first of more log cabins – the one with a tower and a single bell hanging in it. What a ridiculous thing to have built – and built first, thought
Eve. It didn’t make any good commercial business sense. Her aunt had really slipped up there.
    ‘I need to get inside,’ said Eve.
    ‘I like your enthusiasm for getting down the aisle,’ Jacques winked. ‘That bodes well, too.’
    Eve refused to be party to his infantile wedding jokes, and walked around the outside of the chapel getting her sensible Hunter wellies even more caked in mud. Behind her she could hear Jacques
talking to Violet about ice cream. At least he was in agreement with her idea to bring in Violet and Pav. As he would soon be in agreement with all her other plans.
    The chapel was bolted shut and they didn’t have a key for the padlock on the tiny, gothic arched door.
    ‘What a shame,’ said Jacques, leaning over and saying for her ears only, ‘we could have had a practice run.’
    And for his ears only Eve said, ‘I don’t know what your game is, Mr Glace, but please be assured that your puerile, unfunny jokes are falling on very deaf ears.’
    ‘Who’s joking? I always mean what I say; you would be as well to remember that, Miss