Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (29 page)

Rachel felt nervous. Not because of what Aiden might say, but because to say it out loud made it seem like a real possibility – up till now it had been no more than a dream. ‘I know I’ve never done anything like it before. But I’ve realised I’m ready for a new challenge.’

‘And working is something that you want?’ Aiden asked. ‘Because if it is, then you should go for it. I’ve always said you’ve got so much to give.’

A smile crept back on to Rachel’s face.

‘But you’re not doing it because you’re worried about money, are you, Rach? I’m really hopeful that next year is going to be a good one for the business.’

‘It’s not that, sweetheart,’ Rachel said. ‘Although of course I want to contribute too. But it’s more than that – now that the kids are older, I want to do something for me.’

‘Well, then you should do it, Rach,’ Aiden said. ‘I know you’ll make us all proud.’

CHAPTER
32

Saturday 23rd December

Laurie turned the key in the front door and stepped inside the hallway of her apartment block. She was still a little tired after the night of karaoke, and braced herself to lug her suitcase up the stairs.

‘Hey,’ came a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Jay walking towards her across the hall. He wore a dark jacket with a scarf around his neck, and a pair of jeans with dark-brown brogues. ‘Can I give you a hand with that?’

‘Hi,’ she said, still a little startled by his sudden appearance, and by the way her spirits had immediately lifted at the sight of him. ‘Yes. Thank you. Unless you’re on your way somewhere?’

‘It can wait,’ he said.

Laurie tried to stop herself thinking about where he was going.

Jay reached down for the suitcase and winced theatrically for a split second as he lifted it. ‘Have you got a dead body in here?’ he asked, laughing.

‘I’m smuggling in a St Bernard,’ she replied, then, in a hushed voice, ‘I know Siobhan’s not a dog-fan, so keep it on the down-low.’

‘So how was it?’ Jay said, as they walked up the stairs together. ‘The countryside?’

‘OK,’ Laurie said, ‘I liked it, in some ways.’

He tilted his head and picked up the bag again, taking it up the final flight of steps before bringing it to rest in front of her front door.

‘Really?’

‘Yes. It wasn’t
all
bad,’ she said, a smile creeping on to her lips. ‘Although it’s good to be back, I must say.’

‘How did you manage to get so long off work?’

‘Long story,’ Laurie said. Jay waited for her to say more. ‘I got sort-of temporarily sacked,’ she said.

‘What?’ he replied, incredulous. ‘But you run everything there.’

Jay was so close to her she could almost feel his warmth. She couldn’t think about anything other than how much she wanted to kiss him. It was torture having him right there, nearly close enough to touch. She’d been fooling herself to think she could start something with Patrick – even when it was going well, those feelings had paled in comparison to what she still felt for Jay.

‘Actually Danny texted me last night and asked me to come back earlier. But I told him no. I’m not ready to go back just yet. There’s more to life than work.’

‘Sounds like you did some thinking while you were away,’ Jay said, after a long silence.

‘Yes, I did. And I hear you’ve been busy too. Rachel told me about the furniture you’ve been working on for Aiden’s barn conversion.’

‘It’s a great opportunity,’ he said. ‘I’m grateful to Aiden for taking a chance on me.’

The conversation stopped again. Jay’s eyes drifted down, and then back up to Laurie. ‘It was quiet without you, you know.’

‘I’m not sure how to take that,’ Laurie said, laughing. ‘Good quiet, or boring quiet?’

Jay’s eyes lingered on hers. ‘Boring quiet,’ he said, with a smile. ‘Definitely.’ She felt a rush of excitement and pleasure. Wasn’t that a bit like saying that he’d, sort of, missed her?

She hesitated for a moment, deciding whether to ask him in. A coffee – it was a normal, neighbourly invitation to make.

His eyes had flicked down towards the stairway window, where sleet was battering against the glass pane. ‘Right – I’m going out in that now.’

Oh. Of course, she thought. Coffee was probably a stupid idea anyway. She’d probably only say something to ruin things. ‘Rather you than me,’ she said, with a nod at the window. ‘Bath, wine, bed – that’s my plan.’ She opened the door to her flat and pulled her suitcase inside.

‘Well, I’d better be going,’ Jay said, ‘but welcome back, Laurie.’

‘Thank you,’ she said.

She closed her front door behind her and leaned back against it, breathing out. What was it about him? She felt like a snow globe that had been turned upside down and shaken up.

Christmas was only two days away, and she hadn’t even asked him about it, she realised. She wheeled her suitcase through to her bedroom, and then went into the kitchen to put the kettle on and put on the radio, which was, as she flicked between the channels, blasting out Christmas tunes on every one. She glanced around. There was something strange about the flat. It felt different, but she couldn’t put her finger on why. Then she spotted the colourful paper chain around the kitchen doorway. She peeked out and into her living room – there over by the bay window was a beautiful display of branches threaded through with white lights, and holly and ivy were draped over her living-room mantelpiece. Paper chains were draped over the window frames and a pile of Christmas cards had been laid out carefully on her coffee table, next to one of those festive, red-petalled plants she could never remember the name of. Laurie’s hand went to her mouth. Her flat looked more beautiful, and well – cared for – than she’d ever seen it.

She walked around the living room taking it all in. There wasn’t a tree – thank God, she hated pine needles – but the room was stunningly decorated. She saw a large card up on the mantelpiece with her name on it. She took it down and opened it, full of childlike anticipation.

Laurie read over the Murray family’s Christmas message and a scribble from Zak: ‘I made the paper chains’. On the left-hand side of the card was a note from Rachel: ‘Look what we found!’ Paperclipped to the card was a photo of Rachel and Laurie at school. Laurie smiled: she could even remember when it had been taken; the day after their last exam, when they’d driven to the coast. Laurie tucked it into the corner of her mirror fondly.

CHAPTER
33

Sunday 24th December, Christmas Eve

Bea had spent the morning supervising the making of her famous gingerbread house with Milly and Zak. Milly was putting the pieces in the oven, ready to bake.

‘Give them twenty-five minutes,’ she said, from her spot at the kitchen table, ‘and next we can glue it all together with icing so that it makes a house. I can help with that part.’

Rachel looked across at Bea – she was like a different woman than she had been in the hospital ward. The colour had come back into her face, and her cropped blonde hair was once again perfectly styled. She wore a neat navy cardigan with a white blouse and tailored trousers.

‘Can we put Smarties and gummy bears on it when we decorate it, Granny?’ Zak asked.

‘Of course,’ Bea said, ruffling her grandson’s hair. ‘I’ve got some silver balls to put on it too.’

‘And can we do the cinnamon stars afterwards?’ he asked, a cheeky smile on his face.

‘Can we?’ Milly joined in, holding up a star-shaped biscuit cutter and peeking through it.

It was such a good feeling to have Milly home with them all on Christmas Eve. To think that tonight she could have been – Rachel stopped herself. It didn’t bear thinking about.

‘Don’t let them wear you out, Bea,’ Rachel said, getting to her feet. ‘They’ll have you baking till midnight if they get their way.’

‘But the house is special,’ Zak said. ‘Milly talking about the house woke you up.’

Rachel and Bea smiled.

‘Don’t worry about me, Rachel, I’m just fine. It’s good to be busy.’

‘But the doctors said …’

‘Oh pah!’ Bea dismissed it. ‘If I’ve learned anything from this, it’s to enjoy life while you’re here, and not waste a moment. And I always take what doctors say with a big pinch of salt.’ She gave Rachel a wink. While Rachel and Aiden were insisting that she take it easy, Bea’s social life had started coming to her. Joyce and Pam had already popped by to say hello and bring her Christmas presents.

‘Did you hear about Diana?’ Bea whispered to Rachel conspiratorially as Zak drifted over to the counter and pulled the wooden spoon out of the bowl to lick. Rachel shook her head, no. ‘She’s in love,’ Bea said, her eyes bright with the gossip. ‘With Graham, the pub landlord. Such a nice chap. Wouldn’t have had him pegged as her type, not for a moment, but you just never can tell.’

‘Wow. Now that is a surprise,’ Rachel said. Diana had made man-hating a full-time occupation over the past few months. That was a pretty big turnaround in just a few weeks.

‘And she looks good too,’ Bea finished. ‘In fact, come to think of it, I don’t know what’s been going on around here, but most of the ladies are better dressed than before. Joyce was wearing a lovely top with a big bow it on this morning. And wasn’t she saying something about being a supermodel? Perhaps my head’s still not quite right …’

‘It’s not your head. That’ll be Laurie,’ Rachel said, smiling to herself. It sounded like Skipley had been caught up in Laurie’s fashion whirlwind.

‘Well, I don’t know what your friend did, but she certainly seems to have livened things up around here.’

As they sat around the fireside that evening, full of the chicken pie that Aiden had made, Milly turned to her parents.

‘You know when we talked the other day,’ Milly started, ‘and you said I should be honest with you, about the things I want to do.’

‘Yes,’ Rachel said with slight trepidation, glancing over at Aiden. They’d spoken with Milly together, before leaving London, and promised that they would listen to her more in future.

‘Do you think I could go down and stay with Auntie Laurie, in the Easter holidays, say? Maybe I could do some work experience with her at Seamless?’ she said. ‘See Nikki at the same time?’

Rachel looked over at her daughter – she seemed so grown up and self-assured. She and Aiden would have to get used to the fact that Milly was never going to be their little girl again.

‘What do you think?’ Aiden said, turning to Rachel, ‘would Laurie would be OK with that?’

‘I don’t see why not,’ Rachel said. ‘Laurie’s always said she’d love to have you come and stay with her. I don’t know about the work experience, we’ll have to ask – but if she’s not too busy, I reckon she’ll probably like the idea of you being her little protégé. Let’s ask her when she’s back from Spain.’

‘Thanks, Mum and Dad, you’re amazing,’ Milly said, leaping to her feet and hugging both of them. ‘I just know that next year is going to be totally amazing. I can feel it.’

Rachel hugged her back. She wasn’t sure what she and Aiden were letting themselves in for, but trusting Milly with more freedom felt right.

After the kids had gone to bed, Aiden pushed a satsuma into the stocking Milly had hung on the mantelpiece. ‘Funny, isn’t it,’ he said. ‘That she’s so grown-up now and yet there’d be a mutiny if she didn’t get a stocking’

‘Yes,’ Rachel said, standing behind Aiden and putting her arms around his waist. She leaned close. He dropped one of his hands so that it was gently holding hers.

‘Rach,’ he said, turning around to face her. ‘Come and sit down.’ He led her over to the sofa where they both took a seat. ‘I want to give you your present early this year.’

‘Oh really?’ she said, surprised. ‘That’s new. How come?’

He took out a wide envelope and handed it to her. ‘Just because.’

Rachel took the envelope and opened it carefully. She gasped when she saw what was inside. ‘Aiden, we can’t… we shouldn’t –’ her hand flew to her mouth – ‘two tickets to Venice?’

‘Don’t worry. Let’s just say I called in a couple of favours. I booked us into a nice little family-run place, not quite five-star, but it looked beautiful. And Diana said she’d be happy to look after the kids for a long weekend, if Mum’s not better by then.’

‘But Aiden …’ Rachel said, a lump forming in her throat. She pictured the canals, the gondolas, the palazzos – spending some time alone there with Aiden was something she’d always dreamed of. ‘You know I’ve always wanted to go to Italy.’

‘I do. And now this can be the honeymoon we never had.’ He smoothed her wild hair back softly behind her ear. ‘Milly put a bit of a spanner in the works the first time, didn’t she? There’s just one thing I’m going to need from you first,’ Aiden said.

‘Oh yes?’ Rachel said, suspicious.

‘Yes,’ reaching behind him to the side table he picked something up and held it over their heads. Rachel laughed at the sight of the sprig of mistletoe with white berries.

‘I think I can manage that,’ she said, and as Aiden leaned in towards her she kissed him tenderly on the lips, feeling a rush of love as strong as she’d felt on the day they got married.

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