A Perfect Cornish Christmas

by Phillipa Ashley

  Scarlett took the jacket. It had a musty smell, but actually, it was rather gorgeous, if she could fit into it.

  ‘You’ll knock Jude dead in it.’

  Scarlett sniffed it again and wrinkled her nose. ‘You might be right, but not in the way I’m hoping.’

  They started fossicking in the crates again, but so far, the jacket was the only thing Scarlett could even remotely envisage wearing. Ellie had moved into the shadows, stooping under the eaves over an old-fashioned trunk.

  ‘Oh my God! Look at this.’

  She held out a tricorn, a striped red top and baggy black trousers. ‘Argh, you scurvy knave! I’ll keel haul the lot of ye if ye don’t put that kettle on!’ she growled.

  Scarlett laughed. Ellie was lovely, trying to cheer her up like this. ‘Argh, it’s Long John Silver! I’m terrified.’

  ‘I’ll look ridiculous in these, but Drew will be delighted and the kids will enjoy it.’

  Scarlett sneezed again. ‘Shall we get out of here?’ she said, her eyes watering from the dust.

  Mission accomplished, they turned off the attic light and went downstairs to the warmth of the kitchen, bearing their finds. They looked over the costumes again in the kitchen.

  ‘So you’re on the Marisco all evening?’ Scarlett asked, mug of coffee in hand. She was sure she smelled as musty as the jacket, which would have to go to the dry cleaners.

  ‘Yeah. We’re serving hot rum punch and turkey pasties. We’ll get them in from Stargazey Pie because we’re too busy to make them. Luckily, Tina has enough staff on at the Harbour Café because I can’t be in two places at once. How are you and Jude getting on with the wild-foods stall?’

  ‘I promised to go and help him tomorrow afternoon after I’ve got some writing done. He wants to sell his books from the stall and I said I’d keep an eye on things while he does a cookery demo. He’s going to show me how to make figgy puddings from nuts he gathered during the summer.’

  Ellie curled a lip. ‘Yummy. Sounds uber-tasty.’

  ‘They’re delicious, actually, but I’m no chef, as you know.’

  ‘Yes, but any excuse to spend time with Jude. He must really like you if he asked you to help him out.’

  ‘Hmm …’

  ‘You don’t sound too happy about it all.’

  ‘I am … but Mum’s taken against him, not that I should care – but I do.’

  Ellie leaned back against the worktop. ‘Really? I hadn’t noticed. But Mum’s not keen on any man and I can see why.’

  ‘Jude’s lovely. Why would Mum dislike him?’

  ‘I don’t know, she doesn’t seem to like the Penberths in general, especially Jude’s dad.’

  ‘I must admit he makes my skin crawl.’

  Ellie mused for a moment or two. ‘I know what you mean. He comes into the café for his lunch sometimes and seems to think he’s the Brad Pitt of Porthmellow. Tina can’t stand him, but she has to be polite. Some of the younger staff would like to chuck his food over him.’

  Scarlett wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘Why? Has he made a move on them?’

  ‘He’s never done anything, or said anything that was blatantly offensive, but there’s definitely something creepy about him,’ Ellie went on. ‘I feel sorry for his wife. Maybe it’s his creepiness that Mum’s picked up on, and she’s known him a long time.’

  Scarlett thought exactly the same. Hayden obviously once had a thing for Anna and still did. ‘Jude doesn’t get on with him either. He goes tense and clams up when his father is around.’

  ‘He’s probably embarrassed by him. Jude’s so different, quiet and serious. Look, don’t worry about what Mum thinks. Her view of romance is soured, and after what happened with whoever, she’s bound to be right off flashy types like Hayden. Let’s concentrate on this festival. It should be fun, as long as we don’t have a raging storm.’

  Scarlett nodded and reached for a mince pie from the tin on the table. ‘Ellie. Am I the only one finding all the Christmassy stuff a bit … difficult? I’m trying to enter into the spirit of it all but there’s so much that doesn’t feel right.’

  ‘It isn’t only you. It is different. It’s hard. I’m going to miss Dad so much. In fact, I spoke to Marcus again last night. I was going to tell you.’

  Scarlett was relieved that Ellie shared her feelings. ‘And? Has he forgiven me for opening a can of worms?’

  ‘He’s coming round. He was always so close to Mum and Dad. It’s hard for him to accept that we have anything other than the perfect family.’

  ‘I guess so. Sometimes I think I should try to forget about it – about my biological father – and get on with my life. It’s only me who wants to stir up the murk at the bottom of the pond. Maybe if I decide to move on, you and Marcus and his family, and even Mum and Dad, might be happier? Should I forget it, for everyone’s sakes?’ she asked. ‘I should stop looking for him, for a start. It might heal the rift between us, if I accept the situation.’

  ‘Can you even do that? Genuinely? Will it make you happy?’

  ‘I don’t know. Finding him might make me unhappy, though. Mum seems to think so. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t help wondering. The other day at the lantern workshop, Hazel was going on about the crazy parties here at the manor when Mum was young. You could tell Mum was desperate for her to shut up, as if she had something to hide.’

  Ellie put her mug down. ‘What did Hazel say?’

  ‘That there were famous people at the parties. Authors, actors, even a politician. This might sound mad, but what if my dad is someone famous?’

  Ellie laughed.

  ‘It’s not that silly! If he is a cabinet minister or an actor, no wonder Mum won’t say.’

  Ellie fixed on a serious look. ‘I’m sorry, you’re right; it’s not funny, but I doubt it—’

  ‘It is possible, though.’

  ‘I suppose so. It could be almost anyone.’ She covered Scarlett’s hand with hers. ‘I can’t imagine how confusing and surreal it is not to know, and I wish I had an answer. But until and unless Mum chooses to tell us, there’s nothing more we can do.’

  Scarlett sighed. ‘You’re right, of course.’ She smiled. ‘At least your love life is going well. You look happy, Ellie, and no one deserves that more. Dare I ask if there’s a chance you might be moving on after Christmas?’

  Ellie’s brow furrowed. ‘Me? Moving on? You mean out of Porthmellow?’

  ‘No. Out of the manor. You are spending more nights with Aaron than here, so I wondered if you might move into the cottage with him?’

  Ellie laughed again. ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ She gathered up the mugs. ‘I’m staying put. Unless something major changes I can’t see myself leaving the manor anytime soon.’

  Ellie put the mugs in the dishwasher so Scarlett couldn’t see her face, but Scarlett could sense the tension in her body and hear it in the edge to her voice. Just when she thought everything was at last going well for her sister, it looked as if she had troubles of her own.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ellie met Aaron at the farm shop after work to collect a Christmas tree. She’d been delighted when he’d asked her if she wanted to help him choose one. Somehow, selecting a tree for someone else’s home felt less laden with dangerous emotions than getting one for the manor. Besides, despite Ellie’s gentle hints, her mum had shown no enthusiasm for having a tree at all so far, and Scarlett hadn’t been much better.

  Ellie thought it was a bit desolate, but it looked like Auntie Joan’s decorations would stay in the attic this year. At least Aaron was keen. After so many Christmases on tour, he was determined to go full on now he was in his own place. Still, choosing a tree together felt somehow significant. It was the kind of thing that couples did for their own place, and made Ellie think more carefully about Scarlett’s speculation that she and Aaron might move into the cottage.

  Obviously, Ellie kept her musings on the subject well hidden as she and Aaron spent way too long picking over identica
l firs. They eventually settled on one and carted it home in Aaron’s van. While he trimmed the trunk and fixed it into a base, she made up the fire in the cottage and brewed hot toddies. She helped him set it up in the corner of the sitting room and they sipped their drinks, admiring their handiwork. Aaron had sawn a good foot off the bottom, and hacked off some of the lower branches, but the tip still touched the ceiling.

  The room was alive with the rich essence of the season – pine, woodsmoke, spices –and the honey-scented whisky filled her veins with warmth.

  Aaron abandoned his glass on the coffee table and slipped his arms around her. ‘I was right, that tree’s way too big for this little room.’

  Ellie smiled. ‘They always are.’

  ‘Not at the manor with your high ceilings. I ought to trim some more off, but I don’t think I can be arsed to go out in the cold and dark – though I might have to cut the tip or we’ll never get a fairy on top.’

  She laughed. ‘Do you have a fairy?’

  ‘Hmm. I’m not sure. Mum insisted I have some of their old decorations. Apparently, it was the only way to persuade Dad to invest in new colour-coordinated ones. That’s what she claimed, anyway. They’re in the box on the table.’

  ‘Great. Shall I fetch them?’

  ‘Sure. They might be kind of vintage if they’re Mum’s cast-offs.’

  ‘Sounds like fun.’

  Aaron connected up the new string of lights he’d bought from the farm shop while Ellie brought the box to the tree and set it on the carpet. She got down on her knees and unwrapped the creased and faded tissue paper and loo roll from around a dozen baubles. They were an eclectic mix of decorations from across the generations. A fragile faded penguin, which must have been fifty years old, glittery baubles from the eighties, and a mini rocking horse.

  He shook his head, amused by the faded penguin. ‘I remember some of these. I loved getting them out each year. I sent them the rocking horse from a visit to the States. I missed a lot of Christmases.’

  ‘I missed a few too.’ She picked up a cartoonish Disney snowman with a carrot nose. ‘This one of yours?’

  He caught sight of it. ‘What the heck’s that?’

  ‘I think it’s Olaf from Frozen. One of my nephews loved the film when he was little. He’d swear blind he’d never even seen it now, of course.’

  Aaron rolled his eyes. ‘That must have come from Gemma’s youngest, Lyra.’ He took the Olaf figure from her. ‘Surprised Mum could bear to part with it.’

  ‘Perhaps she doesn’t know it was in the box?’

  ‘Maybe, or she might have wanted me to have it as a reminder of the kids. I’ll hang it on the tree and mention it to her when she comes over.’

  Decorating the tree was never only about decorating the tree. Every piece held memories, of people lost and found and long gone. She and Aaron had unwrapped and hung around half the box’s worth of baubles when Ellie found a small tin box that had once contained toffees.

  Inside was an object wrapped in extra layers of tissue. The tissue was worn but it was clearly protecting something precious. She took extra care in separating the layers and came upon a chubby glass angel with tattered feathered wings and cherubic features almost rubbed away by age. Ellie smiled to herself, wondering how many Christmases the angel had watched over in her time.

  Aaron saw her examining it and came over. ‘What have you got there?’

  She held the angel out carefully, still in her tissue paper nest. ‘Top of the tree?’

  He knelt beside her and let out a breath. ‘Wow. My God, I remember that from when I was a lad. It goes up on Mum’s tree every year. She might even have had that from my grandma.’

  Ellie peered at its once-ruddy cheeks. ‘It’s beautiful. From an innocent time. I’m afraid to touch it in case it crumbles away.’

  ‘It’s lasted this long. It’s probably tougher than we think.’ He picked it up and examined it wistfully. ‘You know, I’ve a feeling that Mum might have an ulterior motive in passing on these decorations … I think it’s a hint for me to stay, giving me her treasures.’

  ‘She’s only keen for you to be happy.’

  ‘I’m sorry about that. Mum’s wonderful but she is keen to get me paired off.’

  Ellie couldn’t quite say the same about her own mother. She didn’t seem very happy about Scarlett and Jude’s relationship. She hadn’t commented much on Aaron, although Scarlett had said that their mother had been ‘pointed’ about her spending so much time at Cove Cottage. Ellie could partly understand her mother’s cynicism, given her recent experiences. Ellie thought of the contrast between the devoted Carmans and her own parents’ situation. Then again, she had no right to make assumptions about their marriage. Who knew what they might have gone through and hidden from their own kids?

  ‘Family means everything to her,’ Aaron added. ‘So you can understand why she can’t wait to have us all together over the Christmas holidays, me, Gemma and her kids too, if I know Mum. Any excuse for a massive get together and a shrimp creole.’ He sighed wistfully. ‘I sure missed those while I was on tour. Mum’s recipe is legendary.’

  Ellie kissed him on the cheek. ‘You can’t blame her for wanting to have you by her side, after all the time you’ve been away.’ She smiled. ‘And shrimp creole sounds absolutely delicious.’

  ‘It is. My grandad taught the recipe to my grandma. It was one of the few things he brought with him from New Orleans after the war.’

  Ellie already knew that Evie’s father had been a GI stationed in Cornwall during the Second World War. ‘Did he ever go home?’

  ‘Briefly, but he came back soon after for my grandma. They were much too in love to part and he didn’t want to take her away from her home. Life would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for them in the States – a black American marrying a white Englishwoman. They’d have had to move far from his family for a start, to the north or west, because Mum told me my grandma and grandad wouldn’t even have been legally allowed to marry in Louisiana until nineteen sixty-seven. So, he came to Britain and luckily he was allowed to stay and marry her.’

  ‘I can’t imagine it was too easy for them here either.’

  ‘No, but they survived and thrived and times move on, thank God. It’s been tough for my parents too, but Mum always gave as good as she got and my dad would have punched anyone who said a word against her. He used to do a bit of boxing, you know.’

  ‘Wow.’ Ellie could imagine Troy doing that. He was only a small man, but wiry and he must have been very fit in his youth. Aaron must take after his grandfather in his build, she decided, as well as in his service to his country.

  ‘Your mum and dad are really lovely people.’

  He smiled. ‘Dad’s a character but I love them both and they’ve always wanted the very best for me and my sister. Mum seemed so proud when I joined the army; always boasting to the locals about my job, but “now I’m home safe” she’s told me she was heartbroken too. I’m very glad to be able to spend time with them, even at this later stage in their lives. Mum told me she and Dad were worried sick for me every day when I was posted somewhere tricky.’

  Ellie was amused by the word ‘tricky’. He must actually mean somewhere bloody dangerous.

  ‘I can imagine why they were so worried …’ she said gently, knowing she’d have been terrified for him herself.

  ‘I didn’t realise quite how worried they were. When you’re in the thick of it with your mates, focusing on the next day, hour, or even second, you don’t have much time to think long-term.’ He became thoughtful. ‘Unlike now.’

  Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but it was hard to ask a question that didn’t sound needy.

  ‘We’ve only known each other a few weeks, but I like being with you, Ellie. I hope you feel the same. I don’t want to sound scary, but when you meet someone special, I think you know deep down, almost straightaway. I’ve seen and experienced enough to know that time is precious too.’

 
Ellie caught her breath. She’d only known him a couple of months, yet she had feelings every bit as powerful as when she was a teenager; racing heart, thinking about him all the time, analysing every word and look. However, she was also more analytical of her own feelings these days, torn between wariness and seizing the day.

  She hadn’t committed herself to a man so deeply – or even at all – since Julian. She knew just how big a deal it was to allow yourself to care deeply for someone, to fall in love with them. It was a huge risk and one she was already almost too late to stop.

  ‘I like you. A lot. Settling down in one place is – was – new to me too, and Seaholly and Porthmellow mean a lot to me. I don’t plan on moving.’ The words slipped out easily yet still took her by surprise. She could finally acknowledge that Porthmellow was her ‘forever’ home now. ‘Even if Mum sells up, I’d like to stay around,’ she continued. ‘I have to think of Scarlett too. If we have to move out of the manor, I imagine we’d share a place for a while …’

  ‘Porthmellow got under your skin, eh?’ he said.

  ‘Not only the town,’ Ellie murmured.

  ‘I’m glad to hear it. I feel the same. You’ve got under my skin too.’ He leaned in and kissed her softly.

  Her heart beat strong and fast. She felt that in a few moments, the connection between them had deepened and she was ready to risk a little more of her heart than she’d thought.

  ‘Aaron … this is difficult for me but I need to – want to – tell you something about my past. It’s ancient history now but I’d like to get it off my chest. There was someone, you see …’

  ‘Ah.’ He gave a long slow nod. ‘I sense there’s a “but” on the way. A pretty big one.’

  ‘Not necessarily, but I’d like you to know the circumstances. The someone wasn’t recent – not that I’ve been a nun.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it.’

  She laughed. ‘I’ve had a few relationships in my time. Short-lived but enjoyable enough. Like you, I’ve spent most of my life focused on the moment. Maybe not the next second, but the next day or week … always knowing I’d move on and probably one day come home. But … way back before I began travelling, there was someone who was special to me.’