by Heidi Swain
‘This’ll be him,’ said the nurse as she spotted a bed at the far end of one of the wards with the curtains closed.
She marched past the other empty beds and sent the curtains rattling back along the poles.
‘Snap!’ shouted out a man who was propped up in the bed at the exact same moment.
He must have been in his nineties but sounded as sprightly as Hugo back at the hall.
‘Bugger!’ came the collective cry from the rest of the group as they slapped down their cards.
‘Gambling!’ scolded the nurse when she spotted the pile of toffees and Liquorice Allsorts. ‘And on a Sunday. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.’
None of the assembled crew looked particularly ashamed, but then the nurse didn’t sound convincingly outraged either.
‘Anna,’ beamed Angus, when he spotted me. ‘How lovely to see you, my dear. Come and meet my new friends.’
The nurse rushed off to attend to a ringing buzzer and Angus introduced me to his geriatric gambling pals as the heroine who had risked life and limb to save him from certain solidification. They were all mightily impressed and I wondered just how much Angus had embellished the tale during its multiple retellings and whether I should set them straight. In the end I decided not to. They all looked far too impressed with Angus’s version of events to want to hear mine.
‘Come on then, Mr Connelly,’ I said, formally trying to round him up when it was obvious that I was going to have to cajole him into changing out of his pyjamas and getting into the car. ‘Have you forgotten everyone is waiting to see you?’
‘Everyone?’ he questioned.
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘Oscar and Hugo are panting for a sight of their granddad.’
For a scary second or two I thought he had completely forgotten all about the hall and his family and the wonderful Christmas he had been planning, but I needn’t have worried. His brief confusion was actually brought about because he had something far more pressing on his mind.
‘Has a delivery arrived for me?’ he furtively asked me after insisting that his old friend sitting in the bed should keep his packet of snap cards and carry on the game with the others.
‘What sort of delivery?’ I pounced.
‘About ten foot long and six foot high,’ he said, throwing his arms out wide in an attempt to demonstrate the worryingly large dimensions of this latest purchase.
‘Can’t say as I’ve noticed one.’
‘Good,’ he sighed, nodding his head. ‘That’s good. I’m sure if it had been delivered you, and everyone else, would have noticed.’
Given the dimensions, I was sure he was right.
‘Come on then,’ he said, shaking each of his friends by the hand before heading back to his own ward. ‘Let’s get going. You can fill me in on the news on the way, Anna. I have a feeling there’s going to be plenty of it.’
I didn’t feel brave enough to start with the big news so I eased myself in by explaining what had happened at the town hall and how the Christmas Fair was now going to be held at Wynthorpe on Tuesday, instead of at the town hall at that very moment.
‘Well, that’s wonderful news,’ said Angus, clapping his hands together. ‘Not about the town hall, of course, but the fact that we get to play host. It will be the perfect place to unveil—’
‘It was Jamie who suggested it,’ I said, cutting off the mention of whatever it was he was planning to unveil and knowing I couldn’t put off the explanation of events surrounding the change of ownership announcement for much longer.
If I chickened out for many more miles I wouldn’t have told him about Archie’s reaction at all, and I had promised Catherine I would bring her husband up to speed before we got back.
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Angus proudly. ‘Jamie is one hundred per cent the right person to be taking over the hall, and with you by his side, my dear, I know we are all in safe hands.’
‘But I haven’t made up my mind yet,’ I feebly began. ‘I still don’t know if I’m going to be staying on or not.’
‘But why would you want to go?’ he asked. ‘Although I daresay you could find another job in a heartbeat,’ he added.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I already had one lined up. That it had in fact been lined up for the last six months.
‘Why would you want to leave the man who has stolen your heart?’ Angus went on softly. ‘Why would you leave him alone to set up the charity you have been dreaming of running together?’
So he knew it all then.
‘Look, Angus,’ I began.
‘Anna,’ he interrupted, ‘please don’t say another word. I know in my heart that you aren’t going to be leaving us next month. I’ve known it from the moment you arrived, even before Jamie came home, and the fact that you have fallen in love with my boy and that he loves you back, is quite simply the icing on the cake for me. I know you all think I’m a silly old fool who is always getting into scrapes and making everyone roll their eyes.’
I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.
‘And I am that fool, of course I am, but I do have the sense to see what’s happening right before my eyes, even though the sensible young person it’s happening to is blind to it. Or at least pretends to be.’
I nodded, but didn’t say anything. My mind was a muddle, and I wondered if Jamie had any idea that his father knew there was more between us than a potential business venture.
‘Now,’ said Angus, settling back in his seat, ‘tell me how that middle son of mine has reacted to the news that he’s missed out on the money pot he has been pinning his hopes on.’
Angus didn’t seem at all surprised by how Archie had responded to the revelation that Jamie was taking up the reins and I didn’t need to say a word about the less-than-lovely Elise because he had already drawn his own very accurate conclusions about her.
‘She’s little style and even less substance, that one,’ he grumbled. ‘But,’ he added, echoing what others had already said about her, ‘she won’t hang about now. Now she knows Archie isn’t going to inherit, she’ll drop him like a hot potato. Personally I wouldn’t be at all surprised if these mad ideas of Archie’s originated with her – her and her money-mad father.’
It would have been so easy, easy and completely inappropriate, for me to get drawn into a bitchy conversation about Elise, but I didn’t. Where she was concerned I was determined not to put a foot wrong, especially as I had already indiscreetly mentioned her fake shoes to Cass.
‘Anyway,’ he mused, ‘all this talk is making me hungry. Do you think Dorothy has done us a dinner?’
Dorothy had of course ‘done us a dinner’, and a vast one at that, and it was a very happy Connelly band who sat down to enjoy it. Hugo and Oscar had enveloped their beloved granddad in hugs when we arrived back and the kiss I witnessed between him and Catherine quite made my heart race. How wonderful to have reached their age and still feel so in love, especially when one half of the partnership was such a perpetual pest. My admiration for Catherine increased beyond measure as I watched her take her place next to her husband, knowing of her never-ending patience with his little foibles and fads.
‘So, where is he then?’ Angus asked, looking along the table at the two empty seats.
‘And more to the point,’ snapped Dorothy, ‘where is she and that blasted dog?’
‘If you’re talking about Uncle Archie and Elise,’ said Hugo, ‘I saw them go out about an hour ago.’
‘What, and they didn’t say anything?’ Dorothy was outraged and didn’t care a jot that Catherine and Angus knew it. ‘How rude. What am I going to do with all these extra puddings?’ she tutted, pointing at the plateful of mile-high crispy Yorkshires.
‘Ah now, Dorothy,’ said Angus, sounding deadly serious as he tucked his napkin into his shirt collar, ‘I might just be able to help you out there.’
As always, Dorothy’s lunch was divine and I knew she had piled on the extra puddings in the hope that she would tempt su
per-svelte Elise into filling her boots, but I wouldn’t have reckoned much for her chances, even if the waif in question had been present at the table. There was no way you achieved a figure like Elise’s by consuming carbs. My own figure, I had noticed in the bathroom mirror, had become slightly more rounded since my arrival, but I didn’t really mind. I rather liked the softer edges, although I wouldn’t have won a bet that I could still fit into the pencil skirt I had arrived in.
When everything was finally cleared away we all followed Jamie and Christopher around the hall to check the positioning of the trees that had been bought at the auction in town. They had all been planted up in vast pots and stood erect and obliging, ready to be made even more beautiful when the decorations went on the next day. Goodness knows how the men had managed to manoeuvre them but they were a magnificent sight.
‘You really have done us proud this year, Mick,’ said Angus, patting his friend on the back. ‘Thank you so much.’
‘You’re welcome,’ said Mick gruffly, clearly uncomfortable at being made a fuss of. ‘The pots were all just lying around outside so I thought I’d clean them up and we’d use them, rather than the usual plastic ones we have to try and disguise with paper and ribbons.’
‘Well, they look beautiful,’ said Catherine. ‘I wonder what other forgotten treasures we’ve got lying around out there?’
‘You’d be amazed,’ said Mick, sounding really rather excited. ‘The old orangery and empty glasshouses are actually full of gems like these.’
‘One day,’ said Catherine wistfully, ‘I would love to see the orangery restored.’
‘I’ll add it to the list,’ smiled Jamie, kissing his mother’s hand. ‘Can you remind me, Anna?’
‘Will do,’ I smiled back, pretending to write it all down.
‘We’re going to need one rejuvenated orangery for my wonderful mother,’ he continued while I carried on scribbling on an invisible notepad, much to Oscar’s delight.
‘You’re so silly,’ he giggled.
Eventually we moved on from admiring the first tree in the sitting room to the gargantuan one in the main hall. This was where the bulk of the Christmas Fair stalls would be set up and I knew the stunning eight-foot specimen standing proudly by the side of the huge but currently unlit stone fireplace would be a crowd-pleaser.
We all gazed upon the scene in awe until Christopher broke the silence.
‘Do you know,’ he said to his sons, pointing to the other side of the tree, where there was a carved wooden chair so large it could easily have been mistaken for a throne, ‘if you’re really good and really lucky, Father Christmas himself will come and sit in that chair right there and read you a bedtime story.’
Even Hugo looked suitably impressed as the adults shared secret smiles and little Oscar’s mouth fell open.
‘Wow,’ he breathed, clutching Cass’s hand as tightly as his beloved teddy bear.
‘And if you think this is a beauty,’ said Mick, ‘wait till you see the one outside.’
We all piled back into the kitchen to grab our coats and warming glasses of mulled wine which Dorothy had set to heat on the Aga before we had begun the tree tour. The air was scented with cinnamon and orange and she had even remembered to make hot chocolate for Mick and the boys, all topped off with a generous swirl of thick cream and marshmallows.
‘Did you manage to get the lights finished?’ I whispered to Jamie as everyone began pulling on their coats, boots and scarves.
‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ he said with a wink, which of course could only mean one thing.
It was even colder outside than before, and already dark. The stars were shining brightly in the inky sky as all together, with Catherine carefully supported by Jamie and Christopher in case she tripped, we shuffled around the side of the hall to the front, where Mick and the boys had set up yet another magnificent tree.
‘Wow,’ gasped Hugo, his head stretched back as far as it would go as he tried to see to the very top. ‘This is massive.’
‘We reckon it must be ten foot,’ said Mick, sounding like a proud fisherman describing his catch at the end of the day. ‘At least.’
‘Possibly nearer twelve now it’s in the pot,’ said Jamie, boosting Mick’s ego a little further.
‘This will certainly guide everyone in the right direction when they come to the Fair,’ added Cass. ‘I can’t wait to see it all lit up.’
‘And talking of lights,’ Jamie said quickly, before everyone’s teeth started chattering, ‘if you could all walk towards the drive a little way, there’s another surprise that I want to show you.’
‘What is he talking about?’ Catherine asked me as I walked with her now that Jamie couldn’t.
‘No idea,’ I shrugged.
I didn’t like to lie, and to Catherine of all people, but this was one seasonal surprise I had no intention of spoiling.
‘Are you all ready?’ Jamie shouted from somewhere out of sight, just as our toes were beginning to go numb.
‘Yes!’ we all bawled.
‘Hurry up, for pity’s sake!’ Christopher added. ‘It’s freezing out here.’
‘OK!’ Jamie shouted back. ‘Here goes nothing.’
For the briefest moment there really was nothing to see, and then it happened. Hundreds of warm white lights began to twinkle around the doors, the windows and even under the eaves of the hall. It was breathtakingly beautiful, like something out of a real-life fairy tale, and I felt my eyes fill with tears. Listening to the gasps and comments around me I knew everyone else was equally impressed.
‘Is this what ended up putting you in hospital, Angus?’ Cass called to her father-in-law.
‘It is,’ he called back. ‘I’d say it was all worth a bump on the head, wouldn’t you, my dear?’ he asked Catherine as he bent to kiss her cheek.
‘I’m not sure I would go that far,’ she told him, ‘but it is beautiful. Is this what you’ve been disappearing to do every day for the last couple of weeks?’
‘It is,’ he said.
I could see his fingers were crossed behind his back so I knew this wasn’t the whole story, and I was sure Catherine realised it too.
‘Well done, my boy,’ he beamed, as Jamie jogged over to where we were all standing. ‘You’ve done me proud.’
‘There wasn’t actually all that much left to do,’ Jamie admitted. ‘I have no idea how you managed to do this without anyone noticing, Dad, but kudos to you. You’ve made a great job of it. It looks fantastic.’
‘Are there any more around the back?’ asked Cass.
‘There sure are,’ Jamie confirmed. ‘It’s all set up to look just like this.’
‘Amazing,’ she sighed, looking back at the warm glow the hall was now bathed in.
Clearly she was as enraptured by the idyllic scene as I was.
‘Did you manage that last window?’ Angus asked his son with a frown.
‘Yep,’ said Jamie, ‘and I could even see the battered brickwork that knocked you out, Dad, so we’ll have that repaired when this lot comes down.’
‘How on earth did you manage to reach it?’ Angus quizzed.
He was clearly impressed that his son had managed to succeed where he had failed.
‘Let’s just say it was a bit of a stretch and leave it at that,’ said Jamie, clearly unwilling to elaborate on the risk he had taken while his mother was present.
‘Is it going to be worth taking them all down again?’ I asked.
I couldn’t help thinking that as it had been such a gargantuan task getting them up it hardly seemed worth taking them all down, only to have to repeat the exercise again next year.
‘We’ll talk about it in the New Year,’ said Jamie.
‘Something else to add to the list,’ I suggested.
‘Exactly,’ he said, cheekily putting his arm around my waist and pulling me close to his side the second everyone was looking back towards the hall. ‘I really do hope you’re going to be here to work through that list
with me, Anna.’
Looking at the beautifully lit hall and listening to the chatter and excitement, I hoped I was going to be there too. I really did still have some pondering to do but I think in my heart, at that point, I pretty much knew, even if my head still had some catching up to do.
‘Actually, we’ll have to think carefully about that, you know, Anna,’ said Angus, tracking back to my point about leaving the lights up. ‘Your suggestion might not be quite as practical as you no doubt thought it was.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ he said, sounding deadly serious, ‘because we might want to change things next year, mightn’t we? Go for a bit of colour perhaps or maybe add some music.’
‘Oh good grief,’ groaned Dorothy, who was just about in earshot. ‘He thinks he’s that Buddy fellow from Deck the Halls!’
‘Well,’ I said, keen to dismiss all thoughts of Angus in the role played by Danny de Vito, ‘let’s just enjoy them as they are for now, shall we?’
Everyone was in agreement that the lights were a most welcome addition to the Connelly Christmas set-up, especially with the Fair coming to the hall.
‘This will certainly get the place noticed,’ Jamie said to me.
‘You’re not wrong,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘And you know, talking of getting noticed, it might not be a bad idea to get the local press to do a write-up about the Fair. Keep the place in the minds of the wider community so when it comes to finding support for the charity, the name of the hall and the kindness of the family who owns it will already be in everyone’s thoughts.’
‘That sounds like an excellent idea,’ he agreed. ‘You’re just full of them, aren’t you?’
‘I have been known to come up with the odd one or two,’ I responded playfully.
He turned his face towards me and I just knew he was going to try and kiss me again. I didn’t want him to kiss me in front of everyone but the thought of his lips on mine shoved me closer to the edge of giving in than was in any way acceptable or appropriate. However, a beeping car horn stopped us in our tracks, and our little gathering parted to allow the vehicle through.
