‘Apart from Nana’s doll collection freaking me out, that is.’ He tipped his head towards the box room. ‘I swear their beady eyes follow me around the room.’
‘Sorry,’ said Lottie. ‘They creep me out too. That’s why I gathered them all up and put them in there.’
‘It’s like a Chucky lookalike convention,’ he said with a laugh. ‘You want to find buried treasure with me?’
She wanted to say no, but there was something about his voice. He didn’t sound like the nineteen-year-old man he was; he sounded far more akin to a child. She felt, despite his earlier response, that maybe this was a sign that he did want someone to talk to or at least a bit of company.
And if it gets my mind away from brooding over Joe, then it will help me too. ‘Yes, Rhys. That’d be great.’
His face brightened and they went downstairs. They layered up and braved the bitter wind outside. Lottie gritted her teeth. He had better want to talk about something, because she didn’t want to freeze her backside off in the dark so he could dig up long lost hair clips. Rhys led the way round to the Italian garden at the side of the house.
Lottie switched the garden lights on and scanned the ground. ‘What’s made you come here?’
‘I’ve done a few patches on the main lawn and found nothing. But then when I thought about it, this side of the house is nearest the road.’
‘Right,’ said Lottie, having no idea what difference that would make. She pulled her woolly hat down over her numbing ears.
‘That’s a Roman road,’ he said pointing left and right.
Lottie had a good look in both directions as if seeing it for the first time, even though it was a road she had walked along and driven up and down countless times. ‘I did not know that. And that means what?’
‘Doesn’t mean anything,’ said Rhys, with a one-shouldered shrug. ‘But thousands of people would have travelled this road over the centuries, and when they stopped for the night it’s likely they would just camp down at the roadside.’
‘Oh, okay. That makes sense.’
‘We could turn up the odd button, or even a coin.’ He was the most animated she’d seen him all Christmas.
‘That would be … exciting.’ She gave him a pat on the shoulder and then thrust her gloved hands deep into her pockets, secretly hoping the detector would find something quickly and they’d be able to get back inside and warm up. The temperature had taken a definite plunge.
Rhys put on the headphones, checked a few things on the machine and then began methodically sweeping it over the grass. Lottie followed. They slowly made their way along the hedge line, Rhys pausing occasionally to give an area an extra sweep. Lottie was losing feeling in her toes when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She was surprised to see Emily.
‘You’ve been missed. I was sent to find you.’
‘By whom?’ asked Lottie.
‘Your mother.’ Lottie raised one doubtful eyebrow. ‘Well, she was asking when dinner was.’
‘Yeah, that’s not quite the same thing as being missed.’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Hunting for buried treasure,’ said Lottie, while Rhys continued to look serious.
‘Not avoiding people then?’ said Emily, doing up her coat right to the top as the wind whipped around them.
‘Whatever gave you that idea?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a certain American who seems to have clicked her manicured fingers and made Joe come running.’ It was an accurate description.
Perhaps Emily would be a good person to talk to. She had no preconceived ideas about her or Joe or what had happened in the past. Lottie checked Rhys wasn’t paying any attention to them. ‘Joe and I … Before I went off to see Bernard … We kissed.’
Emily stopped walking and gave Lottie a wide-eyed look. ‘After all the … stuff that’s happened?’
‘That was before I knew he had a partner. And yes. Despite all the stuff that happened nine years ago it felt …’ she tailed off as she thought back to the moment.
‘How did it feel?’ asked Emily, tentatively.
‘Familiar. It felt right. It was like all the years and all the hurt were dissolved by that kiss.’ Emily wasn’t looking convinced. ‘Okay, I know that’s a bit much. But it did feel like nothing was insurmountable. Like we could move forward together.’
‘But now there’s Megan.’
‘It would seem that Megan was always there. Joe just omitted to mention that he had a very attractive American girlfriend hidden away somewhere.’ The thought of Joe with Megan was like a corkscrew twisting into her heart.
‘He’s a bit of a shit then.’
Lottie blinked at her turn of phrase. She didn’t like hearing someone talk about Joe like that but the hardest thing of all was that Emily was spot on.
They paused their walk as Rhys stopped to have an extra sweep of the metal detector over the currently dormant vegetable patch, where Nana used to grow her runner beans. There wouldn’t be any next year, and Lottie couldn’t help but wonder what might be in their place. If Shirley was right and it was a film star, perhaps this would be an extension, or a garage for luxury cars, or maybe even a swimming pool. Or, as her mother had mused, the whole manor house could be bulldozed, in which case this might be the front room of one of many houses with postage-stamp-sized gardens they would squeeze onto the plot. The wind whistled around the side of the house, and Lottie shivered.
Rhys pulled up one side of the headphones and grinned at them. ‘We’ve got something.’
Lottie tried to muster some enthusiasm for the metal detecting. She strode over to Rhys and watched as he pulled a trowel from his pocket and scraped at the soil.
‘What is it?’ asked Emily, trying to restrain her hair behind her ears.
‘Not sure. It was a strong signal though.’ Rhys continued to scrape away the earth. Lottie couldn’t help thinking that maybe he should dig it over a bit. It wasn’t like he was uncovering something precious like the Blackfriars Mosaic. Emily was watching intently. Rhys’s trowel pinged as it hit something metal and they all peered a little closer in the dark. He dug into the soil with the tip of the trowel. ‘It’s a nail,’ he said. ‘Quite a big one, though.’ He pulled out the rusty metal and showed Lottie.
‘I think it’s a horseshoe nail,’ said Lottie, pointing at the square end. ‘That’s quite interesting.’
Emily gave her a sideways glance and checked her watch.
‘It could mean this was near a blacksmiths,’ said Rhys, straightening up and surveying the garden.
‘There’d probably be a lot more nails and horseshoes if it was,’ said Lottie. Rhys seemed buoyed by the prospect: he replaced his headphones and carried on. Lottie and Emily huddled together. Lottie hoped Rhys would give up soon so they could go back inside.
‘I don’t want to speak out of turn, but …’ Emily paused.
‘But?’ said Lottie, encouraging her to finish the sentence.
‘Earlier, when I mentioned Melissa. You kind of implied by your reaction that maybe she wasn’t entirely perfect. Or have I misread that?’ Emily was watching her intently.
‘Umm.’ Lottie felt cornered.
‘You see, from what I’ve heard about Melissa, she makes Snow White look like Miley Cyrus.’
Lottie chuckled and it faded as she remembered Melissa. They had been such close friends. ‘She was a good person but, you know, none of us are perfect.’ As soon as she’d said it, she wished she hadn’t – Emily’s reaction was like a hound picking up the scent of a fox.
‘What did she do?’ Emily was walking even closer to Lottie. ‘I won’t breathe a word to anyone. I promise.’
‘I can’t tell you that, Emily. I shouldn’t have said anything.’ This was something even Zach didn’t know about Melissa – she could hardly divulge the secret she held to his girlfriend.
‘That’s a shame, because Zach’s never going to tell me.’ She was staring at Lottie. Lottie tried to look anywhere but a
t Emily. The silence between them lengthened. Lottie concentrated on Rhys, who had stopped again and was scraping at a patch of ground. ‘Zach doesn’t know that Melissa wasn’t Snow White. Does he?’ Emily wasn’t going to let this go.
Lottie eventually shook her head, half afraid of where this was leading, but at the same time thinking how good it would feel to share her burden with someone. ‘I should have told Zach a long time ago. But I can’t now.’ She looked at Emily, waiting with bated breath.
‘Why not? No time like the present and all that.’
‘Because this secret will tear him apart.’ But keeping it locked inside has been tearing me apart for years, thought Lottie.
Chapter Thirty-One
27 December
Lottie headed downstairs, letting out a noisy, Chewbacca-like yawn to match her onesie. She was slowly turning into a wookie. She’d made it to the twenty-seventh – everyone was going home today. Something caught her eye as she passed the landing window. It was still early and dark, but something made her reverse and take a good look.
Lottie blinked repeatedly at the scene outside. Everything was white. It was still windy, but it was now also very snowy. She rubbed at the glass with her sleeve in a vain attempt to change the picture.
‘Bugger!’
She hurried downstairs, skidded into the hallway and pulled open the front door. A blast of icy air momentarily stopped her in her tracks. She watched as the snow drift which had been leaning against the front door toppled towards her in slow motion, covering her from the thighs down. For a moment, stunned, she stood still: a human snowman. She shook her frozen legs free and leaned with all her weight against the back of the door, trying to push the snow back outside with the door but, with the wind fighting back, it was almost impossible.
‘Need a hand?’ Zach appeared in the hallway and added his weight to her efforts. With a resentful creak the door finally closed.
‘Thanks,’ she said, looking in dismay at her sodden bottom half. Her Chewbacca onesie was suddenly a lot heavier. ‘I can’t believe how much snow there’s been overnight.’
‘I know.’ His eyes glinted like a child’s. ‘It’s awesome. I can’t wait for Jessie to wake up.’
‘But everyone is meant to be going home today.’ She couldn’t hide her despair at the thought that they might not be leaving. It had been lovely to have them all together, but it was definitely time for them to depart.
‘Cheer up, Lottie. Today has to be the day Dave poos out the ring. And, anyway, snow is fun.’
Lottie shook her head at her brother. ‘It’s not fun when you’ve got to feed a warring family with a few crumbs.’
‘If Jesus could feed the five thousand I’m sure we can rustle something up.’
‘I don’t have five loaves, and the vegans wouldn’t eat fish even if I had any.’
‘Come on, Chewie. Let’s see what you’ve got.’ He marched off towards the kitchen as Lottie stifled another yawn.
‘Hang on two minutes – I need to change first. It feels like I’ve wet myself.’ She left a soggy trail back upstairs.
A few minutes later she was changed into her jeans and plodding down the stairs again. Zach was in the hall, tying new rope onto an old sledge. ‘How much snow is there?’ She sent up a silent prayer. Lottie had only seen out the front of the house; perhaps the snow wasn’t that bad everywhere else.
‘Enough to go sledging and make a snowman!’
Lottie rolled her eyes – Zach was incorrigible. ‘No sledging before breakfast.’ She gave him a shove in the direction of the kitchen.
The two of them were the only ones up, and her mind raced back to her conversation with Emily. She had read and reread her card from Nana before she’d fallen asleep. Everything and everyone was encouraging her to come clean. Reveal the secret she’d been keeping all these years. She watched Zach happily checking cupboards. Now was probably a good opportunity; trouble was, she wasn’t quite brave enough.
She switched on the kitchen radio and listened as a multitude of road closures and weather warnings were announced. She took stock, thinking back to yesterday. She’d used up most of the leftovers; everyone had hoovered them up like starving locusts. There was ham, and she knew she had some cream crackers left over, along with some eggs and lots of sprouts. She didn’t much like the thought of what she could make with that. Instead, she looked at Zach, who was humming ‘White Christmas’ with his head in the larder. ‘You’ve got loads of tins of tomatoes.’ He popped his head out. ‘Have you got any pasta?’
‘Glass jar on the floor,’ said Lottie, pulling out a chair and flopping down.
‘Oh, brilliant there’s loads. We could do pasta bake for dinner.’
‘Not very exciting.’ Lottie wrinkled her nose.
‘What’s the bread situation like?’ he asked, and by opening the empty bread bin he answered his own question. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got any strong flour and yeast by any chance?’
‘Who are you, Mary Berry?’ Lottie scratched her head. Nana used to make her own bread, although she hadn’t done it recently. ‘There’s probably some somewhere.’ She knew she sounded uninterested. She’d worked her Darth Vader socks off over the last few days, and she’d had enough. She’d done what she’d set out to do – she’d completed Nana’s last wish and they’d had their last family Christmas at Henbourne Manor – and she’d been secretly looking forward to them all going home. She wanted to get to the stage where there was enough distance from the event that she could begin to remember it through rose-tinted spectacles. This definitely hadn’t been the perfect last Collins family Christmas she had wanted – not even close. Bernard had had a heart spasm. Emily thought she might be pregnant, Scott was a porn star and her mother had been outed as a pretend vegan. Uncle Daniel had a secret lovechild, and there was still no sign of Dave delivering the engagement ring Zach had hidden in the Christmas tree. And the biggest shock of all, for her, was Joe turning up after nine years of living in America, closely followed by his Meghan Markle lookalike girlfriend. Lottie slumped her upper body onto the kitchen table. It was a mess. The Collins family was a mess.
Zach came back into the kitchen with armfuls of stuff. A puff of flour burst into the air as he dumped it all on the table. ‘How about we make some bread?’ He was clearly channelling his inner Paul Hollywood.
Lottie mumbled half-heartedly, ‘They’ll want breakfast first.’
Zach opened the fridge. ‘Scrambled eggs?’ He was far brighter than was necessary in the situation.
‘Vegans,’ said Lottie, making the word sound like she was swearing.
‘Porridge with almond milk for them,’ he said, shoving his head back in the larder. ‘I’ll even pop some raisins in it. I think we’ll be okay for today. Let’s hope the village stores opens up despite the snow, so we can get supplies for the next few days.’
Lottie shot bolt upright. ‘Few days?’ Lottie almost screeched. ‘They’re all leaving tomorrow if I have to dig a way out of the village with my bare hands.’
‘I thought this was what you wanted? Everyone together.’ He looked genuinely perplexed by her reaction.
‘Not indefinitely. Just for Christmas. I’ve got things I need to sort out.’
‘Like?’ he asked as he rifled through Nana’s cookbooks.
‘My life.’ Zach gave a sideways glance. ‘I’m not being dramatic. I’m being factual. This place is sold. Assuming that all goes through smoothly, I will have nowhere to live in a matter of weeks. Someone has got to clear this place out and in case you hadn’t noticed it’s a bloody huge house. I also need to make a decision on what I’m going to do career-wise, and either return to the rat race or get booked onto a course.’ She felt her shoulders sag. That was a mighty big list to do all on her own – especially without Nana in the background cheering her on.
Zach paused in the middle of weighing the flour. ‘Can I help?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know.’ She slumped back onto the table.
&
nbsp; ‘I will help you, Lottie. But first, I’m making a bread masterpiece.’
She watched him for a moment. ‘Why are you so ridiculously upbeat today?’
He lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Because with any luck, Dave is going to poop out a ring.’ He looked truly joyful at the prospect.
‘Eurgh,’ said Lottie.
‘And that means I can finally propose to Emily.’
‘And what wondrous way of proposing have you conjured up now?’ she asked.
Zach’s shoulders dropped and his happy bubble popped. ‘I have no idea.’
The rest of the family joined them over the next thirty minutes and all expressed varying degrees of dismay at the weather. Scott checked the trains and most were cancelled, so Lottie definitely had the delight of her mother’s company for at least another twenty-four hours. Uncle Daniel was confident of being able to get where he wanted to go in his Range Rover, even if he had to take it off-road. However, after checking the motorways, he was waiting for more snowploughs to be deployed to the area.
Eventually, they sat down to a cobbled-together breakfast. Lottie was quite pleased with the bubble and squeak she’d managed to rustle up using the rest of the Brussels sprouts and leftover potatoes, and everyone was tucking in.
The bell chimed through the house and Lottie went to answer the door. She very much hoped it wasn’t Joe. She opened the door to Petra, the landlady from the pub, bundled up in a parka and wellies.
‘Come in,’ said Lottie, keen to shut out the blustery weather.
Petra stepped over the mound of snow at the door and gave her a hug in greeting. ‘I just wanted to let you know that the lane is blocked out of Dumbleford, thanks to loads of snow and a truck that’s been abandoned, and none of the cars can get up Henbourne Hill.’
‘Ah. So we’re a bit snowed in then.’
‘A bit?’ said Petra, with a laugh. ‘A lot. Even Giles couldn’t get his Land Rover up the hill this morning. And Shirley had to abandon her Morris Minor at the bottom. We’ve given up trying to dig out the cars at the pub.’
Lottie’s shoulders rounded forwards. This was not what she wanted to hear. ‘Okay. Thanks for walking all the way up here to tell me. You could have rung.’
One Family Christmas: The perfect, cosy, heart-warming read to curl up with this winter Page 26
