The door of the café opened and Evie walked in. She was wearing another colourful outfit. It looked as if she’d cut out fabric flowers and stitched them onto a blue denim dress, and around her neck was a red scarf that matched her boots. Her hair was tied on top of her head in a messy knot, and her lips were the colour of raspberries. She was a picture of brightness as she joined the short queue, and when she spotted him, she raised her hand and slanted him a shy smile. He noticed she glanced curiously at Louisa, though he and his sister were so alike that he was sure she’d have no problem deducing who she was.
‘Evie!’ he said, and beckoned her over.
She hesitated – probably unnerved by his uncharacteristically friendly behaviour – then came over. ‘Jake, hi. What can I do for you?’
He stood up to make the introductions. ‘I’d like you to meet my sister, Louisa.’
They shook hands. It was a little formal and perhaps he was more enthusiastic than necessary because Evie shot him a quizzical look. He couldn’t reveal how grateful he was that she’d spared him from his sister’s inquisition. He was off the hook – for now, at least.
‘Evie owns the fabric shop next door,’ he explained. ‘She also made the curtains for my new house.’
‘And a few bedcovers, too. Although, being a man,’ Evie leaned in conspiratorially, ‘I’m not sure he’s even noticed them.’
Louisa smiled. ‘Well, I noticed them. They’re beautiful. Did you make the blue and silver one in my guest room?’
Jake recalled the dress she’d worn to the ball and his cheeks burned, which didn’t escape his sister’s notice. She glanced from him to Evie in puzzlement.
‘Yes. That’s one of mine.’
‘You must give me your number,’ said Louisa. ‘I’d love something like that for my bedroom at home.’
Evie looked delighted and pulled a card out of her purse. ‘Of course. Here you are.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I’d better go – can’t leave the shop closed too long. I only popped in for a sandwich.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame. We didn’t get chance to chat properly. Why don’t we meet for a drink tonight after work?’ Louisa suggested, with a wide smile.
Uncertain, Evie turned to Jake, who was staring at his sister. ‘Am I invited to this?’ he asked.
Louisa laughed. ‘Yes, of course.’ She turned back to Evie. ‘My brother leads a quiet life. He won’t arrange an evening out for my benefit, so I’m doing it myself. It would be really nice to get to know you better.’
‘What she means is she’s checking on me,’ he muttered.
‘Checking on you?’ asked Evie.
‘She doesn’t believe I have enough interaction with other human beings.’
‘She’d be right, then, wouldn’t she?’ Evie grinned. ‘You’re not exactly a party animal.’
‘I knew it!’ said Louisa. ‘He spends too much time alone, doesn’t he?’
Evie nodded. ‘Alone with Smoke, but I’ve told him a dog –’
‘– doesn’t count,’ they finished together. Then laughed.
He looked from one to the other: his sister with her conventional beige trousers, well-ironed shirt and expensive handbag, and Evie with her wild hair and cheerfully embellished dress. He was seriously regretting having introduced them.
‘That’s not fair.’ Jake shook his head. ‘The two of you are ganging up on me.’ Trust Evie to make such a swift connection with someone she’d only met five minutes ago.
‘I close the shop at five. Want to meet in the pub then?’ she asked his sister.
‘Perfect. See you there.’
‘Do I get any say in this?’ asked Jake.
‘No!’ they told him simultaneously.
Evie shook the snow off her leather boots outside the Dog and Partridge, then pushed open the heavy oak door and went in. She spotted Jake sitting by the fire, brooding over a glass of orange juice.
‘You’re looking more Arctic than ever. Where’s Louisa?’ she asked, sitting down opposite him.
‘She left her purse in the car – she’s just coming now.’
Evie peered out of the window and saw Louisa, purse in hand, locking up his Bentley. ‘I like your sister. She seems fun.’ She looked just like him with the same dark hair and blue eyes, but instead of wearing a permanent scowl she had a ready smile.
Evie wondered if he’d told Louisa about their kiss. She hoped not. On reflection, she couldn’t imagine him divulging such a thing. Especially something he’d instantly regretted.
‘She likes you too. Apparently, your company is preferable to mine,’ he said, with his usual wry humour.
‘Is she older or younger than you?’
‘Can’t you tell by how bossy she is? Two years older.’
‘Are you close?’
His gaze slid away from hers. ‘We were.’
Evie waited for him to explain. When he didn’t, she asked, ‘You’re not any more?’
He took a swig of his drink and she watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall. He hadn’t shaved and his face was dark with stubble. It was disturbingly sexy, although he looked pale in the navy sweater he was wearing.
He stared out of the window before answering. ‘Louisa thinks there’s something wrong with me. She believes I should be over Maria’s death by now and move on.’
Evie sympathised. Experience had taught her that grief was complicated and intensely personal. Even after five years her parents hadn’t come to terms with Zara’s death, and she wasn’t sure they ever would.
‘She also has the irritating habit of calling me all the time and checking I’m all right. I’ve told her I want to be left alone, but she won’t listen. She’s insufferable.’
Evie smiled at his dry humour. ‘You mean she cares about you.’
He didn’t smile back. Instead he added, ‘And she won’t accept that I don’t want to spend Christmas with her and the family this year. It’s … causing friction between us.’
‘Ah.’
The pub door swung open and Louisa headed towards their table.
Evie got herself a glass of wine and they settled down for a chat. It was strange, but conversation with Jake’s sister came so easily that it was as if they’d known each other for years. In the space of five minutes Evie learned that Louisa worked as a GP, lived in London with her husband, two dogs, and three boys aged between six and twelve, who enjoyed sports more than academia, if their latest school reports were anything to go by.
‘My school reports were bad, too,’ said Evie. ‘They always began with the words, Unlike her sister …’ She began to tick off on her fingers. ‘Evie does not pay attention, is not able to solve even a basic equation, is disappointingly slow to grasp even the basic principles of physics, blah-blah-blah.’
‘Ouch,’ said Louisa. ‘Your sister was a good student, then?’
‘She was top of the class in every subject. She won prizes, she was a prefect, then head girl. I was always in detention for forgetting my homework, or in the nurse’s office because I’d hurt myself. The teachers used to sigh and say I can’t believe you two are sisters …’
‘Tough act to follow,’ said Louisa. ‘Did that drive a wedge between you?’
‘Not at all,’ said Evie. She added quietly, ‘She died a few years ago.’
Louisa’s eyes widened. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It didn’t drive a wedge. I adored her.’
She sipped her wine and tried to ignore the lump in her throat. Talking about Zara was hard, but at the same time they were precious memories. And she refused to let her sister be forgotten by not speaking about her.
‘Even though everyone compared you both?’
Evie nodded. ‘We had such fun together, running around having adventures in the countryside, horse-riding, having midnight feasts. We were best friends …’ She finished her drink and gazed thoughtfully into the bottom of the empty glass. ‘I miss her a lot.’
The pub door opened and the noise level jumped as a group of men came in, talking a
nd laughing loudly.
Jake pushed his chair back. ‘I’ll get more drinks. Same again?’
Evie looked up in surprise. Their glasses were still half full. He didn’t wait for a reply, though. In a few strides he had crossed the pub and was standing at the bar.
‘Did I say something wrong?’ asked Evie.
‘Who knows?’ Louisa sighed. ‘My brother doesn’t like to share what he’s thinking or feeling. He prefers to run away. Or bury his head in the sand.’ Her dry words and the set of her mouth were so much like Jake’s it was uncanny. She had the same clear blue eyes too, though without the fleck of brown that marked out his so distinctively.
‘You mean he doesn’t like to talk about grief?’ Evie watched him hand a note to the barman. ‘I shouldn’t have said I miss Zara. It was insensitive of me.’
‘Actually, I meant emotion. Any emotion makes him feel uncomfortable. And it wasn’t insensitive of you to talk about your sister. Like I say, Jake is the one with the issue here.’
Louisa’s reassuring words brought Evie a rush of relief. Perhaps she worried too much about saying the wrong thing. Tim’s perpetual criticism of her had left its mark.
‘Jake didn’t mention you were coming to visit.’
‘It was a last-minute thing. I decided to surprise him because I knew that if he had any warning he would have made sure he wasn’t in.’
Evie smiled. That did indeed sound like the kind of thing Jake would do. However, she could see how hurtful it must be for Louisa. His sister clearly adored him.
Jake returned with more drinks and put them down on the table. ‘I’m just going to check on Smoke,’ he said.
‘Where is he?’ asked Evie.
‘In the back room with the landlord’s Chihuahua. I’d better make sure he’s not been deafened by its yapping.’
He vanished.
There was no denying how much Jake doted on that dog, and Evie was about to make a joke about that, but before she could, Louisa turned to her. ‘So tell me,’ she said, with a wink, ‘are you two an item?’
‘No! Definitely not!’ Evie thought of that mortifying morning after the ball and her cheeks fired up. Her heart rattled as furiously as her sewing machine with the pedal flat down. ‘I don’t want a relationship – neither of us does …’
If she was honest, she still found Jake attractive. But he’d made it clear as day that it was unreciprocated.
‘We’re friends, that’s all. I know he still has feelings for Maria and always will. He told me.’
Louisa’s mouth pinched. ‘It would be good for him to move on.’ She paused a moment, then said urgently, ‘Evie, I’m worried about my brother.’
‘Worried? Why?’
‘He’s become a recluse. Did you know he’s planning to spend Christmas alone in France?’
Evie sent her a look of sympathy. ‘I knew he was thinking about it.’
‘It breaks my heart to see him like this. He’s changed so much these last couple of years. He used to be the life and soul of the party, you know.’
‘The life and soul? Jake?’ She simply couldn’t imagine it.
Louisa nodded, smiling at the memory. ‘He had a wicked sense of humour. He used to make us laugh, cracking jokes all the time, and he was the one who instantly made everyone feel at ease.’ Her smile faded. ‘He’s changed so much since Maria died. Now, well, you’ve seen him. You know what he’s like.’
Evie couldn’t even picture him smiling, never mind cracking jokes. Although, now she thought about it, he did have a dry sense of humour. Was that the remnant of a man who had once been the life and soul? ‘His bark is worse than his bite,’ she said, though she wasn’t sure why she felt pushed to defend him. Perhaps because she’d also lived through a period when grief had made it impossible to laugh or smile.
‘I’m glad you think so. Some people find him intimidating and aloof. Still, to shun his family at Christmas is taking aloofness to another level.’
Evie could see how hard it must be for Louisa, but she also sympathised with Jake. She shared his dread of Christmas – although her family was very different from his. ‘Don’t be upset about that,’ she said carefully. ‘He just needs time …’
‘But how much time? It’s been two years already!’
‘I know it’s hard when he’s your brother and you care about him, but he might be thinking it’s better this way. He’s not the type to put on an outwardly cheerful face, is he? Perhaps he’s worried he’ll spoil your Christmas by being miserable.’
Louisa nodded and blinked hard.
Across the room someone put money into the jukebox and Evie recognised the opening chords of an old Christmas hit. It took her straight back to her childhood and opened the floodgates to memories. She tried to block them out. Unfortunately, there was no avoiding those songs at this time of year.
‘He must have loved Maria very much,’ she said, and wondered what kind of person Maria had been. It sounded as if she’d been an exceptional woman: talented, intelligent, beautiful.
Louisa agreed. ‘He did. They were made for each other.’
For some reason, Evie felt a sharp twist in her chest, so unexpectedly painful she had to take a deep breath and wait for it to ease. She frowned and told herself she wasn’t jealous. Anyway, she’d resolved to forget any kind of emotional involvement with Jake Hartwood. Yet that hadn’t happened, had it? Even when she was alone in her shop, she often found her thoughts wandering his way, wondering what he was doing, picturing him with that haunted look in his eyes, and wishing there was something she could do to help.
She shivered. She couldn’t help feeling concerned. It was only the same as when she checked on Dorothy next door. The pub door opened again, and a flurry of snow blew in, reminding her of how dark Jake’s eyes had looked in the moonlit snow, how his fingers had curled around hers as he’d held her hand against his cheek …
Her heart skipped. Okay, maybe what she felt was a little more than concern.
‘Perhaps he wants to be alone so he can be free of the memories and begin new traditions,’ she said, wishing she could do the same.
Next year, she thought, when her business was more established and she’d furnished her spare room, she would invite her parents to her cottage for Christmas.
‘Begin new traditions on his own?’ asked Louisa. ‘Unlikely. I’m worried he’s just going to sit and mope.’
Evie remembered the night she’d first met him, how he’d locked himself away in the Old Hall with a bottle of whisky. She suspected Louisa might be right.
‘And in France he won’t even have Smoke to keep him company.’
‘I wish I could help,’ Evie said.
‘So do I. I’d feel heaps better knowing he wasn’t alone.’ Louisa laughed. ‘If only you could go with him to France. But I’m sure you have your own plans.’
There was a long pause. Evie reached for a loose strand of hair and, deep in thought, wound it around her finger. ‘I do,’ she said eventually, ‘but I’m not looking forward to them …’
Christmas was just three days away, and although her parents assumed she was going to Tim’s, she still hadn’t come up with a solution to her dilemma. What should she do? Acquiesce to her parents’ wishes and face Tim? Or cry off sick and spend Christmas alone? Her stomach churned at the thought of being holed up in her cottage by herself. Nothing could be lonelier.
Then again, Tim would be insufferable. For thirty-six hours there’d be no getting away from him, and he’d see it as a challenge. He’d launch the ultimate charm offensive against her and her parents. And with his parents added into the mix, it would be her versus the five of them all breathing down her neck to get back with him. She felt sick at the thought.
‘Actually, I’d love to have an excuse not to go home for Christmas,’ said Evie.
‘Really?’
She smiled, and Louisa’s face lit up.
‘What’s going on?’ Jake’s deep voice made them turn. ‘You both look like
the cat that got the cream.’
Jake sat down. His gaze flickered from Louisa to Evie and back again.
Louisa grinned. ‘I’ve found the perfect solution for you, little brother.’
‘I didn’t realise I was a problem that needed solving.’
‘You know I’m worried about you being alone at Christmas.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Not this again,’ he muttered, picking up his drink.
‘Well, Evie would be happy to go with you to France!’
He stilled, glass in hand.
‘It’s perfect, isn’t it?’ Louisa went on excitedly. ‘You two get on so well, Evie doesn’t want to go home …’
The silence stretched and both women smiled at him expectantly.
France?
His plans to hide away alone?
Evie?
Jake thumped his glass down. ‘Why can’t you just respect my wishes, Louisa? Respect my feelings, for that matter! I told you I want to be alone.’
Heads turned. Louisa blinked.
Evie reached for her handbag. ‘I – I’d better go.’
‘No.’ He put his hand out. ‘Stay. This isn’t your fault. It’s between me and my interfering sister.’
‘Your sister who cares about you,’ Louisa bit out quietly. Her eyes gleamed, reflecting the light from the fire, and an arrow of guilt hit him between the ribs.
He made himself take a deep breath. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry … But despite your good intentions, Louisa, you can’t barge in and reorganise other people’s lives for them. It’s not fair. Especially taking advantage of kind-hearted folk, like Evie.’
He didn’t need to have been there to imagine how the conversation had gone: his sister would have lost no time in railroading Evie into complying with her plan. And Evie, always eager to help, would immediately have agreed.
‘Er, actually,’ said Evie, ‘I thought it was a great idea.’
‘You did?’ He remembered their conversation at Luc’s and her look of undisguised dread when she’d spoken about spending Christmas with her ex.
She nodded so eagerly that a strand of hair fell loose. She tucked it behind her ear. ‘I don’t want to spend Christmas by myself.’
‘That’s what you’re planning to do?’
The Christmas Holiday: The perfect heart-warming read full of festive magic Page 18