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

by Tilly Tennant

  Because Nina had been out for most of the day the house was cold. She rushed to flick on the central heating, bursting to know what it was that Polly had come to talk about. They’d barely spoken on the short walk along Sparrow Street, though it was clear Polly was agitated and anxious about something. Were they in some sort of trouble? Did Colm need help? If he did, what sort of help could it be that only Nina could give? Or perhaps, she mused, quickly pushing away the hope, Jane had gone again.

  ‘I bet you’re freezing,’ Nina said as she returned to the sitting room where she’d left Polly to get comfortable. Colm’s daughter was still in her coat, and Nina didn’t blame her for that because she had no intention of taking hers off either, not until the house was a decent temperature. ‘Do you want something to warm you up? Hot chocolate or something?’

  ‘No thanks,’ Polly said.

  ‘Did you walk all the way here?’

  ‘It’s not that far.’

  ‘Far enough – it must have taken ages. Won’t your dad miss you? Should we phone him and tell him where you are?’

  ‘Maybe, but I need to talk to you first.’

  Nina took the seat across from Polly. ‘OK,’ she said, hands in her lap.

  ‘Mum’s gone.’

  Nina stared at her. ‘Gone? Left you again?’

  ‘She’s moved in with Gran this time.’

  ‘OK,’ Nina said, not particularly worried when it came to Jane’s whereabouts and wondering vaguely where this was going. If Colm was free and he wanted to try again with Nina, why hadn’t he come himself?

  ‘We thought we’d all be able to live together again but…’ Polly hesitated, as if wondering how much she could tell Nina. ‘I was so excited to have her back; it was like all my wishes had come true and I was so happy. But it didn’t stay like that. It was weird. It was like living with a stranger. We don’t know her any more and all those things I thought I remembered about her weren’t true. I’d made them up in my head, turned her into this amazing person because I missed having my mum around and the truth is… well, the truth is she’s not very nice. Especially to Dad and he’s tried so hard for her. Now I think he only did it for me and I feel just horrible about it.’

  ‘Right,’ Nina said, at a loss for anything else. What was she supposed to do with this information? What did Polly want from her? ‘You’re sure about all this? I mean, she’s only been back a few days really; perhaps it’s just going to take time for everyone to adjust.’

  Polly shook her head. ‘I just know it’s not right. I knew the first day and it wouldn’t matter how many days she stayed, I’d still feel the same. I don’t think they…’ Polly gave an awkward shrug. ‘Dad slept in the spare room. He gave Mum the big bed.’

  ‘When did your mum move out?’

  ‘A couple of days ago.’

  Nina did a quick calculation. Ron had seen them at the supermarket almost that recently too. Jane must have left shortly after that. ‘What made her go?’

  ‘Dad. He told her we could be a family but they’d never be a couple again. She was angry and she tried to get me to take her side but… well, I didn’t want to. She makes Dad miserable and the truth is I didn’t remember what she was really like. I mean, I spoke to her on the phone and stuff while she was away, but it’s not the same, is it? You can hide the person you are in a half-hour phone call every now and again. She’s selfish and she only thinks about what she wants. The truth is she makes me miserable too… Nina, do you think I’m a bad person because I don’t like my own mum?’

  ‘Of course not!’ Nina dug into her pocket for a pack of fresh tissues and handed one to Polly to dry her eyes. ‘You can love someone dearly and still not like them very much. They say you can’t choose your family and if you could, a lot of us would choose differently.’

  ‘Not you – your dad’s really nice.’

  Nina smiled. ‘I just got lucky, I suppose.’

  ‘I liked it better when it was just me and Dad.’

  Nina’s smile became sad. ‘I’m sure you did.’

  ‘But it was OK when you were with him too,’ Polly added quickly, perhaps sensing that her simple statement had hurt Nina. ‘I know it wasn’t for long but I think it would have been good. Dad was always happy when you were there with him. He said you broke up with him.’

  ‘Well, yes, but that was because your mum had come home and I thought that was what he wanted.’

  ‘You thought he would want to get back with her?’

  ‘Yes, and if I’m being honest, I thought that was what you wanted too.’

  ‘I suppose I did a bit. I said it to Dad, but that was before I knew what she’d be like, before I realised that I’d got it all wrong.’

  ‘Do you think you might change your mind? That your dad might change his mind?’

  Polly shook her head. ‘He’s so miserable. He tries to pretend he’s OK but I know. I thought it might be about Mum but it’s not – it’s about you.’

  ‘He said that to you?’

  Polly nodded.

  ‘Why didn’t he come and see me then?’

  ‘He thought you didn’t want to hear it. And when Mum moved out he said he couldn’t ask you to keep going back and forth for him. I don’t even know what that means but he wouldn’t say anything else about it.’

  ‘I think I do,’ Nina said.

  ‘So you’ll go out with him again?’

  ‘I don’t know if I should.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because I don’t know if that’s how he truly feels. Going to him and saying I want us to be together again might just complicate things. How do I know that’s what he wants if he doesn’t tell me?’

  ‘I know it!’ Polly said. ‘I can see how sad he is! Even if he doesn’t come to you and say that’s what he wants, I know it is. You have to come and see him!’

  ‘I can’t just walk in and—’

  ‘Call him then! Tell him you love him!’

  Nina stared at Polly, lost for words once again.

  ‘You love him, don’t you?’ Polly asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Nina said quietly, not sure why she was opening up so readily to Polly like this.

  ‘He loves you too.’

  ‘He said that to you?’

  ‘No, but I know it.’

  ‘Polly, I’m sorry but—’

  ‘Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about! Don’t tell me that I’m too young to understand, that I don’t know anything about it!’ Polly cried. ‘I do understand! It’s you who doesn’t understand!’

  ‘OK,’ Nina said, her mind racing. ‘Then what do you think I should do?’

  ‘Come and talk to him. All you have to do is tell him you love him.’

  ‘But…’

  Polly’s phone started to ring and she took the call.

  ‘Dad, I’m fine; I’m at Nina’s. You should come over,’ she added, throwing a meaningful glance at Nina that dared her to intervene. ‘She’s got something very important she needs to say to you.’

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  There had been so much food at Christmas lunch that nobody had been able to move afterwards. Winston had always been a decent cook but living alone he could rarely be bothered. Often it was only at Christmas that he made anything from scratch. Nina had barely got over her mountain of turkey with the trimmings when it was time for tea and the feeding frenzy started all over again. It was lovely having lunch with her dad and Pam, but Nina had found it hard to settle, her nerves fizzing about who was due to arrive later in the day.

  Almost as soon as Colm had arrived at her house the previous day – at Polly’s instruction – she’d known what a huge mistake letting him go had been. She’d seen his face and she’d realised instantly the truth of what Polly had told her. Barely had a word been exchanged and they were back in each other’s arms. There had been a lot to discuss, of course, and the discussions did come. They lasted well into the evening, until Polly had reminded them both that it was Christmas Eve a
nd as they all had places to be on Christmas Day, it was probably a good idea for her and Colm to go home. Nina hadn’t wanted him to go but she’d reluctantly let him. That hadn’t stopped the long phone call an hour after he’d left, and the constant exchange of texts all Christmas morning while Nina struggled to concentrate on lunch at her dad’s. Her head was filled only with the thought of seeing Colm’s face again when he arrived later that evening, as he’d promised to do.

  They’d been treated to a tea of salmon, various salads and finger foods, pastries, cheeses and fruit. The food definitely bore the hallmark of an influence other than Winston, who would have been content enough to make sandwiches with the leftover turkey, and she suspected that Pam had planned and cooked most of it. They’d messed around playing charades and Guess Who? afterwards, drinking and still nibbling, even though nobody had any space left to put away more than the odd peanut. Really, though, Nina could have been handed an old box to eat and she would have been happy. She was more than happy, her joy far too big to be encompassed by a single word.

  She could hear Polly now, laughing in the living room at something Winston had said, though she hadn’t quite caught what it was. As she reached into the fridge for a new bottle of tonic water, she felt hands settle delicately on her waist and warm breath on her neck. She closed her eyes for a moment, savouring his scent, before she turned with a smile to see Colm there.

  ‘Need any help?’ he asked with an impish look.

  ‘With my bottle of tonic water? I think I can manage.’

  ‘Well, you say that but they can be tricky…’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘OK, you got me bang to rights. I just wanted an excuse to do this…’

  He pulled her into a passionate kiss. After a moment, Nina broke away, struggling to open her eyes, her limbs molten.

  ‘I think we need to step away from the fridge,’ she said in a dreamy voice. ‘I’m worried all that heat might thaw the freezer out.’

  ‘You think that’s hot?’ he asked. ‘I’ll show you what hot is when we’re alone…’

  He reached to kiss her once more and this time she lost herself completely to him, certain that she might never emerge again. He didn’t stop, and she didn’t want him to.

  ‘We’ll have to go back in the other room,’ she said finally, not wanting to at all. She wanted to stay here in Colm’s arms forever. ‘They’ll be wondering where we are.’

  ‘Let them,’ he said.

  ‘Hmm. What would Polly say?’

  He smiled. ‘She can hardly complain as this is technically all her doing.’

  ‘Maybe she’d have thought twice about coming to get me if she’d known this would happen.’

  ‘Maybe, but I’m glad she did.’

  ‘Me too…’

  Nina frowned slightly. She’d tried to keep anything but happy thoughts from her mind but one kept creeping in, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

  ‘About Jane…’ she began.

  ‘I told you yesterday you don’t need to worry about that and nothing has changed. I have no feelings for her now. I’ve told her I want a divorce as soon as possible.’

  ‘She’s not going anywhere, though. You said the commune is all packed up.’

  ‘I can’t do much about that. She’s not coming back into my home – that’s one thing I can do something about.’

  ‘It’s her home too.’

  ‘Was her home. When she helps to pay the bills she can argue that point with me. Until then it’s mine and Polly’s and maybe sometimes yours… when you want it to be.’

  ‘I’d like that,’ Nina said.

  ‘So,’ he said. ‘Are you happy?’

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know; I wouldn’t want to presume anything… I’ll leave that sort of thing up to you.’

  Nina slapped his arm playfully. ‘I thought it was the right thing to do. Now I know it was stupid.’

  ‘Only a wee bit,’ he said. ‘And I was a wee bit stupid too. It’s lucky that Polly had enough sense for both of us.’

  ‘It is,’ Nina agreed.

  ‘So… you still haven’t answered my question. Are you happy?’

  ‘Maybe this will answer it,’ Nina said, moving in for yet another breathless kiss.

  From the kitchen doorway there was a shocked squeak. Nina and Colm broke apart to see Polly rush back out of the room.

  ‘Oh,’ Nina said, blushing, but Colm roared with laughter.

  ‘I should probably go and smooth things over,’ he said, though he didn’t make a move and he didn’t seem all that keen to go anywhere at all.

  ‘You don’t think she’s upset, do you?’ Nina asked.

  ‘I doubt it would last for long even if she was. She’s just not used to seeing her old da engaged in such…’

  ‘Filth?’ Nina suggested and Colm laughed again. ‘I suppose it’s not something you want to think about at fifteen, is it – your parents kissing like that?’

  ‘When it comes to it, parents don’t want to think about their fifteen-year-olds kissing like that either,’ Colm said with a chuckle. ‘We may have some awkward years ahead of us.’

  ‘Perhaps we ought to save our kissing for later,’ Nina said, ‘when we’re alone.’

  ‘I don’t know if I can wait that long.’

  ‘Me neither, but for the sake of everyone else we should probably try.’

  ‘OK, I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.’ He moved closer, pulling her into him, his voice husky. ‘Just your wee face there makes me want to grab you and—’

  ‘That’s not helping,’ Nina said, putting on a stern voice.

  ‘Then you’ll just have to stop looking at me with those eyes of yours…’

  Nina giggled. ‘What am I supposed to look at you with?’

  ‘Just… I don’t know. Wear a bag over your head or something until we get back to my place.’

  Nina cast around the kitchen. She couldn’t see a bag but her dad did have an old tea towel hanging from a hook by the sink. She grabbed it and draped it over her face.

  ‘Better?’

  ‘Idiot!’ Colm laughed, and then his face appeared beneath the towel, so close to hers that…

  They were kissing again. Nina could feel that fire build, that need. She wanted him so, so badly that she could barely think of anything else, but she knew she would have to wait and she wasn’t sure how she was going to manage.

  ‘My beautiful idiot,’ he said as he pulled away. ‘Promise you’ll never leave me.’

  ‘You’ll have to promise me first.’

  ‘I promise.’

  Nina pulled the tea towel from their heads and smiled, lost in the sea of his eyes again. She could see a future of happiness stretched out ahead, but there would always be a little sadness with it. Colm couldn’t make promises like that, just as Gray hadn’t been able to in the end. Nobody could say what life would bring and Nina had never felt that more keenly than she did right now. Perhaps it didn’t matter. Perhaps what mattered was that they grabbed love, greeted every day they got to spend together with joy and gratitude, nurtured and cherished it all the more for its unpredictability. Perhaps, in the end, that was the only way anyone could love. And wasn’t just one day of love like this better than a lifetime of emptiness? Even if losing it caused so much pain that it felt like your heart would burst into a thousand pieces, wasn’t it better than letting your heart wither and harden from feeling nothing at all?

  She let her gaze trace the features of his face and decided that yes, it was. She’d take just one day of love like this over a lifetime of nothing any day, and she wouldn’t waste another second being scared of losing it.

  If you loved The Garden on Sparrow Street, you won’t be able to put down A Very Vintage Christmas, a heart-warming festive romance.

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  A Very Vintage Christmas

  An Unforgettable Christmas Book 1

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  The fairy lig
hts are up and shoppers are flooding the snowy seaside promenade. It’s going to be a busy month at Forget-Me-Not Vintage, a magical shop with a warm heart where every item has a story to be told.

  With bright red hair and an infectious smile, Dodie is a hopeless romantic and absolutely one of a kind, just like the pieces in her shop.

  When Dodie finds a love letter in the pocket of an old woollen coat, she makes it her mission to deliver it to its rightful owner. Following the address, she manages to persuade the handsome but reluctant new tenant, Edward, to help her with her search.

  As the story of the letter unfolds, Dodie is there, as always, to pick up the pieces and make things right. But who will be there for her when her own love story needs a helping hand?

  Is it too much to dream of a happy ending like the ones in the black and white movies she adores?

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  If you’re looking for a sweep-you-off-your-feet romance that will warm you through and through then the door to Forget-Me-Not Vintage is always open. Perfect for fans of Jane Linfoot, Debbie Johnson and Jenny Colgan.

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  Books by Tilly Tennant

  Hattie’s Home for Broken Hearts

  The Mill on Magnolia Lane

  The Christmas Wish

  The Summer Getaway

  The Summer of Secrets

  An Unforgettable Christmas series:

  A Very Vintage Christmas

  A Cosy Candlelit Christmas