The Chocolate Lovers' Christmas

by Carole Matthews

  Afterwards, she lay in Addison’s arms and wondered why she didn’t feel content anymore. Was it the fact that she couldn’t help thinking about Miles – at times that it really wasn’t appropriate to? The light of the moon coming through the window caught her engagement ring, making it shine. She hadn’t taken it off when Addison had told her it was over between them and she wondered why. Neither of them had mentioned the still unplanned wedding at all.

  Addison threw his arm over her, his breathing heavy. ‘Think about what I said,’ he murmured, sleepily. ‘See if your parents will stump up some money for the centre.’

  ‘I told you that I will.’

  ‘Good girl.’ He sighed contentedly in the darkness.

  While he slept, Autumn lay there, gritty-eyed, wide awake. She couldn’t help feeling that she was being played.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  So my lovely little trip to Belgium ends and I’m back at Chocolate Heaven. I haven’t heard anything from Marcus at all. But it’s good to know that his dastardly little plan backfired, as Crush and I are more loved up than we have ever been.

  I have turned over a new leaf and will now, from this day forward, be improved, sensible and grown-up Lucy Lombard.

  So na-na na-na-nah to Marcus!

  Autumn and Nadia have done the most fabulous job holding the fort while I’ve been away. In fact I think that Autumn is a bit disappointed not to be carrying on until Christmas.

  I’ve had a mad busy day – all thoughts of my romantic trip forgotten. Well, almost. I still have a little glow of warmth when I think about it. Apart from the Marcus-based trickery and my canal dunking, of course.

  The last of the customers leave and I turn the sign to closed. Now only the members of the Chocolate Lovers’ Club remain and it seems ages since we’ve had a proper pow-wow. Even the children of the Chocolate Lovers are out in force, which is lovely.

  Chantal, Nadia, Autumn and Stacey are all settled on the best sofa in the window. Lewis has carved himself out a play corner, which I’m definitely going to make a permanent feature. Then I remember nothing here is permanent now, which puts a little shadow on my sunshine. There’s a letter here from Clive and Tristan which I’ve been staring at all day. I hardly dare open it.

  I make drinks for all of us, pile a plate with cookies, cakes and some of the chocolates I brought back from Bruges. Then, glad to take the weight off my feet, I go to join the girls.

  ‘It seems like so long since we’ve done this,’ I say as I put the tray down.

  Everyone falls on the goodies.

  ‘I hope you had a fabulous time while I was stuck at home with a sicky-icky baby,’ Chantal says, handing Lana over to me for a cuddle. ‘We want to hear all about your trip to Bruges.’

  ‘You don’t,’ I counter, snuggling the wriggly baby on my lap. ‘Really, you don’t.’

  ‘Blow by blow,’ she insists.

  So I fill her in on all the details. The non-existent talk. The surprise appearance at the ball by Marcus. The attempted kiss. The romantic horse-drawn carriage. The impromptu swim in the canal. And my ultimate rescue by the world’s best boyfriend.

  When I finish, they’re all sitting looking at me, slightly agog. ‘What?’

  ‘That’s mind-numbing even by your standards.’

  ‘I’ve learned my lesson,’ I say. ‘No more foolishness for me. From now on I’m going to be wise, considered Lucy.’

  That causes a good five minutes of unbridled laughter.

  ‘I knew that Marcus would have something up his sleeve,’ Chantal says, when she’s stopped giggling. ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it. I feel terrible for letting you go on your own. Really I do.’

  ‘I missed you,’ I admit. ‘But it all worked out well in the end. Crush came as soon as he could, thank goodness, and we had a wonderful romantic time.’

  ‘That’s good to hear,’ Chantal says.

  ‘Let me take Elsie from you, Stacey,’ Autumn offers. ‘I could do with a cuddle and you can then give your full attention to your cake.’

  Stacey duly hands her baby over. It’s amazing how easily she’s slotted into our select little group. Even more amazing given the circumstances. The slight frostiness that seemed to have developed between her and Chantal at the naming party seems to have thawed, thank goodness.

  ‘How was your dinner with Addison?’ Nadia asks Autumn. Then to us, ‘He took her to that fab new chocolate restaurant that’s just opened.’

  ‘Jealous.’ I savour a little taste of Bruges with a dark chocolate filled with lemon cream.

  ‘It’s lovely,’ Autumn admits.

  ‘We’ll have to have a girly night out there,’ I suggest. ‘For research purposes. Everything okay between you and Addison now?’

  ‘I think so,’ she says.

  ‘You don’t sound so sure,’ I venture.

  She frowns. ‘He wants my parents to donate some money to the centre where we work. Addison has hopes of setting it up as a charity and securing the future of the Kick It! programme.’ Autumn stirs her chocolate thoughtfully. ‘It seems like a good idea. On paper. I just can’t understand why I feel so hesitant.’

  ‘It sounds like a plan to me,’ I admit.

  ‘Yes, but you don’t know my parents.’

  Which is true enough. From what Autumn says about them, I imagine them as the Rockefellas or the Rothschilds – that ilk.

  ‘I’ve also realised that, if my relationship with Addison is to survive, I need to stop seeing Miles.’

  ‘Oh,’ Nadia says. ‘But Florence and Lewis play so nicely together. And you like him so much.’

  Autumn grimaces. ‘That’s part of the problem. Miles is such great company and is so easy to be with, I start to doubt what I want when he’s around. I’m engaged to Addison. I need to remember that.’

  ‘Are you going to share your other news?’ Chantal asks her.

  Now our friend flushes. ‘Should I?’

  ‘We share everything, Autumn,’ Chantal says. ‘A problem shared is a problem halved.’

  Our friend takes a deep breath and tucks her auburn curls behind her ears. ‘I have a daughter,’ she says with a shy smile. ‘I bet none of you were expecting that?’

  ‘Not me,’ I confirm.

  Nadia looks stunned. ‘And you’ve somehow kept this to yourself?’

  ‘I felt as if I had to,’ she confesses. ‘It’s only now – since Rich has gone – that I feel I can talk about it. I had her as a teenager and she was adopted straight away. I hardly got to know her, but that doesn’t stop me thinking about her every day. She’s my flesh and blood. I want to know where she is.’

  ‘Oh, Autumn.’ Nadia’s eyes fill with tears.

  ‘I’m going to try to find her,’ Autumn continues. ‘I’ve only just been able to admit to myself how much I miss her. All I want to know is that she’s all right, that she’s been happy with her new family.’

  At that, she starts to cry quietly.

  I throw my arms round her. ‘What can we do? How can we help?’

  ‘I can’t look for her,’ she says. ‘But I’ve put my name on some agency sites. If she looks for me, then I want to make it easy for her to find me.’

  ‘How old is she now?’

  ‘A teenager. And I don’t even know what she looks like.’

  Nadia joins in the hug.

  ‘You have to find her,’ Nadia says. ‘You’d make a great mum. No wonder you’re so fabulous with Lewis.’

  ‘She might want nothing to do with me,’ Autumn points out. ‘I’d so love to be in her life, but I have to be prepared for my heart to be broken all over again.’

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  We are all reeling so much from Autumn’s revelation that we need extra chocolate supplies. When we’ve all finished bombarding her with questions about Willow, I hurriedly go to stock up for us.

  During a lull in the conversation, I turn to Nadia and ask, ‘How are you getting on at work?’

  ‘OK,’ she says. �
�I love the job and it’s great to be with Anita again. I’ve still got problems with Tarak, though. He turned up at my house the other night and just this morning he asked me to meet him at a hotel.’

  ‘Cheeky bugger. Did he think you were going to say yes?’

  ‘Clearly.’

  I shake my head. ‘You need to nip this in the bud.’

  ‘I don’t know how.’ She looks crestfallen. ‘I’ve tried saying no and he just ignores me. I wish he’d back off.’

  ‘We need a cunning plan.’ I do my best thinking expression. ‘I’ll come up with something.’

  Everyone groans.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your plans are always completely bonkers,’ Chantal points out. ‘I thought you’d turned over a new leaf and were becoming Mrs Sensible?’

  ‘You are forgetting that in our recent past I have pulled off two marvellous coups. The Great Jewellery Heist and the Slightly Dodgy Bridesmaids’ Drug Drop both worked perfectly well. Thank you very much.’

  My best girls all give me a sideways glance.

  ‘They did! You got all your jewellery back, Chantal. And Autumn got a holdall full of dirty cash that we didn’t quite know what to do with.’ Though both of those things do seem like a lifetime away now.

  ‘Don’t be too hard on Lucy,’ Autumn chides. ‘Against all the odds, they did actually both work.’

  ‘Beautifully,’ I add.

  ‘Though we could just as easily have ended up in jail,’ Chantal feels the need to note.

  ‘But we didn’t,’ I point out. ‘I think I’m just the person to hatch a master plan to solve Nadia’s pressing brother-in-law problem.’ Another collective groan, but I’m on the case now. I can feel the cogs in my borderline criminal mind whirring. ‘Leave it with me.’

  ‘What’s in the letter?’ Chantal nods at the envelope on my tray.

  ‘It’s from Clive and Tristan,’ I tell them. ‘Brace yourselves.’ It makes me weary of heart even to say this. ‘They’ve decided to sell Chocolate Heaven.’

  There’s a disbelieving gasp.

  ‘I know. It’s awful.’

  ‘Why?’ Chantal wants to know. ‘Why the hell would they do that?’

  ‘They’ve decided that they’re going to stay in France for ever and run a bar or something.’ I sound quite reasonable when inside I feel like I’m dying. ‘They’ve had Chocolate Heaven valued. I’m guessing that this includes the estate agent’s details.’

  ‘Come on, then,’ Nadia urges. ‘Tell us the worst.’

  I can hardly bring myself to look at it but, bravely, I put my finger in the top of the envelope and inch it open.

  Sure enough, inside is a bundle of sheets giving the particulars of Chocolate Heaven. I smooth them flat, giving myself time to absorb the details. There’s the price for the leasehold of the premises and the cost of buying the business. At best, they’re shocking. There seem to be far too many noughts on the end. Needless to say, it adds up to a figure that I could never, ever, not in a million years, afford.

  ‘We could be on the verge of having our last cappuccino, chocolate and cake at this fine emporium, ladies.’ With trembling fingers, I show them the letter.

  ‘Wow,’ Nadia says. Her eyes look as if they may pop out of her head. ‘That’s a serious amount of money.’

  ‘Tell me about it.’ I put my head in my hands. ‘I’d love to be able to take over this place, but there’s no way I can raise that.’

  ‘It seems such a shame,’ Autumn says. ‘You’re a natural.’

  ‘No one loves chocolate more than me,’ I agree disconsolately.

  ‘There’s nothing for it,’ Chantal says. ‘We need wine to go with this very fine chocolate.’

  ‘I can do that.’ And, of course, I brighten immediately.

  ‘You never know what might happen between now and then, Lucy,’ Autumn tries. ‘There may be hope yet.’

  Everyone keeps saying this, but I don’t know what form this hope might take. ‘I’ve asked Santa for a million quid for Christmas. That should sort it.’

  ‘We haven’t even talked about what we’re going to do for Christmas yet and it’s just around the corner,’ Chantal says. ‘We should all go away together.’

  ‘I’d really like that,’ Stacey says. ‘I was going to be at home alone with Elsie.’

  ‘Well, we can’t have that. Would everyone be up for a cottage somewhere?’

  Much nodding around the group.

  Nadia nibbles a fingernail and says, ‘It would depend on the price. I’m a bit stretched at the moment. Christmas seems to cost a small fortune these days and I haven’t got one.’

  ‘Let me worry about that,’ Chantal says, dismissively. ‘This can be my treat to us all. Shall I do some research?’

  We agree that she should.

  ‘It could be a blast.’ Chantal clearly has her festive head on now. ‘Thinking about it has got me in the Christmas mood. We need some of those fab festive cupcakes that Alexandra bakes, Lucy. Have you got any?’

  ‘Coming up.’ I stand to get them. ‘I can do better than the wine, too. They’d go down seriously well with a glass of bubbles and I have just the thing secreted away in the kitchen.’

  ‘We can’t let anyone else take over here, Lucy,’ Chantal says. ‘How would we cope?’

  I don’t want to put a spoiler on things as we’re all getting in the Christmas spirit, but this place won’t stay on the market for too long. I think we’ll find out sooner rather than later that Chocolate Heaven has a new owner.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  ‘I don’t like this playground, Auntie Autumn,’ Lewis complained as he worked his sturdy legs through the air.

  ‘It’s nice,’ Autumn countered. ‘There are different things to play on.’

  Lewis sighed wearily as she pushed him on the swing. ‘But it hasn’t got Florence in it.’

  ‘I thought we’d have a little change.’

  ‘Can we have a change again tomorrow and go back to the other one?’

  It was difficult logic to argue with. How could she explain to a four-year-old that it wasn’t Florence she was trying to avoid, but Florence’s dad?

  ‘We’ll see,’ Autumn said.

  ‘That’s what grown-ups say when they mean no,’ Lewis said astutely.

  ‘We can still go for hot chocolate,’ she said as a diversionary tactic. ‘There’s a café here, too.’

  She hoped that might mollify her small charge.

  ‘And a chocolate-chip muffin?’

  She laughed. Four years old and already a smooth negotiator. ‘Yes. If you’re good.’ At least that made him smile. Lewis was also very much his mother’s son when it came to his appreciation of cake and chocolate. ‘One more push and we’re done.’

  ‘A big one!’

  ‘OK. Hold on tight.’

  His chubby fingers gripped the chains of the swing and, as instructed, Autumn pushed him higher.

  It had been a week now since they’d visited the playground they usually frequented, the one where they’d got into the habit of meeting with Miles and Florence virtually every day.

  Autumn had stopped texting Miles with their plans and hadn’t responded to the dozens of texts he’d sent her. He’d called her a few times too but, when she’d seen his number come up, she’d let the call go straight to voicemail.

  Things between her and Addison were difficult, but she was sure that it was only a phase. She couldn’t give up on their relationship without a fight. All that was needed was for them to get back on track. For that, she should focus entirely on their relationship and nothing else. She was hardly likely to be able to do that when it was Miles who always seemed to be at the forefront of her mind.

  When he’d finished on the swings, as promised, she took Lewis to the café in the park. He was a little tetchy today, not only missing his playmate Florence but also his mother. It wasn’t easy for either of them being apart so much now. But the warmth of the café cheered him immensely and, as he tucked
into his treat, his constant chirpy chatter resumed and Autumn let it wash over her.

  Later, she dropped him off at Nadia’s house and he ran into his mother’s arms. They hugged each other tightly as if they’d been parted for years and there was always a little bit of Autumn that felt bereft.

  As she finished cuddling her son, Nadia asked, ‘Has he been good today?’

  ‘Yes. As always.’ Lewis grinned at her and her heart melted. What would this feel like if it was ever her own child?

  Nadia frowned at her. ‘You look a bit subdued today. Everything OK?’

  ‘I’m going to see my parents now,’ Autumn said. ‘I know it’s wrong, but I never really look forward to it. As Addison wanted me to, I’m going to ask them if they’d like to donate some money towards the Stolford Centre, which could be a tricky conversation.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll do it?’

  Autumn shrugged. ‘Depends. They might want to get rid of me quickly and pay up.’

  Nadia hugged her. ‘Good luck.’

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. Same time?’

  ‘Thanks. You’re an angel. I do appreciate this, you know.’

  ‘I love having him. He really is no trouble.’

  ‘Kiss Auntie Autumn goodbye,’ Nadia instructed her son.

  He wrapped his arms round her, kissed her warmly and stated, ‘The other playground tomorrow.’

  Autumn laughed and lowered her voice to say, ‘He doesn’t miss a trick, this one.’

  Nadia sighed. ‘Tell me about it. How will I cope when he’s fourteen?’

  It was a Tube ride across town to reach her parents’ chambers and Autumn sat in the busy carriage with her eyes closed, letting the motion rock her. It was awful to say, but she had to brace herself for a meeting with her mother and father. To say that they had a hands-off style of parenting was something of an understatement.

  As soon as she and Richard were old enough, they’d been packed off to boarding school. Sometimes it even felt as if they were reluctant to have them at home in the holidays. Now she hadn’t seen them for weeks. They’d not even called to see how she was coping without Rich. She’d tried phoning them, of course. Yet, every time she’d tried, their mobile phones had gone straight to voicemail. It was as if they were avoiding her.