The Christmas Collection

by Victoria Connelly

  ‘Dad,’ Lexi said, ‘we’ve got a surprise for you.’

  ‘You have?’

  Lexi undid the silver locket she was wearing – the one which Iain had bought her in Edinburgh – and he watched as she opened it to reveal a tiny photograph.

  ‘It’s the photo we took under the tree in the garden,’ he said in surprise. ‘How did you do that?’

  ‘Brody did it,’ Lexi said. ‘He sized it down and printed it out from his computer.’

  ‘That’s brilliant!’ Iain said. ‘Is that what you were all up to this morning at the computer?’

  ‘Yes,’ Chrissa said. ‘And you nearly spoilt the surprise.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, hugging her to him. ‘It’s a really lovely surprise too.’

  ‘I’ve got one as well,’ Chrissa said, opening up her own locket to show him.

  ‘I’m going to have to wear a locket myself now,’ he said and Chrissa play punched him.

  ‘Can I see it again?’ Fee said, coming forward and Lexi handed her the locket. ‘It’s really lovely. You’re lucky to have a father.’

  ‘I know,’ Lexi said.

  Iain caught Catriona’s gaze and could see tears swimming in her eyes as she smiled at him.

  He cleared his throat. ‘And I’ve got a surprise for you two,’ Iain said.

  ‘More presents?’ Chrissa asked.

  ‘Not exactly,’ Iain said, looking at his watch. ‘Any minute now.’

  ‘What is it?’ Lexi asked, looking around the Great Hall as if she might find the answer.

  It was then that they heard the distant sound of the phone from the hallway.

  ‘I’ll just get that,’ Catriona said, breaking into a jog to cover the distance from the Great Hall.

  She was back a moment later. ‘Girls – it’s for you. From California!’

  Lexi and Chrissa tore out of the room as Catriona came back in.

  ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ Iain said once the girls were out of earshot. ‘I gave Dawn the number of the castle. The girls haven’t been able to get a signal on their phones here and I didn’t want them to miss their call.’

  ‘I’m glad she’s ringing them on Christmas Day,’ Catriona said.

  ‘Me too. You know, she wasn’t going to,’ Iain confessed.

  ‘Really?’ Catriona said, her voice an octave higher than normal with surprise.

  Iain nodded. ‘She told me when she made the arrangement for me to have them for Christmas. She said – and I quote – “It won’t be easy to ring them.” Well, after Lexi’s episode on the roof, I thought I’d better put her in the picture.’

  ‘How did she take it?’

  ‘She sounded a little anxious, but I could hear a party going on in the background and could tell I didn’t have her full attention. Anyway, I made her promise to ring today and I didn’t care what she had planned or how difficult it was with the time difference or whose house she was staying in – she was ringing her girls. I told her the time to ring too to make sure we were around.’

  ‘What did she say?’

  ‘I didn’t give her a chance to say anything,’ he said. ‘Except to promise on her life that she would ring.’

  ‘Good for you,’ Catriona said.

  They watched as Fee and Brody tried to decorate Bagpipe with a piece of tinsel and then Lexi and Chrissa came back into the room.

  ‘Okay?’ Iain said.

  They both nodded.

  ‘She said she wishes she was here with us,’ Lexi said.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘But it’s okay that she’s not,’ Lexi said, ‘because this has been such a brilliant Christmas!’

  CHAPTER 11

  The next few days went by in a happy blur of meals, talks and walks. Chrissa was praying daily for heavy snowfall so that they’d get snowed in, because she didn’t want to leave, but they all knew that the holiday couldn’t go on forever.

  ‘It’s going to be really strange going back to Edinburgh,’ Iain confessed when it was finally time to leave Caldoon Castle. Their suitcases had been packed and loaded into their car and their final lunch recently devoured. ‘The city’s going to seem really noisy after this place.’

  ‘Make sure you lock a bit of this Highland silence away for when life gets chaotic,’ Catriona said.

  ‘I will,’ he said, taking a deep breath of icy air and looking out across the grounds towards the loch in the distance. ‘You know, I’d really forgotten how much I love the Highlands, but this trip has brought back so many happy memories and I want to make some of those kind of memories for the girls now. I only hope I’m not too late.’

  ‘Of course you’re not too late,’ Catriona said and they watched as the four children had a last snowball fight on the lawn.

  ‘Lexi’s sixteen now,’ he said. ‘She’ll be wanting to go on one of those awful foreign holidays with her friends soon.’

  ‘Well, let her,’ Catriona said, ‘but make sure she spends time with you too.’

  Iain smiled. ‘You’re so wise,’ he said. ‘How did you get to be so wise?’

  Catriona shrugged. ‘It’s not wisdom,’ she said. ‘It’s just survival tactics.’

  He laughed. ‘You’ll have to teach me a few more sometime.’

  ‘It would be my pleasure,’ she said.

  There was a pause before Iain replied.

  ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I’d really love to help you advertise this place. I’ve got a huge team at my disposal and this sort of project would be right up their street.’

  ‘Well, that’s very kind of you, but I don’t think I’d be able to afford–’

  ‘You wouldn’t need to pay.’

  ‘But I couldn’t just–’

  ‘Yes you could. I owe you big time for this Christmas.’

  ‘You don’t owe me anything, silly – you’ve already paid!’ Catriona told him.

  ‘You know what I mean. You’ve played no small role in saving my family,’ he said, ‘and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that.’

  Catriona wasn’t sure what to say and so she stood up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek in lieu of any words and couldn’t help smiling when she saw a blush colouring his cheeks.

  ‘People need a place like this to escape to,’ he said. ‘They need to know that places like this still exist. You’ve no idea how much that’s worth to people like me – to know all this is here. To know that you’re here.’

  Catriona pulled her Aran-knit coat close around her and looked back at the place she called home. ‘Oh, I think I’ve got some idea,’ she said and Iain smiled warmly at her.

  ‘I’m going to see you again, aren’t I?’

  ‘If you’d like to,’ she said.

  ‘I would,’ he said. ‘I really would.’

  They exchanged another little smile and then he turned to his daughters.

  ‘Come here, girls!’ he shouted. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’ He beckoned them back to him.

  ‘What is it?’ Lexi asked, her hair flying back from her face as she ran towards him.

  ‘Tell us, tell us!’ Chrissa chimed as she reached him, her soft-gloved hands grabbing hold of his.

  Iain put his arms around them both. ‘I’ve made a decision,’ he said.

  ‘What decision?’ Lexi asked.

  ‘That we’re going to live here?’ Chrissa asked, her eyes wide with hope.

  ‘No – not quite. But we will be coming back here – I’m sure of that. That is, if you’ll have us,’ he said, turning to Catriona. ‘Because I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to see us again.’

  ‘Of course I want to see you again. All of you!’ Catriona said with a laugh.

  ‘So, what’s this decision then, Dad?’ Lexi asked.

  ‘I’m going to work from home two days a week and I’ll be going into the office later in the mornings too so we can all have breakfast together. I’m also going to do my best to be around when you come home from school. What do you think of that?’

  �
�You’ll never do that, Dad. What about your company?’ Lexi asked.

  ‘I’m the boss of that company and I can do exactly what I want,’ he said.

  ‘You’re really going to do all that?’ Chrissa said. ‘We’ll have breakfast together?’

  ‘We sure will,’ he said.

  ‘I don’t even know what you like for breakfast,’ Lexi said.

  ‘Then you’d better find out because you’ll be making it for me,’ he said, winking at her.

  ‘Ha ha,’ she said, giving him a light-hearted thump.

  ‘Can we get rid of Mrs Crompton?’ Chrissa suddenly asked.

  ‘You don’t like Mrs Crompton?’ Iain asked in surprise.

  Chrissa shook her head. ‘She’s kind of scary.’

  Iain frowned. ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’ he asked, but he knew why – he hadn’t been around for them to tell, had he?

  ‘And she always smells of cabbage,’ Chrissa added, making him laugh.

  ‘Well, we can’t have that, can we? I think she wants to retire anyway,’ he said, ‘so let’s find someone else, okay?’

  ‘Okay!’ Chrissa said.

  ‘Happy?’ he asked.

  ‘Happy!’ she said.

  He turned to Lexi. ‘How about you?’

  ‘I’m happy, Dad,’ she said. ‘Really happy.’

  He hugged them both close. ‘Time for goodbyes,’ he told them and watched as they raced back across the lawn to where Fee and Brody were playing a game of tug of war with Bagpipe. Then he took a big deep breath and sighed it out, catching Catriona’s eye.

  ‘It’s been–’ he began.

  ‘Interesting?’ she suggested.

  ‘Well, yes,’ he said with a grin.

  ‘You’ve definitely won the prize for the most interesting guests we’ve ever had.’

  ‘Let’s hope you get a stream of really boring ones soon,’ he said.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I’m not sure we could cope with too many interesting ones.’

  ‘The girls have loved it,’ he said. ‘Especially Lexi. You know – after she got through with hating it.’

  ‘She’s a special girl,’ Catriona said. ‘They both are.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, ‘and I’m going to make sure I’m around for them. I really am.’

  Catriona nodded. ‘That’s good.’

  ‘Thank you for helping me see that.’

  ‘But I didn’t do anything,’ she protested.

  ‘Yes you did,’ he said, moving an inch closer to her and taking her hands in his, ‘and I’ll never forget it.’

  They stood there in silence in front of the castle, the expression in their eyes understanding one another without the need for words.

  ‘Blimey, it’s cold,’ Iain said at last, his breath fogging the air.

  ‘Get in the car!’ Catriona said, ‘before you freeze to death.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ he said, squeezing her hands in his. ‘We’re leaving,’ he called to the girls.

  The air filled with a chorus of goodbyes and waving arms and Bagpipe leaped around the snowy lawn, barking at all the excitement.

  ‘Bye!’ Iain cried as he got into the car. ‘See you soon, okay?’

  ‘Okay!’ Catriona yelled back.

  ‘Byeeeee!’ the girls cried from the back seat of the car that they were happily sharing.

  Fee and Brody waved enthusiastically and then threw a few snowballs at each other before running inside with Bagpipe. Catriona stood there a moment longer, watching as the MacNeice’s car bumped down the icy driveway, her vision blurring with happy tears as the car turned a corner and disappeared.

  Then, digging her hands deep into her pockets, she turned to head into the castle just as the lightest of snow showers fell from the silver sky.

  Christmas at the Cottage

  To Roy – remembering Blea Tarn where you held my hand for the first time.

  CHAPTER 1

  Rachel Myers was the sort of person who always longed for a white Christmas even though the likelihood of getting one was slim. She was one of life’s optimists, she just couldn’t help it and, as far as she was concerned, all the signs were looking good. For a start, it was the year that summer had never shown up which wasn’t surprising where they lived. Her husband Paul would often describe their home town of Carlisle as being “As far north in England as it’s possible to get without being in Scotland.”

  But a dismal summer and a wet autumn made the winter seem unbearably long so the least she deserved was snow for Christmas, she thought as she looked out of their terraced house onto the cobbled street, sighing at the dull grey sky and the constant icy drizzle. The Christmas holidays were just a few days away, but it was far from Christmassy out there.

  ‘That was a very big sigh,’ Paul said.

  She turned to face him. He was sitting on the edge of the sofa, his floppy fair hair falling over his face as he examined the doorknob which never seemed to stay attached to the door for long.

  ‘I’m sick of seeing streets,’ she said. ‘I spend all my week staring out of the office at streets and then I come home to more streets.’

  ‘What’s wrong with a street?’ Paul asked. ‘I thought you liked living in town. You said you liked being close to all the shops.’

  ‘But streets aren’t fells, are they?’ she told him. ‘They’re not hills or valleys.’

  ‘They’re certainly not,’ he said, getting up and placing the rebellious doorknob on the coffee table before putting his arms around his wife.

  ‘Maybe we should have found a house in a village. You know one of those pretty Lakeland villages that are all slate and lakeside views?’

  Paul shook his head. ‘You’re not thinking of moving already, are you? We’ve only been here since the spring. Anyway, you wouldn’t have survived the commute for more than a week.’

  Rachel sighed again. ‘You’re probably right,’ she said, thinking of the time they’d have had to get up to go to work at the solicitors’ where they’d met as graduate trainees. Still, the idea of living in a pretty village appealed strongly to Rachel.

  ‘You’re hankering, aren’t you?’ Paul said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, I know what’s coming?’

  She frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘The cottage. Fell View in the Lakes.’

  ‘What about it?’ She turned away from him and stared out of the window again.

  ‘You want to go there, don’t you? I can see you’re building up to suggesting it.’

  ‘Well, Rowan can’t join us for Christmas. She’s doing something else, she said. Probably got a new boyfriend. So it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to use the cottage, would it?’ Rachel said, cursing how well he knew her. ‘It’ll just be sitting empty otherwise.’

  ‘You’re kidding, right? It would be freezing!’

  ‘No it wouldn’t – it would be romantic! Just think – Christmas at the cottage. There’s the generator and the log burner and those lovely scratchy blankets you adore.’

  He rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t remind me. If we’re going – which I’m not recommending by the way – I’m taking our duvet.’

  She laughed at him. ‘But you’ll love it when we get there, I promise. I’ll chop the wood and make the fire.’

  He shook his head in mock despair. ‘Yeah, right!’

  ‘And make you hot chocolate every night.’

  He took a step towards her and looked out onto the street. ‘It might be nice to have a change of view for a while,’ he admitted.

  ‘So, we’re going?’ Rachel asked excitedly.

  Paul took a deep breath. ‘If it makes you happy, we’ll go.’

  She flung her arms around him and kissed him. ‘We could go sledging if it snows,’ she said.

  ‘It’s not going to snow.’

  ‘You don’t know that for sure,’ she insisted.

  ‘You’re going to be so disappointed if we get there and it’s freezing cold and
there’s nothing but icy, rain-drenched fells to look at.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m not going to be disappointed,’ she said, ‘because it’s going to be absolutely perfect.’

  *

  Rachel couldn’t stop thinking about the cottage now that she knew she was going back there. It seemed an age since she’d last visited. When was it, exactly? It was some time after she and Paul had got engaged. They’d been hiking in Wasdale and she’d taken him up to the cottage to show him. He’d not been as impressed as she’d hoped he would be.

  ‘It’s a bit pokey, isn’t it?’ he’d said.

  ‘What do you mean? It’s got three bedrooms!’

  ‘All tiny and –’ he’d stopped and sniffed, ‘it’s a bit musty.’

  ‘Nothing that a few open windows couldn’t cure.’

  It was a shame they didn’t get to use the cottage more often, she thought. It was rented out through an agency during the summer months which meant that Rachel and her sister Rowan couldn’t use it then and, once autumn and winter set in, they tended to forget about it which was a shame because autumn could be a magical time in the Lake District with its rich reds, ambers and oranges, and winter frosts turned the valley into a wonderland, crisping the bracken and making the boulders shimmer. Yes, she thought, a trip to Fell View was way overdue.

  They had just two more days at work before finishing for Christmas and Rachel couldn’t wait to leave her desk. She kept looking out of the window, but it wasn’t the rain-drenched streets and the endless stream of traffic she was seeing, but the beautiful blue-green mountains of the west Lake District. The gentle serenity of Buttermere and the majestic grandeur of Wastwater never failed to inspire her. But it was the hidden valley first discovered by her parents which her imagination returned to now.

  The old cottage sat at the end of a stony track which wound its way through the hills in an area less frequented by tourists. It had been a place full of adventure when Rachel and Rowan were growing up. They’d filled the valley and woods with shrieks of delight as they’d climbed trees, leapt over rocks and swam in the glacial waters of the tarn. Then teenage years had hit and the girls had been dragged reluctantly to the cottage, bemoaning the distance between them and civilisation. And now? The cottage was a bolthole from reality – a wonderful escape, a place of stillness in an ever-changing world and she couldn’t wait to share it with Paul for Christmas.