The cash register was opened and closed just as much as the door, and at lunchtime she was already exhausted. She turned the sign around, grabbed her bag, and dropped the latch behind her as she stepped out into the bustling crowd of frantic, bag-laden shoppers. Turning right, she made her way up the precinct, glancing down to the paving at the spot where she had caught her heel all those years ago and fallen into the arms of her Canadian hunk. If she closed her eyes, she could still smell his cologne…
“Whoaaaa there!” The startled man grabbed for Mallory in a bid to stop her inevitable collision with the pavement. “We haven’t been formally introduced, and yet here you are throwing yourself at me.” He laughed. His accent was noticeably of the North American variety.
Rather dazed, heart pounding and feeling more than a little bit embarrassed, Mallory slowly lifted her gaze to look at the knight in shining armour, whose strong, muscular arms had come to her rescue. She was met with vivid green, laughing eyes and a very, very handsome countenance.
Opening her eyes, she realised she had frozen in place on that fateful spot. People fixed her with confused looks as they sidestepped around her. Shaking her head and pulling her scarf closer around her neck, she continued up to her favourite coffee shop.
As she stood outside the coffee shop to wait while a young couple wheeled out a pushchair, her eyes were drawn to the very table where she and Sam had sat together on the day they met. There was a man sitting there reading a newspaper at an otherwise empty table. As if he felt her eyes on him, he glanced up—and her breath caught. A shiver travelled down her spine and she swallowed hard.
His resemblance to Sam was uncanny.
His hair was longer and shaggier and he had a goatee, but he seemed so familiar somehow. His brow creased and he cocked his head to one side in a questioning manner, which caused Mallory to realise that she was staring at the poor guy.
Gulping, she dropped her gaze as heat rose in her cheeks. Don’t be so bloody ridiculous, Mallory, Sam’s dead. She walked through the door and approached the counter but had to pass the man on the way there. A familiar scent infiltrated her nostrils, and her heart leapt as she snapped her eyes to him once again. He was watching her closely with a smile on his face. But rather than the emerald-green eyes of Sam, she was met with the amber eyes of a total stranger. Great, my mind’s playing bloody tricks on me now. Must be tiredness. And face it, lots of men wear that cologne. Now get a bloody grip. She smiled awkwardly at him and turned to place her order.
Five minutes later, with a takeaway coffee cup and brown paper bag in hand, she turned around to leave. The man who looked like Sam had gone. Feeling relieved that she would be saved from further embarrassment, she made her way outside and walked back toward her shop. She caught sight of the man again, in the distance, walking down the precinct. As she was about to turn into the Victoria Quarter mall, he glanced over his shoulder and made eye contact with her. A chill washed over her and she shivered, turned away, and quickened her pace.
Once inside the shop she made her way into the small restroom at the back. She peered at her reflection in the mirror and was rather disconcerted at the pale face glaring back at her.
“Oh, good grief, please don’t let me be coming down with something. Not now. Please,” she appealed to the insipid version of herself through the glass. After splashing ice-cold water on her face, she patted it dry with a paper towel.
The doorbell jangled as someone walked in. Rolling her eyes, she muttered, “Oh shit, I forgot to drop the bloody latch.” She smoothed down her hair, plastered on a smile, and walked back through to the shop front.
It was him.
Okay, this is just unfair now.
“Um… hello, can I help you with anything?” she asked nervously.
He turned to face her and smiled. “Oh, hello. I was just looking, thanks. You have some very lovely and unique things.” He had a strange accent that she just couldn’t place.
“Thank you.” She walked over and sat behind the cash register. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
He had the most striking eyes. “Not really. Just browsing. You make these?” he asked, pointing at a row of hand-painted signs. The one at the front read, “The past is past. Each day is a new beginning.”
“Um… yes. Well, mostly. I buy in from local craftspeople too.”
“Well, I must say, you’re very talented.”
She felt heat bloom from her chest to her cheeks. “Thank you.”
A ringing sound emanated from within his coat. “Oooh, sorry, I’d better go and answer that. Merry Christmas.” And with no further comment, he left the shop. A feeling of disappointment settled in her stomach as she watched his retreating form.
She half expected the stranger to come back at some point; but every time the door jangled, she glanced up only to be disappointed yet again. She was unsure why his presence was so disconcerting. Perhaps it was just the similarities between him and Sam—and the fact that the last few days had been a whirlwind of comings and goings.
At the end of the day she emptied the cash register of the day’s takings and made her way back to the train station. She couldn’t help noticing every man in a long black coat that passed her by. But he was nowhere to be seen.
Arriving back at Josie and Brad’s house, she was greeted with a bear hug that lifted her from the floor and almost extracted her last breath.
“Good grief, Brad. Are you trying to kill me?” she asked as he placed her back on her feet.
“Whoops, soz, Mal. I’m just excited! Josie met our little lad today, and they’ve said she can come home the day before Christmas Eve. The little one will have to stay in, but we’ll visit him on Christmas Day. No doubt armed with loads of prezzies.”
It would mean she stayed a day longer in Yorkshire to see Josie settled at home, but Mallory clapped her hands with glee. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Have you settled on a name yet?”
His face crumpled. “Let’s just say we’re in discussions.”
She couldn’t help smirking. Typical Josie and Brad. “Ah. Do I sense a difference of opinion?”
“You could say that. I like Eddie and she likes Zack. So who knows what we’ll end up calling him?”
Mallory smiled and shook her head. “You two are an enigma.”
He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
She shrugged. “Well, you hardly ever agree on anything, yet you just… work somehow.”
He pursed his lips for a moment and nodded. “Yeah… I suppose things just have a way of coming right with us.”
“So, what’s the plan of action for tonight? Am I okay to visit her?”
“I think you’d be in serious trouble if you didn’t.”
“Great. I’ll go shower and grab a sandwich. Are you going too?”
He laughed. “Can’t keep me away. I’ll drive us.”
“Fab. Won’t be long.” She made her way upstairs to shower and change. Once she reached her room, she picked up her phone and was on the verge of calling Greg with the good news about Josie coming home. As her finger hovered over the dial button, she played a potential conversation over in her mind and decided that she wasn’t really ready to discuss the rest of the events of her day. And he would no doubt ask. How could she inform her husband that she’d had a bizarre encounter with someone who looked like Sam?
She couldn’t.
She threw her phone back on the bed and walked away.
Chapter Nine
When Mallory and Brad arrived, the hospital was a hive of activity. She found herself feeling rather sorry for those people who wouldn’t be making it home for Christmas, and then her thoughts sprang directly to her husband and two daughters. She missed them terribly, but talking to them would only make the agony of being away from them worse. Shaking off the threatening melancholy, she followed Brad up to the ward where baby Farnham lay in his incubator.
Josie was sitting beside the crib with her hand through an opening, stroking
the cheek of her newborn son. A wide smile spread across her face when they walked in. Mallory rushed over and grappled Josie into a hug, taking care not to squash the battered and bruised new mum.
“You look so much better,” she informed Josie.
“I feel amazing. And it’s all thanks to this little fella. Isn’t he gorgeous?”
“Oh, Jose, he’s beautiful just like his mum.”
“Hey, what about me?” Brad asked sulkily from the other side of the incubator.
The two girls laughed and Josie rolled her eyes. “You’ve got stiff competition for my affections now, Bradley,” Josie informed him with a sly wink to Mallory.
“Yeah, you say that now, but wait ’til you’re changing nappies at three in the morning. I’ll be the best thing since sliced bread then, when you’re begging me to do it.”
“So, how is he doing?” Mallory whispered as she peered down at the sleeping infant who was attached to monitors and equipment to help him breath. Her breath caught and she chewed on the inside of her cheek to fight the threatening tears.
Josie sniffed. “He’s getting stronger. He’ll need to stay in for a while, but they’ve said he’s a fighter.” Her eyes welled with tears as she spoke, and Mallory’s throat tightened too.
“He’s strong like his parents,” Mallory told them with strong affirmation. She glanced over at Brad, whose gaze was flitting between his son and his wife. He looked so helpless.
“The Reason” by Hoobastank began to float through the air from Mallory’s bag. “Oh, heck, sorry, it’s Greg calling. I’d better go answer it.” She gave an apologetic look to the loved-up couple, but they were oblivious to everything else around them as they stared in wonder at their baby boy. She slunk out of the door and walked down to the TV room.
Putting her phone to her ear, she tried to sound smiley. “Hi, sweetie. Is everything okay?”
“Hi, gorgeous. Yes, yes everything’s fine. Mairi just wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh, bless her. Pop her on.”
There was a muffled, shuffling sound and then snuffling could be heard down the line. “Mummy… come home,” came the whiny voice of the two-year-old.
Mallory’s heart ached at hearing the little girl’s pained voice. “I will soon, darling. Not long now.”
“Santa coming soon.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’ll be back before then. I promise.”
“Bye-bye, Mummy. Love you.” The little girl was on the verge of tears again.
“And I love you, baby girl. So much.”
The shuffling sound came again and then Greg spoke. “She’s been inconsolable today. Poor wee girl. I can’t seem to get her to understand that you’ll be back very soon.”
“Well, I’ll be home... erm...the day before Christmas Eve hopefully. It’ll be late though, so maybe I’ll get a cab home.”
“That’ll cost a fortune, Mally. I’m happy to come and get you.”
“No, you stay home with the girls. It’s fine.”
He let out an audible, frustrated sigh. “You’re a bloody stubborn woman, do you know that?”
Smiling, she replied, “Yes, I know that. But you love me regardless.”
There was a silent pause before he spoke in a low, resigned voice. “Aye… I do… with all my heart.”
She scrunched her brow even though he couldn’t see her. “You don’t sound so happy about that. Is everything okay?”
He huffed. “I could ask you the same question.”
“Everything’s okay, Greg. Like I keep saying, I’m just tired and emotional. Look… They’ve said that Josie can come home the day before Christmas Eve… so…”
“So you’re staying an extra day.”
“Just to make sure she’s settled and has everything she needs. And in case Brad needs anything. It’s just a day.”
“Another day that I don’t get to hold you. Another day we don’t get to talk, Mally.”
Guilt washed over her, but realising that this conversation could end up taking a long while, and that he may begin to probe her about the reasons behind her emotional distance—things she wasn’t ready to admit to him—she decided to rush off. “Look, we’ll talk when I get home, okay? Now’s not the time. I’d better go. Give the girls a cuddle from me.”
“Aye… aye, okay. Bye, then.”
Mallory sensed the disappointment in his voice and so she tried to lighten the mood. “Bye, chicken pie.” She ended the call and immediately realised she hadn’t told him she loved him. She was about to call him back when Brad came bursting in through the door.
“Hey, Mal. I’ve been looking for you. We’ve done it! We’ve picked a name!”
“Oh, fab. I’m just coming.” She glanced at her phone, suddenly overcome with guilt and contemplating squeezing in a quick text, but Brad was bouncing on the balls of his feet like an excited schoolboy with a new toy. She decided the message could wait a few minutes, and she followed him back to Josie’s bedside.
Once inside the room again, Mallory grinned at her friends. “So, you’ve finally agreed on a name?”
“We have. Good, eh?” Josie answered enthusiastically.
Mallory placed her hands on her hips in faked frustration. “So come on then, the pair of you. Spill it. What do I call my nephew?”
“Well, Aunty Mallory, we would like for you to meet”—Josie briefly glanced up at her beaming husband before looking back to Mallory—“Edward Reid Farnham.”
Gazing at the little bundle where he lay looking so small and fragile, Mallory felt tears needle at her eyes.
“It’s perfect.”
Brad looked down at his wife and child with such love and pride. They made a lovely little family. Mallory bent to place her hand on the transparent covering of the incubator as the sight of the wee baby tugged at her heartstrings and she closed her eyes, suddenly transported back in time to Sylvie’s birth.
Exhaustion was evident in Greg’s features as he gazed down at his new daughter in her arms. His expression was one of pure adoration, and her heart filled with joy. Such a tough exterior but with a heart full of raw emotion. She reached up and touched his cheek, drawing his attention back to her.
She smiled at her husband. “I know she was a huge surprise, but… my goodness, don’t you just love her?”
Tears welled in his chocolate-brown eyes, and his lip trembled. “Aye… I do… with all my heart.” His voice broke as he leaned to kiss her tenderly.
When she opened her eyes once more on the present, she spoke with a quivering lip, “Hello baby Edward. Welcome to the world.”
Chapter Ten
The following day Brad was up and off before Mallory was out of bed. She showered, dressed, and made her way down to the kitchen, where she found a note scribbled from Brad.
Morning, Aunty Mal!
I’ve popped over to the hospital to see my little family. It feels weird saying that let alone writing it!
Anyway, I wasn’t sure if you were going into the shop again today, but if you are, drop me a text and I’ll grab us a takeaway on the way home. Unless you’re coming to the hospital later yourself—in which case we can pick up something together.
Sees ya later!
Daddy Brad (couldn’t resist that)
XXX
Mallory smiled as she read the note. Brad clearly was the happiest man on earth, and she couldn’t blame him for that. She made herself a coffee and drank it leaning against the countertop in her familiar kitchen surroundings. Somehow Brad and Josie’s house always felt like home. But at Christmas it made her homesick. Seeing the perfectly decorated tree with its colour coordinated baubles and trinkets made her miss her haphazardly strewn one back in Scotland. Josie was pernickety when it came to her home, and her Christmas tree had always been the same. Where Mallory favoured more traditional ornaments, Josie’s tree matched whatever decor she had in place and it seemed to change annually.
Once she had finished her drink, she grabbed her bag and set out for the train
that would take her to Leeds city centre. The journey wasn’t a long one, and it brought back happy memories of when she’d first set up the shop. It also reminded her of the time she’d gotten stuck on a broken-down train a few years earlier when she was on her way home from Yorkshire to tell Greg that she loved him too—in spite of trying to fight her feelings. The realisation had struck, and she was wrong to try and deny it. Her soul and Greg’s had become intertwined back then and she had felt so secure in his embrace. Her heart fluttered at the memory, and she placed her hand there, where Greg had helped her to heal. So many things had changed since then.
After she alit from the train in the early morning half-light, the bitter chill of winter blew down the platform and stung at her cheeks, and she pulled her scarf tight around her neck. Thankfully the walk to the shop wouldn’t take long, and she would be putting the heater on as soon as she walked through the door. The city was just waking and getting prepared for the barrage of Christmas shoppers that would be descending as soon as the clock struck nine. As she clip-clopped up the precinct in her unsuitable Mary Janes, the lights in each window became illuminated and the Christmas displays sprang to life, oozing festive cheer even though each one of the shop assistants had probably had her fill by the end of November. Yes, Christmas seemed to be getting earlier.
Once the door of the little gift shop was closed behind her, Mallory flicked on the heat and hit play on the mini hi-fi in the corner. Bing Crosby’s voice floated around the room, singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”.
“I will be too, Bing,” she told the stereo system as she turned on the lights on the little Christmas tree.
After checking the stock and refilling some of the shelves, she turned the door sign to show Open and took her seat beside the cash register. The Victoria Quarter was already beginning to fill up, and a buzz of excitement thrummed through her veins.
The morning was a busy one with plenty of customers coming in to browse and buy. By the end of the day, Mallory’s feet were sore and her head was pounding. She was ready for home… well, Brad and Josie’s home anyway. She was just about to close up when a red-haired woman of around twenty-seven came bustling through the door.
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