The arrival of the vicar and his wife saved Spencer from having to reply, as Ruth immediately set her sights on worming as many intimate details as she could from the couple. Before he had even got halfway to the bar, Ruth had tottered over with surprising speed and was standing in his way.
‘He’ll need God and all those angels on his side tonight if Ruth is interrogating him,’ Lewis said as they watched her in action.
‘I thought you didn’t believe in God,’ Spencer said.
‘I don’t, but I could be persuaded if I thought it would save me from a grilling by Ruth Evans.’
‘Oh, so you’re a fair-weather supporter?’
‘Something like that,’ Lewis grinned.
Jenny left Millie and Dylan getting settled at a table and joined them.
‘Can I get you a drink, Mum?’ Spencer asked.
‘I think I might just have a cola for now – give my liver a break.’
Spencer raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re having a Coke?’
‘It’s not that much of a shock.’
‘It’s Christmas Day, the one day of the year it’s practically obligatory to be blind drunk,’ Spencer said.
‘I know, and I’ll probably have one later, but for now a soft drink will do.’
Spencer reached for a glass and scooped some ice into it. He suspected that his mum was still feeling guilty for drunken comments that had been hurled around over the previous few days, and that was why she was taking it easy tonight. But there didn’t seem much point when the damage was already done. Maybe it just made her feel better, and Spencer couldn’t really argue with that. He placed her drink on the bar and took her exact change to the till. When he turned around again, Jenny was buried in Lewis’s arms. Another time he might have turned away, feeling keenly the awkwardness of a child watching his parents in an intimate moment, but not this time. This was a hug of consolation, not of passion. It twisted the knife in Spencer’s heart. Despite his best efforts, they still blamed themselves, and he knew that no matter what he said, they would continue to do so. There was nothing he could say, and so he left them to it and moved down the bar to serve someone else.
The bar got steadily busier and louder, but Spencer was glad of the distraction. He hadn’t even had a chance to check his phone, but as all the previous opportunities of the day had only resulted in disappointment, maybe that wasn’t a bad thing either. He could hardly say he was happy or cheered by the high spirits and lively atmosphere of the Dog and Hare, but he was content to soak it up and there was something quite comforting about the feeling of belonging he had to be there amongst friends and family, part of a tradition that had been going on in Honeybourne for as long as he could remember.
An hour or so passed before Dylan strode up to the bar. It wasn’t his first visit, but this one was different. Spencer watched him closely. The jovial mood of earlier had gone, and if Spencer hadn’t known better, he would have said that he looked tense and nervous – scared even.
‘Mate, I need a whisky,’ he said.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ Spencer asked, turning for the optic and squeezing a measure out.
‘I need a bit of Dutch courage.’
‘Ice?’ Spencer placed the tumbler on the bar in front of him.
‘No, I need it as neat as you can possibly get.’ He knocked it straight back and handed the glass to Spencer. ‘Another one.’
Spencer frowned. ‘Seriously, what’s happened?’
‘It’s not what’s happened,’ Dylan said grimly as he took the refill. ‘It’s what’s about to happen.’
‘What?’ Spencer asked, starting to feel somewhat alarmed. ‘Is it something you want to talk about? Can I help? Do you think maybe you should give me a heads up if it’s going to kick off in here in a minute?’
Dylan slammed the glass down a second time and shook his head. ‘That ought to do it,’ he said before walking back to the table where Millie waited for him with a broad smile.
Spencer shook his head slightly. He was tempted to go and sit with them, just so he could be on hand if or when the thing that had got Dylan so worked up happened. They may have had their differences in the past, and their daily lives may now be separated by thousands of miles, but Dylan was still his best friend and he would stick by him, fair weather or foul.
He was about to call to Colleen that he needed to leave the bar for a moment when he glanced across again and realised that he needn’t have worried. The table Dylan and Millie occupied was close, and Spencer strained to hear what was being said, because he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
Dylan pulled a small parcel from his pocket. It was wrapped in gold paper and secured with a red metallic bow. ‘As you didn’t have time to open your presents this morning, I brought one of them with me for you to open now.’
‘It could have waited,’ Millie said. ‘It would have been something to look forward to later when all the other excitement of Christmas is over.’
‘Not this one,’ he said. ‘This one couldn’t wait another minute, because the suspense is killing me.’
Millie frowned slightly as she took it from him. Unravelling the knot on the bow, she slid the paper off to reveal a small red-velvet box. She looked up at him with a silent question, before turning her attention back to the box and opening it. A hush fell over the pub, every eye now on the mini drama unfolding at their table. Millie caught her breath as the glint of a diamond peeked from within and she opened it fully to reveal the ring. Dylan slid from his chair onto one knee.
‘Millicent Hopkin… Would you do me the honour of being my wife?’
Millie’s eyes filled with tears and she bent to kiss him forcefully on the lips. ‘Of course I bloody will!’ she cried. ‘I thought you’d never ask!’
A cheer went up around the pub, and everyone surged forwards to congratulate the couple as Millie clung onto Dylan’s neck and held on for dear life. Dylan wore a grin so huge it looked as if it would burst from his face. Tears poured down Millie’s cheeks, and she laughed and cried and didn’t seem to know quite what her emotions were doing.
Spencer smiled as he watched them. He was happy for his friends, but somewhere that unwanted little voice got to him. It should have been like that for him and Tori – they were supposed to be looking forward to a long and blissful future together. Instead, he was manning a bar alone while he watched someone else get their happy ending. It seemed to be the way his life would always go, and perhaps things would be easier to bear if he stopped hoping for anything different.
But then his attention was drawn away from the happy couple. He couldn’t say what had made him look, but one person in the bar that night looked far from pleased for Dylan and Millie’s announcement: Amy Parsons. Sweet, pretty, unassuming Amy. Married Amy, whose expression of deepest jealousy was very out of place. Spencer had long suspected history between her and Dylan, and village gossip had confirmed the same, but if Amy’s reaction was anything to go by, it wasn’t history for her. Spencer couldn’t help a wry smile. If only he could get himself some of whatever Dylan had, maybe he could keep at least one girlfriend, even if half of the western world wasn’t in love with him. But he hoped that Amy would at least keep her unfinished business to herself and let sleeping dogs lie. The Dylan she had known was in the past now and that was the best place for him.
Dylan climbed onto his table. ‘It looks like I’m getting married!’ he shouted, and was met by another cheer that echoed around the room. ‘So this round of drinks is on me!’
There was an immediate tidal wave of bodies towards the bar, and many people ended up there whether they actually wanted to be or not. It looked as though it was going to be a busy half hour, and Spencer shot a helpless glance at Colleen, who simply smiled. But in the next moment, he found his mum and dad beside him.
‘We weren’t going to leave you floundering,’ Jenny said as she pulled a pint of Guinness for Saul. Lewis nodded agreement and grabbed Spencer in a manly hug.
‘What she says,’ he laughed.
Then someone turned up the music and The Pogues started to sing ‘Fairytale of New York’, and pretty soon afterwards half the pub was shouting along, with Lewis and Jenny louder than anyone. It was hard for Spencer not to grin, and even harder for him not to soak up some of the love in the room, despite his own private sadness. It felt more like Christmas than it had done for days, and it looked as though the next year was going to be an amazing one for his friends. It was hard to be unhappy about any of that.
He looked over to see that Millie and Dylan were dancing together in a space cleared from the floor for them, a sort of mixed-up, crazy foxtrot-waltz that seemed to defy all rules and that only they knew, kissing, crying and laughing alternately. They looked delirious with happiness, like they couldn’t fall deep enough into each other’s eyes, and Spencer, though he was happy, felt that pang too. He looked away and swallowed it back, turning to Ruth who had appeared at the bar again for what had to be her eighth or ninth refill of the night. He didn’t want to feel this jealousy; he wanted only to be happy for them.
‘What can I get you, Ruth?’ he asked with all the brightness he could muster.
She hooked a thumb over her shoulder with a drunken grin. ‘You should see what your young lady wants first.’
Spencer looked up. At the door of the pub stood Tori.
Chapter 12
She was smiling, and from her hand swung a sprig of mistletoe. Spencer looked from her to Ruth and back again. He couldn’t quite trust his own senses. Had Tori really come back?
‘What are you waiting for?’ Ruth asked, rolling her eyes.
He didn’t need a second invitation. With one fluid movement, he leapt up onto the bar top and then down to the other side. He didn’t know where the energy or strength had come from, but it didn’t matter. All he could think about was getting to Tori as he jostled his way through the heaving mass of bodies now occupying the bar of the Dog and Hare. And as people began to work it out, they moved out of his way, so that he ran the last few yards and flung his arms around a laughing Tori, lifting her from the ground and kissing her hard on the lips.
‘I missed you so much,’ he murmured in her ear before kissing her again. ‘I was so miserable without you.’
‘I missed you too,’ she smiled. ‘I just didn’t know how much I would until we were apart.’
He held her tight, like he could make the two of them one whole if he pulled her close enough. He never wanted to let go.
After a moment, she gently prised herself away to look up at him. ‘I guess I didn’t need the mistletoe after all.’
‘Seems a shame to let it go to waste, though.’
‘Hmm… Yes, it does.’ She held it up over their heads, and their lips locked again, this time with less urgency and more passion. ‘What time does your shift end?’ she asked with a wicked smile. ‘I want you and I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. While kisses are fantastic, they just aren’t cutting it.’
Spencer glanced back at the bar. Jenny was still on duty, next to Lewis, who looked across with a nod that told him everything he needed to know. ‘I think they’ll manage without me for a while,’ he said. ‘The only problem is I’ve had too much to drink so we’ll have to walk back to my place.’
Tori slid her hand down his arm and wove her fingers into his. ‘I can do that. It’ll give us time to talk.’
Tori couldn’t remember the last time making love to Spencer had been so natural and comfortable. It was like they were laying their souls completely bare to each other for the first time ever, giving the whole of themselves with nothing held back. When it was over, she lay in his arms, head on his chest, and she knew that this time, something had changed. They really were one, and nothing was going to break them.
‘I love you,’ she said. It was a simple sentence, three little words that didn’t feel anywhere near huge enough to express what was in her heart. I love you. It was said so easily and so often by so many people. How could it be enough? And yet, it was; pure and uncomplicated, it was the most perfect sentence in the history of language. She loved him, and there was nothing more to say.
‘I love you too,’ he said.
She nuzzled in closer, trailing a lazy finger down his torso towards his groin, and though they had only just finished, he twitched to life again.
She smiled as he rolled her over and kissed her. They would need to talk, and there were things they would have to put right before they could move on, but it would wait. This moment was perfect, and she wasn’t about to ruin it for anything.
Much later still, Tori was wearing Spencer’s dressing gown, curled up by the fire. He handed her a mug of coffee and settled next to her with one of his own. ‘Nearly chucking out time at the pub, which means Mum and Dad will be back soon. And knowing them, they’ll bring half the pub back with them, especially as Dylan and Millie will still be celebrating,’ he added, glancing up at the clock. ‘Maybe we should think about making ourselves decent.’
‘I feel like a teenager sneaking around,’ she said.
‘I know…’ Spencer rubbed a hand through his hair with a lopsided smile. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘It’s funny. I don’t mind. We have all the time in the world to think about becoming grown-ups.’
‘It makes me so happy to hear you say that. Listen… If you want, I can ask my parents to take the room at the Dog and Hare that your parents have vacated. It might make it easier on us for the rest of the holidays.’
‘No, I wouldn’t do that, it doesn’t seem fair. Besides, I like your parents just fine. It’s my mom and dad who had a problem with them, and as they’ve decided to stay in London until their flight home…’
‘Are you ok with that?’ he asked. It wasn’t the first time that night he’d asked the same question, and she had reassured him that she was, but it still bothered him. He hated to think that she was compromising for his sake, because if anyone had to make compromises, he would happily let that person be him.
‘They made their choice and I made mine. I’ll go and see them when I get home and smooth things over. For now, if they’re not prepared to accept my future husband with all his baggage, then I’m not interested in what they think.’
‘Baggage?’ Spencer cocked an eyebrow at her.
‘You know what I mean,’ she laughed. ‘God, I missed you so much today. It hurt like hell, the thought that we were over. I know I went off to London with my parents, but I didn’t really want to.’
‘You don’t need to explain it to me,’ he said, kissing her. ‘I don’t care what happened before; I only care what happens now. And as long as that involves you and me together, I can face anything.’
‘Even dragging all the suitcases I left at the pub back here tomorrow?’
‘Even your unfeasibly large amount of luggage.’
‘And the fact that you won’t be able to open any of the Christmas gifts I got you until tomorrow because they’re still in that luggage?’
Spencer shot up. ‘Christmas presents! I haven’t given you any either!’
‘Sit down,’ she smiled. ‘I don’t care about that. The best gift is being back here with you.’
Spencer was thoughtful for a moment. ‘There is one I want to give you right now.’
Tori grinned. ‘I think you already gave me that one… Twice.’
‘Not that,’ he laughed. ‘Get your coat and shoes on.’ He leapt from the sofa and went rummaging under the Christmas tree. A moment later he returned holding a parcel wrapped in gold paper. He frowned. ‘I thought you were getting your coat on?’
Tori looked up at him from the sofa. ‘You hardly gave me a chance!’ Handing him her mug, she shuffled through to the coat peg in the hall and returned a couple of seconds later shrugging her jacket on. ‘Where are we going? Don’t you think I ought to get dressed?’
‘It’s only the back garden,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘But it’s freezing out there tonight.’
‘The back garden?’ she asked, stamping her feet into her boots as he tugged her towards the kitchen. ‘What for?’
‘You’ll see,’ he said, unlocking the back door and leading her outside.
The moon was full and high, bathing the garden in pearly light. There was a deep hush over it and the fields beyond, still peppered with glistening peaks of hardened snow. Spencer turned his face to a clear sky full of stars.
‘It’s no good,’ he said after a moment. ‘Wait here.’ He rushed inside, killed all the lights in the house and then returned to her. Looking up again, he gave a little cry of triumph. ‘There you are, you little minx!’ Pulling Tori close, he pointed up into the sky. She followed the direction of his finger. ‘See that bunch of stars?’ he asked. ‘That’s Cygnus, the constellation of the swan. It’s a kind of crucifix shape.’
‘I think so,’ she said, peering up. ‘I still don’t get it, though. Why am I looking at that?’
‘Because…’ He lit the torch on his phone and handed her the Christmas gift. ‘Open it up and you’ll understand better. Besides, I can’t figure out where the ruddy thing is without the map.’
‘Oh,’ she said, reading the scroll inside her parcel and then looking up at him, her face alight with joy. ‘You did this for me?’
He nodded. ‘Let me see…’ he said, bending to look at the map with her. ‘Right.’ He pointed at the sky again. ‘Round about there… See? That’s your star!’
‘I love it!’ she beamed. ‘It’s the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever done for me!’ She kissed him. ‘And you called it “This Much”?’ she asked, bending to the scroll again. ‘That’s an interesting name…’
‘It makes more sense than you think. You want to know why I called it that?’
She nodded. ‘Kinda.’
‘Because when you ask me how much I love you, I’ll point up to the star and say: this much.’
Tori flung her arms around him. ‘Oh my God, I love you so much it hurts!’
Christmas at the Little Village Bakery Page 28
