What Happens At Christmas... Read online

  Holly shook off the supporting hands and stood up unaided. She took a few more deep breaths. ‘Thank you all so very much. I’m terribly sorry for getting so emotional. It was just the shock, the surprise. I’m all right now. Howard, thank you very much indeed for inviting me to the party. I hope I haven’t ruined it for you.’

  ‘Of course you haven’t ruined anything. Don’t be silly. Now, if I hear anything, I’ll call you, and you do the same for me. All right?’

  Holly nodded wearily. Justin and Amanda led her out into the lobby. Julia arrived with their coats and helped Holly into hers. Once she was buttoned into it, Holly caught hold of Howard and kissed him warmly on the cheeks. He hugged her tightly in return.

  ‘It’ll be all right, Holly. You’ll see.’

  Justin had brought his car right to the bottom of the steps and had left it with the engine running. Inside it was warm and comfortable and Holly did her best to sit up straight in the back seat alongside Julia. She leant forward as Justin turned the car round in the deep snow and attempted normal conversation, but it wasn’t easy. ‘I’m so delighted you two have been talking. It’ll all work out, you’ll see.’ Amanda turned her head round and smiled at her.

  The big car gripped reassuringly well, crunching through the snow as they drove back to Brookford. Under other circumstances, it would have been a delightful scene as they reached the village, the trees all covered with a canopy of snow and the Christmas lights on the church reflecting in the snowflakes as they fell, turning them all the colours of the spectrum as the crystals caught the lights. They drove down past the green and turned into the little lane in front of Brook Cottage. Holly looked out through the car windows as they approached. She had left the light on in the kitchen for Stirling and the glow through the curtains turned the snow-covered bushes in the front garden a ghostly green. As the car came to a halt, it gradually dawned upon her that the lights were also on in the house next door; Jack’s house.

  ‘Holly, were Jack’s lights on when we left?’ Julia had noticed as well. Holly couldn’t speak a word. She shook her head. Jack’s house had been in darkness earlier on. Did this mean..? Acting on sheer instinct, she unclipped her seat belt and opened the car door. She stepped out into six inches of snow and her feet disappeared from sight. She didn’t care. She set off at an ungainly run for his gate in her heels, reached it and hurried up the path to his front door. As she was running she could hear herself repeating over and over again. ‘Please make it be him. Please make it be him.’ Just as she reached his doorstep, her left heel caught in something and she went flying, landing with a thump against the old wooden door, banging her elbow on the ground and her cheek on the door. She was struggling to get back up so as to reach the doorbell when the door opened and she saw his face. It was him and he was all right. She sank back into the snow, a wave of overwhelming relief washing away whatever self control she had been able to establish.

  As he bent down towards her, all she could say was, ‘you aren’t dead,’ over and over again.

  ‘We could see what was happening from the beach. It was late afternoon and the competition had finished about half an hour earlier. Most of us had changed out of our wetsuits and were standing around on the beach, waiting for the prize-giving.’ Jack looked across at Holly with a little smile. ‘I won twenty-five quid. First place veteran, that’s me.’ She did her best to smile in return, the bag of frozen peas against her left eye becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

  Julia came over from the stove with a mug of hot chocolate and set it down on the table in front of her. Jack’s tone became more serious. ‘The guy was over to the east side of the beach, right by the rocks. He wasn’t part of our competition, but we’d all been watching him, wondering what on earth he was doing there. The waves were getting really big by this time and increasingly messy. A couple of the organisers of our event were even gesturing at him to come in, when a really massive wave came along. You get them from time to time; twice the height of the other waves and, if you aren’t looking out, they can be dangerous. The guy was picked up like a cork, his board thrown into the air and then he was smashed head first into the rocks.’ He reached for his hot chocolate and gave Julia a grateful look. She sat down beside Holly, looking across the table at Jack.

  ‘So how come your phone ended up in the sea?’

  Jack smiled apologetically. ‘Because it was in my pocket when I went in to try and help. A couple of us started to swim out, but we were barely waist deep when first his board and then his body were spat right out of the waves at us. Mikey, the guy with me, was gashed across the forehead by the fin, but I was all right. Apart from my phone, that is.’

  ‘You mean you went into the sea just in your ordinary clothes?’ Julia was appalled.

  Jack smiled. ‘And then had to drive home in them.’ He turned towards Holly. ‘I might need to get that thermostat of mine recalibrated. The drive home took almost three hours as I kept getting held up by numpties sliding all over the roads. I even had to drive through a field at one point to get past a jam. Anyway, I was frozen stiff by the time I got back here. First thing I did when I got home was to change out of my wet gear. I wanted to phone you, Holly, to tell you I wouldn’t be coming to the ball, but your mobile number was on my phone and it’s kaput. I didn’t realise at that stage that news of the accident had been on the TV. I phoned the Castle and spoke to Howard only about thirty seconds before you head-butted my door.’

  Holly put the bag of peas down on the table and shrugged the blanket off her shoulders. The cocoa, the wood-burner and the news that Jack was still alive had finally stopped the shivering and she had started to warm up again. She caught his eye.

  ‘I’m glad Howard knows the good news. He was very worried, like we all were. But that sounds like an incredibly brave thing to do. You could have drowned.’

  ‘Or caught your death of cold.’ Julia still sounded appalled.

  ‘It wasn’t brave, Holly, it was instinct. I just did it. Brave is when you’re terrified and you do it all the same. It was bloody cold though, I’ll give you that. Anyway, the reason I was so late was that when we came out of the water, Mikey had lost a lot of blood, so I volunteered to ride in the ambulance with him to Barnstaple Hospital.’ He drank some more of the hot cocoa. ‘Once he’d been given some stitches, we then had to wait ages for transport to get us back to our cars and by that time the snow was piling up and the roads were a mess. Hence the fact that I didn’t get back here till quite recently.’

  He raised his head and looked around. Holly followed his gaze. Justin and Amanda were getting ready to leave now. Stirling was sitting at Holly’s feet, his head resting on her lap, very concerned by what had happened. From the moment Jack had half-carried her in, the dog had been at her side. If Holly had needed any further proof that she and the dog were now an item, this was it. She dropped one hand down to stroke his head. Her own head was clearing now and the bruised area didn’t even ache too badly. She glanced out of the window and saw the snow still coming down heavily. Greta was invisible under at least a foot of snow. She looked across at Julia.

  ‘Somehow I think you’ll be having Christmas lunch here with us tomorrow, Jules.’ Julia nodded.

  ‘That sounds like a lot of fun, especially if we can build a snowman first.’ She looked at the clock. ‘Eleven-fifteen. I’ll ring my parents in a minute. They’ll still be up, I expect. Anyway, they won’t mind.’

  Holly looked across the room to the door. Justin already had his hand on the handle. ‘Amanda, Justin, will you two come here for lunch with us tomorrow?’ She caught Jack’s eye before repeating the invitation. ‘We’d both be really pleased if you would. And we’ve got loads and loads of food.’

  Amanda and Justin exchanged glances. He answered for both of them. ‘We’d love to. That would be super. Thanks.’ He smiled across the room. ‘Holly, Jack, I’m delighted everything’s all right after all. See you tomorrow.’

  After they had left, Jack looked acros
s the table to Holly. ‘Looks like you won your bet about those two getting back together. Impressive. I won’t ask how it happened, but I’d bet big bucks you had a hand in it. Maybe there’s a whole new career path opening up for you. How’s the head?’

  She managed a smile. ‘Surprisingly good. What’s it look like?’

  ‘A domestic violence advert.’ Julia wasn’t at her most diplomatic. Holly turned back to Jack and raised an eyebrow.

  ‘That bad?’

  ‘Just a bit bruised, but you still look gorgeous. I’d be more worried about your shoe if I were you.’ He pointed across to where Holly’s lovely black high heeled shoe was lying on the hearth, now minus a heel. ‘I’ll poke around in the snow tomorrow and dig out the missing bit. Maybe they can stick it back on.’

  Holly wasn’t so sure, but she couldn’t care less. Shoes were replaceable. Jack wasn’t. She was very conscious of the depth of emotion that had been awoken in her when she thought he might be dead. She also thought of the scene she had caused at Howard’s party. She picked up the phone and called the Castle. She had to wait a couple of minutes, but she then found herself put through to Howard.

  ‘Howard, hello. It’s me, Holly.’

  ‘I’m so pleased Jack’s all right. He phoned, you know. And how about you? I told him how terribly upset you were. Are you feeling better?’

  ‘Much better thanks, Howard.’ She decided not to mention her black eye. ‘And I do apologise for the scene I made at your party.’

  ‘Don’t apologise, my dear. Your reaction was perfectly understandable coming, as it did, from a woman in love.’

  ‘From a what…?’

  ‘You heard. Well, just in case you had any doubts, now you know.’

  Holly didn’t know how to respond, particularly with Jack sitting only a few feet from her. She changed the subject. ‘Anyway, Howard, I wanted to ask you if you felt like coming here for lunch tomorrow. I’ve got Justin and Amanda, Julia and Jack of course. Will you come, please?’

  ‘How terribly kind of you, Holly. Why, yes, of course I’d love to come. I’m honoured to be invited.’

  ‘That’s wonderful. Come whenever you like. We’ll be eating late anyway, so whatever time suits you.’

  ‘Shall we say one o’clock? I’ll get Geoffrey to drop me down in the Range Rover. See you then. Now I must go as we’re organising a couple of tractors and trailers to get people down to the church for midnight mass.’

  Holly put the phone down and looked around at the others. ‘He’s organising a tractor and trailer to get people to the church.’

  Jack grinned. ‘I suppose it wouldn’t do for the vicar to miss the service.’ He caught Holly’s eye. ‘I can’t say I feel in the mood for sitting in a cold church myself. What about you two? Feel like going?’

  Holly shook her head gently then reached for the frozen peas once more. The bruise had started to throb a bit now. ‘Not at all. If I didn’t have to take the dog out, I’d happily stay here by the stove.’

  Jack stood up. ‘Don’t worry about Stirling. I’ll take him out.’

  ‘No you won’t. I will.’ Julia stood up in her turn and pointed her finger at Jack. ‘You’ve almost died of hypothermia today already, Holly you’re probably concussed, but I’m fine. Just give me a minute to change out of this dress and I’ll take him out.’ She walked round and pressed Jack back into his seat. ‘Sit. Stay. Down boy. Good boy.’

  After Julia and Stirling had left for their walk, Holly and Jack sat quietly for some minutes. Finally, it was Jack who broke the silence.

  ‘I’m really sorry for worrying you, Holly.’ She looked across at him with her good eye and smiled wearily as he went on. ‘I borrowed a phone and tried ringing here. It’s the only number I could remember, but by that time it was too late and you’d already left.’ He caught her eye. ‘Howard told me how upset you were. I’m very sorry.’ He reached over and caught her free hand in both of his. ‘Thanks for being so concerned for my wellbeing.’

  Holly knew she was going to have to be very careful or she would burst into tears all over again. She cleared her throat. ‘Of course I was concerned. There’s a turkey to stuff tomorrow.’ She even managed another smile.

  Jack glanced at his watch. ‘Holly, I wonder if I could ask a favour of you.’

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘Would you mind dropping your bag of peas for a moment and standing up?’ As she did so, he stood up as well and came round the table to her. He took her hand and led her into the middle of the room. Then he stepped back, still holding her hand and breathed out. ‘You look absolutely stunning this evening. That dress, your amazing hair, the little sparkly earrings, the werewolf nails… and I’m so very sorry I missed you in all your glory with the heels. And I really missed dancing with you.’

  Holly smiled at him. ‘And the favour, Jack?’

  ‘Would you like to dance with me please?’

  ‘But there isn’t any music.’

  His arms were already reaching for her. ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘Not to me.’ She buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling his whole body press against her. Her bruised face was still hurting, but she didn’t mind. After a few moments, she lifted her head so their eyes met. ‘So, what’s happening in the screenplay?’

  He smiled. ‘I’m coming round to thinking the good guy maybe isn’t as stupid as I thought.’

  ‘Why so?’

  ‘He’s got this back story, you see. It’s all to do with a girl he knew. It’s been screwing him up for years.’

  ‘And now he’s getting over it?’ Her voice was little more than a whisper. Over his shoulder, she could see the big bunch of mistletoe hanging from the beam.

  ‘He’s getting over it.’ He dropped his mouth towards her and she closed her eyes as she felt his lips against hers.

  ‘You should have seen the dog in the snow. What a hoot! He went totally bonkers, running round like a jack rabbit. And then he couldn’t find his leg to cock it…’ Julia’s voice tailed off as she took in the scene before her. ‘Oh, Lord, I’m so sorry. I do hope I’m not interrupting anything. Do you want me to go out and come back again a bit later?’ Julia’s voice was followed by a very cold wet nose pressing up against Holly’s thigh. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes again and stepped back. Jack gave her a little smile and released his arms from around her neck and shoulders. He turned towards Julia who was looking unusually embarrassed.

  ‘It’s fine, Julia. We were just dancing.’ He was smiling.

  Julia closed the front door and stared at him. ‘But there isn’t any music.’

  Jack glanced down at Holly and then smiled across at Julia. ‘Oh yes there is. If you listen hard enough, you’ll hear it.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And now, girls, I have some food to prepare. Strangely, I feel quite tired. I’ll see you in the morning.’

  And he was gone.

  Day Ten

  Sunday, Christmas Day

  Holly’s walk with the dog the next morning was magical. At some point in the night the snow had stopped and now, at half past eight, dawn had already broken, illuminating a clear, cloudless sky. The light reflected off the snow, making everything brighter than Holly had ever seen at that time of the morning and everywhere she looked the world was clean and white. Sharp edges and corners had disappeared, to be replaced by smooth curves and gentle slopes. The snow crunched underfoot as she and the dog walked up the track onto the edge of the moor. Nobody had been along here so far this morning and Holly’s were the first footsteps to break the pristine surface of the snow, which was deep enough in places to reach her knees. As for the dog, from time to time he almost disappeared from sight, only his tail sticking up in the air, wagging furiously, indicating his presence. As Julia had described the night before, he was obviously mightily excited by the snow and from time to time would start running round and round in circles like a startled rabbit, making wild dog growling noises.

  Holly and Stirling di
d a circuit around the side of the village and she took a number of photos of the scene from her high vantage point. Her breath formed clouds in the air as she climbed the steep track onto the open moorland and it felt really, really good to be alive. Nothing moved; she could see nobody and hear nothing – not even a tractor. Even the rooks were silent for once. She breathed deep and did her best to memorise the moment, to be saved and reproduced if she ever felt down at any time in the future. It didn’t get any better than this.

  As they came back down the track, between the stream and the church, she knew there was somewhere she wanted to go. She had to struggle to push the gate to the churchyard open against the weight of lying snow, but she managed to move it enough to be able to squeeze through. The footprints of the congregation at last night’s service had disappeared without trace and she was the first to set foot in there that day, Christmas Day. She and Stirling walked up past the big yew tree to the line of recent graves. The wooden marker on the site of her father’s ashes was almost completely concealed by snow, over a foot deep. She dropped down onto her knees in front of it and removed the snow with her hands until it was clear to see; George William Brice, 1955-2015.

  ‘Hello Dad.’ She whispered the words while her mind ran over the things she had learnt in the past week about this complex man. In so many respects, he had made a success of his life, had tasted true love and had been much liked by many people. And yet, his life had been blighted by the decision he had taken twenty-six years ago to abandon his wife and child for the woman he loved. The repercussions of this decision had been as traumatic for him as they were for those closest to him, Holly included. She spared a thought for her mum, whose life had been ruined by this apparently kind, generous man, and who had fought tooth and nail to keep her one precious daughter out of his clutches. Now both of them were gone.

  Holly glanced down at the dog, who had taken up a position sitting in the snow alongside her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his white breath forming clouds that wafted over the little wooden marker.