by T A Williams
‘Good evening ladies.’
‘Hi, Jack.’ Holly smiled at him before turning to Julia. ‘You remember my lovely neighbour?’
‘Of course. Hello, Jack. I’m Julia.’
Both girls watched as Jack fell to his knees and made a fuss of the dog. He had evidently been for a haircut and he was clean shaven. He looked fit and handsome. Stirling, delighted to see his old friend, rolled over on his back and grunted. Holly felt sorely tempted to do the same, but she just smiled instead. Jack glanced back over his shoulder with a broad smile for both of them. Holly was delighted to see him looking far less stressed than the last time she had seen him. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Julia.’ He reached up and took her hand. Julia decided she should put the record straight.
‘And I’m not really Holly’s lesbian lover.’
‘And I’m not really gay. Sorry to disappoint you.’
‘You certainly don’t disappoint me.’ She exchanged glances with Holly while Jack returned his attention to the floor.
‘You’re looking very smart, Jack.’ Holly though it best to return the conversation to a more neutral topic. ‘You must tell me who your hair stylist is.’ He stood up and rested against the edge of the table.
‘I’ve got a girl in Moreton who does it for me.’
‘I bet you have, Jack.’ Julia, now that she had got his sexuality straight in her head, was clearly returning to type. ‘Tell me, are you planning on going to midnight mass tomorrow?’
Jack grinned. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world.’ Catching Holly’s eye, he explained. ‘Everybody piles out of Howard Redgrave’s Christmas Ball at ten to midnight and heads for the church. And that includes the vicar. A couple of years ago, the organist had a bit too much Christmas cheer at the ball and he passed out across his keyboard. It sounded like the last trump. But, anyway, it’s Christmas, isn’t it? That’s what we do.’ He glanced at their glasses. ‘Can I get either of you a drink?’
Holly shook her head. ‘I’m fine, thanks, Jack. What about you, Jules? The nice man’s offering to buy you a drink.’
Julia smiled at him. ‘Thanks, Jack, but I’ll go slow. I’ve got my own nice man arriving in an hour or two. I owe it to him to wait until he gets here before I pass out over his organ.’ Julia erupted in a fit of giggles. Jack caught Holly’s eye and winked.
‘Ah, the Christmas spirit. You can’t beat it. Well, I came in for a pint. I’ve been writing all day and I need a break.’ He went over to the bar and ordered a pint of Dartmoor Jail Ale. While his back was turned, Holly whispered to Julia.
‘Behave yourself, will you? I don’t want to scare the poor man off.’
‘Don’t you worry. You were right about two things, Hol. First, your Jack doesn’t scare easily, so you need have no fears on that score. And, second, if that man’s gay, I’ll eat the carpet the dog’s lying on.’ She grinned at Holly. ‘Hol, he’s bloody gorgeous. If I weren’t a happily married woman…’
‘The “M” word, after only a week or two with Scott?’
‘And how long have you known Jack?’
‘Yes, all right, but I haven’t leapt into bed with him yet.’
‘But it’s not as if you don’t want to…’
‘All right if I join you?’ Jack was back with a pint of bitter. The girls nodded and even the dog raised his head for a moment and gave a single, lazy wag of the tail before collapsing once more onto the beer-stained carpet. Holly reflected that it was probably just as well that Julia would not have to eat it. Jack took a big mouthful of beer and gave a sigh of satisfaction. ‘That’s better.’ He wiped a smudge of froth off his lip and turned to Holly. ‘I’m glad I’ve caught you. There’s a big surfing competition tomorrow up at Saunton; the Winter Chill Competition. I’ve been doing it for a few years now, so I’ll be heading up there for the day. There’s this big low out in the Atlantic so the conditions should be awesome.’
‘Is that according to Magic Seaweed?’ Holly saw Julia’s look of incomprehension and grinned.
‘That’s the one. The fount of all wisdom.’ Jack nodded approvingly. ‘But what with that and then the ball in the evening, I’m not sure when we’ll have time to sort everything out for Christmas lunch. Are we straight on who’s doing what?’
‘You’re going surfing?’ Julia was staring at him, goggle-eyed, presumably wondering if her earlier comment that he might be an alien might have some truth to it. ‘There’s ice forming on the cars as we watch.’
‘Jack has a different thermostat setting from the rest of us.’ For a moment Holly wished she could go with him to the coast, but with Julia here that wasn’t going to be practical. Whether her interest was to see him surfing or to see him take his wetsuit off was not something she was willing to discuss, even inside her own head.
Between them, they sorted out that he would prepare the turkey and make the stuffing. Holly was secretly very pleased, never having stuffed or cooked a turkey before. She had been anticipating having to spend an hour on the internet, trying to learn how.
‘Apparently it’s a twelve-pound bird, and so I reckon it’s going to need to cook for about four hours.’ Jack was calculating. ‘So, if we aim to eat at, say, two o’clock, it’ll need to go into the oven at ten. What time are you two girls going off to Exeter?’
Now it was Holly’s time to calculate. ‘Fairly soon after that, I suppose. I know, Jack, I’ve got a spare key here. You take it and that way you can pop in and out while I’m away to do whatever it is you have to do to the bird.’ She dug out the spare key and handed it over. ‘I’ll get all the vegetables prepared in advance so I can cook them when I get back. I bought the pudding and a cake and some cheese this afternoon.’ She looked over at him with a smile. ‘Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to go hungry on Sunday. Oh, and as it’s Christmas, let’s have a couple of bottles of wine from my dad’s cellar.’
‘Well, just so long as they aren’t the most expensive ones. And I’ll bring some champagne. That’s one thing about working for a company that spends millions on hospitality. Every year I get a dozen bottles of vintage champagne delivered to my door.’ He drained his glass of beer and stood up. ‘Well, can’t sit around talking. It’s just getting to the saucy part now.’
Holly explained to Julia. ‘Jack writes screenplays and he’s in the middle of one at the moment.’
‘Ooh, how exciting. What’s happening in your story?’ Julia sounded interested to know, but not nearly as interested as Holly was.
‘Let me think.’ Jack studiously avoided meeting Holly’s eye. ‘Well, the heroine didn’t have sex with the bad guy. So that’s good. The trouble is the good guy’s a bit of a dickhead, so what I’ve got to decide now is whether he gets it together with the heroine or whether he manages to balls the whole thing up.’ He looked down at Julia. ‘They’re having dinner together and I’m trying to make up my mind what happens. Maybe he’s got some secret she doesn’t know about yet, or vice versa. I normally write romantic comedies, but the studio told me I can make this one bittersweet if I like. Not really sure how it’s going to pan out. Wish me luck.’
He turned for the door.
‘Good luck with the surfing competition.’ Julia blew him a kiss.
‘Good luck, Jack.’ Holly wasn’t just talking about the surfing competition.
Julia waited until he had left the pub before delivering her verdict. ‘That is one hell of a hot guy, Hol. Don’t let this one get away.’
Holly managed a weak smile. ‘Well, we’ve already had at least three sort-of-dates, so from now on it’s a leap into the unknown.’
Scott arrived at a quarter to nine. By that time, the carol singers, including a surprising number of children, had come past and serenaded them. Up till then, Holly had rather got the impression that the village was more of a retirement community and was pleased to see a good number of young people among the choir. She went out with a donation. This would go into the fund to renew the lead on the church roof, which Fergal told her h
ad been leaking for over twenty years.
She gave the children sweets and she found herself joining in with Away in a Manger. Remarkably, in spite of not having heard it for fifteen years, she remembered all the words. Julia stood beside her and mimed, while the dog looked on with a bemused expression on his face. Back inside afterwards, Holly had to admit that it had felt rather good to be out in the cold, lit only by the lanterns the choir were carrying, remembering that Christmas was only two days away.
Holly had prepared a plate of ham, melon, pâté and salami as a starter and she did three-minute pasta with pesto sauce as a main course. This was her first sight of Scott and she had been awaiting his arrival with some trepidation. She and Julia went way back and they really were best friends and Holly knew well that, underneath the bouncy exterior, Julia was very vulnerable. A succession of unsuccessful relationships had cost her dear and Holly was just praying that Scott would turn out to be a keeper. Happily, her impression of him was very positive.
He arrived with a bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers for her, and a big hug and a long kiss for Julia. He gave Holly the flowers and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was not quite as tall as Jack, but his shoulders were broad and he was a good-looking boy. She knew, from what Julia had told her, that he was a scientist of some description, so she was fascinated to discover, in the course of the meal, that he was a fellow engineer and he worked for one of the Formula 1 motor racing teams, based just outside London. Julia had to struggle hard to get a word in edgeways over dinner as Holly quizzed Scott on the technical aspects of his work. Finally, Julia had to step in.
‘Right, that’s it. No more bloody car talk. Scott, my darling, tell me how beautiful I am tonight.’ She managed quite a convincing seductive purr. ‘Tell me my eyes are like the orbs of a tropical moon, my hair like finest velvet.’
‘Julia, my love, you are as radiant as the shine on the polished carbon fibre body of a Formula 1 racing car.’
The two of them were throwing bread at each other when Holly got up to make coffee. Stirling was all in favour of bread fights and lived up to his name, doing a sterling job of clearing every last crumb off the floor.
Scott thanked Holly politely for the coffee and asked the big question. ‘So, Holly, are you going to settle down here in Devon?’
Holly shot a glance at Julia who affected disinterest. She turned back to Scott. ‘Julia was asking me the same thing earlier. The answer is I don’t know. There are pros and cons to both arguments.’
He smiled at her. ‘Well, if it helps, Holly, my plan’s to move back down to Cornwall if I ever get the chance. You can’t beat the West Country. I’m a Cornish boy and I’d love to live down here again.’ Both of them looked across the table for a reaction. Julia hesitated, then, sensing that she had now become the centre of attention, gave her reply.
‘It really is lovely down here. To be honest, I think London’s an amazing place for young people, with so much to see and do, and don’t let’s forget the job opportunities. But, for older folk like you two, well, I can see the attraction of the rural life.’
‘Listen, you, don’t forget I’m only two months older than you, Jules. That’s nothing.’ Holly tried to sound offended.
‘Tell that to a mayfly. Anything over forty-eight hours and they get a telegram from the Queen. But, seriously…’ this time she looked straight at Scott, ‘… I’m sure it all depends on the person you’re with.’
After they had had their coffee, Holly took Stirling for his evening stroll, leaving Scott and Julia to retire to the bedroom. As Julia had predicted, Holly did find herself lying on her back in the dark a little while later, but she wasn’t thinking of Range Rover man. She drifted off to sleep, clutching her new teddy bear and thinking of her surfer man with the old Land Rover and wondering when she would get to hear his story.
Day Nine
Saturday, Christmas Eve
Scott and Julia didn’t surface till almost ten and, by then, Holly had already been up for several hours. She had started by taking Stirling up onto the moor for his walk. It was bitterly cold and the sky was a sinister leaden grey, with no sign of the sun, the moon or even the bright planet that normally hung just above the dawn horizon. Cloud cover was total and impenetrable. Even so, by now Holly was getting quite familiar with the tracks and paths up there on the open moorland and she managed to find her way around quite well, in spite of the darkness. The clouds were so thick, it was only just beginning to get light as they returned to the house at eight forty-five. Holly noticed that Jack’s Land Rover had gone by then and she spared a thought for him plunging into the sea on a day when the temperature was certainly only a degree or two above zero.
Inside, she made herself some breakfast and gave the dog a slice of bread to keep him going until lunchtime. She turned on the television and listened attentively to the weather forecast. The remnants of the massive snowstorm that had struck the eastern seaboard of the United States a few days previously were expected to make landfall in the UK some time that evening. And from the map, Brookford looked like it was bang in the middle of its path.
After breakfast, Holly set about wrapping the presents she had bought the previous day. After a lot of discussion, Julia had opted to use the long dress she had brought down with her for Howard Redgrave’s ball that night and so her Christmas present from Holly was a very smart navy blue Reiss dress with white polka dots – identical, according to the salesperson, to one that the Duchess of Cambridge had worn a few weeks back. For Howard, after a lot of searching, Holly had found a pair of cufflinks in the shape of France. She hoped they might appeal to the old man. For Mrs Edworthy, she chose a bright scarf, and, for Justin, a fancy sailor’s knife with blades designed to do everything from cutting ropes to removing barnacles or whatever grew on the hulls of boats. Mind you, Holly thought to herself, if he and Amanda could get back together again, that would be the best possible Christmas present for both of them. For Jack she had wanted to find something intimate, but had ended up with the complete opposite. It took a lot of Christmas paper to wrap it up, and it occupied almost as much space as the tree itself. Still, she thought to herself, it’s always good to give useful presents.
Scott left just before lunch, understandably keen to get down to Cornwall before the predicted snow arrived. Seeing the village in daylight, albeit dark, gloomy daylight, he remained ever more convinced that the West Country was where his heart was, and he advised Holly to think seriously about staying on in Brookford.
To cheer Julia up after his departure, Holly took her to the pub, naturally along with the dog. However, today, being Christmas Eve, the place was crowded out and they couldn’t even get a seat. They looked at each other and decided to head for home instead.
Back at Brook Cottage, they had lunch and the conversation very quickly came round to men. Julia started it by asking rather apprehensively. ‘So, what do you think of Scottie?’
Holly had no doubts. ‘The best thing that’s happened to you for years. He’s a sweetie.’
Julia looked relieved. ‘I think so too.’
‘And, for what it’s worth, I definitely get the impression he likes you too. A lot.’
Julia gave her trademark grin. ‘You’re right there, I’m sure. I hope we didn’t keep you awake last night.’ There was a slight pause. ‘Erm, Holly?’ Julia was looking more hesitant again. ‘He’s going to come to my parents’ house after Christmas to pick me up. You don’t think it’s a bit soon for him to meet them, is it? I don’t want him to feel pressured.’
‘He’s not exactly going to go down on one knee in front of your father and ask for your hand, is he? No, it’ll be fine. I’m sure.’ Holly grinned in her turn. ‘But if he did go down on one knee, what would your reaction be?’
Julia was smiling again. ‘If he asked me to marry him after two and a half weeks, I’d tell him to take a hike. That’s just plain silly. But maybe, if he waited a while and then asked, I might give it very serious thought.
Anyway, there’s time but, for now, the signs are looking good.’ She sat back. ‘And what about you and the delectable Jack?’
‘I only met the delectable Jack eight days ago, unless you count seeing him in the car that time. I haven’t really had time to get to know him fully yet. All right, he’s pretty hunky, with his lovely hair, his muscles and those amazing eyes.’
Julia had noticed. ‘Yes, they really are, aren’t they? I was trying to work out what colour they were, but they seem to change. It took me a while, but I’m settling for iceberg as a colour: sometimes blue, sometimes green.’ Julia sounded enthusiastic and Holly was pleased to get her friend’s seal of approval. She carried on.
‘I like him a lot as a person. He’s generous, he’s kind and he’s helpful. He’s clearly intelligent as well and very successful at what he does. But something’s not right. Something’s holding him back. He’s got baggage, whether it’s the heart-stomping thing you were saying yesterday or something else, I just don’t know. I’m sure he likes me a lot, but he’s finding it hard to let things go any further between us.’
‘Well, tonight’s the night, Hol. You turn up at the ball in that amazing dress and he’ll be putty in your hands.’ Yesterday, with Julia’s prompting, Holly had bought a frighteningly expensive slinky long black dress. With the assistance of some new underwear, she knew it was going to look very good on her, particularly with her very high heels. She caught Julia’s eye.
‘We’ll see. I’m just afraid that when he claps eyes on that revealing dress you’ll be wearing, he’ll forget all about me.’
‘He won’t forget you, Hol, believe me.’
As she was doing the washing up after lunch, Holly had an idea. Justin had told her his father had been a close friend of Howard Redgrave and her father. Maybe the old man might be able to help him and Amanda get back together. A vague plan started to form and she and Julia talked it through and decided that, with luck, it might just work. Operation Get Justin and Amanda Back Together was about to begin. Holly picked up the phone and called Howard.