by Heidi Swain
Looking at the rapt expression on Gabe’s face I didn’t think she would have to look much further.
‘Come on, troops,’ rallied Anna, having just noticed the time, ‘we better keep moving otherwise we’re going to find the hordes descending before Santa makes it into his grotto.’
‘I’ll come back,’ I heard Gabe say to Mags as she gently lifted the owl, who was named Jareth, from Bran’s back. ‘I’ll come and talk to you about him later.’
The reindeer paddock was next and the sight of them standing in the snow-flecked woods, sleigh bells on their head collars tinkling every time they moved, was breathtaking.
‘Oh, Angus,’ gasped Catherine as we all turned into seven-year-olds again. ‘You clever man!’
Angus proudly puffed out his chest and introduced us to the owners. I couldn’t tell you what any of them were called, though, because once I had spotted the little calf, which was about the same size as Bran, I seemed to come over all soft, but I wasn’t the only one.
‘What an absolute sweetie,’ said Anna, clicking her tongue.
‘Do you think I’ll be able to talk Angus into letting me have a reindeer as well as a barn owl?’ Gabe laughed.
‘Without a doubt,’ I laughed back as the little thing ventured closer to the fence before skittering off again. ‘He’ll probably let you have two.’
Last, but by no means least, the path finally led us through the snowy gardens and into Santa’s grotto. Molly and Archie had done a wonderful job and Angus had managed to borrow a life-size penguin and polar bear family from the local garden centre and had strategically placed them in the borders so that the walled space looked more like the North Pole than I would have thought possible.
‘Wow,’ gasped Anna, who, like the rest of us, was taking it all in for the first time, ‘this is amazing.’
‘And it’ll be even better this afternoon,’ giggled Molly.
‘When the light starts to fade,’ explained Archie, ‘you’ll see what we mean.’
‘Right!’ shouted Jamie, bringing us all back to earth with a bump. ‘Forty-five minutes until showtime. Let’s grab a hot drink and get to our stations folks, it’s time for the Winter Wonderland to open!’
The visitors came in their droves and we barely had time to draw breath, let alone sample the cinnamon swirls and snowflake biscuits Dorothy and Jemma had been baking. Angus had certainly been right to predict such high numbers and Gabe and I worked long into the night preparing more of his bespoke reindeer kits for the next day. They had proved so popular that we had less than a dozen left when the final visitors headed off on Saturday evening.
Not that anyone had been in a rush to leave, because once the lights around the grotto had sprung to life, the place looked even more magical, and the final few families hung on for as long as they possibly could. Truth be told, we really could have done with double the number of volunteers so we could have kept the place open right through the night. Something I had overheard Angus discussing the possibility of, when he escorted the reindeer owners to their quarters in the stable block.
‘Well, I had been going to suggest we all headed to town to celebrate the day’s success,’ yawned Jamie as we finally finished devouring a very late supper, ‘but the pub will be shut by the time we get up there.’
‘How about tomorrow, instead?’ I suggested. ‘We won’t have anything to prepare for the next day and I’m sure the boss won’t make us take everything apart the second the gates close.’
‘That sounds like an excellent idea,’ Anna agreed. ‘We’ll help Jemma and Lizzie pack up and see the wildlife teams are all set, then reward ourselves with a wild night on the tiles.’
‘Or, in this case,’ I grinned, ‘a quiet evening propping up the bar in the sleepy Mermaid.’
Sunday was every bit as thrilling as the day before and I knew I would never tire of hearing the excited squeals from the children and gasps of pleasure from the adults as they ventured around The Snowflake Trail, discovering something new around every corner as they filled up their maps with the appropriate stamps, ready to collect their gifts from Santa at the end.
Every aspect of the venture had been a huge success, and Angus and Jamie had every right to look proud. Wynthorpe Hall was a beautiful place, made all the more special by the Connelly family’s willingness to share it with the world. The only person who occasionally looked subdued during it all was Gabe, and I put that down to him being worn out from all the extra hours he had been putting in to help get everything ready. Being built like The Rock was all very well, but more often than not, with a venture like this, that meant you were doubly in demand when it came to the lugging and lifting.
‘I can’t believe you actually live here,’ sighed Fran when she spotted me helping Gabe in the woods. ‘How lucky are you?’
‘Very,’ I beamed, knowing that I didn’t have enough words in my vocabulary to express how truly blessed I felt to be a part of such an amazing family.
‘This has made Christmas for me,’ she said. ‘I feel like I’ve been to Lapland, but for a fraction of the price. Will you pass on my congratulations to everyone?’
I was happy to and plenty of other visitors had said the same. It was a very merry Connelly clan who drove into Wynbridge that night. We were greeted like heroes in the pub, and for once Evelyn didn’t seem to mind that the takings had been down because the locals had ventured further afield for their weekend entertainment.
‘So, what’s the deal with you and Gabe, then?’ asked Archie when we headed to the bar for another round of drinks.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you two are together, right?’
‘No,’ I flushed, ‘absolutely not.’
I didn’t add that we may well have been, had the pair of us met when we were further along our complicated paths through life, and I decided not to remind Archie that Gabe had another woman tucked away somewhere.
‘But you like him?’
‘About as much as I like you,’ I told him, ‘which right now . . .’
‘Well, he likes you,’ he laughed, whipping up the refilled tray and heading back to the table. ‘And as more than a workmate,’ he threw in for good measure.
I didn’t have a chance to tell him I already knew that, but being aware of the situation didn’t guarantee anything was going to happen. In fact, knowing how Gabe felt about me was making the situation all the harder to deal with, because for some inexplicable reason, he refused still to act on those feelings.
What was it about loved-up couples, I thought, as I watched Archie stoop to kiss Molly. They always wanted to get everyone else paired up. I couldn’t help feeling bad for Gabe. Obviously, I knew he liked me, we’d discussed that often enough, but I bet he had no idea that his feelings had been observed by everyone else.
‘Where’s Gabe gone?’ Jamie asked, as I joined the others and helped Archie hand out the glasses.
‘Don’t ask me,’ I snapped. ‘I’m not his keeper.’
He was another one who seemed to assume we kept track of each other’s movements. I was all set to take him to task over it when the glass panelled doors, which separated the bar from the corridor and led down to the infamous loos, burst open and Gavin fell flat on his back with blood pouring out of his nose. Gabe strode forward, towering over him and looking as if he was about to pick him up and hit him again. That is, assuming his fists had been responsible for the first blow.
‘What the fuck?’ said Jamie and Archie together, leaping out of their seats and upsetting our drinks in the process.
‘Out!’ bellowed Evelyn from behind the bar, as Jim raced around the tables and roughly dragged Gavin to his feet.
‘Why is it,’ Jim shouted, ramming a tea towel up Gavin’s freely-flowing bloody nostrils, ‘that if there’s ever any trouble in this place, you’re always involved?’
‘But he hit me!’ Gavin exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Gabe who was rubbing what looked like a bruised right hand.
Standing in the doorway, he appeared more like the devil himself than a kind guardian angel.
‘Don’t throw him out on my account,’ Gabe growled at Jim. ‘I’m going.’
‘Gabe!’ Jamie called after him, but he didn’t look back.
‘He’s mental!’ shouted Gavin, now the threat was out of sight. ‘Completely off his head!’
I might not have been all that enamoured with my ex right now, given that he had been suggesting to everyone that we’d settled our differences in a far too friendly manner, but a part of me did wonder if he was right. Gavin might have been a jack the lad who would always resort to any number of half-truths to enhance his randy reputation, but what about Gabe? Suddenly it seemed to me that there was an awful lot more to the wild man of Wynthorpe woods than any of us knew.
Chapter 28
Had I been at all concerned that when the Winter Wonderland was over I would let my excitement about the Cherry Tree expansion and Mum’s amazing news get the better of me, then I needn’t have worried. Thanks to Gabe and Gavin’s antics in the pub, blabbing about my news was the last thing I felt like doing.
‘I’m not going to mention any of this at home,’ Jamie had said as we all bundled back into the Land Rover after deciding to cut our celebration short. ‘I know Mum and Dad aren’t the types to judge, but I also know that Gabe has his own way of dealing with things.’
With his fists, I thought, but I didn’t say as much.
‘I think we should just leave him alone for the time being,’ Jamie concluded. ‘He’s not the type of guy who would appreciate a fuss being made, and I know he’s had a lot on his mind recently.’
He didn’t explain what that lot was.
‘I agree,’ said Anna and the rest of us nodded in approval. ‘If Gabe saw fit to punch Gavin then it must have been for a good reason. I never was completely convinced when he turned into Mr Nice Guy, Hayley.’
I nodded again but didn’t comment. It was obvious to all of us now that Gavin would never give up the Wynbridge Wide Boy crown. When surrounded by his mates, with a drink or two in him, he would always resort to laddish behaviour, even if he was almost able to pull off the saintly act when alone. I was just waiting for one of them to suggest that, in spite of what Jamie had just said, I should go over to Gatekeeper’s Cottage and ask Gabe for an explanation, but fortunately no one piped up.
Jamie’s plan to keep his pal out of further trouble soon hit a snag, however, as we had forgotten that lots of people would be turning up at the hall to help tidy up, and all any of them wanted to talk about during the next few days was the brawl in the bar.
Not that it had been a brawl, of course, but the rumours had escalated to Gavin being in hospital, the police having cautioned Gabe, and Evelyn threatening to close the pub to emigrate to Australia because she felt threatened by the town’s increasing antisocial behaviour.
‘I understand,’ said Angus, ‘that there was a bit of bother in town on Sunday night.’
‘Only a little bit,’ shrugged Archie, shooting his brother a look. ‘Hardly worth mentioning, really.’
There was no point denying it.
‘And has anyone seen Gabe since?’ asked Catherine.
‘He’s not answering his door,’ said Mick, ‘but he’s still here. Or at least his truck is.’
I didn’t think I could bear it any longer. The time since the incident had dragged by and I didn’t want to care quite so much, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Gabe may have decided to cling on to his conviction that, even though he had feelings for me, he wasn’t going to act on them, and he may well have dug his heels in when it came to telling me about his other woman, but none of that stopped me caring for and worrying about him.
‘Gabe!’ I shouted, hammering on his cottage door. ‘It’s me. Open up!’
The front rooms were in darkness and all the curtains were closed, but I could hear Bran scrabbling about inside so I knew Gabe was home, and as far as I was concerned, forty-eight hours after a brief bout of fisticuffs was plenty long enough to wallow. Any longer would have been indulgent.
‘I’m not leaving!’ I told him, ‘so you might as well open the door before everyone else traipses out here.’
I was just about to start knocking again when I heard the key turn in the lock and the bolt slide across.
‘What do you want, Hayley?’ he growled, turning his back before I had a chance to look at him.
‘To find out what the hell’s wrong with you,’ I said, following him inside. ‘We’ve all been . . .’
The words died in my throat as I caught sight of the sitting room in the light coming from the kitchen. It was covered in photos, newspapers and empty bottles. The cottage was freezing and Gabe winced as I pushed past and flicked on the table lamp. I gasped when I turned and saw his face.
‘What is all this?’ I asked, ‘and what happened to your face?’
His right eye was almost closed and it was embellished with bruises from every colour of the spectrum.
‘Gavin,’ he shrugged, dumping himself down on the sofa and reaching for the nearest bottle, ‘he threw the first punch, but its impact wasn’t immediately obvious.’
‘Gavin hit you,’ I frowned, ‘but why?’
He gave me a look, through his one good eye.
‘Because,’ he sighed, ‘he was in the gents mouthing off to his mates about whether he’d have the pleasure of escorting you back to the hall again and, if so, he was hoping you’d be up for another trip down Lovers Lane. I decided to take him to task over it and got thumped for my trouble.’
‘Oh, Gabe,’ I groaned. ‘You should have just ignored him.’
If only he’d known my ex as well as the rest of the Wynthorpe clan he would have realised what a prize dick he could still be when the mood took him. I daresay Gavin only lashed out because he knew Gabe was about to set his mates straight about what had really happened. Not that that justified him resorting to violence.
‘And let him get away with what he was saying?’
‘Yes,’ I told Gabe. ‘He can’t help himself when it comes to playing Jack the lad. He’s a completely different person when he’s sober and on his own. Still a wind-up merchant, mind you, but nowhere near as bad as when he’s with the others.’
Gabe didn’t look convinced.
‘Look,’ I said, ‘I’m sorry he thumped you, but can we just forget about him?’
I really didn’t want to talk about my ex anymore. There were still parts of our brandy-enhanced conversation that were a little on the hazy side, but for now, I needed to focus on what was going on with Gabe because, given the state of the cottage, something obviously was.
‘So, what’s all this then?’ I asked, as I carefully stepped over the mess and set about lighting the wood burner.
‘Just some stuff I look at every now and again,’ Gabe mumbled. ‘Please don’t move it,’ he added as I began to push it all together, waiting for the fire to take.
‘This is the woman who came to stay here, isn’t it?’ I said, picking up one of the photos.
I couldn’t be certain it was her, of course, but it was worth a shot. I looked at the rest of the scattered images, my heart suddenly thumping harder in my chest.
‘She must be someone pretty special,’ I swallowed, ‘you’ve got enough pictures of her.’
There were also dozens of shots of a pretty little girl with a headful of dark curls and Gabe’s eyes.
‘Jeez, Hayley,’ he snapped, leaning quickly forward and snatching the photo from my grasp. ‘What does it matter? Will you just leave it?’
‘All right,’ I said, hoisting up my jeans and taking a deep breath. ‘I’ll go. At least I can tell the others you aren’t dead and haven’t deserted us. I’ll see you around.’
‘The others?’
‘Yes, the others,’ I snapped back. ‘Your friends, your workmates, who are all over at the hall worried sick about you.’
‘I didn’t realise.’
&n
bsp; ‘Well, you should have. You’ve been here long enough to know how things work. Jamie said you’d probably want to be left alone, but this has gone on long enough. We look out for each other here, Gabe. We might not be blood, but we’re family nonetheless.’
I had almost made it out to the gate before he called after me.
‘So was she!’ he shouted.
‘Who?’
He didn’t answer and I walked back into the cottage.
‘Penny,’ he whispered, pointing at the photo. ‘She’s my sister. That’s who came to stay.’
The admission didn’t cheer him in the slightest, but suddenly I was on top of the world. Not a mystery wife then, not a secret lover, just a sister. So much for keeping my feelings for him on the right side of friendly. There was nothing platonic at all about the way my body and brain had reacted to his revelation.
‘But why didn’t you just tell me that before?’ I frowned, suppressing the urge to indulge in a quick happy dance around the room. ‘Why the cloak and dagger?’
He reached down the side of the sofa for another beer and tossed the bottle to me.
‘It’s a long story,’ he said, hanging his head.
‘I’ve got all night,’ I told him, sitting in the chair.
I might have been perched on cloud nine but my companion still sounded in the depths of misery. I needed to be there for him, I needed to get to the bottom of whatever it was that had turned him into such a wreck.
‘I have a date with the vacuum at eight sharp tomorrow morning,’ I smiled, ‘but until then, I’m at your disposal.’
‘I need to use the bathroom,’ he muttered, standing up and swaying slightly.
Bran came over and rested his head on my knee. He looked utterly miserable. Not even so much as a hint of a smile on his usually cheery face.
‘I’ll make tea,’ I told him as I abandoned the beer and headed for the kitchen, ‘and I daresay you’d like some dinner.’
Gabe gratefully drank the sweet tea and devoured the thick wedges of toast I had spread with generous curls of salted butter.