‘Tori will win,’ Jenny repeated.
Spencer held back a scowl. Why did everyone feel the need to interfere? And why did they all think they knew what was best?
‘Especially if her parents are the nightmare you say they are,’ she added.
Lewis came back in and handed Spencer a mug. ‘Maybe they’re just being like that because they feel uncomfortable in their surroundings? Fish out of water. Perhaps they’ll be more reasonable once they settle in a bit. Life in a small village in England will take some adjusting to compared with what they’re used to – particularly this village.’
‘Maybe,’ Spencer said thoughtfully. His dad settled on the sofa next to his mum and took a satisfied sip of his drink. This was like home for them, so it was easy for them to be relaxed and themselves as soon as they arrived.
Perhaps his dad had a point. Maybe once the Dempseys felt more relaxed in their surroundings they would be a bit more receptive to him and to the fact that Tori might decide to choose life here over her old one. He wondered if his mum and dad would mind swapping accommodation, and he felt sure that if he explained the reasons why they would say yes, so that Tori’s parents could stay at his house and away from the pub. They might feel much more settled in his house. But then he thought about the scorn with which they had viewed the pub, and how they might show the same kind of distaste for his house, and he wasn’t sure he wanted them there after all. There would be no escape from the onslaught either, and Spencer – though he rarely lost his temper – was certain that Christmas would end up being ruined by an outburst he wouldn’t be able to contain. That would make things even more difficult for him and Tori than they already were, and he didn’t want to be the cause of that ill feeling.
‘There’s not really anywhere else they can stay,’ he said. ‘Not close by, anyway.’
‘I think there’s a Premier Inn on the motorway,’ Lewis said. ‘That might not be too far away for them.’
Spencer thought that a Premier Inn on the moon wouldn’t be far enough, but he shook his head. ‘It’ll seem as though we’re pushing them out if we put them there. And I can’t imagine they’d be much happier there anyway – they’re more like exclusive, boutique hotel kind of people. Club class, that sort of level of comfort. They’re used to the best.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with a Premier Inn,’ Lewis retorted, looking slightly offended. ‘It’s always been good enough for me and your mother.’
‘Yes, but Mum is quite happy sleeping on a rock in the Kalahari, while you find your lab chair just as comfy. They’re not like that.’
‘They sound like stuck-up arses to me,’ Jenny said.
‘Mum…’ Spencer warned.
‘I know!’ She held up a hand. ‘I’m not going to say anything when I meet them later. I’ll be impeccably behaved.’
What Spencer wanted to ask was that they just refrained from being themselves for a couple of nights, because he knew very well how much they’d clash with the Dempseys’ conservative sensibilities. But he loved all that his parents were, despite sometimes being overwhelmed by it, and why should he ask them to be different people just for a little peace? If Tori’s parents didn’t like them, wasn’t that their problem? And if his parents had to make an effort, then Tori’s should too, and he hadn’t seen them trying very hard so far. ‘I’d appreciate it,’ was all he said in return, and it was the most he could ask of them. He drained the last of his tea and pushed himself up from the armchair. ‘I’d better shower and get changed. It’s my turn on the bar tonight.’
‘We could do that,’ Jenny said. She looked at Lewis who nodded agreement.
‘No… Thanks anyway,’ Spencer said. ‘You need to be getting to know Tori’s parents.’
‘If all that you’ve just said is true, then I’d rather be working,’ Jenny said darkly.
‘I know,’ Spencer smiled. ‘But it’s important to me and to Tori. You can do this for me, can’t you? If anyone can put them at ease, it’s you.’
‘Don’t think I can’t recognise buttering up when I see it,’ she replied with a half-smile.
‘But is it working?’ Spencer asked as he made his way to the kitchen door with his empty mug.
‘Maybe a little…’
‘Good!’ Spencer laughed. ‘You know I’ll love you forever if you can break the ice with those two. Maybe you’ll do a better job than I have so far.’
He stepped into the kitchen and dumped his mug in the sink. He could only hope they’d do a better job than him, though judging by the way the Dempseys had looked at him all afternoon, they could hardly do much worse.
‘I’m sorry,’ Darcie said again. She’d apologised at least five times now, and every time Millie had patiently told her that there was no need, and that the bakery would survive for a few hours without her, particularly as it would be closed by the time she left for her party anyway.
‘You look lovely,’ Millie said as she paced the bedroom, Oscar slung sleepily over her shoulder as she tried to get his wind up. ‘The shoes are just in the bottom of the wardrobe if you want to borrow them. Lucky we’re the same size.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Darcie asked as she rooted for them.
‘Of course I don’t! I wouldn’t have offered otherwise, and they really go with your dress.’
Darcie looked down at herself. It was an old dress, short and simple and very flattering of her curves, and she liked it well enough usually. But now she was beginning to regret not getting back on the bus and heading into Salisbury again to buy a new one after getting Nathan’s invite. After her text, he had called her straight up and begged her to come to the Christmas party he was throwing with his housemates. She had protested that it was too short notice, and that she wouldn’t know anyone, but he had been so persuasive that in the end, much to her own surprise as anyone else’s, she had found herself agreeing to go.
‘Stop worrying,’ Millie smiled. ‘It’s about time you let your hair down. You’re always here, running about for us and never doing anything for yourself, which is why we wanted you to take a day off and get out to see a bit of the county. And look what happened – you get hit on straight away! It just goes to show that we’re holding you back keeping you cooped up here.’
‘I don’t feel cooped up,’ Darcie said. ‘I like being around here with you.’
‘I know, but it doesn’t seem right all the time. When I was your age I was always out.’
‘You make it sound like you’re ancient,’ Darcie said. ‘You’re only thirty…’ She stopped and frowned. ‘Thirty-something…’
‘I feel ancient some days, so it’s best that you forget exactly how much older than thirty I am.’ Millie laughed. ‘It’s a national secret anyway so if you remember I’ll have to kill you.’
Darcie slipped Millie’s shoes on and checked her reflection in the full-length mirror. She didn’t feel like a million dollars, but it would have to do. She had no idea what kind of clothes she should wear to a party at a student house anyway. In fact, the closer it got, the more worried she felt that she was going to make a total ass of herself. Would it be all witty and clever conversation that she couldn’t join in with? Or would it be so drunken and raucous that she’d find herself feeling like she was in the middle of a riot? She only hoped that Nathan would keep his word about looking after her. And that was another worry – she’d only met him on the bus today, and now she was going to a party at his house. Other than what he had told her during that brief encounter she didn’t know a thing about him.
‘Dylan says he’ll stay nearby so that you can call him the minute you want to leave and he’ll be there in a flash to get you. So if you’re not having a good time, or you’ve just had enough, or whatever, you can phone his mobile,’ Millie said. Darcie smiled. It was funny how Millie always seemed to know what she was thinking, and always knew the right thing to say to make her feel better. There was no doubt in her mind that Dylan would be there for her. He’d probably sit outsid
e in his car like an anxious father, but that didn’t bother Darcie, it made her feel safe. Dylan made her feel safe… At least sometimes. That was probably a large part of the problem.
‘I feel as if I’m really putting you out… Sorry.’
‘Will you stop saying sorry?’ Millie laughed. ‘We’re family, and you do enough for us. It’s about time we did you a favour in return.’
Darcie took a deep breath. ‘Do I look ok?’
‘You look lovely. This Nathan guy had better be worthy of you, that’s all I can say.’ She kissed Darcie on the head.
Sometimes, Millie felt more like a mother to Darcie than a cousin, and this was one of those times. Not that Darcie minded one bit – it was Millie’s default setting to care about everyone as if they were her own, and the world would be a strange upside-down place if that ever stopped.
Dylan poked his head around the bedroom door. ‘Am I allowed into this surreal women’s universe of matching shoes and feminine wiles?’
‘Idiot!’ Millie giggled. ‘Come in, we’re done, I think.’
He wore a grin as he wolf-whistled Darcie. ‘Looking good! I might need to come on heavy to this student now, be your bodyguard, because he will be thinking terrible thoughts.’
Darcie blushed, her gaze going to her feet.
‘Don’t be daft,’ Millie said. ‘Darcie knows how to take care of herself. Did you call Bony?’
‘Yeah, he’s up for a quick game of cards so I’ll stay at his house for the evening and only be about twenty minutes away if you need me, Darcie.’
‘All evening, and that’s a quick game of cards?’ Millie asked.
‘You should have seen the all-night sessions we had before I met you. Not that I miss them or anything. No poker game is any replacement for the joy of hearing your firstborn scream the place down all night as he battles his colic.’
‘Thank goodness he doesn’t seem too bad tonight,’ Millie said, kissing Oscar’s head.
‘You’ll be alright, though?’
Millie nodded. ‘Jasmine said she’d call over.’
Dylan narrowed his eyes slightly. ‘She’s been over a lot… Not that I mind but—’
‘Yes, she is very broody,’ Millie replied, acknowledging what she guessed was on his mind. ‘And I expect Rich is having his ear bent a lot about another baby.’
Dylan pulled a face. ‘God, I wouldn’t like to be Rich right now. Once Jas gets an idea in her head, she doesn’t get it out again.’
‘I’m sure they’ll work it out.’
‘So long as they don’t get another set of triplets.’
‘I think that might be the issue for Rich too,’ Millie said, and then angled her head subtly in Darcie’s direction, who was watching patiently.
Dylan frowned, and then he seemed enlightened as he looked at Darcie. ‘Are you ready, Cinders? Your pumpkin awaits!’
Dylan had navigated the suburbs of Winchester with ease and Darcie wondered at his confidence. He had chatted and joked, where Darcie had stared – sometimes at him, and then when she remembered that she shouldn’t be staring at him, out of the window. Every street looked the same to her, and she was glad he knew where he was going, and that he was coming back to get her.
Eventually they pulled up at a large, turn-of-the-century townhouse, eaves decorated with faux-Tudor beams, and grubby plastic windows and front door that seemed oddly out of place with the architecture.
Darcie threw Dylan a questioning look.
‘This is the road,’ Dylan said.
Darcie turned her gaze back to the house. Every tree in the front garden was strung with lights. None of them matched, and some of the bulbs had blown, but it looked festive, she supposed, if your idea of festive was a sort of drunken Blackpool Illuminations. Huge inflatable reindeer stood sentry at the front door and a sprig of mistletoe hung from the frame – actually, not so much a sprig as a whole branch snapped on the run from whatever nearby tree it happened to be clinging to. Music was already pumping from the open windows, along with the sound of raucous laughter, and it was barely eight o’clock.
Dylan sat in the passenger seat surveying the scene before turning to Darcie. ‘I must be getting old,’ he said with a slight grin. ‘A couple of years ago I’d have been in there with you, but now I’m quite concerned about the thought of you going in there at all.’
‘Did you want to come in?’ Darcie asked. ‘I’m sure—’
‘God no!’ Dylan laughed. ‘I wouldn’t want to cramp your style. Do you want to text your fella and tell him you’re here? It might be easier than walking in alone.’
‘Good idea,’ Darcie said, thankful that he hadn’t suggested walking her in, because that would have felt too weird. She tapped out a message, and after a few silent moments, her phone bleeped a reply:
‘Coming out now.’
Darcie looked up to see Nathan jog down the path wearing a huge grin. He had on jeans, trainers, and a Christmas sweater depicting a tree complete with flashing lights that intermittently lit up his face in a rather unsettling manner. Darcie hoped that he would take it off at some point, because it was giving her a headache already and she certainly couldn’t kiss him and keep a straight face while he was wearing it.
‘See you later,’ Dylan said as Darcie got out of the car. ‘Don’t forget,’ he added, a serious note to his voice now, ‘any time you need me to come and get you, just holler, ok?’
‘Ok.’
‘You look great,’ Nathan said, as Darcie watched Dylan’s car pull away from the kerb, suddenly wishing she was in it. ‘I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.’
‘Huh?’ She turned around.
‘I said you look great,’ he repeated. ‘Who’s that?’ he added, angling his head in the direction Dylan’s car had just taken.
‘My cousin’s boyfriend. I live with them both.’
‘That’s got to be awkward,’ he commented as they made their way back to the house.
‘Not really. I have a bit of my own at the back where I sleep and I don’t hear much from there.’
‘You’re lucky then. Because in this house, I can hear everything that goes on… if you know what I mean. I’ve got no objections to the others bringing girls or boys back, but I don’t want to hear all the sordid details.’
‘Oh…’ Darcie felt herself blush and wished she could stop it. Seriously, she was twenty-two and far too old to be turning tomato all the time, but she couldn’t help it and she couldn’t think of a way to stop doing it. She only knew that it made her look very silly and young.
‘Anyway,’ Nathan continued, ‘enough of that. How about I get you a drink while we can still get near the booze in the kitchen?’
Darcie gave him an awkward smile. A drink sounded good – perhaps it would relax her, because she felt anything but relaxed, and she didn’t want to come across as the uptight wallflower that she was sure she looked like right now. Once again she had to wonder what on earth a boy like Nathan had seen in her that made him want to pursue her. There must be plenty of pretty students at his university more suited to him, so why her, a girl he just met on the bus? But she followed him anyway. Even though the party had barely started, the hallway was lined with people, which led Darcie to believe that every room would be just as packed with strangers. She could smell cigarette smoke, a heady mix of various perfumes and deodorants, and a hint of fried food and canned pine fragrance spray. The whole effect was more than a little disconcerting. As they made their way through the house, he drew a packet of cigarettes from his back pocket. He took one for himself, and then offered her the open pack.
‘I don’t smoke,’ Darcie said.
‘I wish I didn’t,’ he replied, putting the pack away before lighting his own. ‘It costs a fortune and my mouth tastes like shit after a night out.’
‘Why don’t you quit then?’
He shrugged. ‘Once I’ve had a couple of drinks I can’t say no.’ He stopped at a kitchen worktop loaded with coloured bottles and tow
ers of plastic glasses. Standing next to it were four guys, who turned as one and regarded Darcie with interest. She glanced at Nathan, who simply grinned and waved a hand towards each in turn. ‘My housemates… Will, Iqbal, Jay and Lee.’
‘Hi,’ Darcie said with a shy smile.
‘So you’re the girl on the bus?’ one of them said. He looked at Nathan. ‘Good work!’
‘Yeah, so you can keep away from her,’ Nathan laughed, ‘everyone knows what a perv you are, Jay.’
Jay held his hands up and pulled an exaggerated face of innocence. ‘I would never!’
‘Come on,’ Nathan said, taking Darcie’s hand. ‘What can I get you? Beer, spirits, weird Day-Glo alcopop thing?’
‘Beer is fine,’ Darcie smiled.
‘That’s probably a wise choice,’ he said, picking up one of the coloured bottles and holding it up to the light, ‘because I have no idea what kind of weird shit might be in one of these.’ He cracked open a bottle of Beck’s and handed it to her. ‘You want me to put your coat in the cloakroom?’
‘You have a cloakroom?’ Darcie asked, taking the drink from him.
‘No, we have a bed, but it serves the same function.’
Darcie silently wondered whose bed it was and how many couples might end up beneath or even on top of those coats during the course of the night, but she didn’t want to seem rude, so she shrugged off her jacket and handed it to him.
He strode to a door off the hallway, and threw her jacket in the room beyond before slamming it shut again and returning.
‘Oh,’ Darcie said. ‘The bedroom is downstairs?’
‘Every spare room is a bedroom in student houses – maximum profit and all that. It makes for interesting times.’ Snapping the top off a bottle of beer for himself, he took a gulp before nodding towards the hallway. ‘How about we go and mingle. I can introduce you to student life, and maybe you’ll like it.’
Christmas at the Little Village Bakery Page 13