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something even more unexpected and waltzed up to Milly, took her in his arms, and danced her around the kitchen while Edgar, Daisy, and Mildred stared at them, confused about this new strange thing their humans were doing. Because they thought of Callum as theirs now, he’d been there often enough lately.
    Milly didn’t know the words to the song but she joined Callum in his dance around the kitchen, laughing with utter joy. Callum was home; Edgar was home; and all was well in the world. For now.

Chapter Four
    Milly took the phone off the cradle and hit the ‘on’ button twice to hang up on the caller and then leave the line open. For the last week she’d been getting these calls, one after the other, every day at noon. They either screamed incessantly, the caller’s voice distorted somehow so Milly couldn’t tell who it was, or just breathed. It was doing her head in.
    The police couldn’t do anything about it either; apparently the caller was using some anonymous internet service that was also hiding the user’s information. They promised they’d crack it eventually and find out who it was, but nothing so far. As if this wasn’t bad enough she was getting letters in the mail, warning her to stay quiet, which she wasn’t of course. Every call, every letter was being handed over to Detective Barnes, who finally had some sympathy for Callum and Milly.
    The villagers were even gathering around the pair. In a tiny village like this, everyone knew Callum and Jake had been staying at Milly’s place but none of them thought anything of it. For once, wagging tongues were still as they rallied around the pair, keeping watch to make sure both of the adults and Jake were always safe. Wives were even sending their husbands out to walk with Milly in the morning to make sure she was safe as she walked her animals. The villagers were not going to allow anything to happen to any of their own.
    That evening, despite the harassment and the stress of the first weeks of December, Milly put her tree up and decorated the shop with the help of several of the village wives, Callum and Jake. She allowed Callum to light her tree as he’d missed out on lighting the village tree and everyone cheered as the lights finally came on in the dark. The multi-coloured fairy lights turned the room into a festive disco as they blinked and dimmed and several of the ladies started to dance to the Christmas songs playing over Milly’s stereo system. Callum once again took Milly in his arms and danced slowly around boxes and tissue paper that had held wrapped decorations, and sang softly in her ear.
    Milly let herself go, dancing around the shop with the giggling ladies who were all dancing with each other now, and laughed as she truly felt a part of village life. She’d always lived here and she knew she was respected in the village but as her friends paired off and married, she’d become the lone hold-out. She didn’t have children to talk up, or husbands to complain about, she’d put her efforts into building her business, and over time she’d come to feel like she was living outside of the village. She was no longer a part of the village, she was just living here. But tonight, as the women gathered around her and Callum held her in his arms she realized she was partly to blame for that. She’d stopped talking, stopped asking about the things that mattered to her friends because she’d felt rejected but now she knew, they’d always been there for her.
    She went to bed that night knowing she was loved and knowing she’d be safe. She still wasn’t sure what was happening between Callum and herself but she knew she had to give it time. Six months ago she would have never dreamed she’d be dancing in her shop with Callum and the village ladies but she had. They’d danced for two hours and enjoyed themselves, every single one, and had enjoyed every moment of it. She might have to leave her phone off of the hook until the latest mystery was