Not Just for Christmas

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

O n the agenda for the afternoon of Christmas Eve was a trip to a local palace, but Erin hadn’t bothered to look it up, deciding she enjoyed the element of surprise. Lewis had been right about people enjoying not having to plan. Just turning up at the minibus at the appointed time really took all the stress away.

Today, Erin had automatically taken the passenger seat in the minibus and felt a bit special that she got to sit up at the front.

“What’s the name of this palace again?” she asked.

“Blenheim.” Lewis didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Birthplace and home of Sir Winston Churchill.”

“Ooh, you sound as though you’re in tour guide mode. What year was it built?”

“Really? You’re going to test my knowledge?”

“Yeah. I suspect you said that thing about Churchill to sound knowledgeable but that’s the sum of all your knowledge about the place.”

He cast her a quick glance before putting his attention back on the road. “It was built between 1705 and 1722. ”

“That took them a while,” she mused, making Lewis chuckle. “Who owns it now?”

“The twelfth Duke of Marlborough.”

“And his name is?” She crinkled her nose, sure she’d catch him out soon.

He hesitated for a moment. “Charles James Spencer-Churchill. But he doesn’t own the land, just the palace. So he has to pay rent on the land.”

“Who owns the land?” Now she was genuinely curious.

“The king.”

“Which king?”

“King Charles. How many kings do we have?”

“So the most recent Mr Churchill has to pay rent to the king?”

“Yep.”

She stared ahead, watching the brake lights from the traffic. “It’s impressive if all that is true, but you could easily have made it up, knowing I’d have no way to verify.”

“No way to verify?” He gave her another sidelong glance. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but there’s this thing called the internet.”

His teasing warmed her insides and she reached out to give his leg a friendly tap. “How do you know all those facts?”

He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I’m taking a group there, so I thought I should swat up.”

“Are you actually going to give a proper tour?”

“No. But just in case someone asks questions. Thanks for asking and making my research worthwhile.”

“You’re very welcome.”

He slowed with the traffic at the turnoff to Blenheim Palace. “To be honest, I already knew it.”

“How come?”

“It just interests me. We did a project about it at school and it was one of those things which grabbed my attention. The queen owned the land back then.”

Erin smiled at him, then got distracted when he pointed through the windscreen.

“Wow! It’s huge.” Huge, and beautifully lit, giving the honey-coloured stonework an enchanting glow.

“Bigger than Buckingham Palace,” Lewis told her.

“Does someone actually live there?”

“Yes.” He joined the queue of cars crawling into the car park. “It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “I’ll bet it’s draughty.”

“I’d say so,” he agreed. “Awful place to live. We should probably feel sorry for them.”

“We should. Poor people in their massive, draughty palace.”

Five minutes later, Lewis handed out tickets in the car park and gave his usual spiel about what time to meet for the drive home.

“Three hours sounds like a long time,” he told them. “But there’s lots to see. I recommend looking around the palace first and then the light trail around the gardens when it’s darker. Save the markets for last in case you run out of time. Enjoy!” As the group dispersed, he reached for Erin’s arm. “Let’s give them a head start so we don’t keep bumping into them in the palace.” A flash of panic hit his eyes. “Sorry. That was presumptuous. Of course, you can also get a head start on me if you’d like.”

“No.” Butterflies erupted in her stomach at his assumption that they’d go around together. “I’d really like to go around with you.”

“Yeah?” His shoulders drooped. “Are you sure? Because you don’t need to be polite. If you’d rather go alone, just say so. You did say you’re quite happy doing things alone.”

“Yes. But I also like company when I have someone fun to hang out with. ”

“Well, I’m definitely fun,” he said, then bounced on the balls of his feet as he looked across the car park.

“What’s wrong?” Erin asked.

“Nothing. I’m just excited.”

“I take it you’ve been before?”

“Yes, but they transform the palace every Christmas with a different theme. This year is Peter Pan.”

Okay, now she was excited too. “We could just set off slowly,” she suggested.

They needn’t have worried about the whereabouts of the rest of their group. Inside the palace doors it was difficult to register anything other than the scene before them. The sound of Christmas carols interwoven with melodies of Peter Pan instantly brought a smile to Erin’s face.

Instead of a star on top of the enormous Christmas tree in the entranceway, a figure of Peter Pan stood proudly – one hand on his hip and the other holding his sword aloft as though inviting them inside. Nearby, a Tinker Bell ornament was suspended in mid-air, her dainty hand outstretched as she blew pixie dust over the tree ornaments.

“Oh, my goodness,” Erin whispered, not sure where to look as her eyes feasted on the combination of the majestic palace architecture and the dazzling Christmas decorations.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Lewis said, close beside her.

Amazing, didn’t quite do it justice and Erin’s mouth hung agape as they wandered from one room to the next. Everywhere she looked were evergreen garlands and shimmering fairy lights, and woven into them, iconic scenes from Peter Pan. In one room, Peter Pan’s shadow was projected onto the walls of the children’s bedroom. Visitors stood and watched in wonder as it fluttered around the room.

Each room they entered offered a new scene, from Wendy reading a Christmas story to the Lost Boys around a crackling fire, to a moonlit Mermaid Lagoon.

In a long hallway, floating lanterns hung from the high ceiling, mimicking the stars of Neverland with Peter Pan and Wendy flying between them.

“It’s just incredible,” Erin murmured feeling the back of Lewis’s hand brush against hers as they stood gazing up at the scene. “I can see why you were so excited.”

“Every year I think they can’t possibly come up with a better theme than the last, but they always do.”

Erin checked her watch to find more than an hour had passed with her barely noticing.

“We should go outside and check out the light trail,” Lewis said. “We don’t want to miss that.”

“I don’t see how it can be better than this,” Erin said, but followed him anyway, catching the amused twitch of his lips.

The gardens, as it turned out, were just as breath-taking as the interior of the palace. Multitudes of lights led them through the immaculate grounds. Trees and lawns glowed brightly and hedges were draped in twinkling lights. They wandered through a tunnel of lights, and craned their necks to view colour-changing stars hanging from tree branches.

Larger than life illuminations continually drew the eye, and all the while, festive music floated on the air. Erin felt the magic of Christmas seep into her every pore.

Once again, her time was enhanced by Lewis’s company. They pointed things out to each other and every now and again, she caught his eyes on her and had the feeling he was enjoying her reaction as much as the experience itself.

“This is the best bit,” he told her eagerly as they rounded a corner and the lake came into view. Wandering closer they found a spot among the spectators and stood shoulder to shoulder to watch the glow of lights reflecting on the surface of the water. A moment later water shot up from a hidden jet, illuminated in mid-air by light from below. More jets erupted and sleek arcs of water danced above the lake, the bursts of light synchronised to a soundtrack of classic Christmas carols.

The sequence must have lasted five minutes and when it began again, Erin remained rooted to the spot. After watching the show three times, she shifted her weight and wiggled her toes in the hopes of increasing blood flow and warding off the cold.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Lewis asked, cheeks rosy from the cold. “If it wasn’t absolutely freezing, I could stand here all night.”

“Me too.” Shivering, Erin automatically turned towards him. All her instincts pushed her closer, his body heat like a magnet.

She only realised just how close she was when she looked into his eyes to find their faces inches apart. He made no signs of moving, but traced his gaze over her face, lingering on her lips in a way that made her mouth inexplicably dry.

She’d only have to move a matter of centimetres to kiss him. The thought made her breath catch and her stomach flip.

“I guess we should move,” Lewis said, putting enough space between them that thoughts of kissing him were put aside.

“Do we need to get back to the bus?” she asked, having lost all sense of time.

“We’ve got a little while left,” he said, as they fell into step again. “Let’s see what else we can find.”

Erin nodded, feeling slightly foolish that she’d almost kissed him. But also, desperately wishing she’d seized the moment.