Home for Christmas

Chapter 21

In my determination to ensure that Jude wasn’t going to fall back into his former Grinchy ways once he left Wynbridge, I went further to work on him as soon as I arrived back from setting up at the hall. I graciously said that he could continue to open the doors on the advent calendar that he had already been tempted by, and then filled him up on a dinner of mini pigs in blankets, brussels sprouts, apples, cranberries and crusty bread, all dipped into a rich and creamy baked Camembert.

‘Oh, Bella,’ he groaned, once the last of the soft, warm cheese had been mopped up with the thickly buttered bread, ‘that was obscenely good.’

‘I know,’ I agreed, checking that we hadn’t missed even the tiniest bit of the cheese. ‘It’s one of my favourite meals to eat in the winter, but I don’t have it all that often.’

‘Why not, if you like it so much?’ he asked, sounding surprised. ‘I thought you were all for embracing what you love.’

‘Oh, I am,’ I nodded vehemently, ‘but a Camembert just for me isn’t a good idea.’

‘Too much waste?’

‘Nope,’ I laughed, as I began to pile the dishes together. ‘Zero waste, and that would be the problem. I could quite easily eat the entire thing, but then it wouldn’t be just you who was destined to carry a truly excessive amount of Christmas weight.’

‘But then I could be Santa and you could be Mrs Claus.’ He smiled impishly.

I rather liked the thought of that. The pair of us rosy-cheeked and replete as a result of a Christmas well spent would be wonderful. On second thoughts, perhaps I was a little too keen on the idea.

‘Why don’t you go and pick a film for us to watch?’ I suggested, rather than confirming that Jude’s suggestion was a wonderful one. ‘I’ll stack all this lot in the dishwasher and let the machine take care of it.’

Jude chose Last Christmas starring Emilia Clarke, which I adored and which he had never seen before, for us to watch, and we sat close together on the sofa under a blanket with just the width of Tink between us, and we laughed and sighed in all the right places. It felt wonderfully cosy, which was perfect for further fuelling Jude’s festive feelings, but I knew I was going to have to keep an eye on my own feelings, because those I had for him had further ramped up as the evening went on, too.

‘Right,’ I said the second the credits started to roll, and not only because I needed to put some distance between us. ‘I’m off to bed. Do you need help with anything?’

Jude looked at the clock.

‘It’s still early yet,’ he said. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to watch something else?’

‘It is early,’ I agreed, ‘but Tink and I will be heading to the hall first thing for the fair, and it’s going to be a super busy weekend, so I need all the rest I can get.’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘And Tink can stay with me tomorrow, if you like? If that would be easier.’

‘Thanks,’ I said, smiling, ‘but I’ll take her with me. She’d never forgive me if I made her miss out on two days of socialising and snoozing with her friends at the hall.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that.’ He smiled ruefully.

‘But thanks for the offer,’ I responded gratefully.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘as you’re turning in, I might as well head to bed, too. I don’t think I need help with anything. Maybe a hand in the morning, though, if I’m still struggling to get dressed. It really hurts when I have to lift my arms up.’

‘I can do that,’ I said with a nod, feeling relieved that he was wearing a shirt he could unbutton without assistance.

For the sake of my libido, I was going to have to trawl through his wardrobe to find a few more things that he would be able to manage to get on and off unaided. A few more shirts, if he had some, should hopefully do the trick.

It was still dark when I loaded the last of the things I was going to need into my car the following morning, and the temperature had plummeted. The stars were shining, and there was a thick frost covering everything. I knew it was going to take a few minutes to defrost my little Fiat and was pleased I’d allowed myself plenty of time to get organized.

The drive to the hall might be a bit dicey and take longer than usual, too, as the roads around it wouldn’t have been treated, but the grounds would look spectacular and hopefully get the visitors even more in the mood to stock up on Christmas gifts. A potentially lucrative couple of days stretched ahead, which would help to keep the home fires burning.

‘Jude?’ I said quietly, as I knocked on his bedroom door. ‘Are you awake?’

I didn’t want to rush him, but as I was going to be setting off a little earlier than originally planned as a result of the weather, I needed to stay ahead. If he needed my help getting dressed, it was very much a ‘now or never’ scenario.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m awake. You can come in.’

He was sitting on the bed and looked as surprised by the sight of what I was wearing as I was to see him already dressed.

‘You managed!’ I smiled, torn between relief and disappointment, which was entirely inappropriate.

‘Just about,’ he said, nodding. ‘I don’t feel in any less pain, but I’m determined to keep moving like the consultant said I should.’

‘Don’t overdo it, though,’ I urged, not wanting him to push himself too far and do further damage to his already bruised body.

‘You’re a fine one to talk.’ He smiled, looking me up and down.

‘Well,’ I said, giving him a curtsy, ‘you know me, I like to overdo everything if I can.’

I was wearing my favourite fairy outfit, which included a full tulle layered skirt and a silk fitted bodice with full length sleeves in soft green and pale cream.

‘There’s a mistletoe crown and a pair of wings to go with it, but obviously I can’t drive in those,’ I told him.

‘Obviously,’ said Jude, looking amused.

‘I had planned to get changed at the hall, but the change in weather means it might take me longer than planned to get there.’

‘It isn’t still raining, is it?’

‘No,’ I said, ‘the rain stopped, but then the temperature must have plummeted. It’s really icy, but it’s going to look beautiful. Perfect Festive Fair weather.’

Jude didn’t look anywhere near as thrilled about that as I was.

‘Will you be all right driving in it?’ He frowned.

‘Yes,’ I said airily, ‘I’m used to the frosty Fenland drove roads.’

Given what he’d so recently experienced, I shouldn’t have mentioned it and was therefore determined to make light of it.

‘I am going to set off rather earlier than planned, though,’ I told him. ‘In fact, as you don’t need me, I think I’ll get the car thawed out and go now.’

Jude made me promise to message him when I arrived at the hall, which I did the second I’d got parked up. The roads had been even trickier to traverse than I had been expecting, but I didn’t mention that. And I had barely sent the message before my mobile began to ring.

‘You made it all right, then,’ Jude said the moment I answered.

‘Yes,’ I said, repeating again what I’d just typed out. ‘I’m here now and about to head inside to finish setting up.’

‘Well, that’s good,’ he said, sounding relieved. ‘You’ve had a phone call here at the house,’ he then told me. ‘Someone called Ruby, just wanting to make sure you hadn’t forgotten about the film night that’s happening in town tonight.’

‘Oh, damn,’ I said, screwing my eyes up and letting out a breath. ‘I had forgotten, actually. I’m supposed to be helping serve the snacks and drinks during the interval. There was a meeting about it last night.’

I had been so focused on Jude and upping his Christmas spirit that I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to attend.

‘I’ll ring Ruby now and tell her I’ll be there,’ I told him. ‘Thanks for letting me know.’

‘No problem,’ he said. ‘I suppose this will be a festive film night?’ he asked with emphasis.

‘Of course,’ I said, smiling, as Holly pulled up in the space next to mine and waved. ‘In fact, you can come with me.’

Jude was quiet for a moment.

‘I don’t think so,’ he said, attempting to turn my invitation down. ‘I’m still feeling pretty banged up, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to sit through an entire film.’

‘You managed last night,’ I reminded him.

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘on a comfy sofa. I don’t think a cinema seat will be quite so accommodating.’

‘There aren’t cinema seats,’ I told him. ‘You’ll see. I’d better go. I’ll fill you in about it properly when I get back.’

I hung up before he could talk himself further out of it and indicated to Holly that I had another call to make. Then, with Ruby reassured that I wasn’t going to be a no-show, I released Tink from her car restraint and climbed out of the car.

‘Hey, you,’ said Holly, giving me a hug. ‘Everything okay?’

‘Yes,’ I said, as she fussed Tink, ‘I just needed to let Ruby know I’d be there tonight.’

‘I spoke to Jeanie late last night, and she said she’d confirmed at the meeting that you would be,’ Holly told me, and I wished Jeanie had messaged to tell me that.

I’d hardly heard from her since she’d succumbed to Tim’s advances, but then I was just as bad. I’d barely been in touch with her for days, either, though not because of a romantic entanglement, of course. My radio silence was purely down to my festive workload. Wasn’t it? I supposed some of it might have been down to my preoccupation with looking out for Jude, but I didn’t want to admit that. Not even to myself.

‘I guess Ruby just needed to double-check,’ Holly continued. ‘I daresay she’s having to make absolutely sure she’s got enough volunteers. You’re just helping out at the evening performance, aren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I didn’t want anyone covering my stall here this afternoon, and Ruby had told me a while ago that they’d had enough offers to support the afternoon film.’

‘It’s going to be a good day for a Christmas fair,’ Holly said, opening the boot of her car. ‘I’ve got loads of extra stock. Oh, and this,’ she added, handing me a large envelope from the top of one of the many boxes of books. ‘There’s no rush to let me know what you think this side of Christmas, especially as you’ve got your hands even more full over the festive season now. Tell me, how is Jude?’

‘Bruised and battered,’ I said succinctly.

‘Not up to flinging, then?’ she asked, wrinkling her nose.

‘No,’ I said mock-sternly. ‘Definitely not up to flinging. And even if he was, I wouldn’t.’

She didn’t look inclined to believe that.

‘So what is this?’ I asked, looking at the blank envelope.

I had a good idea but wanted to change the subject.

‘My initial thoughts on your fairy character,’ Holly said, smiling, mercifully distracted. ‘She’s a total powerhouse.’

‘I like the sound of her already,’ I laughed, going to open the envelope.

‘Leave it for later,’ Holly said with a nod to the hall. ‘I can see Angus by the door waving at us, so we’d better get our butts in gear.’

‘You’re right,’ I said, as I began to shiver. ‘And it’s too cold to stand about out here for long.’

‘Especially dressed as a fairy!’ Holly laughed.

As my stall set-up at The Laurels care home had been such a success, I’d gone with a similar arrangement and again had as much stock packed under the stall as I had on display. Once my crown and wings were in place, I walked around the entire stand to make sure I had enough clearance and wasn’t in danger of knocking anything or anyone else out of kilter. My outfit had already been met with a variety of expressions from some of the other stallholders, not all of them approving, but the Connelly clan were impressed without exception.

‘Well, now, Bella,’ said Angus, stopping by as he did the rounds and spoke to everyone ahead of the time ticking down to when the doors would be officially opened. ‘Don’t you look the part?’

‘I hope so,’ I said with a smile.

‘I’m almost tempted to pull on the old Santa suit,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘It’s a shame it only gets the odd airing every year.’

‘No time for that, my dear,’ said Catherine, sounding relieved that he’d left it too late to change. ‘There’s a huge queue on the drive, and it’s freezing out there. I think we need to open the doors now, don’t you?’

It wasn’t freezing inside, with blazing fires lit at either end of the great hall, but it might well be a different story once the doors were flung open and people started to pour in, bringing the frosty air with them.

‘Right you are, my dear,’ said Angus, sounding thrilled at the prospect of so many members of the public being about to descend on his home.

‘I hope Tink’s behaving herself,’ I said to Catherine, just as they were about to walk away.

‘Always, my dear,’ Catherine said fondly. ‘She’s one of the family, just like you.’

I felt such a warm glow as a result of her kind words that no Wynbridge winter chill could have cut through it.

‘How are you getting on?’ Dorothy asked me later, as she and Anna wove their way among the stallholders, doling out sandwiches and hot drinks.

‘Wonderfully,’ I said, looking at my stall, which I had already restocked. ‘I can’t imagine there are many people in Wynbridge now who haven’t got at least one of my fairies living with them.’

I would think more about growing my business online in the New Year and possibly travelling to sell at some fairs further afield, too. Though I daresay there wouldn’t be many that were as well catered as this one. Food and drink hadn’t been part of the stand price, a large percentage of which was going to the charity that Anna and Jamie ran from the converted hall’s stable block, but that was Dorothy for you. If you stood still long enough, she was bound to cram you full of cake and other tasty delights.

‘And Angus said you’ve had loads of photos taken, too,’ Anna added, coming over with an empty tray tucked under her arm.

‘I have,’ I said, readjusting my wings. ‘I’m so pleased I got properly dressed up now.’

‘It wouldn’t surprise me if “hashtag away with the fairies” is trending online,’ Anna said, beaming, putting air quotes around the words.

I hoped she was right.

‘Right, come on, Anna,’ said Dorothy. ‘Let’s get that urn filled up again.’

I was properly pooped by the end of the day, and having collected Tink and resisted the temptation to open Holly’s envelope when I returned to my car, I hoped that a quick soak in a hot bath would put the life back in my legs ahead of the festive film night in town.

‘I might see you later,’ Holly called as she headed off. ‘I’ll see how I feel.’

I had no idea how she had the strength in her right arm to drive, because her signing pen had been in full swing for hours. I wouldn’t blame her if she decided to give the film a miss. Living out of town would make it more of an excursion for her.

‘Oh, Jude!’ I gasped when I opened the house door and found the table set for dinner, festive tunes playing and him grappling with the corkscrew in a bottle of wine. ‘You didn’t have to do all this!’

‘To be fair,’ he said, giving up on the wine, ‘I haven’t done much. I had dinner delivered and, as you can see, I’ve failed to let the wine breathe, so all I’ve really done is turned the music on. How have you got on?’

‘Brilliantly,’ I told him, slipping out of my shoes and taking off the crown I’d forgotten I was still wearing. ‘I’m not sure where I’ll find the energy to do it all again tomorrow, but fingers crossed for a decent night’s sleep. How have you got on?’

‘I’ve had a pretty productive day, too,’ he told me, sounding very happy about it. ‘I set my laptop back up earlier and read through the start of the book and the notes I’d made at the hall the day I was supposed to leave. It felt good to get back into it a bit, though my neck and shoulders ached too much to type for many minutes.’

‘Well, I’m pleased you’ve not been bored,’ I said, washing my hands at the kitchen sink. ‘And tonight should be fun.’

‘Now, about that…’ he started.

‘There are no cinema seats,’ I told him, cutting him off quickly. ‘It’s all sofas and comfy chairs at the town hall, and I’ll take extra cushions to make sure you’re properly supported.’

‘I was just going to say that I’d googled it and seen some photos from previous years, so I knew the set-up should be okay.’

‘So you’ll come, then?’ I asked, showing him my crossed fingers and feeling thrilled that he had felt inclined to look.

‘I’ll come,’ he announced.

‘Yes!’ I said, uncrossing my fingers and then ecstatically punching the air.

‘There’s actually someone I’m hoping I might see there,’ he then added devastatingly.

My heart sank as I realized that that was most likely the person I’d seen him kissing under the gazebo at the Brambles party.

‘That’s perfect, then,’ I said hoarsely as the very last dregs of any energy I’d conserved for the evening’s outing upped and left.

‘I asked for Maltesers and M&Ms,’ huffed a disgruntled voice. ‘And you’ve given me two bags of Maltesers.’

‘Oh, sorry,’ I said, taking back one of the packets and switching it for the requested confectionery instead. ‘There you go.’

The huffy customer moved along the line to pay, and I tried to focus on who was next.

‘You all right?’ Ruby, who was in charge of the cashbox and card reader, asked when there was a lull. ‘You don’t seem yourself tonight, Bella.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I apologized. ‘The Wynthorpe Hall fair was full-on today, and I’m more tired than I thought I’d be, even after a hot salt bath.’

My still-aching feet actually had nothing to do with me being unusually distracted. My lack of focus on the queue was all down to me being too focused on Jude, but I could hardly tell Ruby that.

I had secured him the biggest chair, where he could sit safe from the threat of getting knocked into or squished against, but now he was on his feet and milling about on the periphery of where everyone else was standing. I knew he was supposed to keep moving, so that was fine, and I wasn’t too preoccupied with him getting walked into because there wasn’t anyone all that close to him at the moment. I was more interested to see who he might end up talking to. So far, however, he hadn’t talked to anyone. I hadn’t taken my eyes off him – hence the confectionery muddle – so I was certain of that.

‘You can leave me to it, if you like,’ Ruby offered kindly, in spite of the fact that the queue was still snaking halfway around the town hall.

‘No,’ I said, pulling myself together, ‘I’m fine. Let’s get these folks fed and watered, and then we can get the film back on.’

For the next few minutes, I did what I had signed up to do and completely lost track of Jude as a result. With the film about to start again, I realized he wasn’t back in his chair. That had now been filled by a canoodling teen couple, and after I’d rescued my cushions, I finally found Jude standing in the shadows right at the back of the hall, looking pained.

‘Are you all right?’ I asked, as Kevin McCallister began planning his assault on the two dastardly crooks who were determined to ransack his family home.

‘No,’ Jude said, grimacing. ‘I’m uncomfortable.’

‘Perhaps walking into town wasn’t the best idea, after all.’

We hadn’t drunk any of the wine that Jude had been trying to open, but as the frost had completely thawed, we’d thought the fresh air might invigorate us both. And it had, for a while, but Jude was understandably flagging now.

‘I can call you a taxi if you like,’ I suggested.

‘No,’ he said, ‘it’s okay. I’ve already got someone coming to pick me up.’

‘Is that the person you were hoping to see here?’

I hated myself for asking but had done it anyway.

‘Yeah,’ he said, looking over my shoulder towards the door. ‘Can I take your key for the house?’

We’d only come out with one, because we had been expecting to go home together. Or at least, I had.

‘Of course,’ I said, pulling it out of my pocket and handing it over. ‘Here you go. If you could let Tink out when you get back, that’d be great.’

‘No problem,’ he said, shifting from one foot to the other. ‘And then I might call it a night.’

‘I don’t blame you,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry if this has been too much. I shouldn’t have suggested it.’

‘It’s fine,’ he said. ‘To be honest, it’s probably done me good to get out. I think I’ll go and wait outside.’

‘Do you want me to come with you?’

‘No,’ he said, as he stiffly levered himself away from the wall. ‘You stay here. I’ll be fine. They’ll be here in a minute.’

I watched him walk away, and with him went my chance to find out who it was that he had called on to come to his rescue. I was aware that it shouldn’t have bothered me that it wasn’t me, but it did. And for the first time ever, I watched the end of Home Alone and took no pleasure at all in seeing the aptly named Wet Bandits get their comeuppance.