Escape To Christmas at Corner Cottage

by Sarah Hope

  Reaching forward and placing her now empty mug on the coffee table, Chrissy wrapped her arms around Evie and Sophia’s shoulders. She had probably meant nothing to him anyway. Colin had hinted that he was a bit of a womaniser and he himself had said he used to sleep around. No, there was nothing going on between them anyway. There couldn’t be.

  Chapter 13

  ‘Did you both have a good day at school?’ Smiling, Chrissy rubbed her hands together, she should have brought her gloves.

  ‘It was ok.’ Sophia shifted her rucksack higher onto her shoulders and Evie nodded. ‘Can we watch a film when we get home?’

  ‘Later, you can. But we’re going to pop by the cottage to chuck your bags in and pick up Star. I’ve been working on Natalie’s wedding dress so I’ve not had the chance to take her out yet.’

  ‘Do we have to? We’ve been at school all day.’ Sophia dragged her shoes on the ground as they walked out of the playground.

  ‘I’m afraid so, Sophia. We can just pop to the green and play ball with her for a few minutes, that’ll tire her out anyway.’

  ‘Good idea, Mum. We can take her new ball, can’t we? She’s not seen that yet!’

  ‘Evie, she’s not going to take any notice of a new ball. It’s just the same as her other ones anyway.’ Sophia rolled her eyes.

  ‘Yes, she will. It will smell new so she’ll be able to tell.’

  ‘THAT’S IT, STAR. GOOD girl.’ Bending down, Evie retrieved the soggy tennis ball from Star’s mouth and threw it again. ‘Oh, look. There’s Adam.’

  ‘So what?’ Sophia glanced across at him as he emerged through the narrow gateway, almost entirely hidden by conifers.

  ‘So he’s got a basketball, he might be going to play. Mum, can I go and join him?’

  ‘Yes, that’s fine. Come on, Sophia.’ Chrissy linked arms with Sophia and followed Evie.

  ‘Hey, Adam!’ Waving her arms, Evie tried to catch his attention. ‘He’s got Kane and Luke with him. Do you think Luke is going to join in too? He was so funny when we went sledging.’

  ‘So he has.’ Looking down at her feet, Chrissy plastered a smile on her face. She couldn’t very well retreat now.

  ‘You like basketball, Sophia. Why don’t you go and join in?’ Chrissy watched as Evie ran towards Adam, immediately trying to take control of the basketball. ‘Look, it’s one against two. Go and give your sister a hand.’

  ‘Ok.’ Sophia trudged towards the court, pushing her shoulders back as she got closer. She enjoyed basketball. In their old home, she’d begged Andrew to put a hoop up in the back garden. He never had. Now they had this basketball court just around the corner from them maybe they could come and play regularly.

  ‘Hi, Chrissy.’ Luke sidled up to her.

  ‘Hi.’ Shielding her eyes from the low winter sun, Chrissy watched as Sophia took charge of the basketball and shot a hoop on her first try.

  ‘She’s good, isn’t she?’

  ‘She sure is. She loves basketball.’ Chrissy smiled.

  Luke cleared his throat. ‘How come you stood me up for lunch?’

  ‘Sorry, I just had loads to do. I’ve almost finished sewing the crystals on to Natalie’s bodice though.’ She stretched her fingers out, they were still painful from sewing for five hours straight.

  ‘That’s ok then. I thought you were getting cold feet.’ Luke glanced at her and smiled.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, I thought we were at the beginning of something good.’ Luke nudged her and grinned.

  ‘Right.’ Momentarily closing her eyes, Chrissy bit her bottom lip. So she had meant something to him then? And she couldn’t deny how much her feelings were developing for him. She shook her head. It didn’t matter anyway. Sophia needed to get used to how things were now before she could even think about starting a relationship with anyone. She looked at Luke, he deserved to know what was going on, but not here, not in front of the kids.

  ‘Come on then.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You may have beaten me at sledging, but I’ll buy you a whole gallon of gin and tonic if you beat me at basketball!’ Grabbing her by the hand, Luke pulled Chrissy onto the court. ‘OK, kids, boys against girls?’

  LEANING OVER, HER HANDS on her knees, Chrissy panted. Why was she so unfit? She had been more active since moving to the village.

  ‘Chrissy, are you struggling? I told you I’d beat you at this.’ Patting her on the shoulder as he ran past, Luke laughed at her.

  ‘Come on, Mum. You’re making us lose. You keep giving the basketball away.’ Sophia pointed to Adam as he threw the ball through the hoop again.

  ‘Tell you what, girls, I’ll go on your team and your mum can slow Adam and Kane down.’

  ‘Yay! With Sophia, we’ll win now!’

  ‘Thanks, Evie.’ Standing up, Chrissy ran after Sophia who was now in possession of the ball. ‘The game’s not over yet!’

  ‘Go on, Sophia! Score!’

  ‘Yay! Well done.’ Luke high-fived Sophia as they watched the ball bounce on the tarmac after flying through the hoop. ‘I’m going to take Adam and Kane to the pub for dinner later, did you want to join us?’

  ‘Yes, ok. Why not?’ Just because there couldn’t be anything serious between them, at least until the girls had settled into their new life, it didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed friends. ‘Is Natalie and Graham coming too?’

  ‘Nope, Graham’s working late and Natalie has gone swanning off with Gina to finalise flower choices or something.’

  ‘HERE YOU GO, KIDS.’ Returning from the bar, Luke slid a tray full of bowls of ice cream onto the table.

  ‘Ooh, that looks good.’ Chrissy helped him dish them out.

  ‘And we have sprinkles, marshmallows, chocolate chunks and sauces to customise them with.’ Grinning, he placed bowls and sauces in the middle of the table.

  ‘That’s awesome!’ Sophia leant over, peering into the bowls of toppings. ‘I’m going to make the best ice cream ever!’

  ‘Shall we have a competition? We could all create our own ice creams, and Mum and Luke, you two can be the judges.’

  ‘Yes, great idea, Evie.’ Adam clapped his hands together.

  ‘I’m happy with the job of being a judge. As long as I get to taste them all, that is.’ Chrissy laughed.

  ‘Same here.’ Luke smiled across at Chrissy and winked.

  Returning the smile, Chrissy wrapped her hands around her hot chocolate. He was so good with Sophia and Evie. He seemed so natural around them. Chrissy watched as he helped Kane squeeze strawberry sauce into his bowl. She knew he had a lot of experience with Adam and Kane, from what he’d said he babysat them regularly and he was equally good with the twins.

  She looked up and caught his eye. It was just too soon. Far too soon. Not for her, she and Andrew had hardly spent any time together in the same room, let alone touched for months before he announced his affair, but for the girls and, in particular, Sophia, it was. She’d made that clear when she’d got back from Andrew’s house. Chrissy wouldn’t put her feelings before her daughters’. And if that meant that Luke decided she wasn’t worth waiting for or found someone else in the meantime, then so be it. It would be their Team of Three against the world. She had to, and would, put her girls first.

  ‘IT’S OK, I’LL GET THESE.’ Luke put his hand over Chrissy's purse as they stood at the bar.

  ‘No, thank you, but no. I’d rather get mine and the girls’.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes. Thanks for inviting us though, they’ve had fun.’ Looking back at the table, Chrissy watched as the children all finished eating their ice cream, adding the leftover topping to their melted concoctions. She laughed as Evie looked around the pub before holding her bowl down to be licked out by Star. ‘There you go, even Star has benefited from us coming out.’

  Laughing, Luke touched her hand. ‘Are you free tomorrow for lunch? I’ve got to go to a couple of house auctions in the morning but I should be b
ack by about one or half one at the latest.’

  ‘I can’t tomorrow, sorry. I’m going round Natalie’s for a fitting.’ She bit her bottom lip, she had to tell him that they had to cool it off, but she really was busy tomorrow. ‘Maybe later in the week?’

  ‘Already looking forward to it.’

  THE CHILDREN RAN ON ahead, Star running alongside them, barking excitedly every few minutes.

  ‘I might be able to help you out with that heating, if it’s still not working? I’ve organised for my mate, Brian, who’s a gas engineer to come and service Natalie and Graham’s boiler so I can ask him to pop by yours after, if you like?’

  ‘Ok, that’d be great, please?’

  ‘Ok, I’ll speak to him then. He owes me a favour.’

  ‘Thank you. I really do appreciate it.’ Chrissy looked up at him, his ash blonde hair had fallen forward, half covering his left eye. She reached up and flicked it back. ‘Are you growing it?’

  Running his hands through his hair, Luke grinned. ‘Why? Do you like it a bit longer?’

  ‘I think it looks nice either way.’ She wasn’t going to tell him that he could shave it all off and tattoo his scalp and he’d still look just as gorgeous.

  ‘I might do. It would save me bothering with the barbers anyway. Right, I’d better get these two home before Natalie thinks I’ve abducted them.’ Luke paused at the end of Chrissy’s lane.

  ‘Yep. We’d best get back too. See you.’ Walking towards the green where the children were now playing, Chrissy looked back at Luke.

  ‘Hey, wait up.’ Running the short distance, Luke caught up with her. ‘I have really enjoyed this evening.’

  ‘Me too.’ Looking across at him, she smiled and cleared her throat. ‘Right, come on, girls. Time for home.’

  ‘Ok. See you at school tomorrow, Adam. Bye, Kane.’ Evie ran towards Chrissy, Star trotting by her ankles and Sophia sauntering just behind.

  After waving their goodbyes, Chrissy and the twins turned down the lane towards Corner Cottage.

  ‘Did you have fun, girls?’ Ramming her hand into her pocket, Chrissy located the key and hoped the wood burner was still going strong.

  ‘Yes, it was great. I really liked making our own ice creams.’ Kneeling down, Evie petted Star as she waited for Chrissy to open the front door.

  ‘How about you, Sophia? Did you enjoy playing basketball with the others?’

  ‘Yes, Adam’s pretty good at it actually and it was funny when Luke swapped with you to come on our team.’

  ‘I still maintain it was the cold that made me so rubbish. I couldn’t shoot the ball through the hoop properly because my hands were so cold.’ Laughing, Chrissy held the door open, waiting for the twins and Star to slip through before she followed and shut the cold out. She slipped her coat off, the wood burner must still be on. She’d have to check there were enough logs on it. If it went out, the cold would quickly creep back in and once it was in it was hard to warm the thick walls of the cottage again.

  ‘Mum, where’s my blanket?’ Evie popped her head around the living room door.

  Hanging up Star’s lead, Chrissy turned around. ‘On your bed. Why don’t you get changed while you’re up there and I’ll make us a hot chocolate.’

  ‘Ok.’

  ‘Evie, can you ask Sophia to get in her pyjamas too?’

  ‘Will do.’ Twisting around, Evie ran back into the living room.

  Opening the front door, Chrissy bashed the twins boots together, clumps of mud flying off onto the cracked path. She looked up, the stars were really clear here, not like in their old place which, at the time, she had thought were pretty clear. But here, the sky was like glass, the stars as bright as the crystals she’d painstakingly sewn onto Natalie’s wedding dress. They should get a map of the sky and learn what the names of the constellations were called. Maybe, when it got warmer, they could get some garden chairs and sit outside in the evenings, seeing how many constellations and stars they could name.

  Glancing up the lane towards the road, she watched as a car slowly drove past, its headlights highlighting the empty street. It was idyllic here. The people all seemed to be welcoming, although they were probably just glad that someone had eventually rented out Corner Cottage instead of it standing empty. The girls were settling into school, even if Sophia liked to remind her what a cruel mother she was for taking her away from her friends at regular intervals throughout the week. She, herself, had actually made a few friends, most were just other parents at the school gate that she could practise her small talk on, but Natalie and, even Gina, were becoming more than just casual acquaintances.

  And Luke, well, maybe there could be something there. Sophia had said he was ‘fun’. Maybe if they just kept it quiet, which she’d want to anyway, things could work out. She didn’t want to introduce them to anyone unless she was completely sure there was a future there and a long future at that. So if they kept it quiet for six months or so, Sophia would probably have gotten used to the idea of her getting a boyfriend. Plus, if they met up with Luke when he was looking after Kane and Adam like they had tonight, then hopefully things would naturally just fall into place. The twins would get used to him being around as a friend and so if they announced they were seeing each other it wouldn’t seem so strange.

  Placing the boots down and pulling the front door behind her, she made her way down the path and tugged the gate shut. She was sure Star wouldn’t wander off, but if she saw a cat there was still that chance.

  She shook her head and pulled her cardie tighter around her. She’d panicked when Sophia had come back from Andrew’s so upset about him living with Susan. Luke wasn’t Susan, Luke hadn’t broken their marriage up and the twins could just view him as a family friend for now. If they still hadn’t come round to the idea when they told them after six months, then that would be it. The girls always came first.

  Maybe she should give him a call when the girls had gone to bed, let him know that, yes, she did want more but to keep it under wraps until they were sure there was a future? Yes, she’d call him later. At least that way she could find out what was going on from his point of view too.

  Chapter 14

  ‘I don’t know what to say, it’s stunning. I love it.’ Natalie clasped her hands in front of her as Chrissy unzipped the gown bag hanging on the doorframe.

  ‘The crystals and beading make all the difference, don’t they?’ Gina ran her fingers over the bodice.

  ‘Do you want to go and put it on and then we check to see if there are any other alterations that need doing?’ Chrissy breathed a sigh of relief, she’d hardly slept a wink last night and when she’d managed to snatch an hour here or there, she’d woken up in a cold sweat, images of Natalie crying because she hated it or in her most extreme vivid dream, Chrissy had woken up convinced that Natalie had burnt the dress right in front of her, insisting that she had asked Chrissy to dye it black.

  ‘You try and stop me!’ Standing on her tiptoes, Natalie gently unhooked the hanger and made her way out of the family room.

  ‘It really is beautiful, Chrissy. You’ve got a real talent there.’

  ‘Thank you. I just hope it fits ok.’ Chrissy smiled and looked down at Poppy who was kicking away in a Winne-the-Pooh bouncy chair. ‘Are you all ready for when your little one makes an appearance?’

  ‘We’ve got most of the big things stored in the loft from Olivia, so I think we’re pretty much set. Or we will be when the new flooring for the nursery is fitted. Although I have started to look at prams. I had convinced myself that I didn’t need a new one but my old one is so plain, so I think we might get a new one.’ Gina rubbed her bump.

  ‘At least you’ve already got most of what you need.’

  ‘Yes. It’s certainly easier the second time around. Here she is. Oh, wow, Nat, you look gorgeous.’

  Turning around, Chrissy watched as Natalie walked towards her. She did look gorgeous, the ivory gown fitted her like a glove, clinging to all of the right places,
the crystals and glass beads shimmered under the lights, emphasising the beautiful cut of the heart neckline. The train flowed behind her, the flowery lace overlay adding just enough detail.

  ‘Chrissy, I completely, absolutely love it! I don’t know how you’ve done it, but you’ve turned that shapeless, plain gown into the dress I’ve been dreaming of for so long. Thank you!’ Holding Chrissy’s shoulders, Natalie kissed her on the cheek before stepping back and slowly twirling around.

  ‘So how does it feel? Is the length ok? Is there anything you want me to add or change?’ Kneeling down, Chrissy pulled the fabric taut before letting go. The length looked good, any shorter and Natalie’s shoes would be visible, any longer and it would catch on the heels.

  ‘Nothing. I wouldn’t ask you to change anything at all. It’s lovely as it is.’

  ‘The length looks fine. Are you sure you’re happy with it?’

  ‘More than happy!’

  ‘Ok, brilliant.’ Stepping back, Chrissy folded her arms. She had done a good job, even she, as self-critical as she was, could see it was a vast improvement from the dress it had once been.

  ‘I’m going to go and change again and then I’ll make us a cuppa.’

  Grinning, Natalie made her way back out of the room.

  ‘HERE YOU GO, CHRISSY, Gina.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Taking the hot mug, Chrissy shifted across, making room for Natalie on the brown leather sofa.

  ‘Ok, I need to ask you a favour. Well, another one that is, Chrissy, please?’

  Chrissy lowered her mug and nodded.

  ‘I got the bridesmaid dresses back in, when was it, Gina? About March time I think and they were all fitted and were fine, but one of my bridesmaids has recently been on a diet and been hitting the gym and, well, it just hangs off her. I’ve not actually seen her wearing it for ages now, but from what she says it just doesn’t fit properly anymore. So, I was wondering, and say no if you don’t want to, but would you be able to alter that too please?’