An Unexpected Christmas

by Lori Jennings

  A slow smile spread across her face then she stepped onto the sofa and grabbed the front of my jumper, pulling me towards her. Our kiss was heated and passionate and hurried and I wanted to strip her there and show her how much she affected me. My hands roamed over her body and eventually settled one on her back and one lower on her bottom, pulling her into me. She was making little murmuring noises and clutching on to me like her life depended on it.

  She slowly pulled away and smiled down at me 'Hi.'

  'Hi.' I tucked her hair behind her ear and returned her smile. 'Do you fancy going for that walk? Or we could stay here and keep doing this.' I leaned in and kissed her again.

  'I think I need the fresh air to cool me down.' She chuckled then gave me a quick kiss. I placed my hands on her waist then lifted her off the sofa. When I placed her on the ground she looked up at me and bit her lip. 'What?'

  'You're surprisingly strong, it's hot.'

  'Yeah? What else is hot?' I pulled her towards me.

  'I can't disclose that information, don't want you getting a big head now do we?'

  I kissed her again, softly and slowly, and I didn't want to stop but then something nudged my leg and breaking the kiss I looked down. Toby was looking up at me waiting. 'I better feed the dogs.'

  The dogs fed, and with April and I both in our coats, we made our way along the beach. I had held my hand out to her to help her over the dunes and hadn't let go. It seemed so easy to be with her. She was cheeky in the most endearing way and smart and I think stronger then she realised. She told me about how she had been offered the job in London and even though it was far away from any of her family and friends it was the right decision and she hadn't regretted it for a second.

  There was one thing we hadn't talked about and that was us. I had mentioned that I had a role in a movie shooting in Miami starting in a few days but I wanted us to continue whatever it was we had started and I didn't know how she felt. I had the feeling she still didn't want Mum or Ella to know and I was curious for her reason why.

  'Do you think Ella and your Mum suspect anything?' She didn't look at me when she asked just kept her gaze to the sand in front of her.

  'You make it sound like we are doing something wrong.'

  She lifted her head but instead of looking up at me she looked out across the sea. 'I'm sorry, I just... I like it being just the two of us.'

  I tugged on her hand and pulled her to a stop. 'Me too. I'm going to miss you when I go to Miami.' Her small smile faded, 'but we still have a couple of days and Christmas.'

  She nodded then and we continued our walk along the sand. 'So do you have plans for tomorrow?'

  Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and I wondered if Ella had forgotten to tell her about the party. 'We have a Christmas Eve party at the house every year, didn't Ella mention it?'

  April snuggled herself up to my side and I looped my arm around her. 'A party? No she must have forgotten. What sort of party?'

  'Pretty much everyone in the village piles in, Mum makes some food, there's music and drinking. It's usually a good night.'

  'It sounds it. So does that mean I get to see your dance moves?' She laughed.

  'I have brilliant moves I'll have you know.' She just laughed harder and I couldn't stop smiling at the sound of it. I liked to see her happy and laughing and I really liked being the one to do it.

  When we headed back I spotted Mum's car in the drive so knew she was home. I stopped April and pulled her gently behind a hedge. I looked down at her smiling face then kissed her deeply and passionately, trying to memorise as much of the moment as possible. I reluctantly lifted my head and let out a long shaky breath. 'I don't think I am going to get to do that for a few hours and needed something to tide me over.'

  April grinned up at me then grabbed the front of my coat and dragged my lips to hers. This kiss was slower and more intimate and I couldn't stop the groan that escaped me; I wanted her desperately but, I suppose the secrecy was exciting too.

  Eventually I lifted my head, and she was grinning up at me a little out of breath. 'I might have needed a little more to get me through.' She was adorable and I pressed a quick kiss to her slightly swollen lips.

  'Come on, we should head back inside, I don't want you catching a cold.' She nodded then wandered around the hedge and up the path and I followed behind her.

  I held the door open for her and heard her mutter, 'such a gentleman.' It made me chuckle.

  Mum was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of her and lifted her head as we walked in. 'Hello darlings, did you have a nice walk?'

  'We did thank you.' I dropped a quick kiss to her cheek then made my way over to the kettle to make April a mug of coffee as I knew she would be gasping for one by now. April had slipped out of her coat and sat in the chair opposite Mum. 'How about you? What was it, a meeting with the W.I?'

  'Don't be cheeky and no, I was helping to set up for the carol service later.'

  I finished making April her drink then moved to place it in front of her.

  'Are you not having one?' She looked up at me with a little worry and with those hazel eyes and I wanted to drop a reassuring kiss to her lips.

  'No, actually I need to pop out for a couple of things. I will be back later.' I moved over to the door and sent April a quick wink before I went.

  I wanted to get her a Christmas present that meant something and I had been wracking my brains as to what to get. I had already picked up a little something but I wanted something a little more meaningful, and maybe a little romantic, to show her that she meant something to me even after such a short time. I had made a quick call this morning to a local jeweller and now needed to pick up my order. I just hoped she liked it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  April

  Ella arrived back about an hour after my walk with Nate and plonked herself on the sofa opposite me and let out a heavy sigh. I closed my book and wondered where it was she had been for most of the day. 'Are you alright? You seem a little down?

  She looked over at me, let out another sigh, and then smiled. 'Yeah I'm fine, ignore me. I'm sorry if I abandoned you today. What did you get up to?'

  I looked at her for a second and wondered what it was that was going on with her but if she didn't want to talk about it I wouldn't be able to get it out of her. 'You didn't abandon me I wouldn't expect you to keep me entertained all the time. I went shopping then Nate and I took the dogs for a walk.'

  'Shopping? That was brave of you.' She leaned back into the sofa and relaxed a little.

  'Yeah it was pretty hectic but I think I did okay.' I looked at my watch. 'What time is the carol service? And what are we doing about dinner?'

  'It's at seven thirty and we are meeting for a drink at seven. Not sure what's for dinner might just be just a snack.' It was half five and I wanted a shower and to change for the service before then.

  I placed my book on the table next to me and stood. 'Well I'm going to go and get ready then.' I looked down at her. 'Are you sure you're okay, you know you can talk to me about anything don't you.'

  Ella stood and moved around the table to my side then pulled me into a hug. 'I'm okay, don't worry.' She pulled away and smiled at me. 'You go and get ready and I will whip us up something to eat.'

  As she walked away, and disappeared into the kitchen, I decided that I would keep my eye on her. There was something going on even if she wasn't going to admit it, and what sort of a friend would I be if I didn't try and help.

  After my shower Ella had appeared with cheese on toast and glasses of wine and we settled on my bed. I grabbed a slice of toast then looked at her for a moment. 'Are you sure you're okay, you seem to be a little distracted.'

  Ella took a sip of her wine and let out a sight. 'I am, I'm just trying to sort some things out, but I don't really want to go into that now, is that okay?' She took a bite of toast and smiled at me.

  'Of course, but could I just ask, is it something to do with this friend you went to
see?'

  She nodded and looked away and smiled. 'I'm sure it will be alright.' She turned back and moved the tray out of the way. 'But right now will you let me do your makeup? You never know who is going to be out tonight.' She winked at me and disappeared to grab her makeup bag. I wanted to tell her that the only person I had any interest in was her brother but I didn't know how to breach the subject. It had only been a few days and I had fallen hard but there was that voice in the back of my mind telling me that it wouldn't go anywhere so there wasn't really a reason to tell her. She appeared again with the biggest makeup bag I had ever seen and we spent a good hour just chatting and getting ready.

  I didn't see Nate until Ella and I were ready to go. He strode out of the office and I noticed that he too had changed out of his jeans and jumper and now wore suit trousers and a crisp pale blue shirt. It looked as though both were custom made and thinking about it they probably were. They fit him perfectly accentuating his broad shoulders and strong arms and then tapering in at the waist. I couldn't stop staring - it was no wonder that half the population was in love with him. I didn't want to think about that right now, I just wanted to enjoy my time with him as much as possible.

  'Are we ready to go?' He asked as he pulled on his coat and wound a scarf around his neck.

  'I am.' Ella answered; she seemed in a better mood than before.

  'Me too,' I smiled at him. I was a little nervous if I was being honest. I knew I had met everyone the day before but so much had happened since, Nate being a huge part of that. He smiled back at us then opened the door and waited as we filed through. We were walking up to the village because no one wanted to dig the cars out of the snow that was due. I was starting to wonder if it would even fall, being from the North I was so used to the weather report being wrong but as I pushed my hands into my coat pocket I spotted the first few snowflakes drift gently to the ground.

  I looked over to Nate who was looking up at the sky with the hugest grin on his face. He glanced over at me then and I took in a deep lungful of crisp cold air at the sight of him. It was this sort of reaction I was going to have to try and control around people and I was lucky that Ella was storming ahead of us and couldn't see me glancing at him every other second.

  'You look beautiful by the way.' His voice was low and it made my heart speed up.

  'It's Ella's handy work.'

  'I don't think it is.' His smile broadened and he winked at me. I wanted to link my fingers with his and snuggle into his side but settled on simply walking by his side.

  By the time we got to the village the snow was falling heavily and I was glad that I had decided to wear my boots with my dark jeans. When we got to the door of the pub Nate sent me a sweet smile. Ella had already disappeared through the door and Nate held it open for me; I had never met a man who insisted on holding doors open and gesturing for me to go first as much as he did.

  The small pub was crowded but we soon found the group of people I met for lunch yesterday. Daniel moved to my side and insisted on helping me with my coat and when I chanced a quick look at Nate I couldn't quite read his expression. A little part of me hoped he was jealous but I knew I couldn't expect that. I had only known him for three days. Was it really only three days? It felt like so much longer.

  Nate ordered a round of drinks and I noticed that Sally had moved and positioned herself next to him. There was a tiny part of me that didn't want to like her but she seemed nice and sweet and I couldn't blame her if she had a crush on Nate, I wasn't exactly one to talk. I watched them laugh about something and I felt a little jealous myself. I thought the best thing to do was to just ignore it and change my focus to something else.

  I wondered if Ella was still acting odd and when I moved my attention to her I saw that she was standing next to Roddy. He was chatting happily to James about how he should be thinking about schools for his unborn child and Ella was nodding in agreement. When she had asked me about Daniel she never mentioned Roddy and I wondered why. I watched them for a moment and something seemed to click. Perhaps Ella had a thing for Roddy? I knew she had known him for some time and I was curious to know why she hadn't done anything about it. Usually she would have mentioned something to me then flirted until he asked her out but there was something different about the whole thing.

  'What do you think? April?' I turned to Daniel who had been chatting to me.

  'Sorry, I was in another world, what did you say?' I sent him an apologetic look and he smiled back at me.

  'I wondered if you thought the snow would get so deep that we would be stranded for weeks?'

  'Oh I don't think it is supposed to get that bad is it?'

  'What isn't supposed to get bad?' Nate had turned towards us and stood closer than was perhaps necessary,

  'We were just talking about the snow. Daniel is worried we might get snowed in.'

  'Wouldn't that be fun?' Nate replied and smiled down at me then lifted his eyes back to Daniel. 'But the weather report said it was only supposed to be a couple of inches.'

  'Well that's lucky.' Sally had joined us, a small smile on her face, 'I was worried I wouldn't be able to get over to see my Nan tomorrow.'

  'How far away does she live?' I never liked the thought of elderly people alone when the weather was bad.

  'Oh just in the next village but if it was heavy snow it would be a nightmare to get there as the roads don't get ploughed this far.' I noticed that James had waved to Nate and he mumbled an apology and headed in his direction leaving me with Sally and Daniel. 'She lives on her own and I do worry.'

  'Well that's understandable.' I took a sip of my drink then Daniel excused himself also.

  'Can I ask you something?' Sally had moved a little closer to me and lowered her voice.

  'Sure.' I had no idea what she would want to ask me.

  'You don't know if Nate is seeing anyone do you? I mean as your staying with his Mum I just wondered if you had heard anything.'

  She was looking at me anxiously and I wanted to say that yes he was but firstly it wasn't my place to say anything about his relationship status and second, I wasn't going to be seeing him after Boxing Day so why would it matter. 'Umm, no. I don't think he is.'

  She nodded and smiled at me. 'Oh okay. That's good.' She must have seen the questioning look on my face because she placed a hand on my arm. 'Oh I don't mean it's good that he hasn't got anyone it's just I saw how he was with his last girlfriend and it all just got on top of him. He works too hard and tries to do everything and it all just fell apart.'

  I didn't want to hear about Nate's past girlfriends. It was selfish and immature of me and I knew it but I liked my secret Christmas bubble and I didn't want anything to pop it. 'Like I said, I haven't heard anything.'

  She smiled at me. 'I worry is all. Well that seems to be the only thing I do at the moment, worry.'

  Maybe Sally didn't want Nate for herself; maybe she just cared about him as a friend? It wasn't really any of my business either way and I needed to stop thinking that it might be. I looked down at my watch and saw that it was twenty past. 'I think we should get going.'

  Sally looked at her own watch and nodded then downed the rest of her drink. She tapped Roddy on the shoulder. 'Drink up we need to head over to the church.'

  There was a scramble to finish drinks and I spotted Roddy helping Ella with her coat out of the corner of my eye and I couldn't help but smile. If Roddy was the man Ella was taking her time to think about I was glad that he seemed to be such a gentleman. It didn't take long before we were all bundled up and heading across the snow covered road and up the path to the church. In the twenty minutes we had been in the pub the snow had covered everything in a thin blanket. The cottages and the church looked magical in the glow of the streetlights and I wanted to cuddle up to Nate. He had moved so he was by my side and when I looked up at him he smiled and winked at me. It felt right being with him and I decided that I was going to savour every moment, every look and when we were alone, every touch.


  The church was packed and it seemed like everyone in the village had turned up for the carol service. We filed into a pew near the back and I sat at the end next to Nate. There was a program and a list of the songs we would be singing and I had a rush of nostalgia. I took a moment to take it all in.

  I looked around me and smiled. The church was so similar to the one I used to go to as a child. Tall stone columns held up the vast wooden roof. The rows and rows of dark wooden pews and the slight chill that churches seemed to have even though you knew the heating was on full pelt. The floral decorations that sat below each tall stained glass window which depicted a scene from the bible, and two large arrangements that stood either side of the alter, were made up of holly and ivy and rich red roses.

  I felt a wave of homesickness hit me and I let out a shaky breath. Nate looked down at me and took my hand in his. 'Are you all right?' I could hear the genuine concern in his lowered voice and my heart swelled.

  I nodded and gave his hand a squeeze. 'Just remembering.'

  Nate didn't let go of my hand but tucked it down between us and his coat fell open to cover it. The secrecy was rather exiting and I liked that it was just between us.

  The vicar and the choir filed in from the vestry and everyone stood while they took their places. I slipped my hand from Nate's and picked up the hymn book in front of me. They had a relatively young vicar and if I hadn't been sitting in a row with three very attractive men I would think that he was actually kind of hot. I wanted to point it out to Ella but she had chosen to sit a couple of rows in front and thinking about how to get her attention, perhaps by throwing a hymn book at her or the use of Jedi powers, made me giggle a little too loudly which made Roddy turn around from his seat next to Ella and for Nate to dig me in the ribs, which just made me giggle more.

  The first hymn was 'Oh Little Town of Bethlehem' and it seemed like it was a go big or go home situation between the men. They all sang out loud and in Daniel's case quite out of tune. Nate had a rich and warm singing voice which didn't surprise me but I knew I could hold my own having once been in a church choir many years ago and it seemed I hadn't forgotten the words, he snuggled in close to my side as we shared the hymn book.