Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay)

by Martin, Holly

  To his surprise she did and he nearly wept with relief. She stared past him, her gaze not focussing on him at all, and he grabbed her face hard. ‘Look at me.’

  She blinked blearily a few times and then her eyes locked with his.

  ‘You came,’ she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. ‘I thought you didn’t care.’

  ‘Of course I fucking care. You know how much you mean to me.’

  She shook her head as he carried on gently rubbing her arms. ‘Not really. You said you never wanted to see me again.’

  ‘I was angry. I didn’t mean it. Jesus, Penny, how could you believe that I didn’t care?’

  ‘You were quite adamant. And I hated you a little bit for it too. You said we were finished.’

  ‘No, we’re not,’ he snapped before realising his concern for her and relief that she was OK were now quickly turning into anger too. ‘Christ, you scared the crap out of me.’

  He found himself burying his face in her neck, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against him. He had nearly lost her. He closed his eyes and breathed her in, relishing the feel of her pulse hammering against his lips, proving she was very much alive.

  ‘Am I naked?’

  He looked up. ‘I was trying to keep you warm.’

  ‘By undressing me?’

  ‘Body heat is supposed to be the best way to combat hypothermia.’

  ‘Are you naked too?’

  ‘I have my jeans on.’

  ‘Did you just strip me naked so you could perv over me?’

  ‘It didn’t cross my mind.’

  ‘Really? So if I was a man, the first thing you would have done would be to strip me naked and lie on top of me?’

  Henry hesitated. ‘Possibly. Probably not. It’s not like I haven’t seen your body before. If we weren’t in a relationship, I wouldn’t have stripped you.’

  ‘We’re not in a relationship, you dumped me, remember?’

  ‘I didn’t dump you. I was angry at you, there’s a big difference.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m grateful that you came to rescue me, but I didn’t call you because I wanted to get back together with you, I called you because I thought you might be next door and you were the nearest person. I’d quite honestly be happy if I never saw you again.’

  Pain squeezed at his chest with that comment. But then how could he expect anything different? He had yelled at her, told her he never wanted to see her again. But would she really throw it all away over one stupid thoughtless moment?

  She suddenly looked angry. ‘You have no right to be hurt over this, everything was perfect and you ruined it. You promised that you would never hurt me and you did.’

  He gritted his teeth. ‘Shit, I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you.’ He kissed her softly but she didn’t kiss him back. He looked at her but her eyes were hard. He kissed her again but she still didn’t respond. Panic surged through him again. He’d lost her. She was alive and breathing and wrapped in his arms but he had lost her due to his stupid temper.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ He kissed her throat, trailing tiny kisses across her collarbone. ‘I talked to Daisy, she told me everything you said to her. You were wonderful, you handled it so much better than I ever would. I was just blindsided. I never expected for one second to walk in there and find her in that compromising position with the condoms that you gave her. It was a shock and I know I overreacted but I’m so sorry.’

  Tears filled her eyes again. ‘I don’t think I can do this, Henry. If you really cared about me as much as I care about you, you wouldn’t shout at me like that. You wouldn’t get so angry that you finished with me.’

  Henry stared at her. It was over. She wasn’t prepared to fight for him. Well, he was damned well going to fight for her.

  ‘Wait a minute. I love you. I fucking love you so much. I thought you loved me too. Daisy told me what you said about making love to your second boyfriend and how perfect and beautiful it was. I know you meant me and it was perfect and beautiful because we were made for each other. When you love someone you love everything about them, you love them when they’re sad or angry or stubborn or overreact. You love them through the good times and the bad. When you love someone, you love them when they snort with laughter, when they turn up in your house for dinner with their hair like a tangled bush, you love them when you kiss them with morning breath, you love them when they make cakes just because they’re angry, you love them because they make you laugh and cry. I love you and if you love me you’ll forgive me.’

  He watched her face soften slightly.

  ‘I’m sorry, I really am.’ He kissed her and was relieved that after a few seconds she kissed him back. ‘We’re OK, aren’t we?’

  She raised a weak hand to run through his hair and eventually nodded and he kissed her again. He pulled her tighter against him. After just a few moments the kisses turned to something more; it was needful and the need had come from her.

  Her hands wandered down his back to the top of his jeans and slid round his hips to the front

  He pulled back slightly. ‘Penny, I think we should get you to a hospital, just in case. I…’

  She kissed him again and he hated that she was crying, that he had caused her to cry.

  She fumbled at the front of his jeans again and he helped her, wriggling out of them as quick as he could.

  He knelt up and pulled her up too, his mouth not leaving hers as he dragged her bra off her and her knickers. He lifted her onto his lap and as she straddled him, he pushed inside her. She wrapped her arms round his neck, kissing him hard and without any space between them, they started to move. It was fast and urgent and desperate and, as they both tumbled over the edge, he knew he could never let her go.

  * * *

  Penny lay on top of Henry’s chest watching the flames dwindle and die as he played with her hair. Her breathing was just about returning to normal.

  ‘I think we’re OK,’ Penny said.

  ‘I am sorry. I promise I’ll never shout at you again,’ Henry said, running his hands down her back.

  She looked up at him. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep. We will have rows and we will shout at each other, but you can’t break up with me every time you get angry. It’s not fair.’

  ‘I know, I’m sorry. I’m not handling any of this well. I’ve not had a relationship like this before. Even with the semi-serious relationships, they never felt like this.’

  The back door slammed open. ‘Penny, Dad!’ Daisy shouted, her voice filled with panic.

  Penny scrabbled up, grabbing the blanket, leaving Henry to cover himself with the duvet as he stood up quickly too. Daisy ran to the cool room door but before she opened it she spotted them. Daisy’s face showed a myriad of emotions, from relief that Penny was alive, to disappointment, hurt, humiliation and finally anger.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ‘You’ve been sleeping together?’

  ‘It’s not what it looks like,’ Henry said, wrapping the duvet around his hips. ‘I was trying to keep her warm.’

  Penny stared at him in horror. Now was the time to apologise for keeping it from Daisy, explain why they had done it and come clean, not lie about it even more.

  ‘Jesus, Dad, don’t lie to me. How long has it been going on?’

  ‘About a week,’ Penny said.

  Henry glared at her then moved towards Daisy. ‘Look, we didn’t want to upset you.’

  ‘So you lied about it, sneaked around behind my back, treated me like a child? Why the hell wouldn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Because you asked me not to date her and—’

  ’And look at how well you respected my wishes.’

  ‘Listen, love, you were happy here and you were scared that I would cock it up with Penny and we’d have to move out. I just wanted to get to Christmas, give you a bit more time to settle in, before I told you how important Penny was to me.’

  Daisy, clearly not sure who she should be more angry at, turn
ed her attention to Penny. ‘And that’s why you were being so nice to me, teaching me about ice carving and taking me out, buying me clothes – you were just using me to get to my dad.’

  Penny was horrified. She stepped towards her, wishing more than anything that she didn’t have to have this conversation naked, with only a blanket to protect her modesty. ‘No, Daisy, honey. I would never do that. I genuinely love spending time with you, you make me laugh, you’re so creative and I love how insightful and kind you are. I was happy to spend time with you long before me and your dad got together. If we broke up now, I’d still be happy to teach you about ice carving and take Bernard for walks with you, I said that the other night after Henry had shouted at me. I would never be that manipulative to get what I want. And I know you’ve only known me a short time, but you should know that what you see is who I am, there has never been a hidden agenda with me.’

  Daisy was clearly not to be talked round. She turned her attention back to her dad. ‘What is it with you and women? Is sex so important to you that you can’t stay single for longer than a few months?’

  Henry looked furious. ‘Damn it, Daisy, this isn’t just sex, I’m not just messing around here, I love her, I’m in love with Penny, I have been for a while.’

  There was a silence in the room then, punctuated only by Bernard snuffling on the sofa.

  ‘You love her?’ Daisy said, quietly.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘After one week. You hypocrite. You belittled what I had with Josh, saying I hadn’t known him for long enough but somehow you fell in love in a week too. And that isn’t something that you thought you should tell me?’

  ‘We were going to tell you, after Christmas. I just wanted you to feel a bit more settled here before I told you this was the woman that I wanted to marry.’

  Penny felt tears spring to her eyes. He loved her and wanted to marry her? She wanted to kiss him and hold him but she couldn’t.

  Daisy stared at them and then stormed off, slamming the connecting door between them.

  ‘Shit,’ Henry said, quickly dropping the duvet and getting dressed. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’

  Tugging his shirt on and doing up a few cursory buttons, he made to run after Daisy, but he came back and kissed her briefly.

  ‘I love you and I’m going to fix this so we can be together properly without any secrets. Trust me on that.’

  Penny nodded and he kissed her on the forehead and left, closing the connecting door between them.

  She heard his footsteps thunder up the stairs and more shouting between the two of them, though she couldn’t make out the words. He had to make this right because she loved him too and she couldn’t lose him before they had even started.

  * * *

  Penny stared out the bedroom window at the muted early morning sky as the snow fell thick and fast, swirling and dancing in the wind.

  She hadn’t been able to sleep much, hoping that Henry would appear in her bedroom and tell her it was all sorted out. But he never came.

  Surely he wouldn’t let this come between them. But Daisy had also been the only reason he had broken up with his previous girlfriends. She would always come first for him.

  Her head hurt. After the stress of thinking that her and Henry were finished, to getting back together with him and now this, it felt like they were over again.

  Tonight was the Christmas Eve ball and it looked like she’d be going alone if Henry couldn’t right things with Daisy.

  She got out of bed and went into the shower, feeling thoroughly deflated, especially as the night before Henry had told her he loved her.

  She walked back into the bedroom and saw her phone was flashing silently on the bed side table.

  She grabbed it and noticed she’d had three missed calls from Maggie. She also noticed it was a lot later in the day than she had originally thought; the snow had made it much darker and she must have slept a little late that morning without realising it. She quickly phoned Maggie back.

  When her friend answered it was clear that she had gone into full-blown panic mode. ‘Penny, the bloody, pissing, sodding snow. Everything is ruined, every fucking thing.’

  ‘Maggie, what’s wrong, what do you mean?’

  She moved to the window and froze in shock. Everywhere, as far as the eye could see in every direction, was covered in a thick blanket of snow. On top of her van’s roof was almost two foot of the stuff and the wheels were almost buried too.

  ‘The ball will have to be cancelled. Everything was due to arrive today, the tables, chairs, the food, the DJ, the heaters, even most of the waiters and waitresses were coming from different towns,’ Maggie said and Penny could tell that she was almost crying with the frustration of it all. ‘Half the ice carvers lost their sculptures due to the power cut the other night and that was going to be the main decoration for the evening.’

  ‘Hang on a minute. We are not cancelling the ball. We’re not. Not after all your hard work and planning. We’ve had a ball in the town as far back as I can remember and we’re not going to cancel just because of a little bit of snow.’

  ‘It’s more than just a little bit of snow, Penny,’ Maggie snapped.

  Penny ignored the anger in her best friend’s voice. ‘Give me five minutes to have a think about this and I’ll call you back.’

  Penny hung up and paced the room for a moment before scrolling through her phone. The town council had a telephone tree for when they needed to arrange a meeting or if there was a problem in the town like a faulty traffic light that people were being asked to avoid or an escaped cow when people were asked to help round it up. This counted as a really big problem.

  She quickly composed a text explaining the problem and asked for help. She included her mobile number on the bottom so people would reply to her and not the person who had forwarded on the text. She sent it to the five people on her part of the tree, knowing that within half an hour almost every member of the town would be informed and many of their friends and family too, which would cover almost the entire town.

  She got dressed quickly while she waited. As she pulled her jeans on, the phone beeped. As she did up her belt the phone beeped again, seven times in quick succession. She pulled her snow boots on and quickly did up the laces as the phone beeped again and again and again.

  She picked it up, seeing that she already had over thirty messages. Wow these guys were quick.

  There were offers of food from most people, mainly sandwiches, crisps and cakes, but probably enough to keep everybody satisfied tonight. Everyone who replied said they would bring their own soft and alcoholic drinks. Kathleen from The Pilchard was offering all her tables, chairs and outdoor patio heaters if someone could come and pick them up. The landlords from The Bubble and Froth, The Mermaid and The Smuggler’s Inn were all offering the same thing as they were all going to be closed for the night anyway due to the ball. They were all donating bottles of wine and soft drinks too. Someone had an iPod and excellent speakers they often used for parties with a huge range of music, mostly light pop stuff that everyone could sing along to. There was a small digging team already down in the town that were digging out the main roads and the side roads leading up to the marquee. Thankfully most of the main roads in the town had been gritted the night before, even if the roads leading into the town hadn’t been, so they didn’t have mountains of the stuff to get rid of.

  She quickly typed a reply, including everyone who had texted her and the five people on her part of the telephone tree. She explained that food was covered, asked if anyone willing to help with the digging could go down to the town with a spade and if anyone had access to a big van that could go round and collect all the tables and chairs. She also asked if anyone could donate some tablecloths and candles too. She waited a moment to see if she got any replies and, within a few minutes, several texts had come in with whole families agreeing to be part of the digging team, two people with large vans had offered their help with collecting the tables and several p
eople had said they would bring tablecloths and candles to the marquee.

  Although it wasn’t anything like what Maggie had planned, the ball could at least go ahead in one way or another.

  She called her friend back.

  ‘Maggie, I have food planned, sandwiches and cake, and people are bringing their own drinks and…’

  ‘People have paid forty pounds for these tickets and we’re going to give them sandwiches? They’ll be asking for their money back.’

  ‘No, they won’t, it’s for charity and the people in this town care about the ball. No one will give a shit whether they are eating sandwiches or some chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese. And sandwiches is better than no food at all, now stop being so moany and listen to what I’ve sorted out.’

  Maggie was silent for a moment. ‘OK,’ she said, quietly, obviously suitably chastised.

  Penny explained the plan and that she was going to get down to the marquee to help set up as things started to arrive. Maggie agreed to meet her there as soon as she could get through the town.

  Penny hung up.

  That would be a problem for her too. Her little car was no match for the amount of snow that was sitting on her driveway and the freezer van was too old and weak to make it through either. Once she got to the main road she would probably be OK, but her drive was so long it would take the next three or four hours to dig her car out. Henry’s Range Rover might be able to get out and the Christmas ball needed all the help it could get at the moment.

  She pulled her coat, hat and gloves on and ran downstairs. She hovered for a moment outside the connecting door. It was silent on the other side; had they perhaps killed each other the night before?

  She knocked tentatively on the door and a huge shadow loomed near the window for a second before it was opened. Henry smiled briefly at her before the smile faded and vanished. He looked tired and unbelievably sad. Behind him, Penny could see Daisy reading on the sofa, studiously ignoring both of them.