Free A Vintage Christmas by Ali Harris Page A

Evie! Maria’s is in the back. We’ve been working all night. And Mum and Dad have even come over to help!’ David says happily as he leads me through to the back room.
    I walk in to find a hive of activity in the workroom. Music is playing on an old 1950s radio but it can barely be heard above the chatter and hammering.
    ‘Hullo Evie,’ I feel a tug at my trouser leg and look down and smile as Gabe Jr grins up at me. He’s the image of his father with a shock of dark hair and olive skin. I bend down and give him a hug but he just points at my shoes until I notice I’m standing on a bit of leather. I lift it up and he swipes if from underneath before putting it in an offcuts cubbyhole and then doing the same to Maria, who dutifully lifts both feet without pausing from her work. ‘He’s chief leather picker-upper today, aren’t you?’ Gabe Junior nods feverishly before dropping to his hands and knees to pick up more off cuts of leather. Maria laughs as he lifts up her feet one by one and calls over her shoulder. ‘He’s taking his role very seriously!’
    ‘It’s a real family affair here today,’ David says, nodding at his parents who are sat at the long trestle table and are hard at work.
    ‘Afternoon Mr and Mrs Angelo!’ I call out and Gabe Senior glances up and smiles at me, his Mediterranean blue eyes sparkling underneath a sweep of thick, dark (dyed) hair. ‘Evie. Nice to see you again!’ He gets up and opens his arms to embrace me as he always does. I laugh because he’s tiny, 5’4 at the most, so his arms end up practically around my waist. In true Italian tradition David’s father is a very warm, demonstrative man and both he and his wife, Giuliana, completely embraced me as one of their own.
    ‘Gee Gee!’ Mr Angelo turns and calls his wife. ‘Come and say hi to Evie!’ David’s mum, a lovely, sparkly 68 year old woman with long fair hair coiled into an intricate up do, turns and smiles at me. She has warm olive green eyes and a perfect rosebud mouth with a startlingly bright white set of teeth. ‘Have I ever told you why I call her Gee Gee?’ Gabe Senior asks, and I shake my head. He rubs his fingers and winks. ‘We’d be millionaires if it wasn’t for my Gee Gee’s gambling habit!’
    Giuliana rolls her eyes underneath her trademark set of false eyelashes. ‘Do ignore him Evie, he’s a wonderful shoemaker but a terrible wind-up merchant!’ She stands up and walks over to me with arms outstretched, grasps my hands and squeezing them tightly before planting a kiss on both my cheeks. ‘I know I’ve said this many times before, but thank you Evie, for this opportunity. It means everything to this family.’ I nod, feeling choked by her gratitude.
    ‘So how’s everything going?’ I ask, glancing around the workshop and walking over to Maria. As I take a step closer and see how expertly her fingers are working, slowly, evenly and delicately on the embellishments.
    ‘This looks beautiful!’ I gasp.
    ‘No one can beat Maria’s eyes for attention to detail and exquisite stitching. Except, perhaps, me, Mum and Dad!’ David laughs.
    In response Maria proudly holds up the beautiful pair of shoes she’s busily sewing appliqued sequinned flowers to.
    I look down the centre of the room, and see half a dozen pairs of shoes in a rainbow of jewel tones.
    I put my hand out tentatively to pick one of them up and hold it up to the light, turning it so I can see the delicate, sensual curve of the heel, the arch of the upper, the beautiful embellishments. All have the Angelo Shoes trademark label – the wings stitched into the inside of the shoes. But whilst all are stunningly beautiful, it is one pair that I’m particularly drawn to.
    ‘David, these are just! They’re... I mean, they’re beyond... I’m speechless!’ I say picking up and gazing at a pair of unfinished delicate, gold silk high-heeled sandals with burnished gold feathered angel wings spread across the toes. ‘These are