Christmas at the Log Fire Cabin

by Catherine Ferguson

‘Lemon drizzle?’

  ‘Definitely my favourite. I’ll be hoping for seconds.’

  The way he says it, with a hint of mischief in his eyes, brings a flush to my cheeks. I cover my confusion with a laugh. ‘Well, what the client wants, the client gets.’

  He grins and ducks back into the living room.

  Erin raises one suggestive eyebrow. ‘What the client wants, the client gets?’

  ‘What?’ I laugh nervously. ‘It’s true, isn’t it? The customer is king, as they say.’ She just smiles serenely, which for some reason irritates me even more than if she’d made some clever-clogs remark.When we go outside, we find Clemmy leaning against the wall, staring up at the star-studded night sky, all bundled up in her lovely jade green coat and scarf. ‘You’re going, then?’ she asks, straightening up and stamping her feet in the snow.

  ‘We are.’ I give her arm a swift rub. ‘It’s freezing out here. You should be inside.’

  She attempts a smile but it doesn’t quite come off. ‘I’d rather be out here,’ she says in a tight little voice. ‘I can’t stand seeing him with Jessica. I know it’s stupid but I’ve been in love with Ry ever since I was a kid.’

  I exchange a sad look with Erin. ‘You’re so much nicer than Jessica,’ I tell her honestly. ‘It’s not fair.’

  Erin snorts in agreement. ‘Men! Why is it they never know when they’re well off?’

  I dig around in the box I’m carrying, bring out a paper napkin and hand it to Clemmy. She blows her nose furiously. ‘Ry kissed me on that family holiday in France and after that, I thought we were meant to be together. The way you do when you’re sixteen and incredibly naive.’ She smiles. ‘I should have fallen for Jed on that campsite instead.’

  ‘But you didn’t,’ I say softly.

  She shakes her head sadly. ‘I mean, I do love Jed. But just as a friend. You can’t help who you fall in love with, can you?’

  ‘Ain’t that the truth,’ mutters Erin.

  ‘Mind you, falling for Jed would be even less likely to end in happy ever after.’

  My heart gives a funny little thud. ‘Oh? Why?’

  She shrugs. ‘His long-term girlfriend, Katerina, broke off their relationship to go and be a lawyer in Australia. It hit him hard, the lovely man, because he was all set to marry her.’

  ‘Oh, God. Poor Jed,’ breathes Erin, as I stand there, mute with shock.

  ‘That was two years ago and Ryan says he was starting to get over her.’ Clemmy dabs at her eyes and gives a loud sniff. ‘But then, would you believe it, she phoned Jed up out of the blue yesterday, talking about the “good old days” and hinting she wants to get back with him.’

  ‘But she’s in Australia,’ points out Erin.

  Clemmy shakes her head. ‘No, she’s not. Her contract out there was for two years. She flew back yesterday. Just in time for Christmas.’

  Chapter 16

  Thursday 22nd December

  Afternoon tea

  Lemon drizzle cake

  Dinner menu

  Warming butternut squash soup with

  toasted lemon and garlic ciabatta

  ***

  Mildly spiced lamb tagine and

  fragrant couscous

  ***

  Sweet plum tarts and whipped cream

  When I wake this morning, wintry sunlight is already filtering through the bedroom window, telling me I’ve slept late. I don’t think I moved all night.

  I fell into bed, exhausted, after the enjoyable but hectic activity of the day before – not to mention the small matter of several glasses of celebratory champagne with Erin after we’d finished. I didn’t have the energy to clear away the glasses after she left, or even to close the bedroom curtains.

  I lie there for a while in the cosy warmth, enjoying the sensation of having the whole bed to myself and thinking about the previous day. As we were chatting to Clemmy just outside the front door, Bob – coming out to his car to collect a book – made a point of congratulating me on the Amalfi Lemon Tart. ‘Not too tart, not too sweet. In fact, absolute perfection!’ was his happy verdict.

  The memory gives me a warm feeling inside. But at the same time, it makes me nervous. It’s a lot to live up to. Resolutely, I push back the covers, spring out of bed and head for the bathroom. Then I quickly double back, grab my notebook and write:

  Nine days until I’m engaged! The lovely thing about being married, I imagine, is being able to count on your husband for support. Harrison loves and encourages my cooking. And once he sees how excited I am about this new business venture, I’m certain he’ll be really supportive of me.

  As I lather up the shampoo, I wonder briefly if I should phone Harrison, but then I decide to leave it until I get back tonight and I’ve got more time to chat. Deep down, I’m a little afraid he might trivialise my modest success and – without meaning to – take away some of the excitement I’m feeling.

  Two hours later, I’m back at the Log Fire Cabin, loaded down with boxes containing the food for the day. Everyone appears to be out, so I let myself in and head straight for the kitchen. Unpacking the fresh meat, the various cartons and the colourful array of fruit and vegetables, my stomach fizzes with a mix of excitement and apprehension at the prospect of baking Jed’s favourite, lemon drizzle cake, and later on, serving up another three-course dinner.

  Our arrangement was that Erin would be here the first day, then once I’d found my feet in the kitchen, she’d come along for a few hours every evening to help serve dinner. The silence in the kitchen seems odd after yesterday, so I flick on the radio and listen to the DJ getting excited about Christmas and playing all the old festive favourites.

  Suddenly, the door opens and in flies Ruby. She glances frantically around her then dives nimbly under the breakfast bar. Peering out, she shushes me with a finger over her lips and whispers, ‘I’m not going for a walk with Mum and that old man, and she can’t bloody make me!’

  ‘Bob?’ I ask, surprised. ‘He’s not terribly old. And he seems really nice to me.’

  ‘Sssh!’

  A second later, Tom arrives. He hovers awkwardly by the door, flushing as he meets my eye. ‘Is my sister hiding in here?’

  I shrug and hold up my hands with a grin, as if to say, Leave me out of this!

  He peers under the breakfast bar, where she’s sitting cross-legged and grumpy. ‘Ruby, you’re such a plank.’ He sighs. ‘For God’s sake, come on. They’re waiting for you.’

  Silence.

  ‘You did agree to go for a walk round the lake with them,’ he reminds her.

  ‘Yes, but I only said it to get Mum off my back. Does she really expect me to be all pally-wally with her new boyfriend? Because if so, she can bloody whistle, as far as I’m concerned. He’s old enough to be our granddad!’

  ‘No, he’s not.’ Tom leans his elbows wearily on the breakfast bar and runs his hands through his mop of curly dark hair. ‘Bob’s only about fifteen years older than Mum. I think he’s all right. You should give him a chance.’

  ‘Why should I? He’s not Dad and he never will be.’

  He sighs. ‘You should be thinking about Mum. It’s nearly two years since Dad died. Don’t you think she deserves to be happy?’

  ‘No, I bloody don’t.’ Ruby’s voice wavers. She sounds on the verge of tears. ‘Mum’s priority should be us now that Dad’s gone. Not that ancient relic!’

  ‘Ruby! Where are you, love?’ At the sound of Gloria’s approaching footsteps, Ruby shuffles out from under the counter and dives for the patio doors. A desperate fiddle with the key and she’s out, slamming the door behind her and running across the grass.

  I grin at Tom, hoping to cheer him up. Slouched over the breakfast bar, he’s a sprawl of long limbs and untidy bed hair – and he looks as if he has the cares of the entire world on his shoulders. ‘There’s some hot chocolate that’s almost reached its sell-by date here,’ I say casually. ‘I don’t suppose you could use it up?’

  He looks up without much
enthusiasm.

  I carry on beating the eggs into the butter and sugar. ‘It’ll just go to waste if you don’t use it.’

  He shrugs, as if he’s too fed up to argue.

  ‘Sit yourself down and I’ll get the milk on.’

  ‘Okay. Thanks.’ He pulls out a stool and perches on it, dwarfing it with his gangly six-foot teenage frame. Then he stares resignedly out of the window.

  I bustle about getting the hot chocolate ready. ‘There you go. Enjoy!’ I place the mug in front of him. ‘Sisters, eh? It looks like Ruby would rather be anywhere else but here.’

  ‘Anywhere there’s a phone shop,’ he murmurs. ‘I take it you’ve heard that her whole life is in ruins?’

  ‘I got that impression, yes.’

  ‘She’s so loud. And she’s stressing everyone out,’ he complains.

  ‘Well, you’ve come to the right place,’ I tell him, and he looks at me quizzically.

  ‘The kitchen’s a great place for chilling.’ I stir in the lemon zest and flour, tip the mixture into a tin and smooth it over with a spatula. Then I pop the cake into the oven. ‘In fact, I always think the kitchen is the most relaxing room in the house.’

  ‘Even though you’re working?’

  I smile. ‘Ah, yes, but I love cooking and baking, so it doesn’t really seem like work to me.’

  He nods and takes a sip of his chocolate. ‘Nice.’

  ‘So what’s your passion?’

  ‘Sorry?’ He flushes slightly at the word ‘passion’.

  ‘The thing you love doing?’

  He shrugs. ‘I’m into cars. I want to be an engineer and get into car design. I’m supposed to be going to university next year.’

  ‘Oh, that’s brilliant.’ I frown at his gloomy expression. ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘It could be.’

  I suddenly remember Ruby baiting him about a girl he likes.

  ‘You don’t want to leave Newcastle. Is that it?’

  He looks at me, startled, but says nothing.

  I smile. ‘When I first went away to college, I had to leave all my friends behind and I found that really tough. In fact, I nearly chickened out altogether. The worst thing of all was having to leave this boy I really liked.’

  ‘Yeah? So, what happened?’

  ‘With the boy?’

  He nods.

  ‘It worked out fine. My college was only a couple of hours away by train, so he came to visit me and we ended up getting together.’

  ‘Cool.’

  I nod. ‘Yes. It was.’ I don’t need to mention the fact that the boy in question went on to shag my flatmate after a drunken night out, at which point it all went completely pear-shaped.

  ‘Is there a girl?’ I ask casually, turning away and looking in the cupboard.

  He sighs. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Have you asked her out?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  He shrugs.

  ‘Are you friends with her?’

  ‘Yes.’

  I busy myself washing the mixing bowl and wooden spoon. ‘Cool. What’s she called?’

  ‘Charlotte.’

  ‘Lovely name.’ I pause. ‘But you’re afraid if you ask her out, you might lose her as a friend?’

  He heaves a sigh. ‘What if she laughs? I couldn’t stand that.’

  I turn, looking at him thoughtfully as I dry the mixing bowl with a tea towel dotted with red-nosed Rudolphs. ‘If she laughs, she wouldn’t be much of a friend, would she?’

  ‘I suppose not.’

  ‘Do you think she likes you?’

  He nods. ‘She told a friend she does, and the friend told me.’

  ‘Well, then, I think you just have to be brave, Tom. And ask her out.’

  He groans and buries his head in his arms. My heart goes out to him. I so remember that teenage agony of being in love for the first time, but feeling painfully shy.

  The door opens and Clemmy bursts in. She frowns at me, at first not noticing Tom slouched over the breakfast bar. ‘I wanted to apologise to you about last night, Poppy. Honestly, I was feeling so ridiculously sorry for myself, standing out there staring at the stars like a love-sick teenager. But no more! I’ve decided. It’s high time I moved on from Ryan and –’ She catches sight of Tom. ‘Oh. Hi, Tom!’

  He raises his head, gives Clemmy an awkward half-smile and turns red.

  ‘What’s up? Are you all right, love?’ she asks him.

  ‘We’re discussing relationships,’ I tell her, to spare Tom the embarrassment of talking about his feelings.

  She rolls her eyes. ‘Ah. Say no more. They’re the bane of my life.’

  ‘I was saying you have to be brave, if you really like someone, and risk rejection. Because you never know, they might just say yes.’

  Clemmy opens her eyes wide at Tom. ‘Don’t tell me a handsome lad like you is too scared to ask a girl out? Crikey, I would have thought you’d be absolutely spoilt for choice.’

  Tom flushes even redder.

  ‘Honestly, Tom, ask her out!’ she urges him. ‘And if she says no – and I have to say she’d be a first-class prat to turn down a lovely boy like you – well, then you can move on to someone else! At your age, the world is your oyster. You should just go for it.’ She sniffs and looks at the oven. ‘Ooh, lovely smell.’

  ‘Lemon drizzle cake.’ I glance at Tom, cringing on his behalf. Clemmy’s lovely and her advice is well intentioned, but Tom, bless him, looks rigid with embarrassment at her lecture on romance.

  There’s a brief silence. Then Tom swivels round on his stool to face Clemmy. ‘So, you think I should? Ask Charlotte out, I mean?’

  ‘Absolutely! No question! And she’s a fool if she says no. Correct?’ She turns to me and I nod firmly.

  ‘So then if she does say “thanks, but no thanks”, it doesn’t really matter because the last thing you want, Tom, is to be going out with a fool!’

  I laugh at her weird logic.

  Tom grins. ‘I suppose not.’

  ‘Ooh, is that hot chocolate?’ Clemmy’s eyes light up. ‘Do you mind?’

  Tom shakes his head, watching as she takes a gulp from the other side of the mug.

  I smile to myself. Way to go, Clemmy! You’ve certainly given him something to think about!

  ‘Where’s Ruby, Tom? Your mum was looking for her.’ Clemmy licks hot chocolate from her lips and goes back for more, as I peer at my cake in the oven. Almost done.

  Tom nods in the direction of outside. ‘She’s been desperate to explore that ruined cottage on the other side of the lake. Keeps going on and on about it, but Mum said on no account should she risk it because the place is falling down.’

  I laugh. ‘So that’s probably where she’ll be?’

  He nods. ‘My sister gets bored easily. She likes adventures. A slow walk around the lake with Mum and Bob would totally bore her to death.’

  ‘Well, good for her,’ says Clemmy. ‘I won’t spoil Ruby’s adventure if you won’t.’ She grins at me. ‘I used to climb out of my bedroom window and slide down the wall clutching the drainpipe and that never did me any harm. Well, except for the time I split my head open, of course.’ She laughs gaily at the memory.

  ‘You put me to shame.’ I smile. ‘I’m rubbish at being brave.’

  ‘But you’re a fabulous cook so it doesn’t matter! Is there a hoover that works round here, do you know? The pine needles are piling up through there, but the one in the utility room doesn’t seem to be picking up.’

  ‘I’ll have a look at it,’ Tom offers, getting off his stool. ‘I’m good with machines.’

  ‘Wow! Good-looking and handy. Devastating combo! How will Charlotte resist?’

  She follows Tom out, turning back to tip me a wink.

  *

  With the scent of lemon drizzle cake filling the room, I start preparing the vegetables for tonight, all the time thinking about poor Clemmy’s unrequited love for Ryan. What does he see in Jessica? Apart from the impressiv
e boob job? Then I think about Ruby and the tremor in her voice when she spoke about the dad she’s lost. She must miss him terribly. No wonder she’s fed up that her mum appears to have found someone to replace him. It doesn’t matter how nice Bob might be, that still must hurt.

  When you lose someone close like that, whatever the circumstances, it’s so hard. I know all about that. It must be worse for Ruby, though. She had her dad in her life for fourteen years and now he’s gone forever. Whereas I only spent four days with mine. He’s probably still alive but he could be anywhere in Italy. Anywhere at all. And impossible to track down … not that I’d ever want to find him. He showed he didn’t care. Why would I want someone like that in my life?

  Suddenly, there’s a hard ball of sadness in my throat.

  The door opens and Jessica walks in. She stares at my shiny eyes and I blink rapidly. ‘It’s the onions.’

  She gives the briefest of nods. ‘I’d like a coffee with milk. In fact, make that two. And make sure the milk is hot. I can’t stand lukewarm drinks.’

  My eyes must have widened in surprise because she adds, ‘That is what you’re here for, isn’t it?’

  I smile at her as I cross to the oven to take out the cake. ‘Well, not really, no. But I can certainly make you some coffee.’

  Her look is glacial. ‘Good. Bring it up to my room, will you? I’m not in the mood to be sociable.’ Gloria’s raucous laughter drifts through the open kitchen door and Jessica grits her teeth.

  ‘No problem. But I have something to attend to first.’ I untie my apron and pull on my coat, telling her cheerfully, ‘Coffee with milk coming up, just as soon as I get back.’

  I disappear before she has a chance to pin me down to a time.

  Bloody cheek of it! She must think I’m some sort of maid. I didn’t mind at all making hot chocolate for Tom, but Jessica’s attitude leaves a whole lot to be desired. Ryan’s far too good for her.

  As I walk through to the hall, Jed comes out of the living room. ‘Okay, Poppy? Are you off for your lunch?’

  ‘Actually, I’m going in search of Ruby. Gloria was anxious to find her and I think I know where she might be.’

  He looks at me quizzically.

  ‘At the broken-down cottage,’ I explain.