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

by Martin, Holly

‘Henry, I need your help. The snow has caused massive problems for the ball, no one can get to the town to deliver the tables and chairs and food. I have a plan forming but I need to get down to the town to help.’

  ‘You want me to take you down?’

  ‘Yes, sorry.’ She glanced at Daisy. ‘I know this isn’t the best time but my car just won’t make it.’

  Henry grabbed his coat and shoes straight away, not even questioning it, but to Penny’s great surprise Daisy was getting into her coat and shoes too.

  Henry glanced at Penny and shrugged subtly. He wasn’t about to argue.

  Between them they managed to dig the wheels out and they bundled into the car. It had stopped snowing and the sun was now trying to make an appearance.

  Henry manoeuvred the car slowly down the drive. The car was struggling but at least they were making steady progress. Finally they hit the road that would take them to the town. It was covered in snow but because the gritter lorry had obviously been out the night before it wasn’t as bad as her drive.

  They drove in complete silence down to the town and Penny had no idea what to say to make this situation any better. The fact that Daisy was coming with them to help with the ball stood for something but Penny still didn’t know where she stood in her relationship with Henry.

  As they rounded a corner, Penny got her first glimpse of the town. Every rooftop glistened under a layer of sparkly cotton wool; it looked like something from a movie set as it twinkled in the midday sun. She had never seen the town look so beautiful before and it was a dramatic sight framed against the inky blue backdrop of the sea.

  ‘Look,’ Penny pointed out to Daisy, forgetting for a moment that they weren’t on speaking terms.

  Daisy leaned forward and for a second, just a brief moment, her face reflected the awe of the scene, before the sullen grumpiness returned and Daisy sat back in her seat.

  Penny sat and stared at the town for a moment before she swivelled round to talk to Daisy.

  ‘I am really sorry that we lied to you, it was never our intention to hurt you. Everything happened between me and your dad so quickly and neither of us expected it to. We just wanted you to get a bit more settled in, make some friends, be comfortable here before we suddenly announced that we were dating. I’m so sorry, I really am.’

  Daisy looked out the window and refused to even acknowledge that Penny had spoken. Penny glanced back at Henry who shook his head in warning, telling her not to push it any further.

  Penny sat back in her seat and sighed. ‘We need to stop at The Pilchard first, pick up a few outdoor heaters and take them to the marquee so we can start warming up the place.’

  Henry nodded.

  As they got closer to the main town centre, the roads became a lot clearer. There were loads of people on the street digging the snow off the roads and it made Penny smile to see how everyone was laughing and joking with each other. This was not a problem for the people of White Cliff Bay, this was a day out or an adventure.

  They stopped at The Pilchard and with Daisy’s help and a few passers-by they managed to load four heaters into the back of the Range Rover.

  They drove up to the marquee, which was in a field on the headland overlooking Silver Cove beach. The road hadn’t quite been cleared in that part of the town but, with a little help from the sun that seemed to be melting some of the snow and Henry’s car, they soon made short work of it.

  They unloaded the heaters and Henry helped to set them up. Luckily the power generator and cables had all been delivered along with the marquee a few days before and the Portaloos, Penny knew, had been delivered the day before so that was something.

  ‘I’m going to help with the digging,’ Daisy announced, walking out the marquee before Henry could say anything.

  ‘I’ll get some more heaters from the other pubs, the sooner this place is warm the better.’

  Penny nodded and watched him go. He hadn’t kissed her. He’d given her no sign at all that everything was going to be OK between them.

  A van arrived and several tables were unloaded and Penny had to force her attention away from her crumbling relationship to make sure they were set up in the right place.

  With no crumb of hope from Henry, Daisy still walking around under a black cloud and the marquee nowhere near ready, it was going to be a long day.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Penny stepped out the bath and towelled herself off. She had no idea what she was going to wear to the ball that night. She supposed she would go for the black dress she wore to the ball every year. It didn’t seem right somehow to wear the green dress she had worn on her first date with Henry when she wasn’t going to the ball with him.

  At least the ball was going ahead, thanks to every single person in the town who had turned up to help, either by bringing food, helping to clear the snow or helping her and Maggie to set up the tables, chairs and decorations. She felt good about it, the community spirit, the fact that the charity would still get their money. But she still couldn’t raise a smile about her relationship with Henry.

  She had barely seen him for the rest of the day. He’d returned once with more heaters but disappeared again without saying a word. He’d texted her later to say he had got caught transporting people around the town and, although lots of people had come and gone with food and cake, she hadn’t seen him again. She had no idea whether he’d even come home yet or was still helping out somewhere. She’d got a lift home from one of the local farmers in the end. She didn’t know whether they were ever going to get past this. They loved each other, but his fear of upsetting Daisy seemed to far outweigh any feelings he had for Penny. She wanted Daisy to be happy with them being together too but she was getting a little bit frustrated that Henry would allow his sixteen-year-old daughter – or rather the fear of hurting her – to dictate to him how he lived his life. And although she understood the history behind him being scared, there was a part of her that wanted him to fight for her, to put her on an equal footing with his daughter, not ten spaces behind.

  She walked out into the bedroom and stopped. Lying on the bed was the beautiful silver dress she had tried on the other day with Daisy.

  Resting on top of the dress was a little paper heart, with the words, ‘Put this on and meet me downstairs, Henry x.’

  She found herself smiling hugely. Was she really going to go to the ball with her prince? Had he spoken to Daisy and straightened it all out?

  She was tempted to run downstairs now and ask him, but she supposed she should get ready first. She dressed quickly, threw on some make-up and swept her hair up on top of her head.

  She opened the bedroom door and was thrown by the trail of rose petals that led from her door and down the stairs, as if she was unable to find her way down on her own.

  She stepped down the stairs and saw hundreds of candles flickering in the darkness of her lounge, but standing in the middle of them all was Henry dressed in a tux. She stopped halfway down the stairs and stared at him. If there was a finer sight in the world than Henry Travis in a tuxedo, she was yet to see it.

  ‘You look so beautiful,’ Henry said, softly, coming to the bottom of the stairs and holding out his hand for her.

  She took it, her heart beating wildly as he pulled her into the middle of the lounge.

  He kissed her gently on the cheek and then went down on one knee.

  Her heart stopped, blood rushed to her head making her immediately dizzy. ‘Henry, shit no, you can’t.’

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s not that.’

  She laughed in relief.

  ‘I’ve thought about this a lot over the last few days, before I shouted at you and made you cry and before I made my daughter hate me because I lied to her, before any of that happened, I wanted to tell you how I felt. And I didn’t want to just say the words in passing, as if I was asking you what your favourite colour is and I certainly didn’t want to throw the words out while I was trying to get you warm again after you nearly died of hyp
othermia. I wanted something bigger than that because what I felt for you was so much bigger than anything I’ve ever felt before.’

  He pulled a little black box out of his pocket and despite, knowing this wasn’t a proposal, her breath hitched at the sight of it.

  He opened it and offered it up to her. Two hearts entwined with each other lay on the black velvet, one wooden heart, one made from crystal. There was a scarlet ribbon tied round the top, but it was the curly words engraved into the wooden heart that caught her attention the most. ‘I love you.’ She ran her fingers lightly over it, the lines of the wood and the shine of the varnish reflecting the lights of the candles beautifully.

  ‘And this heart…’ He pointed to the crystal. ‘You have to pretend it’s made from ice, a special kind that will never melt.’

  She smiled at the significance of the ice and the wood entwined, her world and his.

  ‘And I thought you should have something that was yours on our tree.’

  ‘I can’t believe you did all this just to tell me you love me.’

  ‘I do love you, Penny, I fell completely and utterly in love with you almost from the very first time we met. I have never met anyone so kind, so pure and sweet as you before. You make me laugh, a lot, I could talk to you for hours and never get bored and I have never felt for anyone the way I feel with you. You are right, you deserve the very best and I’m going to do everything I can to give it to you.’

  She knelt down so she was face to face with him.

  ‘I love you too. You’ve changed my life in such a short time. I told myself repeatedly that I didn’t need a man or a family to make me happy. And in reality I don’t need one, but I do want one. My idea of a family was marriage and babies and that’s changed now. I want to be part of your family and I want to be with you more than anything else in the world. You make me happy, happier than I’ve ever been and I want to make you happy too.’

  He kissed her and then pulled back slightly. ‘I’m not ruling out babies either. I know I’ve done the sleepless nights and the nappy changes but I’d love to do it all again with you.’

  ‘Really?’

  He smiled and nodded. ‘Just, not yet, eh? Let’s give it a few months before we think about that.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘Now, shall we hang your decoration on the tree and go to the ball?’

  ‘What about Daisy?’

  His face fell. ‘She’s still not speaking to me, I’ve tried everything but she flat-out refuses to talk. I’m gutted. She’s at Anna’s and I think she’ll be going to the ball with them. But we’ve not had much chance to see each other today. I’m going to sort it out with her tonight. There’s no way I’m spending Christmas not talking to her. And I’m going with you to the ball and she will see that I’m serious about you and that I love you.’

  She smiled. ‘OK.’

  She stood up and offered out her hand for his. He took it and pulled himself up.

  ‘The next time I get down on one knee for you, it will be the real thing.’

  Her smile grew and she didn’t think she would ever stop smiling tonight.

  Holding her hand, he led her over to the tree. ‘Where would you like to hang it?’

  Penny considered it for a moment. ‘How about here, between the Santa that’s showing his bum and the angel that Daisy made from an old washing-up bottle?’

  ‘I think that’s a bat from Halloween actually but, yes, good choice.’

  Henry took it from the box and passed it to her. She hung it on the branch and it glistened and sparkled under the fairy lights. ‘Perfect.’

  Henry helped her to put her coat on and then led her out.

  ‘Wait. We need to deliver a carving.’

  ‘Tonight? Now? Won’t everyone be at the ball?’

  ‘This is a proposal carving, and I think they’ll probably be at the ball after or before as I have to place it quite near, but I can’t ruin this guy’s big moment. We can wrap it up and take it in your car, just don’t put your heating on full blast.’

  Henry helped her to wrap it up and carry it out and they drove down to the town. Under the glow of the slivery moon, White Cliff Bay twinkled and shone, still buried under a blanket of snow. It was magical, ethereal in its beauty.

  The streets were completely deserted as everyone else was clearly already at the ball. They positioned the proposal carving round the back of the marquee at the end of the thin cliff path that led up from Silver Cove beach and then drove round to the car park, which was already overflowing with cars. After finally finding a space, Henry escorted her inside.

  Near the entrance stood two ice carvings, the only ones to survive the power cut or to make it through the snow. Octavia had carved a stunning full sized Santa, sitting on a chair checking his naughty and nice list. It was incredible. Next to it Melody had carved a beautiful reindeer. It wasn’t the big competition of previous years but at least Octavia would rightfully win this one and Melody would come second, which would mean an honourable mention for the newcomer in the Ice Carving Federation magazine, even if it was by default.

  They moved further into the marquee. The place was packed, people were chatting up at the makeshift bar, sitting down at a hodgepodge of tables covered in a colourful array of tablecloths and donated table decorations, none of which matched, and several people were up on the dance floor, swaying gently to the sounds of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ by Frank Sinatra. But Penny could see that every single person seemed to be enjoying themselves. They didn’t care that the food was mostly sandwiches, or that the music came from an iPod instead of a DJ or that none of the tables and chairs matched. The ball had happened because every single one of these people had helped to put it on. She could see Jill looking stunning in a long blue sequinned dress as her husband Thomas twirled her round the floor. Maggie was dancing with one of her boys and Edward waved at them as he danced with his wife. She loved this town with its crazy, nosy, caring people and now she had one more reason to love it too.

  She squeezed Henry’s hand and he smiled at her. She wanted to find Daisy and hug her too, though she doubted that would happen any time soon.

  ‘Can you see Daisy?’ Henry asked.

  ‘Yes, she’s over by the buffet with Josh. She’s already seen us and is pretending she hasn’t.’ Penny saw the scowl on his face as he saw Josh with his arm round Daisy’s shoulders. ‘Don’t make a big deal over this, he is lovely and you certainly don’t want to make the situation worse between the two of you by going all “over-protective dad” again.’

  ‘I need to talk to her but shall we dance first?’ Henry asked and she nodded.

  He swept her onto the dance floor and with his arms round her waist and her head on his chest, in front of the whole town, and they started to move slowly around the floor.

  She looked up and he smiled at her. He bent his head down to kiss her when suddenly a large, mayonnaise-covered prawn splattered against Henry’s forehead. He looked up in confusion as the prawn slithered down his cheek and Penny managed to catch it before it hit his tux or her dress.

  They looked around to see Daisy standing on the dance floor with her hands on her hips.

  ‘Don’t ever lie to me again,’ Daisy said, a smirk fighting on her lips, and Henry let out a booming laugh. With one arm still wrapped round Penny, he used the other arm to hook Daisy by the waist and brought her in for a group hug. Penny wrapped an arm round her too.

  Henry kissed Daisy on the forehead. ‘You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I have never regretted having you, not for one second. I would never do anything to deliberately hurt you. I love you so much and me being in love with Penny doesn’t mean I love you any less.’

  ‘I know that, Dad.’

  ‘And I love you, too,’ Penny said. ‘If that’s OK?’

  Daisy nodded and hugged them both tight.

  Penny leaned her head against Henry’s chest again and watched the twinkling fairy lights over Daisy�
�s head.

  It had turned out to be a perfect Christmas after all.

  Epilogue

  Christmas Day

  Penny lay on the sofa watching the flames dance in the fireplace. She had eaten way too much turkey, chocolate and Christmas pudding, not all at the same time but close enough. She felt uncomfortably full and bloated. Daisy was lying next to her, her head on Penny’s belly which wasn’t helping the full feeling but Penny didn’t care. She had never felt so blissfully happy as she felt at that moment. She ran her fingers through Daisy’s hair, stroking her head affectionately. Anna, Steve, Bea and Oliver were coming round later that night but right now it was just the three of them, which suited Penny just fine, spending Christmas Day with her gorgeous new family.

  ‘That snow is coming down hard,’ Henry said, staring out the window with Bernard lying sprawled out upside down on his lap.

  Penny transferred her attention to the fat flakes of snow that were swirling in the darkening sky outside. ‘Stop worrying.’

  ‘I’m not worrying,’ Henry said, failing to keep the note of tension from his voice.

  Daisy giggled, the vibrations of her laughter travelling straight through Penny’s belly. ‘You’re the world’s worst worrier, and I love you for it, but I am relieved that some of your over-protectiveness has transferred to Penny recently. Lets me off the hook a bit.’

  ‘I still worry about you – worrying about Penny doesn’t mean I worry about you any less and don’t think that this…’ he gestured at Penny, ‘means I’m going to be more relaxed about you going out with Josh. No…shenanigans until you’re at least thirty.’

  Penny laughed. ‘Daisy is far more sensible than you.’

  ‘Daisy I trust, it’s Josh that I doubt. I remember what it’s like to be a teenage boy, pretty much the only thing they think of is sex.’

  Penny bit her tongue, stopping herself from saying that hadn’t changed for Henry; it had been a long time since he had been a teenager and he still had a huge sexual appetite. Henry blushed, clearly knowing what Penny had been thinking.