‘I am,’ he said.
‘Oooh, she’s such a lovely girl,’ Briony cooed. ‘So pretty and, although she doesn’t like anyone to know it, very helpful and polite. Paul and I love having her visit.’
Howard stared. ‘You do?’
Briony nodded cheerfully. ‘She comes over most Sundays with Gina and Ross for dinner and I’m sure she gets better invites. Not many teens would do that.’
The penny finally dropped, and Howard shot a hate-filled glare in Ross’s direction. But then he must have recalled his promise to behave, and smoothed his features. ‘So you must be…’
‘Ross’s mum,’ Briony said. ‘Briony Hunter.’ She laughed, a little self-consciously. ‘I suppose it’s a bit strange and awkward you being here and me chatting to you, all things considered, but I’m glad we could all get along for a special night and it is good to meet you. Now, what can I get you?’
‘A rum and coke and a gin and tonic please,’ he replied stiffly. Briony smiled broadly and busied herself getting his order and all the while Ross, Gina, Mitchell and Hannah watched him as he waited.
‘I bet Ross is dying to get his hands around that guy’s throat,’ Mitchell whispered.
‘It’s a good job Paul doesn’t know – Howard would be dead by now.’
‘Let’s hope it stays that way, if only for Jess’s sake, because I don’t know which side I’d pick if it came to stopping a fight. I’d be tempted to help Ross and Paul stick the boot in.’
‘Which would get everyone precisely nowhere, and make you all as bad as him,’ said Hannah, ‘and you’re better men than that.’
‘What about the women?’ Mitchell fired back, and Hannah couldn’t help a smile.
‘They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’
Howard returned to his table with his drinks having said not a word to anyone but Briony. Hannah was impressed with Ross’s tolerance, but could see by the set of his jaw and the worried expression on Gina’s face that being in the same room as his attacker was proving rather more of a test than he had anticipated.
‘I’m going to see if they’re okay,’ Hannah said. She crossed over to them.
‘Well?’ she asked, looking at Gina and Ross in turn. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think that’s about as close as it’s safe for him to get,’ Gina said. ‘With a bit of luck he’ll finish his drink and sod off. We told him to come, and Jess has seen him so she’s happy, but I think he knows that the invitation wouldn’t extend to him staying all evening.’
‘Jess will understand,’ Hannah said. ‘She’s not silly and after all that happened she’s probably just grateful he was allowed to come at all.’
‘I suppose the car he bought for her has helped to make her a bit more forgiving too,’ Gina returned with a faint smile.
‘Well, I suppose it would,’ Hannah said.
They were prevented from any further analysis by Paul and Mitchell, who had come armed with top-up drinks. Mitchell pointed to where the band were standing, already surrounded by admiring teenagers. ‘This might be the last time you can get this close to a member of Spartan Down. Are you sure you don’t want to get their autographs?’
Hannah smiled. ‘I think I can live without it. I don’t think I’d get a look in now, in any case. The way Jess is looking at that lead singer I think poor Archie might be a distant memory in a few hours.’
They turned to see a forlorn looking Archie watch as Jess joined the group of girls vying for attention from a lead singer who was undoubtedly sexy as hell.
‘I’d better go and have a quick word with them before they start their set,’ Mitchell said.
‘Okay.’ Hannah kissed him. ‘Don’t get any ideas about becoming their roadie, because I’m not going on a world tour, I’m too busy.’
‘I won’t,’ he laughed, before wandering off into the throng.
Hannah turned to Gina and Ross.
‘Are you two okay?’
‘Yes,’ Gina said, drawing a long breath and looking at Ross. ‘We’re okay, aren’t we?’
‘Of course. This is Jess’s night and we’re going to make sure it’s a brilliant one. Your ex can glare all he wants but he’s not getting a fight.’
‘I couldn’t have put it better myself,’ Gina smiled.
For the next hour, Spartan Down mesmerised their young audience, who jumped and cheered and whooped while the older party guests looked on with indulgent smiles. Hannah’s gaze was frequently drawn to Howard’s table, but he and his date didn’t move and kept their heads close together as they shared a private conversation, barely glancing up at anyone else. Whenever she looked at Ross, he was watching them too, although he tried very hard to make it seem as if he wasn’t. Briony was relieved from bar duties by Rainbow, the calendar photographer every bit as colourful as her name, and Briony made her way over to Hannah with a frown.
‘Rainbow just handed me this – she found it on the floor in the portaloo.’ Opening her hand, she revealed a diamond ring.
‘Oh, wow,’ Hannah said. ‘That’s some rock. Someone’s going to be very upset later when they realise it’s missing.’
‘The size of this I’m surprised there hasn’t already been an announcement,’ Briony said. ‘You couldn’t miss that falling off your finger, it would land with such a thud.’
‘True,’ Hannah said. ‘What shall we do?’
‘I’ll keep it for now,’ Briony decided. ‘Maybe someone will make it known they’re looking for it and then we can let them have it. Not that I don’t trust any of the people here but I don’t think it’s wise to advertise the fact that we have an owner-less ring here for the taking.’
‘Good idea,’ Hannah agreed.
Briony slipped it into her apron pocket and went off to find Paul, while Mitchell returned from a rather earnest looking conversation with Ross. Mitchell looked stressed as he approached Hannah.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing,’ he said, trying to smile.
‘Don’t give me that. What is it? Has Howard done something?’
‘No… honestly.’
‘Then why did you and Ross look like the sky fell in just then?’
‘Something and nothing. Mostly nothing, though, and not for you to worry about.’
‘Right…’ Hannah replied slowly, and waited for him to elaborate; but he didn’t. Instead, Mitchell looked decidedly awkward for a moment before announcing that he had something to do and would be right back.
Hannah watched him go and he seemed preoccupied, head down, almost bumping into someone as he went.
When Hannah glanced over to Howard’s table again neither he nor his date were there. Had they slipped out to get away with the least fuss? Then she saw them both, Jess hanging from her dad’s arm, as they headed towards Ross and Gina.
Shit!
What should she do? Was this the moment to intervene? Would she be making things worse? But even as these thoughts ran through her head, an incredible thing happened. Howard appeared to offer a handshake to Ross. And Ross accepted it. It was a brief encounter, and in moments it was over. Hannah couldn’t quite believe that it had happened at all. Then Howard looked across at her and nodded, before kissing Jess on the cheek and turning for the exit with his date. Hannah rushed over to where Gina, Jess and Ross watched them go.
‘What was all that about?’
Gina gave a bemused smile. ‘An olive branch, I think.’
‘And you’re okay? I mean, after all that happened?’
Ross nodded. ‘It was always my intention to make sure it didn’t affect the family, or Gina and me…’ He gave a knowing look at Jess. ‘And I think we know who persuaded Howard to bury the hatchet.’
Gina grabbed her daughter in a tight hug. ‘I moan about you at times, but you really are the most brilliant daughter ever!’
‘Yeah?’ Jess laughed. ‘I’ll remember that next time you’re nagging me about cleaning my room.’
‘Not that brilliant.�
� Gina smiled as she let her go. But Jess looked happy – not the temporary excitement that a birthday party or a new car could bring, but a happiness that seemed to infuse her whole being, a true and fundamental contentment. Hannah hadn’t seen her look like that for a long time. Maybe this was the beginning of a new chapter in everyone’s lives, the sign of things to come for them all?
‘I’m going to catch the last of the set before the band finishes; I just needed to bring Dad over before he left.’
‘You’re okay?’ Hannah asked. ‘That he didn’t stay for the whole evening?’
Jess shrugged. ‘I didn’t expect him to and I don’t blame him. It was pretty brave that he came at all.’
‘I suppose it was,’ Hannah mused. She had found a grain of new respect for Howard for facing what he knew would be a very difficult night, and even more so now that he had faced Ross and tried to make some amends for the damage his actions had caused. It must have been a huge thing for a man as proud and opinionated as Howard to admit that he was wrong.
Jess had returned to the dancefloor, and Ross seemed subdued considering the small personal victory that Howard’s apology represented. And as Mitchell came back to Hannah’s side, he didn’t seem much better either. He shot Ross a quick, knowing look, one which Ross returned with the tiniest nod. The two of them had become good friends over the last few months, but Hannah had never seen them look this thick together before. What were they up to?
‘We’ve just got to nip outside for a bit,’ Ross announced. Gina looked up at him.
‘But I’m watching the band.’
‘No, Mitchell and me,’ Ross said. ‘Won’t be long.’
Gina looked puzzled as she watched them go. She turned to Hannah.
‘That’s weird. They haven’t started smoking, have they? Standing outside right now like naughty schoolboys with a crafty cigarette?’
‘It would probably be more reassuring if they had; at least it would be a simple explanation,’ Hannah replied.
The band finished their set to wild applause, the food had just about been hoovered up by the hungry guests, the drink had flowed, and most of the partygoers with the stamina still to be up had moved outside the stifling air of the barn to enjoy the mild midsummer night and the beautiful creamy moon that now hung above them. They sat on the ground in clusters, or leaned against the barn chatting, the mood still good but considerably calmer than it had been an hour before. Mitchell and Ross had been missing for a good hour but had returned to Gina and Hannah now, though Ross in particular didn’t look happy. That was a thing to remark upon in itself, because for as long as Hannah had known him he almost always had a smile on his face. When Gina had asked him what was wrong, he had done his best to paint it back on, but nobody was fooled.
‘I’m exhausted,’ Gina announced, something like frustration on her face as she failed to get to the bottom of Ross’s sombre mood. ‘But I don’t suppose Jess is ready to go home yet.’
‘She could stay here,’ said Briony, who had joined them, still clinging onto a black rubbish bag she’d been using to clear up. ‘Paul and I will be up for a while yet; she could stay until everyone’s gone and sleep in our spare bed.’
‘That does sound tempting,’ Gina said. ‘That’s the trouble with not drinking – everyone else is drunk and ready to party all night while I’m just ready for a Horlicks and my bed.’ She turned to Ross, who stood listening with his hands sunk in his pockets. ‘I bet you never imagined in a million years you’d end up with such a dynamo, eh?’
He gave a weak smile, and Briony laughed lightly. ‘It’s been a long day for everyone – I wouldn’t blame you for being a bit tired.’
‘I’m a bit pooped myself,’ Hannah put in. ‘And I have been drinking. Don’t forget we’ve been up since six.’
‘But Jess has had a good day, hasn’t she?’ Gina said. ‘That’s the only thing that matters, in the end.’
Hannah glanced across to where Jess was giggling with a group of friends, Archie’s arm slung around her. ‘I think she’s had a very good day. How does it feel to be the mother of a brand new adult?’
Gina laughed. ‘I think she’s been an adult for a long time. I feel old, though.’
‘Right…’ Briony continued brightly. ‘So, I’d better get cleaned up so we can do whatever we’re going to do.’
‘I’ll help,’ Gina said.
‘But I thought you were going home?’
‘It can wait. Jess is busy so I won’t disturb her yet, and I can’t very well leave you to do all the cleaning up alone.’
‘Oh, Paul will help.’
‘I will too, of course,’ Hannah put in. ‘By the way,’ she added, ‘did you find the owner of that ring?’
‘Nobody said anything to me,’ Briony said doubtfully. ‘Do you think I should have made an announcement?’
Ross turned sharply. ‘What ring?’
Briony fished in her apron pocket and produced it.
Ross sucked in his breath. ‘Oh…’ He looked up at Mitchell, and everyone seemed to reach a conclusion at the same time.
‘Ross!’ Briony squeaked. ‘You weren’t!’
Gina was beaming. ‘You lost it? That means…’
‘Well, yes, but…’ Ross began before trailing off.
‘Is it…?’ Gina asked, her own question unfinished.
‘Well. . .’ Ross looked helplessly at everyone.
‘You were going to propose?’ Briony asked.
Ross was blushing. ‘I… you see…’ Then he looked imploringly at Mitchell. ‘Help me out, mate.’
Mitchell took the ring from Briony. ‘Actually, it’s mine. At least, it is until I give it to someone else.’ He turned to Hannah. ‘This isn’t the way I had planned it at all, but it seems fate had other ideas for tonight… just like it’s had all through the last few months.’ He looked up at the sky, the lanterns strung around the barn throwing a warm glow over his features, and then back at Hannah. ‘But the moon is high, and the air is warm, and my ring has turned up, so this seems as good a time as any to ask if you’ll marry me.’
Hannah’s eyes widened. She looked from him to Gina to Ross to Briony and then back again. ‘But I don’t understand, I thought…’
Ross shuffled and his gaze went to his feet as his blush deepened. Gina grabbed his arm and kissed him. ‘I’m glad you weren’t asking me,’ she said in a low voice with a smile. ‘We’re not quite there yet.’
‘Well?’ Mitchell asked.
‘This is…’
‘A shock?’ he said, his face falling. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done it like this–’
‘No.’ Hannah stayed his hand as he started to retract the ring. ‘I mean, yes, it is a shock. And if you’d asked me yesterday I would have said I didn’t want this. But…’ She looked up into his eyes. Something about tonight felt right. Now that he stood before her, offering her his whole self for the rest of their lives, she did want it. How could she have been so blind to all that it represented for her? The most perfect man she had ever met, who had gone through so much and had never once used it as a reason to be mean or cruel, who had been kind and patient and noble in the face of adversity, and he wanted her by his side. How could she say no to such an offer? She loved him, and if commitment was the issue, she needed to put that behind her because she had already made a commitment to love him, one that bound them in steel because she knew she would never stop.
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Yes?’
She nodded. ‘Absolutely.’
Mitchell stared at her. ‘You’re saying yes?’
‘It can’t be that much of a shock,’ she laughed. ‘You must have asked with the fifty percent hope that I’d say yes.’
‘I know, but…’
Gina rolled her eyes. ‘For God’s sake, kiss her and get that ring on her finger before she changes her mind!’
‘Or before I lose it again,’ Ross said sheepishly. Gina shot him a wry look. How he’d had the ring to lose in t
he first place was a mystery that would have to be explained later. She guessed that Mitchell had asked him to keep it with some elaborate proposal in mind, or perhaps just because he didn’t trust himself to keep it safe all night, but Ross had scuppered that by dropping it on the floor of the portaloo.
‘It’s alright, Ross,’ Hannah smiled. She turned to Mitchell and held her left hand out, fingers splayed. ‘It’s a yes.’
Mitchell grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. She drew away a few moments later, breathless and laughing. ‘And I still don’t have that fabulous ring on my finger!’
‘Oh, right…’ Mitchell took her hand and slid the ring on. ‘There. You can’t change your mind now.’
‘I don’t want to.’
They stood smiling at each other while Gina watched, nuzzling into Ross, and Briony wiped a tear from her eye.
‘What a night!’ Briony said. ‘What a wonderful midsummer’s night! Reminds me of the night I met Paul.’
‘You met Dad on midsummer’s night?’ Ross asked.
‘At an eighteenth birthday celebration too,’ Briony nodded. ‘He walked into the room and I couldn’t see anyone else after that. I knew I was going to marry him.’
‘Did Dad know?’ Ross laughed, but Briony simply gave him a soppy smile and batted away the quip.
‘Be off with you. If it wasn’t for my foresight you wouldn’t be standing here today.’
‘That’s true,’ Gina said, ‘so behave yourself.’
Briony shook herself. ‘I must go and find Paul and tell him the good news!’
And with that she took herself off. Mitchell took Hannah into his arms and kissed her again.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Ross asked Gina in a worried voice as they turned away for a moment to give Hannah and Mitchell some privacy.
Once Upon a Winter: A totally perfect festive romantic comedy Page 35
