The Cornish Cream Tea Christmas

by Cressida McLaughlin

  ‘Can you see?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘Nope, not that far ahead,’ Lila said. Hannah joined her, but the road turned too acutely for them to see what was happening further down the hill. ‘This isn’t just traffic lights. Something has gone seriously wrong.’

  ‘And it’s backing up behind us too,’ Hugh called from the back of the bus. ‘Whatever this is, we’ve no way of escaping it. We’re stuck for the duration.’

  ‘I’ll walk down the hill and see what’s happening,’ Hannah volunteered, hurrying down the stairs. ‘Charlie, I’m going to go and have a look.’

  ‘Thanks. Will you take Marmite with you? He could do with a leg stretch.’

  Hannah attached the dog’s lead and stepped off the bus. The air smelled of fish and cold, but there was also a tang of something else; something deep and rich and delicious, perhaps from a nearby coffee shop. She strolled down the hill, past the queue of vehicles. Some of the drivers were sticking their heads out of windows, and horns echoed up and down the line of traffic. As she got closer to the harbour, she heard raised, angry voices. Marmite sped up, forcing Hannah to tug on his lead and then, when that didn’t work, pick up her pace to match his.

  They rounded a sharp turn and she saw what had caused the problem. A van had clearly taken the bend too quickly and smashed into a bollard. The damage didn’t look too bad – one of the angry men was wearing a high-vis and standing next to the open driver’s door – but the shunt had caused the back of the van to open, and there was a lot of detritus. Detritus that, on closer inspection, Hannah saw was Christmas puddings.

  There were hundreds of them, wrapped in red cellophane and spilling out across the road and pavement, and while the driver argued with whoever it was who was most annoyed about his accident, people were sneaking towards the puddings and taking them.

  Hannah didn’t know what to do. Should she alert the driver? It was unfortunate enough that he’d crashed, but now whoever these puddings were destined for would lose their order. She hovered, debating, but the job was taken out of her hands.

  ‘Excuse me, lad,’ called a man from the doorway of a gift shop, ‘but your puddins aren’t goin’ to last much longer.’ He pointed at a woman who had several in her arms and was scurrying away, a furtive look on her face.

  The driver sighed, his hands on his hips. ‘The stock’s ruined anyway – no way my client can sell these now. Better they get used than wasted. Go on, help yourselves!’ he shouted. ‘I’m covered by the insurance, and I’ll organize a new order ASAP.’

  He turned back to his original conversation, his voice dropping as he placed a placatory hand on the shoulder of the older man, whose cheeks were red with anger. Hannah heard the ‘whoop whoop’ of a police car coming from the opposite direction. The situation would be taken control of, but Charlie and the bus might have a long wait before they could get near their car-park spot.

  Marmite had wandered forward and was sniffing one of the puddings. Hannah resisted the urge to take one – she was sure that Levi up at Crystal Waters had already made his own for Christmas Day.

  She started making her way back to Gertie to give Charlie the news, pausing to look up a side street before crossing. It took her a moment to process what she was seeing, her breath faltering as she did.

  Noah was standing on a doorstep several houses up, looking gorgeous in a loose, biscuit-coloured jumper and jeans, his feet bare despite the cold. Marmite skittered towards him but Hannah held the lead tightly. Should she go and say hello now? The urge to was strong, but she needed to get back to Gertie and she didn’t want a rushed conversation with him. It would be better to wait until tomorrow.

  She was about to turn away when a car door slammed and a slim, pretty woman with shining auburn hair walked up to him. Hannah recognized her from the photo that had appeared on Noah’s phone when Beth had rung him. She was too far away to hear what they were saying – it was bad enough that she was watching – but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

  Noah stepped off the step and Beth wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. His arms went around her in return, and Hannah turned her head away so fast she felt a stab of pain in her neck. She walked quickly, crossing the road without looking, desperate to get away. Marmite trotted alongside, keeping close to her heels, as if he could sense her mood change.

  So, that was Noah’s house. And that was Beth. Beth who was supposed to be in London, now that Noah had moved back home. Hannah felt winded, as if she’d run straight into a solid object – her chest tight and her stomach aching. Had Noah’s mum been wrong about the break up, or had Noah and Beth talked it over and realized they’d made a mistake? After all, Christmas was a time of reconciliation.

  It was a beautiful, romantic reunion for a gorgeous couple; all it needed was some snow to complete the scene and it would be Christmas-card perfect. Hannah should be happy for them. She would be, once she’d got over the shock.

  Lila was waiting for her on Gertie’s step, her dark brows knitted in concern. ‘Are you OK, Hannah? We thought you’d got lost. What’s happening down there?’

  ‘Christmas puddings,’ she managed, as Charlie joined them. ‘There’s been a Christmas pudding spillage.’

  ‘But they’re not dead, are they?’ Lila asked, and Hannah stared at her, bemused. ‘There have been no Christmas pudding fatalities? Only you look mortified. Oh, it’s because you love food, isn’t it? You can’t bear to see that happen to something so delicious.’ She grinned, and Hannah tried her best to return it.

  ‘They’ve just been shaken up,’ Hannah said. ‘The fact that they’ve fallen out of a van wasn’t putting people off, so they’ll all find homes.’

  ‘Disaster averted then,’ Charlie said, narrowing her eyes at Hannah.

  Hannah took a deep breath and pulled herself together. ‘Disaster averted,’ she confirmed, thinking that was an apt way of putting it. At least she wouldn’t pour her heart out to Noah at her meal tomorrow night: she would avoid the crushing embarrassment of telling him how she felt, only for him to gently reject her because he was back with his girlfriend. The Christmas pudding spillage had been her saviour, but she wondered if she would be able to view them with as much fondness as she had done up until this moment, or whether they would always remind her of Noah and Beth, and leave a slightly bitter taste in her mouth.

  Chapter Four

  Hannah wasn’t sure exactly how long it took the Christmas pudding pile-up to be removed, but after what she’d seen, she wasn’t thinking much about anything except for Noah and Beth.

  ‘Whoop!’ Lila called when, finally, the car in front of Gertie started its engine and got moving, and Charlie slid into the cab and moved the bus forward.

  ‘Half an hour late!’ she called. ‘I’m sure we can make the time up and get through everyone. We’ll just have to be super-efficient, OK?’

  ‘Got it!’ Lila said.

  ‘No problem,’ Hannah added distractedly. She knew she had to get through the rest of the day, focus on the joys of Christmas and giving the children the experience they had come for, despite the sadness that was seeping through her, making her listless. Her stomach gnawed with something other than hunger, and she pressed a hand to it, trying to wish the pain away.

  There was no sign of the Christmas pudding van or the accident, apart from a slight dent in the solid-looking metal bollard that had borne the brunt of the van’s bumper, but the air still smelled faintly of spiced fruit. Hannah took up position, this time at the top of the stairs, ready to lead their young guests to Santa.

  ‘Doin’ OK, Hannah?’ Hugh asked. He looked red-faced beneath his hat and wig, even though Charlie had turned the heating on the bus to low so he didn’t boil to death.

  ‘I’m good,’ she said overly brightly. ‘Glad that little drama is over.’

  ‘Oscar, please be careful on the stairs,’ called a female voice as a small body careened into Hannah, knocking her into a table.

  ‘Hello,�
� she said, to the small, stocky child with rosy cheeks and caramel-coloured hair. He was wearing a Batman costume, though the eared face-mask was nowhere to be seen. ‘Are you here to see Santa?’

  ‘Yes!’ he shouted. ‘Yes, yes, yes!’

  ‘Sorry about that,’ said the pretty woman appearing at the top of the stairs. She had the same red cheeks and thick brown hair. ‘He is rather overexcited.’

  ‘Sure Santa Claus will be a match for Batman?’ Hannah asked Oscar.

  He nodded, looking up at her with wide eyes. ‘We’re both goodies,’ he said.

  ‘That’s very true.’ She turned and smiled at Hugh, who leaned forward slightly.

  ‘Ho-ho-ho!’ he bellowed. ‘Who do we have here? Come forward, young man.’

  Hannah and Oscar’s mother watched as, awestruck, the little boy stepped towards the Christmas magic.

  By the time they got back to Porthgolow, day had turned to night.

  ‘Lots of happy children,’ Charlie said, stepping out of the cab and arching her back. ‘And a few gifts left to give to any who come onto the bus over the next few days.’

  ‘You’re going to be open?’ Hannah asked. She was exhausted. The effort of appearing cheerful had taken all her energy, even though the innocent wonder of the children and the twinkling Christmas atmosphere had buoyed her slightly.

  ‘I’m running the last food market on the twenty-third – even though it’s not a Saturday – so people can pick up any final bits. And I’m expecting a few regulars tomorrow, people on their way home after a hard day’s shopping who might fancy a cream tea. When can you treat yourself, if not at Christmas time?’

  ‘I’m going to treat myself to a very large glass of wine when I get back to the hotel,’ Lila said. ‘And see what’s happened to my boyfriend.’

  ‘Daniel said he was going to show the warm-up cricket match in the snug,’ Charlie replied. ‘So I expect that’s where Sam is.’

  ‘What’s a warm-up match when it’s at home?’ Lila asked. ‘Cricket isn’t the most energetic sport at the best of times. What on earth do they need to warm up for?’

  ‘It’s the matches they play before the Tests,’ Hugh explained, coming down the stairs. ‘You know, against the B-teams and local sides. So they can get their eye in, get used to the pitches.’ Three faces looked blankly back at him. He shrugged. ‘It’s India, I think. Should be a great series.’

  Lila groaned. ‘Are we going to be cricket widows, Charlie?’

  ‘Not if I have anything to do with it. There’s Christmas to be celebrating, and I will enunciate the word loud and clear when I next see Daniel. Christmas not Cricket.’

  ‘Our slogan,’ Lila nodded decisively. ‘At least I know where to find him. What’s left to tidy?’

  ‘It’s almost done. Another ten minutes and we’ll have blitzed it.’

  They worked quickly, while Hugh collected rubbish from upstairs. Most children had taken their wrapped gifts away with them, but a few had ripped them open there and then, and he came downstairs with a bin bag full of paper and ribbon.

  ‘That’s one thing I always find so dispiriting about Christmas,’ Lila said. ‘All the wasted wrapping.’

  Hannah took the bag from Hugh and looked through it. ‘You can recycle most of it these days – it’s only the really fancy paper with velvet or sequins that’s harder to deal with. I just give people presents in tote bags. If they want to use the bag again they can, if not then I take it back and reuse it myself. Newspaper also looks pretty cool – you don’t have to use traditional paper.’

  ‘Maybe in future I could wrap gifts up in scarfs,’ Lila said. ‘Nobody would mind, would they? It’s about revealing the present more than anything, then they could just give them back.’

  Lila’s words reminded Hannah that she still hadn’t found her scarf, the one with rainbow stripes that her dad had given her years ago. She would have to search her room when she got back to the hotel.

  ‘We’re all done,’ Charlie said. ‘I’m going to take Marmite home and pick Jasper up from Lily’s.’

  Lila slung an arm around Hannah’s shoulders. ‘I’ll walk back to the hotel with you.’

  ‘Actually, I was wonderin’ if I could have a word with you, Hannah?’ Hugh had discarded the hat and beard, but he still looked festive in his padded suit. His face, however, was serious.

  ‘Sure,’ Hannah said. ‘Where—’

  ‘Come to the pub with me. I can run you up the hill if you don’t fancy walkin’ up afterwards.’

  As she followed Hugh off the bus, Charlie caught her arm. ‘I’ll be up at the hotel later. Come and find me if you want?’

  ‘Do you know what this is about?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘No, but I’ve very rarely seen Hugh look quite so sombre. Whatever it is, don’t be on your own if you don’t want to be.’

  With those words ringing in her ears, Hannah followed Hugh to the Seven Stars.

  The pub was bright and warm. A young woman Hannah hadn’t seen before was behind the bar and quite a few locals were already at the tables, including Jeb and Cliff who she’d seen on the night of the storm. Hugh got a round of applause, to which he gave a red-faced bow.

  ‘When are we gettin’ our presents?’ Jeb called. ‘I promise I’ve been a good boy!’

  ‘Never knew Father Christmas ran a bar on the side,’ someone else commented.

  Hugh gestured to the corner of the pub, where it was quieter. ‘Take a seat. I’m goin’ to get changed and then – would you like a drink? We’ve got a new Malbec in, if you fancy it.’

  ‘Malbec’s one of my favourites,’ Hannah said. ‘Thank you.’

  Once he’d gone, she sat down at the most secluded table in the pub. She got her phone out for something to do, and saw a message from Noah on the screen. Her mouth went dry: had he seen her watching him and Beth? She opened up his message, her fingers fumbling slightly.

  Really looking forward to tomorrow. Can I bring anything? Nx

  She frowned. He still wanted to come all the way to Porthgolow, despite his reunion with Beth? And she still wanted to see him again, despite the scene she’d witnessed. She shook her head as she typed her reply, the phrase glutton for punishment dancing through her thoughts.

  Just yourself and your Christmas cheer. Can’t wait! H. xx

  She wondered if she’d be able to muster up any Christmas cheer herself. She switched the ringer onto silent and put her phone away. Whatever it was Hugh wanted to talk to her about, she didn’t want to be interrupted.

  ‘One large Malbec.’ Hugh put the glass down and sat opposite her. He’d changed out of his Santa outfit into a pale blue shirt and dark trousers. ‘Thank you for agreein’ to this.’

  ‘Of course. Though I don’t know what it’s about.’ She laughed nervously.

  ‘It’s about those photos,’ Hugh said hurriedly. ‘The pictures you showed me, of you and Michael and Susie – Susanna.’

  Hannah felt as if she’d been drenched in cold water. She never thought of her mum as Susie; she hardly ever thought of her as Susanna. She had definitely never referred to her by either of those names while she’d been in Porthgolow.

  ‘You saw us?’ she whispered.

  ‘Susie brought you in the pub, your first time here. You’d been on the beach, and you and Mike both wanted chips. We got talkin’. She was – is – great, your mum. Is she keeping well?’ His expression was hopeful and sad all at once.

  Hannah nodded dumbly. ‘She’s fine. She lives near Leith, so we’re not too far apart. Was it just that one time? I don’t remember much at all.’

  ‘You were too little. Mike was a bit older, but we – we were careful, your mum and I.’

  ‘Careful about what?’

  ‘It should really be her telling you all this, Hannah. But it hurt me, lyin’ to you the other day. Seein’ you come close to the truth and then leadin’ you away from it. It didn’t seem right.’ He sipped his drink. It looked like tonic water. He was probably heading behind the b
ar after this.

  ‘You and my mum were together?’

  ‘It was a summer romance. I won’t use the word fling, because that doesn’t credit it with enough meanin’. I loved her, almost from the moment I saw her. She’d brought you on holiday while your dad was away. She told me the marriage was all but over. We clicked – it was as simple as that.’

  Hannah pressed a hand to her mouth, as if that might keep her swirling emotions under control. Her mum, so polite and formal. So strait-laced. She’d had an affair with this friendly, slightly bumbling Cornishman whose presence Hannah found comforting, even though she didn’t really know him. Was that some residual feeling from a time she didn’t remember? ‘Were you together for just one holiday? One fortnight?’

  Hugh shook his head. ‘You came back to Cornwall four years in a row. Susie and I – we saw each other every time. Only a few occasions – a couple of trips here with the three of you, then I’d come to your holiday home in Newquay in the evenings, once you and Mike were in bed.’ His cheeks coloured. ‘I know it was wrong, Hannah, but I hope you can appreciate the circumstances. I’ve never met your dad. I don’t want to speak ill of him—’

  ‘He was never there,’ Hannah said. ‘He still isn’t. Our family – his family – we’re not what he cares about. Not really. I just … even as I grew up, I guess I never realized how lonely Mum must have been, how hard it was for her to bring us up on her own.’

  ‘She did a grand job from what I saw,’ Hugh said softly.

  ‘I was always so absorbed with not seeing my dad. I never really …’ She held Hugh’s gaze. ‘Were you in touch between the holidays?’

  ‘A couple of letters, here and there. We both understood that it couldn’t really survive outside Cornwall, and to begin with, I thought it would be a one-off. But then Susie turned up the next summer, with you and Mike, and it was so easy to pick up where we left off. We talked about the future, about you all moving down here, but I think we both knew it would never happen. Then, one year, Susie wrote to me in spring and said you couldn’t make it that summer. She didn’t explain, just said she’d always remember our time together.’