The Garden on Sparrow Street: A heartwarming, uplifting Christmas romance

by Tilly Tennant

‘Oh, don’t worry, there’s plenty to do,’ Nina said with a smile.

  ‘Because we saw your father’s car,’ Ada said. ‘At least we thought it was one of his lovely old cars.’

  ‘And your friend’s car,’ Martha put in.

  ‘And one that would be your gentleman friend’s?’ Ada asked coyly.

  ‘The handsome gardener,’ Martha said, as if it needed clarifying for Nina, and they both broke into giggles as if they’d said something very naughty.

  ‘Yes, he’s here,’ Nina said.

  ‘Oooh, lovely,’ Ada said, clasping Martha’s hand in hers and almost dragging her over the threshold. ‘I said he’d be here – didn’t I say so, Martha?’

  ‘You said he’d be here,’ Martha said, as if Ada hadn’t just told her as much. With them safely in, Nina closed the door again and ushered them down the hall into the kitchen.

  ‘Oh!’ Martha exclaimed.

  ‘So many of you?’ Ada squeaked.

  ‘Oh, hello!’ Martha added, her gaze settling on Polly.

  ‘We’ve never seen you before,’ Ada said, now looking at Polly too.

  ‘This is my daughter, Polly,’ Colm said.

  Polly looked suddenly shy and a little uncomfortable. It was hardly surprising really with Ada and Martha scrutinising her so carefully. ‘Hello.’

  ‘She’s kindly agreed to help us,’ Nina said. ‘All hands on deck and all that.’

  ‘All hands on deck,’ Ada repeated. ‘I said that, didn’t I, Martha?’

  ‘You said it would be the reason for all the cars,’ Martha replied.

  ‘There certainly are a lot of cars.’ Ada nodded in fervent agreement, and Nina smiled again because there were only three cars parked outside her house, which was hardly a lot in anyone’s estimation.

  Ada and Martha hovered uncertainly, smiling at everyone, and Nina suddenly realised she hadn’t thought about how many chairs she’d need to seat everyone. She’d managed to source what she’d needed for her current guests, but now she was two short. Robyn guessed what was on her mind as she looked around.

  ‘I could drive to my house and pick up some camping chairs,’ she said.

  ‘It seems a bit far just for that,’ Nina replied. ‘I might have something in the loft if I go and look.’

  ‘Want me to go and look?’ Colm asked.

  ‘We have chairs!’ Ada said brightly.

  ‘Yes,’ Martha said. ‘Borrow ours – it’s no trouble at all!’

  ‘They are for us, after all,’ Ada said.

  ‘We don’t mind who sits on them, of course,’ Martha finished, though it hardly needed saying.

  ‘Come and get them from our house,’ Ada said.

  ‘Why don’t I take you to get them?’ Martha beckoned Colm.

  ‘I’ll take him,’ Ada said.

  ‘We can both take him then,’ Martha said, and Nina wondered for a moment whether she was about to witness them have an argument. She’d never seen them fall out before and, as far as she knew, neither had anyone else on Sparrow Street. She was quite certain that it must happen on occasion, of course, but they’d always seemed to speak as one whenever she’d been around them.

  ‘Colm and I can manage if I can have the keys to your house,’ Nina said, hoping to head off any potential disagreement. ‘I imagine they’ll be quite a weight to carry that far.’

  ‘Oh, it’s not locked,’ Ada said with a laugh, quite forgetting that she’d almost been annoyed only a moment before.

  ‘Nobody wants to rob us,’ Martha added.

  ‘Would you like us to lock up for you when we’ve got the chairs?’ Colm asked. If he thought they were foolish for leaving their home unlocked then he didn’t show it.

  ‘Oh, no thank you,’ Ada said.

  ‘That’s alright,’ Martha agreed.

  Colm narrowly avoided a frown. ‘I really think we ought to.’

  Ada threw a hesitant look at her sister. ‘Well…’ she began uncertainly.

  ‘If you really think so,’ Martha finished for her.

  ‘If the key’s under the mat like usual there’s no need to come with us,’ Nina said.

  Both sisters nodded and Nina took that to mean that it was.

  ‘Why don’t you take our seats and get settled here,’ she continued. ‘We’ll be back before you know it and we’ll bring the key with us so you can stay as long as you want without having to worry about your own house.’

  At the offer of an extended stay, both sisters brightened.

  ‘We could, couldn’t we, Ada?’

  ‘What a lovely idea,’ Ada agreed.

  Colm turned to the door, Nina following.

  ‘Need any help?’ Nina turned back to see Robyn grinning lazily at her. ‘Of course you don’t,’ she added wryly.

  Polly looked up, perhaps mildly perplexed by the statement – if she’d noticed it at all – but said nothing. Only Winston looked vaguely uncomfortable, and Nina made a note to give Robyn a good slapping the next time they were alone. She’d plan some sort of revenge but it was pointless, because nothing ever seemed to embarrass Robyn.

  ‘Have fun!’ Robyn called as they left the room. Colm gave a low chuckle.

  ‘Honestly,’ Nina hissed.

  ‘Let her have her fun,’ Colm said, still laughing. ‘We’ll pay her back somehow.’

  ‘I’ve just been thinking that, but if the thing that makes Robyn blush exists, I haven’t found it yet. I honestly don’t think it does.’

  ‘I’ll bet I can think of something.’

  ‘Good luck with that,’ Nina said, reaching for his hand with barely a conscious thought about it. She felt it close over hers, warm and reassuring, and they headed out into the evening.

  As Nina and Colm let themselves into Ada and Martha’s darkened house, Colm was still chuckling softly. Nina was glad he could see the funny side of things, because sometimes Robyn could be an acquired taste and life might have been very difficult indeed if he and her best friend couldn’t get along. Colm felt along the wall for a second before the hallway was flooded with yellow light.

  ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph!’ he exclaimed, almost choking on his words as he stared around at the walls.

  ‘Oh!’ Nina laughed. ‘I should have warned you about the puppy posters.’

  ‘I wish you had. I like a cute dog as much as the next man but I feel like I’ve seen something from a Stephen King novel here. I’ll be having nightmares later.’

  ‘Will you need me to come and keep you safe while you sleep?’

  ‘Maybe I will…’ he said, giving her a flirty look. ‘Or at least give me something to take my mind off what I’ve seen in here today.’

  Nina laughed again as they went through to the dining room.

  ‘They don’t have their heating on much, do they?’ Colm said, sniffing the air.

  ‘I don’t think they have much money to spare,’ Nina said. ‘I suppose if you can save on the heating you will.’

  He shook his head. ‘It’s not right, is it? People going without the most basic comforts. Someone ought to be looking out for them.’

  ‘I agree, but even if you tried to help them with it they wouldn’t accept it. They may seem a little silly if you don’t know them but they’re actually very proud and independent. We do try to look out for them as best we can.’

  ‘You mean you do?’

  ‘Everyone in the street does.’

  Colm raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Well,’ Nina said, laughing, ‘some of us more than others.’ She crossed the room and picked up a high-backed wooden chair, but then looked up to see Colm walk towards her and take it from her hands.

  ‘I can manage—’ she began, thinking he was going to try and carry both the chairs they’d come to fetch, but he put it down before grabbing her and planting a passionate kiss on her lips.

  After a few moments, Nina pulled away and smiled up at him. ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’

  ‘I didn’t see the point in wasting a perfectly good opportuni
ty,’ he said. ‘The truth is, Robyn wasn’t that far off the mark. I’ve been dying to do that all afternoon and here we are… alone. How could I not?’

  ‘It’s perhaps just as well you managed to wait. It might have turned a few heads if you’d done it in my dining room – it was rather… Hot.’

  ‘I’m glad you thought so. I do my best.’

  ‘Your best isn’t too bad.’

  ‘You know,’ he said, holding her in a smouldering gaze, ‘I ought to go and shake wee Toby by the hand.’

  ‘Why’s that?’

  ‘Well, if he hadn’t made such a pig’s ear of your garden I never would have met you.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Nina said. ‘I hadn’t really thought of it before.’

  ‘I have. A lot. And I don’t mind saying it’s changed my life…’ He stroked a dark curl away from her face. ‘You’ve changed my life.’

  ‘Me?’

  He kissed her again. ‘What do you think? I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.’

  ‘It’s just…’ Nina shook her head.

  ‘You don’t feel the same?’ he asked, his tone now tinged with uncertainty.

  ‘Oh God, of course I do! You’ve made everything so much better! I feel so lucky to have met you!’

  He threaded his fingers into hers and gazed at her in perfect silence and time stopped. ‘If you’ll let me,’ he said finally in a low, husky voice, ‘there’s something I want to say.’

  Nina gave a small nod, her heart beating faster than ought to be possible.

  But then a reedy voice rang down the hall.

  ‘Coooeeee!’

  Nina couldn’t help but laugh, the tension of the moment suddenly popping like a soap bubble.

  ‘Ada,’ she breathed.

  ‘You locked the door after us?’ Colm asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  He cocked his head with a grin. ‘So we could make them wait.’

  Nina slapped his arm, laughing. ‘Wait to be let into their own house? Don’t be mean!’

  ‘Could you let us in?’ Martha called through the letterbox.

  ‘We have cake in the pantry,’ Ada shouted.

  ‘Everyone at your house wants some,’ Martha added.

  ‘I’ll bet they don’t,’ Colm said.

  ‘Shhh!’ Nina giggled. ‘They’ll hear you!’

  Colm let her out of his embrace, but he seemed reluctant to. Whatever he’d been about to say, it looked as if it would have to wait. Nina couldn’t tell how significant it might have been and part of her was perhaps a little relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with it just yet. She liked Colm a lot and loved where this might be going, but it was moving so fast that at times she felt a little outpaced by it. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for circumstances to put the brakes on things from time to time, just to let her catch up.

  ‘We’d better let them in,’ she said, straightening her top. ‘Apart from anything else they’re the biggest gossips; let them get the wrong idea and half the street will think we had sex on their dining table by tomorrow morning.’

  Colm laughed. ‘Now there’s an opportunity I didn’t see.’

  Nina tried not to, but her cheeks burned as the very graphic image suddenly presented itself. She was slightly ashamed of herself, despite this, but she still had to wonder that if he’d suggested it, how hard might she have found it to say no?

  ‘Perhaps you’re right,’ he said, making his way to the door, the grin he was wearing making it obvious he was aware of the effect he was having on her and was fairly pleased about it too. ‘We wouldn’t want that kind of gossip, would we?’

  Colm got the front door and Ada and Martha tumbled into their own hallway like a couple of comic-strip kids caught eavesdropping at the headmaster’s door.

  ‘Oh!’ Ada cried, righting herself.

  ‘You found the chairs?’ Martha asked.

  ‘They weren’t too difficult to locate,’ Colm said with an air of amusement. Nina waited for him to add something about how chair-shaped and obvious they were but he didn’t.

  ‘We thought you might struggle,’ Ada said.

  Colm looked from one to the other, his amusement growing by the second. ‘You did, eh?’

  ‘Because it’s a strange house,’ Martha said.

  Ada nodded eagerly. ‘It’s not easy to find things in a strange house.’

  ‘Well, no,’ Colm replied. ‘Although chairs tend to take up a lot of room, and they tend to be in rooms where chairs are required, so…’

  Nina was now standing next to him and she dug her elbow into his side, but he didn’t flinch. Nor did he show any intentions of dropping his gentle ribbing.

  ‘We’d have had more trouble with the cake, though,’ Nina said. ‘It’s lucky you came round to get that.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Martha said with a vigorous nod.

  ‘Polly said she wanted a slice,’ Ada put in.

  Colm looked at Nina and she could tell he was dying to laugh but, to his credit, he held it in.

  ‘She’s never tried your cake before so I expect she does,’ was all he said, and Nina could just imagine the silent addition in his head. But she won’t be quite so keen next time…

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  To Pam’s bitter disappointment, the pretty Old Apple Loft pub and bistro had been fully booked after all and so she and Winston weren’t able to have their engagement party there. Nina had suspected that might be the case and, if she was honest, was a little relieved about it. She’d told Robyn that she wanted to stop connecting every Wrenwick landmark to things she’d once done with Gray, but old habits died hard.

  In the end, the only venue Winston and Pam had been able to book at such short notice was the damp and leaky community centre. Still, as Pam was determined that they wouldn’t postpone the event, Nina, Robyn and a sizeable army of Pam’s relatives had pitched in to dress it with bunting, streamers and various banners bearing messages of congratulations and wishes of good luck and it looked pretty good. Pam had also hired a fantastic caterer and a decent DJ, and on the night there were so many guests packed in you could hardly tell it was damp at all.

  The usual neat rows of meeting chairs had been moved to stand against the walls around the room and the DJ played old party classics while the hall pulsed with coloured lights that bounced from a glitter ball. It was all a bit school disco, especially the ball, but it didn’t matter because Nina was having so much fun she didn’t really care. Anywhere Colm was she was happy to be too these days, no matter where it was. Polly had been invited but had decided she’d rather stay at home, and Nina could understand this perfectly well. She’d suspected that her dad had only invited Polly out of courtesy to Colm and nobody really thought she’d want to attend. The same had happened in Toby’s case, so Robyn and Peter had come without a teenager in tow and were misbehaving quite enough to make up for his absence anyway.

  Things had started slowly because the four of them – Nina and Colm and Robyn and Peter – had got to the venue early to help set up, but during the last hour everything had really livened up, more and more as more guests arrived. Nina never danced, and yet Colm had persuaded her easily to get up with him and take to the floor where they’d danced to ‘Stayin’ Alive’, Colm doing his best John Travolta impression, which had made Nina laugh so hard she had almost stopped breathing.

  Following that, the DJ ran through a catalogue of hits from Michael Jackson, Wham! and Take That, and then Colm had really shown his dancing feet when the Motown classics came on. Nina had felt self-conscious at first, but it hadn’t taken long for him to have her whirling around the room, laughing and not caring how she looked. Occasionally she looked to see that Robyn and Peter were dancing too, and that poor Pam was doing her best to persuade a reluctant-looking Winston that he ought to be gracing the floor with everyone else. Nina smiled at that. Give him any car and he could strip it bare inside an hour and put everything back in place just as easily, but when it came to dancing, he was the proud owner of two firmly
left feet and he knew it. He loved music but headbanging to Black Sabbath was about his limit when it came to moving to it.

  When she could dance no more, Nina went to take a break. She sat, smiling to herself at a table while Colm went to get drinks, realising that she probably looked silly sitting and smiling at nothing, though she couldn’t deny that she found herself doing it a lot these days, regardless. Gradually, she became aware of someone else and looked up to see Pam at the table.

  ‘Are you having a nice time?’

  ‘Lovely,’ Nina said. ‘It’s a great party. Are you and Dad enjoying it?’

  ‘Oh yes, but I expect we’ll pay for it tomorrow morning.’ Pam laughed. ‘My old legs aren’t what they used to be. Mind if I join you for a minute or two?’

  Nina patted an empty chair beside her. ‘Of course not.’

  Pam sat down and gave her a fond look. ‘I’m so glad we can be friends. I wanted to thank you for that. I was so worried you wouldn’t like me; I know… well, I’ve heard about how wonderful your mother was and how much she meant to you and Winston.’

  ‘Yes, she was, but nobody expected him to be lonely just because she was gone. Honestly, if I could have chosen for him I wouldn’t have done much better than you.’ Nina smiled. ‘As for nerves, I can understand exactly how you feel. I’m sort of in the same boat with Polly, after all.’

  ‘Colm’s daughter?’

  Nina nodded.

  ‘It’s hard, isn’t it?’ Pam said. ‘I expect it’s harder still with a teenager.’

  ‘I don’t know about that, but I do worry I’m being compared to her mum and I hope she doesn’t think I’m trying to replace her because I’d never want to do that. All I want is to be a new part of her life, someone she feels she can spend time with and come to if she ever needs help or advice. If she’ll have me, that is.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll be just that.’

  ‘I wish I was so sure,’ Nina said.

  Pam patted her hand. ‘Love has a way of working out in the end. It’s not worth having if it doesn’t take a bit of effort.’

  ‘You could be right there,’ Nina said pensively. Her expression brightened as she looked at Pam. ‘For the record, Dad looks happier than I’ve seen him in ages. Thank you for that.’