A Cosy Candlelit Christmas: A wonderfully festive feel good romance (An Unforgettable Christmas Book 2)

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘How do you know all this anyway?’ Glory added.

  ‘The solicitor told me. He said he felt I might want to go over there, said I might find it beneficial in terms of my inheritance.’

  If Glory was annoyed that Isla had made the call she didn’t say so. ‘I still don’t understand why Sarah would leave you anything. It’s a bit late for a sudden attack of guilt when she’s hardly bothered with you since the day you were born.’

  As a child, Isla had often wondered about her grandmother’s absence. In some ways, she’d felt that rejection more keenly than her father’s, convinced there was something about her which was so distasteful that both her grandmother and her father couldn’t bear to be in her life. She had so many questions to ask her dad, and that was at the top of the list. She could understand why he’d left – at least it wasn’t unusual for marriages to break down and for the father to disappear from the child’s life. But for a grandmother to forsake the child too? Was she so blind to her son’s faults that she’d side with him no matter what? Or was something else happening here? She glanced up at her mother, who was now fetching a pair of warmed plates from the oven. Isla loved her mother but she didn’t always trust her. Through all the long years she’d asked herself the same questions about why her father’s family had forsaken them, she’d also begun to suspect that her mother wasn’t entirely blameless in the affair. What she hadn’t dared ask, but what she suspected more strongly than ever before, was whether proud, unforgiving Glory McCoy had driven them away. Had she cut them from her life even though they’d wanted to be a part of it?

  ‘I don’t really understand it either,’ Isla said. ‘But the fact remains that she has, and I want to know more.’

  ‘You’ll regret it.’

  ‘I might, but it’s my decision whether I take the risk or not, isn’t it?’

  ‘You’ve always been headstrong and stubborn,’ Glory huffed as she lifted the frying pan from the heat.

  Isla gave a faint smile. ‘Where do you think I get it from?’

  Glory looked up and met Isla’s gaze. Though she was trying to hide it, Isla detected the hint of a smile in return.

  ‘Don’t think I’ve given up trying to talk you out of this fool plan,’ she said.

  ‘I wouldn’t dare,’ Isla replied. ‘But that fish looks good so could we put this argument on hold at least until we’ve eaten?’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The next night brought an easier get-together in the form of dinner with Dodie. Isla was desperate to talk to someone who would give her supportive, impartial advice after the difficult conversation with Glory, and Dodie had cancelled all her plans the minute Isla had called her to say so. Isla was still reeling from the decision; nervous and hesitant one minute, resolute the next, but ultimately terrified for how it might change everything. Already her relationship with her mum had altered; she’d felt it that morning as Glory had bid her a cold goodbye to go to work. Her mother had accepted it, but she would never be happy about it.

  As always, Isla had bought far too much food from the Chinese takeaway. She had a gargantuan appetite and Dodie often complained that if she ate half of what Isla did she’d look like a pygmy hippo. In times of stress this intake could grow exponentially, and despite what she’d told her mum, this was a time of extreme stress. After a brief greeting, Isla dumped the cartons on the table. Even if she had ordered too much food, Dodie would find a home for the leftovers with Dorset’s homeless, as she always did. As Dodie set out plates and began to investigate what was on offer, talk turned very quickly to the reappearance of Isla’s father.

  ‘So this is your dad’s mum? The gran you’ve never met?’

  Isla nodded slowly as she unwrapped her spring rolls.

  ‘Bloody decent of her as she’s never laid eyes on you,’ Dodie said wryly. ‘A sudden attack of conscience, was it?’

  ‘That’s what Mum said. I suppose it must have been. I don’t know much about it really, but the letter requested that I go. Said there was provision in the estate for my travel expenses if I wanted to.’

  ‘Do you have to?’

  ‘I wouldn’t imagine I have to do anything.’

  ‘What’s your mum say?’

  ‘I’ll give you three guesses…’

  Dodie smiled. ‘OK, silly question. I’m surprised she showed you the solicitor’s letter at all. Why on earth did she?’

  ‘Perhaps she had an attack of conscience too. Maybe she thought if she didn’t tell me about it things would have been a whole lot worse for her if they’d found me some other way.’

  ‘It would have been, I bet.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have been pleased. I’m not a kid any more, but sometimes I think she wishes I still was. It seems like Dad thinks so too; it would have been a lot simpler to send the letters direct to me than rely on Mum telling me about them.’

  Dodie opened the lid on a carton of rice. ‘So if you know it’s going to upset your mum I don’t suppose you’ll be going.’

  ‘That’s the thing… he’s my dad. I don’t know; I’ve always felt as if my life has been missing a piece and maybe seeing him and getting to know him again will fix that. But then he didn’t want me for all these years, so that makes him a twat, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I’d have to agree.’

  ‘He’s my twat, though. I don’t know anything about him or his family, only that our name is Scottish. Mum has this total information blackout where he’s concerned, and I get why she feels that way so I’ve never pushed it. At least, not over the past few years, and we’ve learned to ignore the fact he ever existed.’

  ‘She kept his name when he left,’ Dodie said, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

  ‘You try telling my mum that’s significant and she’ll chase you around the house with a frying pan. She says it was just easier not to bother changing it, but I know it’s because the silly cow has never really stopped loving him. I think that’s why she’s so adamant we don’t discuss him and we don’t acknowledge his existence – it just hurts too much.’

  ‘You can’t ignore his existence now.’

  ‘Don’t I bloody know it.’

  ‘Do you feel as if you need to know about your dad’s family? You’ve already got an enormous family here in England without adding to it.’

  ‘I have.’ Isla gave a slight smile. ‘On my mum’s side at least. And that’s without all the folks in Nigeria. We could fill Wembley Stadium with my cousins.’

  ‘It does seem funny,’ Dodie said thoughtfully as she dug her spoon into the tub of chicken and put some on her plate. ‘Your gran’s never shown any interest in you before but she’s suddenly decided to leave you some money. Don’t you think that’s odd?’

  ‘I did. And I asked my mum about it but she gave me the usual response. Which is no response at all.’

  ‘Do you think that maybe they did try to contact you over the years but your mum wouldn’t let them and didn’t tell you about it? Because she was pretty messed up for years after he left, wasn’t she? And it might be the sort of thing someone who was pretty messed up might do.’

  ‘I don’t know what to think. I believe that if she did, it was for the right reasons – at least she would have thought them right, even if they weren’t. It’s tough to know what to do.’

  ‘What does your heart want to do?’

  Isla shrugged. ‘I think I want to go. Just to see. I think I’ll always regret it if I don’t. And it’s not just about the money… that’s if there is any money, because I’m not sure about that either. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure about anything right now.’

  Dodie blew out a breath. ‘It’s huge, that’s for sure.’

  Isla pulled the cork from some wine and poured a glass, which she handed to Dodie. ‘What would you do?’

  ‘You’re asking the wrong person – I wear my heart on my sleeve and I’m as gullible as they come. When it comes to reason over emotion, I’m absolutely hopeless.’

  ‘That’s why yo
u’re exactly the right person to answer my question. You see the good in everyone and it always seems to work out OK for you. Your instincts always steer you right. Everyone you meet falls in love with you—’

  ‘Try telling that to Ryan,’ Dodie interrupted, but she shook her head at Isla’s questioning frown. ‘Sorry – ignore me.’

  ‘What I mean to say is, perhaps I should just trust my heart and go; see what he has to say. What harm can it do? Of course, I know that I’m bound to be disappointed because he’s done nothing but let me down all my life. When he could be bothered to be a part of it, that is. So I suppose there’s nothing he can do to make things worse in that respect, but he might show a glimmer of a good side when I meet him and that might make me understand him a little better. That’s got to be a good thing as far as I can tell. But then I don’t want my mother to hate me, and she will if I go to see him. Not hate me, but she’ll be desperately hurt and she’ll see it as a betrayal for all the years she thinks she spent protecting me from his influence. More than that, I don’t want to find out things about my mother that I’ll wish I hadn’t known. There’s always two sides to every story, isn’t there? I’m stumped.’

  ‘The only person you can really please here is yourself. So perhaps you ought to concentrate on that and forget about the rest.’

  ‘But pleasing me depends so heavily on the outcome of the rest. You see what I mean?’

  ‘Hmm.’ Dodie took a sip of her wine. ‘I suppose you get a trip to the French Alps, which can’t be bad. Which part?’

  ‘Some ski resort I can’t even pronounce the name of. I Googled it and it looked posh so he mustn’t be doing too badly if he can afford to live there.’

  ‘Want me to go in your place?’

  Isla smiled faintly. ‘I’m almost tempted to say yes. You could come with me.’

  ‘I wish, but there’s too much going on here,’ Dodie replied. ‘You’ll probably find you love it when you get there. It might be worth going just for the holiday, even if it turns out that your dad is the arse you thought he might be.’

  ‘I’m not so sure. It’ll be bloody freezing for a start, and how is my thin blood going to cope with that? If he’d gone to Barbados, that might be a different story, but if I do go to the Alps I’m certainly not going for the trip.’

  ‘How about a sexy Frenchman?’

  Isla raised her eyebrows. ‘I know you’re trying to make me feel better but it’s not helping.’

  Dodie put the takeout cartons to one side and took a seat at the table. ‘Sorry… I don’t know what to say. In the end, it’s a decision only you can make. I’m happy to listen while you sound off, but I can’t offer any advice because, honestly, I don’t have a clue what you should do. The only advice I can give is to go with your gut instinct, because it’s what I would do.’

  ‘I wish I could be more like that. I’m all logic and planning and sometimes I wish I wasn’t; life would be much more fun with a free spirit.’

  ‘A free spirit often gets you into trouble too,’ Dodie said with a slight smile. ‘I envy your logic and reasoning – at least you have a plan.’

  ‘You’re doing OK. You’ve got your own business for a start. And a boyfriend. For all my sensible planning I have neither of those things.’

  ‘It’s only a matter of time,’ Dodie replied. ‘When your course is over you’ll get your dream job. And as for boyfriends, they’re overrated.’

  Isla arched an eyebrow as she unfolded a napkin. ‘Had a falling-out with Ryan?’

  ‘Sort of. I don’t want to talk about it.’

  ‘He wouldn’t let you watch Harvey again?’

  ‘No.’ Dodie laughed. ‘It wasn’t quite that bad. We had words; it was nothing and I’ll sort it out with him tomorrow.’

  ‘As long as you’re OK. If you want to talk I’m here – don’t forget that.’

  ‘I thought we were supposed to be talking about you tonight?’

  ‘Yeah, well… I’m sick of hearing myself talk about it so everyone else must be suicidal by now.’

  ‘Not me.’ Dodie smiled. ‘If you want to go over it a thousand times I’ll keep listening.’

  Isla looked up from her plate and her heart swelled at the sight of her friend’s concerned gaze. If only everyone in her life could be as dependable as Dodie Bright. Don’t cry, don’t cry…

  ‘Oh, God!’ Dodie squeaked. ‘Please don’t cry; it wasn’t said to make you cry and if you start I will too!’

  ‘I know. I’ve just realised how lucky I am to have you.’

  ‘I feel the same, so now we’ve got that out of the way we’re going to eat Chinese and say no more about it or we’ll both be weeping into our fried rice!’

  Isla forced a smile, sniffing back her tears. ‘There’s a lot to get through too, so I’d better pull myself together and make a start!’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Isla reread the email. Looking forward to meeting with you… he’d signed off. A little formal, perhaps, but what else was he going to say? Love from Dad? Missed you, sweetie? She looked up at a light tap on the bedroom door and, as it opened and her mum appeared, slammed her laptop closed. It wasn’t like she had anything to hide, but with the situation as tense as it was the last thing she needed was for her mum to see she was in direct contact with her dad, even if it was as vague and impersonal as an email sent with instructions on how to reach the village where he lived.

  She forced a smile and Glory placed a neat pile of clothes on the bed.

  ‘I thought you might need some things washing and ironing for the trip,’ she said quietly.

  ‘You didn’t have to do that—’

  ‘I know. But I was doing some anyway and I thought…’

  She was calling a truce. She’d never say it, but Isla never expected her to.

  ‘Thanks, Mum.’

  ‘I was thinking… how are you getting to the airport?’

  ‘I’ve just booked a taxi to take me there.’

  Glory’s eyebrows went up. ‘Already?’

  ‘I didn’t see any point in messing around.’

  ‘And you paid for that?’

  ‘On my credit card. My not so flexible friend…’ Isla gave a small smile. ‘But I’ll get it back from the estate, so I’m not worried.’

  ‘You make sure you do.’

  ‘I will.’

  ‘You make sure he knows just what hell he’s put us through over the years too.’

  ‘I think he already knows that.’

  ‘I wouldn’t bet on it. But you tell him. Don’t be flattered by him, Isla. Don’t be persuaded to trust him, no matter what he says. He left us flat and don’t you ever forget that.’

  ‘How could I, Mum? I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’m not five; I can work out myself what to do and say.’

  ‘I know, but I don’t want…’ Glory shook her head. ‘Never mind. I wish you wouldn’t go—’

  ‘I am going. I have to.’

  ‘You can still change your mind.’

  ‘I can, but I won’t. Nothing will change between us, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

  ‘I’m not worried about that. We’ve both had our hearts broken by that man once, but you might get yours broken twice.’

  ‘A mistake you’d never make, eh?’ Isla said, trying, and failing, to bite her tongue on the matter. Since Ian left them, Glory had locked her heart away and nobody had ever been close to touching it again. Inevitably, there was some of that flinty resolve in Isla, though she hated to admit it. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added quickly. ‘I didn’t mean that, I only meant—’

  Glory shook her head. ‘Let’s not fight – not now. I only came to bring those things for you to pack.’

  ‘You could come to the airport with me? I could pay for your taxi home again…’

  ‘No. I don’t wish you ill, but you know I can’t do that, because it would seem that I approve of you going and I don’t. I’ll be here in the morning to see you off though.’

  ‘
I thought you had a shift at the care home?’

  ‘I did, but I swapped it to be here.’

  Isla gave a tight smile. It wasn’t Glory’s blessing, but it was as close as she was going to get.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Just to make sure Dodie didn’t panic at the lack of an update, Isla tapped out a brief text to let her know she was finally on French soil after an uneventful flight. In fact, it had been interminably dull, with not even a hot cabin steward to take her mind off the boredom. She hated being in one place for long, even her own house where she could come and go as she pleased, so even the shortest flight could be purgatory. The textbooks she’d brought to read hadn’t helped, nor had the glossy fashion magazines or iPod full of music. When she’d tried to sleep the couple next to her had done nothing but whisper and giggle inanely.

  She was in the arrivals hall of Grenoble Airport now, a building that looked like a space-age cathedral flooded with natural light, feeling tiny and lost beneath vaulted ceilings of tubular steel and vast panes of glass, gleaming marble floors stretching for what seemed like miles. It was impressive, but she could have been anywhere in the world. Beyond the windows the sun blazed in a cornflower sky, giving a deceptive impression of warmth, though a quick check of the weather app on her phone told her that outside it was closer to the temperature of the Arctic than Antigua.

  No sooner had she sent the text than Dodie had replied, happy to hear things were going to plan. Isla had a strong suspicion that her uneventful arrival was about the only thing that would go to plan from here on in. She had yet to find her way to St Martin-de-Belleville, the place her father now called home, the place she’d Googled and clicked through endless photos of just to get a sense of it, of what she might expect. There she’d found endless Christmas-perfect images of cabins with gently sloping roofs scattered at the feet of mountains. A tiny church with a stone tower framed by iced trees and winding tracks. Skiers expertly navigating slopes of the starkest white set against skies rendered impossibly blue by a burning sun. Restaurants with warm and welcoming wooden interiors, canopies and coloured umbrellas shielding guests from the glare of the alpine sun as they posed for the camera, happy and relaxed with perfect smiles and perfect lives.