A Christmas Romance in the Scottish Highlands (Scottish Highlands #6)

Chapter 25

25

ALEX

‘Are you all ready?’ Mae shouted, her wide sparkly skirt swirling as she strode to the front of the stage to survey the members of the pantomime cast. Everyone began to whisper anxiously at the same time, the low hum reverberating around the village hall. ‘I know you’re nervous, but remember, this is our dress rehearsal. In two days, it’ll be Christmas Eve and you’ll be performing the real thing.’ She waggled her eyebrows, dislodging a flurry of glitter onto her cheeks. ‘I know we can make this perfect.’

Alex adjusted his Prince Charming costume for the hundredth time, tugging at the blue hat with the silver feather that Blair had made him wear at the last moment – because it made him look more ‘princely’. He knew it suited him, but he still felt foolish.

‘Do you know your lines?’ Hunter, who was standing beside Alex, whispered in an extra loud voice.

‘I should hope he does, lad,’ Mae bellowed from the stage. ‘Otherwise, I’ll be turning him into a pumpkin.’ She grinned as she waved her magic wand.

‘And then I’ll be putting him in soup,’ Aggie teased.

Somewhere in the wings of the stage Alex heard Henry let out a loud groan.

‘I know my lines, so you don’t need to do magic on me!’ Hunter shouted, hopping from foot to foot and nudging Maxwell who was standing on the other side of him.

‘So do I,’ Maxwell exclaimed. ‘And I’ve been eating cheese all week because that’s what mice do.’ He wriggled his nose.

‘Are you ready?’ Ella came up behind Alex and whispered into his ear. He turned and stared at her, absorbing the punch in his belly as he took her in. He hadn’t seen her since he’d left her house early this morning and something inside his stomach did a slow, happy spin. They’d been working on their paintings in the studio and spending their nights together for a week and Alex wasn’t sure if he’d ever been so happy.

He knew this would be over soon – that the curtain on his new world was going to come crashing down in a few days. Then he’d have to rejoin his real life in Edinburgh. But he wasn’t ready to face that yet. Didn’t want to think about life without Ella. Or what was going to happen with his father, Stan or anything else. For now, it was just easy to avoid and ignore, to hope that somehow things would work out. So he leaned down and kissed Ella slowly, losing himself in her.

‘Gross!’ Hunter complained and Ella giggled as Alex turned to scowl at the boy.

‘One day you’ll learn it’s not,’ Alex said as he gave Ella another quick peck on the lips.

Hunter squished up his nose, then his face brightened. ‘I have a present for you,’ he said, reaching into the pocket of his mouse costume and pulling out a piece of paper. ‘I posted my da his picture today with a Christmas card. He’ll get it before he comes on Christmas Eve to watch the show.’

His eyes shone. ‘I can’t wait to see what he thinks. I tried really, really hard and mam said it was brilliant. I did this drawing for you at the same time – for luck.’ The boy nodded at the picture, his mouse ears wobbling. ‘It’s a picture of you, Wyatt, Sprout and Ella,’ he said proudly, his small chest puffing out.

Alex unfolded the artwork and gazed at it. ‘Aye.’ It was drawn carefully, and he could see the small details in the background which told him that Hunter had spent a long time on it. There was a castle with a chimney that had smoke billowing out. A dozen Christmas trees lined either side of the building and Wyatt was sitting beside a Volvo and sniffing one of its wheels. Beside him, Ella and Alex were holding hands, and Sprout was gazing at them. Above the image Hunter had written Good Luck Prince Charming in big swirly capitals.

‘It’s really good,’ Alex said, a little overcome by the boy’s thoughtfulness, wishing he’d thought to do something similar. ‘You’re talented,’ he added because Ella had taught him about the power of compliments. How important it was to give them.

Hunter flushed with pleasure and then tapped a finger on one of the pockets on Alex’s princely coat. ‘Put it in there. It’s meant to be for Ella too, so you’ll have to share.’

‘Thank you,’ Alex said as emotion filled his throat, and a longing he couldn’t explain slid through him. He wouldn’t be in Mistletoe in a few days – would he take the picture with him, or leave it for her? Another, happier ending slipped into his mind: of him staying, working with Stan, and being with Ella. Then Alex shook his head, knowing he couldn’t walk away from his father. He’d spent too many years earning his approval to go anywhere now – and he was so close.

‘Right, I need you all to take your places. The curtains are down, and I want you behind them ready and waiting. Either on the stage or in the wings. You know where you should be,’ Mae yelled. ‘Don’t forget your lines, break a leg and remember you’re all going to be fabulous.’ With that, she hopped, skipped and jumped to the back of the stage, leaving a trail of pink glitter.

‘Well, everyone’s going to be fabulous except for Cinderella – as usual,’ Lucinda muttered as she stormed past Ella, her bright red costume swishing around her legs. She passed Dane and Clyde who were both tugging at their wigs, and grabbed their arms, marching them up the stairs to the stage.

‘She’s angry with me for talking to the boys and threatening them – at least those were her words,’ Ella sighed as she followed. ‘I’ve tried to talk to her a few times about what’s fair, but she says I’ve let the family down. That my da asked me to step in and helping out was my job.’

‘You know that’s not true, Ella. It’s past time for you to walk away and leave your family to it,’ Alex said softly.

‘I can’t do that until I’ve paid off all the debts.’ Ella sighed. ‘Until then I’m going to have to stick it out. But while I do, Lucinda is going to do everything she can to make me feel terrible.’ Her shoulders sagged and she looked miserable. ‘Trouble is, it’s working.’

Alex watched Ella walk away looking unhappy. He had some money saved; would she agree to take it so she could pay off the company debts? It would be a way out of this situation – a way for her to get back to her art. He’d talk to her about it later he decided as he followed her onto the stage.

Ten minutes later, Alex stood in the wings of the stage, as Ella, Hunter, Maxwell, Lucinda, Clyde and Dane waited in front of the curtains in position for the start. The backdrop, which Henry had recently finished, showed a small house and garden with a scatter of pumpkins on the ground, a candlestick and some chunks of cheese meant for the mice.

Alex could hear a hum of voices from the other side of the curtain. Mae had mentioned they might have a few locals in the audience to help the cast get used to being watched.

His heart thumped as he waited, surprised by how nervous and excited he felt. Something had changed since he’d arrived in Mistletoe. The icy armour that had frozen around his heart had begun to melt. For the first time in years, he was starting to feel something, but he wasn’t sure what to make of it. A part of him was afraid it meant he was weak, but another recognised he’d never felt so happy or alive.

‘Are you ready, lad?’ Henry asked, coming to stand beside him. He’d been touching up some of the scenery first thing and his Rolling Stones T-shirt was covered in blue paint. ‘Did you know Michael was going to be here?’ he asked curiously.

‘Michael who?’ Alex asked.

‘Your father,’ Henry said gently.

Alex blinked, as everything inside him froze. ‘But he doesn’t know about the pantomime,’ he said, feeling stupid. ‘At least he doesn’t know I’m in it. I definitely didn’t tell him.’ Because he knew his father would be horrified.

Henry glanced back at the curtains and winced. ‘Lad, he definitely knows.’ He patted Alex’s shoulder. ‘Because he’s sitting in the front row, and I don’t think he’s come to admire the scenery.’

Alex’s heartbeat skipped and he made a tentative step onto the stage before shaking his head and retreating. ‘You’re mistaken.’

The great Michael Charming wouldn’t take time out of his busy schedule to watch his son make an eejit of himself in a village panto. The music started to play. ‘He’s not here,’ he promised as he watched the curtains slowly rise.

Then Alex’s whole body stiffened and his blood went cold, because sitting in the front row with his arms folded, wearing a frown, was Michael Charming.

Alex’s steps faltered as he stood on the stage after the final bows and the clapping died down. He should have enjoyed the performance – he’d been word perfect and everything had gone brilliantly. Clyde and Dane hadn’t messed around once, and they’d even remembered their lines. But his father had watched the whole thing with a thunderous expression – curling his lip each time Alex had walked onto the stage.

When the tiny audience had roared with laughter at the funny lines, or silly scenes, Michael’s face had remained expressionless, his mouth set into a forbidding line. Even now at the end, he hadn’t clapped or smiled, and Alex had a very bad feeling.

‘Is everything okay?’ Ella asked as she took off her glass slippers and padded across the stage to join him.

‘My father’s here,’ Alex said grimly. ‘And I don’t think he was impressed.’

He shut his eyes for a beat, trying to block his disappointment at being caught out. This should never have happened. All the work he’d been doing on his painting – thinking about how proud his father was going to be – it was wasted. ‘I don’t understand how he knew. I didn’t tell him.’ Had Stan?

Ella’s cheeks paled. ‘I’m so sorry, Alex – it was me.’ She reached for his hand, and he had to stop himself from shaking it off. ‘I know you said he wouldn’t come, but I guessed it was because you thought he was too busy. I was sure he’d want to see you, though. You were brilliant, so I…’ She looked stricken.

‘Has Cinderella upset the prince?’ Lucinda said nastily, as she swept past them, clearly picking up on the tension. ‘Seems to be a special talent of yours, dear – letting people down.’ She tipped her nose in the air and headed for the back rooms.

‘I’m so sorry, Alex,’ Ella repeated, her voice small. ‘I thought your da would love to see you perform.’

‘How did you even tell him?’ Alex asked, his tone cool. It didn’t really matter, but he wanted to know what had happened. Wanted to make sure there were no more surprises in store.

Ella must have picked up on his tone because she frowned. ‘Henry gave me his email address. I invited him to the pantomime last week. I told him we had a dress rehearsal today, but I wasn’t expecting him to come. I got him a ticket for Christmas Eve and I sent it to your offices. I found the address on Google.’

‘I guess he wanted to surprise me,’ Alex said. His voice barely a whisper. It was typical of his father to try to catch him out. Also, he wouldn’t want to be spotted in the audience by anyone of consequence – and there was a lot less chance of that today.

‘I thought you were exaggerating about him. But he didn’t laugh once, or clap.’ Ella wrapped her hands around her waist. ‘He just glared at you.’ A tear bubbled from her eye. ‘I’ve made everything worse.’

Alex felt a prickle of annoyance. He knew Ella hadn’t meant to mess things up, but why couldn’t she have just left this alone? ‘You can’t change it now,’ he said as his father rose from his chair and Alex saw Henry making his way across the hall to speak to him.

‘I’d better go and face the music.’ Alex sighed, ignoring the flurry of compliments from the other cast members as he went. It didn’t matter how good he’d been, or what anyone said. Today was a disaster and now he had to face the full consequences of that.

‘Alex,’ Michael said stiffly, turning away from Henry as he approached. His father took a moment to look him up and down, his nose wrinkling. ‘You really need to take off that costume, you look ridiculous,’ he said coldly. ‘What would your clients say? What were you thinking – and are you actually wearing glitter on your face?’ The question was delivered with such an air of alarm that Alex immediately pulled the hat from his head and began to swipe his cheeks.

‘I didn’t expect to see you here,’ he said.

Michael jerked his chin. ‘That’s perfectly obvious. But I got a special invite for the performance – from Cinderella of all people.’ He grimaced.

His expression darkened. ‘I assumed it was a mistake, but I decided to come and see for myself.’ His stare was hard and unforgiving and reminded Alex of all the other times he’d been disappointed. ‘Now I understand why I’ve not heard from you much.’

‘I’ve been keeping up with work,’ Alex shot back. ‘Emailing every day.’

‘I would have expected nothing less – I hope you don’t think I’m going to congratulate you for doing your job.’ He dismissed Alex and turned to Henry. ‘I appreciate you taking my son into your studio. I can only apologise that he allowed himself to be distracted by—’ His mouth bunched as if he couldn’t bear to finish the sentence.

‘It’s been a pleasure to have him,’ Henry said, surprising Alex. ‘He’s quite the talented artist.’ He took in Alex’s costume and smiled. ‘In more ways than one.’ He scratched his beard as Michael’s frown plunged.

‘It’s a foolish man who puts triviality before serious work,’ his father snapped, before turning back to Alex. ‘Lockhart offered to show me his studio. I understand the landscape you’ve been working on is almost done. I’d like to see it to ensure you’ve not been wasting all of your sabbatical.’

Alex’s throat tightened. ‘I’ve still got some work to do on it.’

‘I’ve told you. It’s looking good, lad,’ Henry soothed, his eyes shifting between them. ‘I told your da that he might as well see the masterpiece in progress while he’s in Mistletoe.’

‘It think it would be better if he waited until I’ve finished,’ Alex said.

He wasn’t ready to share his painting yet. He’d wanted to impress his father and present it at the office tied up in a bow. Had already imagined Michael’s reaction – which couldn’t have been further from this. He was on the back foot now and needed to salvage the situation.

‘Shall we go now?’ Henry glanced around. ‘I think Ella should come too.’

‘Cinderella?’ Michael glared at Alex. ‘The more the merrier, I suppose. Perhaps you could change before we leave – I’ve brought my car, and I don’t want to get glitter on the leather.’

‘I’ve got my Volvo,’ Alex said, feeling ill. This was a nightmare, but he had to get it over with. Had to see what he could do to salvage his dignity and his father’s respect. ‘I’ll change and meet you outside.’

‘Do it quickly so I can follow you,’ Michael ordered. ‘I’ll be waiting in my car.’ With that, he turned and marched towards the exit.

‘I’ll get Ella, but if you’re ready first, go ahead,’ Henry told Alex once they were alone. ‘You know where I keep the key. Show Michael my studio and your painting, I’m sure that’ll soften the man up. We’ll join you as soon as we can.’

With that, the artist said his goodbyes and spun on his heels, leaving Alex staring after him, his insides churning as he fought the feeling of absolute dread.