by Melissa Hill
A Fairytale Christmas
A New York Christmas Story
Melissa Hill
Contents
A Fairytale Christmas
Copyright
Also by Melissa Hill
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
About the Author
Also by Melissa Hill
A Fairytale Christmas
Copyright Little Blue Books, 2016
The right of Melissa Hillto be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author. You must not circulate this book in any format.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Also by Melissa Hill
Author Page
Something You Should Know
Not What You Think
Never Say Never
Wishful Thinking
All Because of You
The Last to Know
Before I Forget
Please Forgive Me
The Truth About You
Something From Tiffany's
The Charm Bracelet
The Guest List
A Gift to Remember
The Hotel on Mulberry Bay
A Diamond from Tiffany's
The Gift of A Lifetime
Chapter 1
“I still can’t believe I’m spending Christmas in New York,” Penny laughed, as she rubbed her hands together to warm them.
A tall slender blonde in fitted light blue jeans and a red puffa jacket, she walked towards the kerb, where an awaiting black town car stood with an open door.
Her white snow boots left prints in the fresh snow.
“Why not? And what better way to spend it - and your birthday too,” her best friend Kate replied as they neared the car, elation reflected in her honey eyes.
Her diminutive frame was curvier than Penny’s, the reward of motherhood.
Their breaths came in wisps as they spoke, filling the area around them with a quickly-evaporating fog
“Besides, what were you going to do in London all alone?” she added.
“I wouldn’t have been alone,” Penny defended, but they both knew better.
Penny was a workaholic. She had been ever since her fiancé’s death three years before. It had been difficult for her ever since, being part of a world without Tim. Kate knew that.
Over the years she’d tried her best to pull her friend out of the recesses and back into the sunlight where she belonged, but Penny was stubborn. She always had been.
It had taken desperate measures on Kate’s part to get her on the flight over from London.
“So where’s Ian?” Penny asked, referring to Kate’s husband.
“He’s meeting us at home. He has some things to get done before he heads back.” Kate’s words were punctuated by the slamming of the trunk of the town car.
Penny’s single suitcase was securely tucked inside, right next to her son Toby’s stroller.
“So what happened to your SUV? I thought you loved that thing,” Penny asked as she approached the open passenger door. The vehicle’s driver was standing sentinel as her eyes grew large at the sight of the interior of the expensive Lincoln.
“I do, but where we are now makes it difficult for me to find parking. The car comes with Ian’s job, we just never had a reason to use it before,” Kate answered as both women slid into the backseat one after the other.
The door closed behind them.
The warm scent of vanilla greeted Penny as she slid around making herself comfortable. She wasn’t used to being chauffeur driven and she fidgeted in the small space.
There was an ice bucket and two champagne flutes tucked into a holder. The glasses alone must have cost more than her coat. She would have much rather preferred Kate’s Range Rover. At least she wouldn’t be afraid to break something.
“It’s great that you both were able to get the holidays off together. I know last year was a bit of a mess.”
“Yeah well, you know how corporate types can be – all work, work, work.”
“No I don’t,” Penny mused lightly. “I always liked the blue collar guys – the kind who work with their hands.”
She looked out the window as they pulled away from the airport. As a masseuse Tim had been great with his hands, and very attentive. He always knew when she was tense and was quick to alleviate the problem.
He was a master at working out the knots from her neck and back, not to mention his stellar foot massages. She missed them. She missed feeling pampered and cared for.
Tim had been her entire world. Having been an orphan, Penny wasn’t used to having people care for her, but Tim had, he’d loved her through a time when she could barely love herself.
Then he was gone, and everything she’d hoped for died with him.
“I have to pick up Toby from by my mother before we head home,” Kate interjected, knowing her friend’s thoughts had strayed.
Penny wasn’t difficult to read, especially for someone who knew her as well as Kate. The pair had been best friends since kindergarten, both born and raised in a quite suburb of London until Kate had gone to New York to attend university.
It was where she’d met Ian Jarvis, her husband. She was studying interior design and he, finance. The artist and the businessman, an unlikely pair, but the two made it look effortless the way they seemed to read each other’s minds.
Now they had a house in Middlesex County, a beautiful two-year-old son and careers they were both proud of.
They were the image of the ideal couple.
“I can’t wait to see my godson.” Penny offered Kate a bright smile to mask her short trip down memory lane. “I bet he’s gotten so big since I last saw him - on Skype wasn’t it?”
“Yes, nasty thing. A weak excuse for human contact.” Kate wrinkled her nose and Penny felt the tirade even before her friend started. “You know how I feel about those things. All the social media that make us ‘closer’ to the point that we forget to actually speak to one another. Ten people in a room and they’re all glued to their smartphones! No one even bothers to look up. It’s ridiculous!”
“I know you hate them Kate, but they do serve a good purpose –”
“I miss the days of conversation. I loved it when people got together for dinner and talked about things that were important – life, future plans. Now it’s all posting pictures of the food to Facebook and taking selfies for your Instagram. I swear if it wasn’t for my manager demanding I have a social media presence, I promise you’d I’d never twit.”
Penny chuckled as she leaned back. “It’s tweet Kate. Tweet. You tweet on Twitter.”
“Whatever, you know what I mean.”
Kate, the anti social media activist was a woman who still wrote in her diary instead of a blog.
She posted letters rather than emails if she had a choice, and painted when the entire world had gone digital. Her best friend was a woma
n from another time and Penny loved her.
Chapter 2
“I thought we were going to your house?” Penny commented, when it became clear that they weren’t headed for the usual turnpike.
Toby was snuggled in his car seat between them, fast asleep. His head rose and fell peacefully against his chest.
“Oh no, we’re staying in Manhattan at the moment. Didn’t I mention that? The house is being renovated and Ian didn’t want Toby in all that dust,” Kate replied as she sipped from her bottle of Evian.
She wordlessly offered Penny a bottle, which was politely refused. She’d had enough warm liquids on the plane and couldn’t hold another.
Penny responded with disappointment. She was looking forward to getting out of the city setting and enjoying some fresh air. London was a concrete jungle she’d been in her entire life.
“Where are we staying then?”
“At the Easton - on the Upper West Side. Ian’s company owns a few apartments there and they offered us one.”
“Nice. The perks of being a top performer I take it.”
“What can I say, he works hard. He’s always at the office. I swear if I didn’t know I could trust my husband, I’d believe he was cheating, but affairs aren’t something I have to worry about.”
The confidence in Kate’s voice was awe-inspiring. Penny wasn’t sure she’d be as confident if the shoe was on the other foot.
Tim hadn’t had late nights, but he did have a lot of female clients. She would have been lying if she said that she’d never had a niggling of fear and insecurity when it came to his fidelity – but she was told that insecurity was common for children who’d been raised in the social services.
Insecurity, doubt and fear – the three deadly plagues. Penny had suffered from all of them at some point in her life, insecurity being the worst of the bunch.
When she met Tim she was convinced she didn’t deserve to be happy. That people like her didn’t get the happy ending.
She’d pushed him away but he wouldn’t give up. He pursued her until she relented, earning her trust every step of the way.
He proved to be the best of men – the best man she’d ever known. It was unfair that such a wonderful life should be snuffed out by the callousness of one armed man, who wanted the contents of a supermarket’s register.
Tim had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting a bottle of wine to celebrate their fourth anniversary. In the blink of an eye, his life came to an end and Penny’s beliefs about happy endings were proven true.
“It must be really nice having the life you always wanted. Remember growing up you always said you’d move to New York one day and become a famous designer?” She offered a warm smile of admiration. “You really did it, Kate.”
“I’m not famous,” her friend countered as they pulled up outside the salubrious apartment building. “But I am happy,” she continued, smiling at her sleeping son.
When her eyes returned to Penny they glistened slightly as her voice quivered. “I want you to be as happy, Pen.”
“I am –”
“No you’re not –”
Their conversation was interrupted as the passenger door was pulled open and their driver stood waiting.
He already had Toby’s stroller out and unfolded.
Penny gave Kate a placating look before stepping out of the car. A light snowfall was just beginning and passersby huddling down in their coats and jackets.
She pulled her coat closer around her neck as Kate bundled up Toby.
“We better get inside. I don’t want him getting a cold,” her friend stated as she held her son to her chest, shielding him from the nipping wind.
The doorman had the door ready upon their approach and Penny followed her friend into the exquisite lobby. The driver followed behind them like a lost puppy, with Penny’s luggage in-hand.
The Easton was a testament to Upper East Side design and elegance. The building had every amenity imaginable and a view to kill for.
Penny was dumbstruck as she was given the tour of Kate’s three-bedroom, two-bath apartment. The kitchen looked like something off of the cover of Better Homes and Gardens. Her small one-bedroom with pokey fireplace was the ugly stepchild in comparison.
I bet that’s real marble. What the hell am I doing here?
Penny was still asking herself that question as she sat in the living room skimming through magazines as Kate got Toby settled down again. He’d woken fifteen minutes earlier and seemed fractious.
“Sorry about that. He can be a bit cranky when he has an accident,” Kate commented as she took a seat beside Penny.
They looked at each other in silence, their earlier exchange the proverbial elephant in the room.
Finally Kate broke the discomfort. “Look, you know me. I can’t hold my tongue and discretion isn’t my strong point so I’m just going to say it.”
“Kate –”
“You aren’t happy Pen,” Kate’s eyes began to smart with tears.
Penny felt the sting of panic well-up inside her. She couldn’t handle tears, especially not Kate’s.
“You haven’t been for a long time, and I’m worried about you.” She locked her gaze on Penny. “Ever since Tim died you’ve been a different person. You barely laugh. You don’t go out. All you ever do is work. You even stopped calling Tim’s parents.”
Penny’s eyes widened. “How on earth did you know that?”
“Mrs. Walters gave me a call when you stopped returning hers. She’s worried about you too Pen. We all are.”
“You don’t have to worry I’m fine,” Penny replied tersely. She hated people talking about her behind her back. “Since when do you and Colleen talk to one another? I don’t remember either of you ever doing that when Tim was alive.”
“Don’t,” Kate cautioned, sensing the shift. “Don’t make this into some kind of conspiracy. I gave her my number at Tim’s funeral. She kept it. When you stopped calling and returning their calls she was worried, so she contacted me. How else was anyone going to know if you were alright? I barely know half the time.”
“That’s not fair Kate. You know I can’t stand to see you cry,” Penny blubbered as they embraced.
“I can’t help it. I’m just so worried about you and I love you.”
“I love you too, and I’m sorry I made you worry. It was just … easier to keep to myself after Tim’s death. It didn’t hurt so much when there weren’t so many reminders of when I was happy.”
Kate held her at arm’s length. “Tim wouldn’t have wanted this. You know that. You need to let yourself be happy again.”
“I know,” Penny replied as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.
“He wouldn’t have wanted you to stop living.”
The two women fell into another embrace, the comfort of their friendship easing away the tension of the years of imposed emotional distance.
They were still sniffling when Ian and his guest arrived.
Chapter 3
“So the Junko contract is still pending? I thought Morrissey was pushing that for Christmas? I spent the past six months having no social life to get that done because the company ‘needed’ the deal to go through ASAP. It’s spent the past three weeks on that man’s desk. Now you’re telling me it’s on hold until the New Year?” Mike Callaghan’s voice filled the empty corridor as he and Kate’s husband Ian, disembarked the elevator.
Each at over six feet tall and with similar wide set jaws and unruly spiked medium brown hair, Ian and Mike could have passed for a twin at a distance.
On closer inspection the differences were evident.
Ian’s chestnut eyes were set into a slimmer more serious face, though the five o’clock shadow matched Mike’s perfectly.
Mike’s softer appearance gave him a more boyish look with his blue eyes and dimpled chin.
Ian was wearing his customary tailored grey suit with a navy tie and leather shoes, while Mike was dressed in dark jeans, a light bl
ue buttoned-down and a light grey vest. He wore loafers on his feet and the top button of his shirt was undone.
“I tried to get him to move on it but he’s stalling. You should probably drop a hint to Nolan, just to cover yourself,” Ian stated as he turned his key in the lock of the apartment.
“Yeah I will. Morrissey has been after me for ages. I don’t want him trying to put the fault for the delay on me.” He followed Ian into the apartment, both continuing their conversation as they walked into the living room.
“Honey we’re home!” Mike joked as he rounded the corner, his slight twang faltering the moment his blue eyes settled on his friend’s wife and her guest.
What’s she doing here?
“Honestly Mike, the amount of time you spend here people might think you’re part of the family,” Kate laughed as she stepped towards him, placing a friendly peck on his cheek.
She immediately turned to her husband, giving him his customary smooch.
“Yeah, well it happens when you have no life,” Mike joked, glancing in Penny’s direction.
“You better get one if you ever intend to make me a godmother some day,” Kate retorted, taking Ian’s briefcase and setting it aside. She looked at their otherwise empty hands. “I thought you two were bringing home dinner?”
“Don’t worry. I called and ordered before I left the office. The delivery guy should get here any second.” Ian replied as he promptly removed his tie on his way to their bedroom.
“What did you get?” Kate called after him.
“Chinese,” Mike and Ian answered in harmony before Ian disappeared into the other room.
Penny watched the cosy display at a distance, suddenly uneasy. She hadn’t anticipated there being anyone else at Kate’s tonight.
She was hoping for a quiet night with her friends, not a mini dinner party. This trip was definitely not turning out how she planned.