Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

by Abby Clements

  The other ladies gossiped at a gentle pace as they all worked. Being here reminded her of what it was she loved best, designing and making clothes, not sitting at a computer or battling with suppliers as she seemed to spend most of her time doing nowadays. Laurie chopped and sorted and filtered fabrics, starting to form pictures of how she wanted some of the finished pieces to look.

  When she looked up at the wall clock it was nearly quarter to four. Laurie had been so caught up, she hadn’t realised the time. Fifteen minutes. She tried to ignore her escalating nerves, but as the clock edged closer to the hour, she was acutely aware that Patrick was about to arrive. She thought of the way she’d felt talking to him earlier that week. What Diana had said last night – about him being single – meant that maybe she hadn’t been imagining the chemistry between them. That morning she’d told herself that there was no harm in dressing so that she looked her best. She’d picked out one of her favourite outfits – indigo chinos and a pale yellow jumper, with chunky jewellery in jewel shades.

  As the big hand on the clock hit twelve, Laurie felt a rush of anticipation. Her gaze went to the window, and she listened out for the sounds of a vehicle approaching. She pictured Patrick’s warm smile and those dazzling blue eyes. What could she ask him? Or should she just play it cool and wait for him to say something first?

  The minutes ticked by until at ten past four she finally heard the van pull up. Donna Summer was blasting out of the tinny radio and – miraculously, given the rush the day before – none of the other women seemed to have realised that the van had arrived. Laurie picked up a couple of the full bags on the floor and walked over towards the door, propping it with her foot so that she could bundle the bags through without ripping them. As the other women woke up to what was happening, she embraced her head start and walked towards the van, a smile creeping over her face as the driver’s door opened. She instinctively started to pick up pace, her pulse racing.

  A tall, grey-haired man with a thick beard stepped out of the van. Laurie’s heart sank. She looked behind the man into the van’s cab, but Patrick was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Here, let me take those off your hands, love,’ the man stepped forward to offer.

  Laurie stepped into the local hardware shop on Saturday morning, and cast her eye around the uncharted territory. There were two other customers in the lighting aisle. Laurie strode past them and made her way over to the household paints.

  She’d been up until midnight the night before, bent over the sewing machine in Milly’s room, making alterations to jackets and skirts, getting them ready for the auction. She’d sketched out some designs in the early evening. It took her mind off the disappointment she’d felt at not seeing Patrick. Making breakfast in the morning she’d been confronted by the smoke-blackened walls of the cottage kitchen again and, armed with Diana’s tips, felt ready to tackle them.

  She cast her eye over the emulsions and wood paints, and got up a photo of the paint colour on her iPhone. She held the phone up against the sampler sheet of shades and squinted, trying to work out which one was the closest match.

  ‘It’s Magnificent Magnolia,’ came a voice over her shoulder. Male, husky, with a northern accent. She turned towards the sound and came face to face with Patrick. He was dressed in faded jeans and a black wool sweater and a smile had crept on to his lips. A wave of adrenalin coursed through her as their eyes met.

  ‘Do you think?’ she said, coyly, hoping her nerves didn’t show. ‘I was wondering about “Inimitable Ivory”’ – she held up the shade so that he could look more closely.

  ‘Definitely the magnolia,’ he said, pointing at the tin. ‘What are you painting, anyway?’

  ‘Kitchen walls,’ Laurie said, a little sheepishly. ‘Had a bit of an incident. You?’

  ‘DIY,’ he said, holding up some shelf brackets.

  There was a moment of silence and the air felt heavy between them.

  ‘Can I give you a hand?’ he offered. ‘I’m not too bad at house painting, as it happens.’

  Laurie hesitated for a moment. Having at least one person who knew what they were doing would definitely help.

  ‘That would be good.’ She picked up a roller and a couple of brushes and took them with the tin over to the counter. ‘If you’re sure you’re not busy?’

  ‘Oh, this shelf can wait,’ he said, nodding to the brackets in his hand with a wry smile, ‘it’s waited six months already. My DVD collection hasn’t complained about the floor yet.’

  ‘Nice road, this,’ Patrick said, letting out a whistle as they passed the pretty cottages on Snowdrop Lane.

  ‘Oh, it’s not my cottage,’ Laurie explained hurriedly. ‘I’m house-sitting for a friend. I’m not from here.’

  Patrick tilted his head, seemingly taking in her sharp haircut, high heels and jewel-toned accessories. ‘You’re not from the village?’ he laughed. ‘You’re kidding me.’

  Inside the cottage, Laurie and Patrick covered the countertop and floor in newspaper, and Laurie blasted up some tunes while they worked. Patrick had stripped down to a T-shirt to paint and Laurie couldn’t help but notice his toned body. After twenty minutes they’d got the kitchen looking more or less the same as when she’d arrived, although the newly painted patches had come up brighter.

  ‘It’s looking pretty good now, isn’t it?’ Laurie said, standing back.

  ‘Yes, all ready for you to burn something else,’ Patrick joked.

  Laurie rolled her eyes playfully in response. ‘Tea?’ she offered.

  ‘I thought you’d never ask,’ he teased. ‘Wait,’ he said and put one hand on her shoulder and with the other touched her hair, reaching to take out some paint that had dried there.

  As he pulled the fleck of paint out gently, Laurie noticed the enticing fullness of his mouth. He was so close and for a moment she thought he might just –

  A picture of Jay’s face flashed up in Laurie’s mind. She remembered the comforting, sexy smell of him. His dark eyes, the way he made her laugh, just seemed to get her. As Patrick leaned in closer, and she smelled his aftershave, something inside her resisted. She turned away abruptly to flick the kettle on. ‘Yorkshire Gold?’ she asked.

  ‘Sure,’ Patrick said quietly, pulling back. ‘Two sugars.’

  Damn it, Laurie thought as she got out the mugs. How was it that Jay could ruin things for her even when he was miles away?

  ‘Thanks for the help,’ Laurie said, her voice restrained. ‘I really appreciate it.’

  The moment had passed, the intimacy between them had gone – she wanted to kick herself.

  ‘You’re welcome,’ Patrick said, as she got out teabags and put them in their mugs. ‘Listen,’ he said, touching her forearm so that she’d look back at him. She glanced up into his blue eyes, his gaze unwavering, intense. She felt a shiver of excitement run over her skin.

  ‘I know you’re not here for long,’ Patrick said. ‘But tell me you’ve got time for me to take you for a drink?’ As Laurie closed the door after Patrick later that evening, a smile spread across her face, and she did a little jig on the spot. She had a date. And he was really, really nice.

  She put on a CD and went over to light the fire. After a little while the small flames on the logs flickered into life, and Laurie settled down at the kitchen table with a doorstep sandwich laden with Stilton. Things in Skipley were definitely looking up.

  CHAPTER 18

  Saturday 9th December

  Rachel poured out glasses of orange juice for her and for Zak. She decided that now was as good a time as any to raise it. Yes, with Bea in a coma they had bigger things to think about, but she couldn’t ignore what looked very much like stealing.

  Rachel sat down with Zak at the kitchen table and put out some of the objects she’d found during the course of their stay: the plaintain, breadfruit and plectrum. Aiden and Milly had claimed to know nothing about them, so the list of suspects was down to one. ‘I’m puzzled, Zak. Help me out. Do you have any idea where
these things have come from?’ she asked gently.

  His green eyes wide in his freckled face, he was the picture of innocence – but he was wriggling in his seat. ‘I haven’t stolen anything.’

  Rachel waited for him to go on.

  ‘They were given to me,’ Zak insisted.

  ‘By who?’

  ‘Lily gave me the fruit,’ Zak said, picking it up, and running a chubby finger over its rough surface. ‘It’s a breadfruit – a fruit, but it fills you up like bread,’ he smiled. ‘And she also gave me the plant-thing.’

  ‘Plaintain,’ Rachel said. ‘And Lily is …?’ She tried to place the name, she knew she’d heard it only recently.

  ‘… The nice lady downstairs,’ Zak filled in the gap. Of course, Rachel remembered now.

  ‘It’s my fault,’ Milly shouted from the front room. Rachel got up from her seat and went into the living room where Steve Carrell in an elf suit was frozen on the plasma screen. Milly turned around to face her mum. ‘Don’t blame Zak. I let him wander around a bit when you were at the hospital, run up and down the stairs and stuff. I didn’t realise he’d start making all of these friends. Freak.’ She rolled her eyes playfully.

  ‘Oh, right,’ Rachel said. Milly really shouldn’t have let Zak run wild. But she and Milly had been getting on well so far that day, so Rachel chose not to ruin things. As Milly set the DVD to play again, Rachel turned back to Zak. ‘You haven’t been bothering anyone, have you?’

  ‘No,’ Zak protested. ‘They invited me. It was only Lily, and Jay – and he’s your friend too. So,’ he asked, ‘Can I not be in trouble please?’

  ‘You’re all right,’ Rachel said, ruffling his mousy hair.

  ‘Why don’t you come and meet Lily yourself?’ Zak asked, picking up a 3D jigsaw from the counter that Aiden had brought down for him. ‘We can show her this. She loves jigsaws, and she’s really good at them.’

  ‘OK,’ Rachel said. ‘Five minutes. If you’re sure she’s happy to have visitors?’

  ‘Yes,’ Zak said. ‘She invited me the other day, and she’s going to go crazy about this jigsaw. Wait till I tell her it’s a 3D one.’

  Rachel ducked her head into the living room. ‘Milly, do you want to come downstairs with us and meet one of the neighbours?’

  ‘No thanks,’ she said, her eyes glued to the TV. ‘This film is nearly at the end. It’s getting to the bit where they all have to sing to make Santa’s sleigh take off.’

  Rachel recalled watching the film together the previous year, the whole family watching on the sofa and armchairs at the cottage. Far from home, with Bea in hospital, the happy memory was almost painful to revisit.

  Zak and Rachel walked down the stairs together, and Zak chattered on merrily. ‘She said the other day that she likes me visiting. She’s old, you see, and her grandchildren live on an island. She showed me on her globe – it’s miles away.’ His steps sped up.

  ‘Do you know where?’ Rachel asked.

  ‘Where the pirates are,’ Zak said. ‘The Caribbean. She’s always smiling. Well, usually. The other day I surprised her, and she looked a bit sad. She said something about her wallpaper.’

  They reached the ground floor and Zak pointed over to the blue door on the left-hand side of the entrance hall. He walked over, reached up and knocked on it. A moment later the door was answered by an older woman wearing a sunshine-yellow dress set off by pretty gold drop earrings with green stones. Rachel’s gaze drifted to the woman’s apron – red, with floury handprints on it, only slightly disrupting the elegance of the overall look. The woman smiled at Rachel, then bent down slightly to put a hand on Zak’s shoulder. ‘Back already? Now here’s a surprise,’ she said, in a warm West Indian accent. She stood back up again. ‘And you must be Zak’s mother,’ she said, holding out a hand. ‘This young gentleman has been telling me all about you. I’m Lily.’

  ‘Hi.’ Rachel held out her hand. ‘Yes, Rachel. Pleased to meet you.’

  ‘Well, come in, won’t you?’

  ‘Zak wanted to show you his new puzzle,’ Rachel said, apologetically, ‘I hope that’s OK.’

  ‘Isn’t that lovely, dear?’ She looked at Zak’s new toy as he held it up for her. ‘Of course it’s all right.’

  Rachel stepped tentatively into the flat, which was colourful and cared-for, with a bright green sofa and mustard-yellow throws and cushions. A decorative punch bowl sat on a flowery tablecloth in the kitchen, and gold-framed photos of friends and family lined the walls. As she turned, she saw that some of the prettiest wallpaper was peeling away, and sections of the flooring and walls were damaged. The mess looked out of place in such a well-kept flat. Perhaps that was what Zak had been talking about on their way downstairs.

  ‘The puzzle’s 3D, Lily,’ Zak said. ‘It’s of Santa’s grotto, with reindeers. It says ages eight and up, and I’m only just six. Mum and Milly are older, but they’re no good at jigsaws.’

  Lily raised an eyebrow at Rachel. ‘Is that so?’

  ‘I’m afraid that’s absolutely true,’ she said, holding her hands up and smiling to show she wasn’t offended. ‘Really, you’re welcome to it.’

  ‘It would be an honour,’ Lily said. ‘And your timing couldn’t be better. I’ve just finished my baking for the day. I’ve been making my famous Caribbean Christmas cake.’ She took in a deep breath through her nostrils. ‘Just get a lungful of that smell – mmm, mmm.’

  In the living room, Lily put her reading glasses on and bent down over the coffee table so that she could help Zak to find the straight pieces.

  Rachel watched Zak and Lily smiling as they worked together, just as Zak usually did with Bea, playing games on Christmas Day. Rachel felt a tug at her heart – it was just like a scene from the cottage, with Lily in Bea’s place. She thought of Bea lying motionless in the hospital, and as it struck her that they might never have another family Christmas with her a lump came to her throat. Could the memories she already had of Bea be the only ones she’d ever have? Without any warning, Rachel’s tears started to fall.

  Lily caught sight of her crying. ‘Are you OK, dear?’ Lily mouthed silently, over Zak’s head.

  Rachel bit her lip and wiped away the tears, giving a little nod and trying to force a smile. She felt ridiculous – here she was in a stranger’s flat, sobbing.

  ‘Zak,’ Lily said, gently. His eyes darted up from the jigsaw. ‘Now I have your fine young self here, could I ask a favour? You know that computer thing you offered to help me with? Do you think we could look at it now?’

  Zak nodded and sprang to his feet. ‘Sure.’

  ‘Your mum and I’ll keep going with the jigsaw,’ Lily added, ‘the computer’s just in the kitchen, on the counter.’

  Zak dashed up from his seat and into the kitchen, then turned briefly to Rachel. She put on as normal an expression as she could manage. ‘I’m setting up her Skype,’ he said proudly, before dashing out of the room.

  ‘My son got me a laptop for my birthday,’ Lily explained, leaning forward. ‘Said we could talk on it – I would be able to see the little ones, my grandkids, over in Trinidad.’ Lily shrugged and smiled. ‘Thing is, I haven’t worked out how to do anything more than email on it.’

  ‘Oh,’ Rachel said, brushing away her tears, a swell of pride almost pushing away the sadness. ‘Zak’s great with computers, he’ll sort you out.’

  ‘He said it’s easy.’ Lily smiled. ‘Ha! Well, I’ll be the judge of that. So, dear,’ she continued, her voice just above a whisper. ‘Tell your Auntie Lily. What’s the matter? Are you OK?’

  ‘Oh, yes, fine,’ Rachel said, sitting up straighter in her seat.

  ‘I mean, are you really OK? Because your friend Laurie asked me to keep an eye out for you – and you don’t look that OK to me.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Rachel said, accepting the monogrammed white handkerchief Lily passed her. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you all this when we’ve only just met.’ Rachel shook her head, but Lily just smiled and nodded for her to
go on.

  ‘It’s just hard,’ Rachel said. ‘The waiting, not knowing whether or not Bea is going to wake up. The kids seeing their grandmother like that.’

  ‘Hard times are the real test of a family, aren’t they?’ Lily said.

  Rachel nodded, and thought of the strain on her relationship with Aiden as they both struggled to keep normal life going.

  ‘But, if you all stick together, Rachel, you’ll come out the other side stronger. I guarantee it. And Zak – he’s a smart one, isn’t he?’

  Rachel smiled. ‘Yes he is. And you’re right,’ she said, taking a deep breath. ‘And Bea would hate to know that we were worrying about her like this.’

  ‘Found it,’ Zak shouted, bursting back into the room with Lily’s laptop in his hands.

  He perched on the edge of Lily’s armchair and turned the laptop to face her. ‘So you’ve got a webcam up here,’ he pointed, ‘and over there they’ll have one on their computer too. Mum can you set you up an account, and all we need to do is find a time when your family are online and we can call.’

  Lily smiled, and raised her eyebrows in happy surprise at Rachel. ‘How exciting,’ she said. She checked her watch, but her face fell. ‘Oh, but they’ll be at the beach now.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ Zak said, ‘You just need to text them so they can say when they’re free.’

  ‘We might have to save that for another day, I’m afraid, Zak.’ Rachel said, getting to her feet. ‘You and Milly need some tea. Your sister’ll be wondering what’s happened to us both.’

  ‘Come back another day, in that case,’ Lily said to Zak. ‘And we can finish off the jigsaw too.’

  ‘And I’ll be seeing you again too, I hope,’ Lily said to Rachel, smiling, and then leaning forward to envelop her in a warm, comforting hug.

  From: Millypede@gmail.com

  To: Carter@yahoo.com

  Hi C,

  Thanks for the new playlist you made me, I like it.

  Nothing’s up. I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. I guess it’s easier to email than speak on the phone, that’s all. I feel like my parents are always listening out, and in this flat they’d be able to hear everything.