The Hector Clause

by Clare Revell

  “Don’t do that. We should get going. We can’t let your parents down as they’re expecting us.”

  Hector pulled back into the stream of traffic. “I also apologize for that stupid crack the other day about making it illegal to be sad on Christmas. If I’d have known…”

  “Don’t worry about it.

  “Must be hard, having a Christmas Eve birthday.”

  “Oh, Christmas Eve isn’t my birthday, but it’s still close enough to Christmas to warrant combined Christmas and birthday presents from some people. John always remembered it was my birthday too late to do anything, but that was him in a nutshell. He was never on time for anything. I hate being late.”

  “Me too.”

  She paused. “He was even late for his own funeral. His brother did that deliberately.”

  “Oh?”

  She bit her lip. “The funeral service was meant to start at half past eleven, with the committal at half past one. What Tony never told anyone was the real timings. Twelve o’clock at the church and then two o’clock at the crematorium. He thought it was funny. No one else saw the funny side of it. I never made it. He told me about it in a letter afterwards.”

  She glanced at him. “Whereas me—I’m at least fifteen minutes early for almost everything. Apart from the days you pick me up.”

  He grinned. “Can’t think why that is, but for you, I will make an effort to be on time.” He glanced at the clock. “But not tonight. Not even if I tank it.”

  “Legally tank it,” Brie added. “Getting arrested for speeding will only make us even later.” She closed her eyes again. “And now you know why I’m such an anxious passenger.”

  Brie looked up at the large suburban house as Hector pulled up on the side of the road and turned off the engine. Huge bay windows made up of small pieces of leaded glass blazed with light. An immaculate garden shone with fairy lights, which also adorned the guttering, front door, and lintel.

  “Pretty.”

  “It always is.”

  She looked at him, not liking the edgy tone in his voice. “Are you okay?”

  Hector cleared his throat. “The problem is, you never know who’s going to be there for dinner. When I said it was simply dinner, that wasn’t quite accurate. Nothing is simple with my mother.” He got out of the car and ran around, opening her door for her. “I came home once to find the Prime Minister drinking coffee and laughing at some awful joke Dad had made.”

  “Oh.” Her stomach tensed as she swung her legs out of the car. What if the PM was there now? What on earth would she say to the most important politician in the country?

  Hector locked the car, and then led her up the path. He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

  Light poured from the hallway as a blonde woman opened the front door. She wore a long red satin dress, with matching pearl necklace and drop earrings. “Hector, you’re late.” She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “But it’s lovely to see you.”

  Hector hugged her back. She always managed to make him feel as if he were five. “Sorry, Mum. The traffic was atrocious and we had to find another route. Brie saved the day though with her local road knowledge. Her grandparents used to live in Morden somewhere.” He grabbed Brie’s hand. “This is Brie Dalgleish—a work colleague.”

  Brie held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Clause.”

  “And you.” The older woman’s touch was light but warm. “It’s the first time Hector has ever brought someone home. Do come in out of the cold, the both of you. You’ve missed pre-dinner drinks I’m afraid.” Her voice faded as she turned away, heading inside.

  Hector leaned down to whisper. “Sorry. Maybe we should run now before she notices.”

  Not sure if he were teasing or not, Brie shook her head. “We’re here now. How bad can it be?”

  Hector shed his coat and hung it on the end of the bannisters along with Brie’s. “There speaks someone who’s never met my mother.”

  “Hector. About time.” A booming male voice resonated from a doorway.

  Hector fastened a smile on his face. “Hello, Dad. Sorry we’re late; we got caught in the traffic and had to take a detour. This is Brie, a friend from work. Brie, this is my father, Peter Clause.”

  Brie shook his hand.

  “Pretty name for a pretty girl. Come on in. Hector, I believe you know everyone.”

  Brie hesitated as she heard laughter from the other room. How many people were there? What had she let herself in for?

  Hector’s father pushed open the door. “You all know my youngest son, Hector, and this is his girlfriend, Brie.”

  Brie shot Hector a dismayed look as the floor fell away from beneath her feet. How could his father have leapt to the wrong conclusion? As much as she’d like it to be true, right now they were merely friends. Her cheeks flamed as Hector led her slowly into the packed room.

  Chapter Nine

  HECTOR PARKED OUTSIDE HIS GRANDPARENT’S house early Saturday evening. Dinner the previous day had been a complete, unmitigated disaster. Brie hadn’t spoken to him all day unless it was absolutely necessary, which made the relationship between Santa and his number one elf more than a little strained. She’d been so cold towards him that he’d almost changed her elf name to Frosty, but didn’t think she’d find it particularly funny.

  His grandmother opened the door. “Hector, come on in.”

  He hugged her and hung his coat. “Hello, Nan. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Grandad isn’t feeling too good though. He wasn’t in work today.”

  “I wanted to see him, and that’s why I couldn’t find him anywhere.” Hector followed her into the lounge. Their chairs were pulled up close to a blazing fire. The Christmas tree stood cold and dark in the corner of the room.

  Grandad looked up. “Hello. How’s it going in the grotto?”

  Hector rolled his eyes. “You know. Clause by name…”

  His grandfather chuckled. “How’s Brie finding it?”

  Hector sat down, not liking the grey, pallid tone to his grandfather’s face. “Actually, Brie isn’t talking to me right now. We had dinner at the parentals last night and it didn’t go down too well. Dad had the entire cabinet there and introduced her as my girlfriend. The only good thing was Nick was there and helped me protect her from all those horrid politicians.”

  He paused. “But I really came here to talk to you about the centenary party.”

  “Please leave it, Hector. We can celebrate next year.”

  Hector shook his head. “I’ve spoken to Brie. She doesn’t want you cancelling it because of her. Before you say anything, nor will anyone else. The rest of the staff wants to celebrate. They look forward to the annual Christmas party and this year was going to be the party to end all parties as you once phrased it.”

  “I can’t ask Brie to organize…”

  “I’ll do it—but we don’t hold it on the anniversary of the accident. We’ll do another day so it doesn’t clash.” He paused. “She told me about it last night.”

  “I see.”

  “She’s offered to help with the organization; she just doesn’t want to go. I was thinking we could get the press involved with celebrating the centenary, too. You know, paper, radio, TV, the whole shooting match. Run a competition as well, a prize for every one hundredth person through the doors on the day. A five pound gift card or something similar.”

  Nan came in with a tray of tea. She set it down. “Oh, I forgot the biscuits. Be right back.”

  “It’ll cost a fortune…” Grandad began.

  Hector held up a hand. “But worth every penny. The advertising alone will bring more customers into the store. I could design a website for the online shopping. Most places that go under, don’t move with the times and branch into the internet side of things.”

  “Jennings is a small family business, not a global empire. You don’t find a Harrods in every city.” Grandad winced and shifted on his chair.

  “But people will sometimes
go to London just to visit Harrods. Jennings can stay a small family business; I don’t want to change that. I want to make us more competitive and turn a profit. Online shopping with a personal touch.” He frowned as Grandad rubbed his left arm. “At least let me try. I have a few other ideas as well. Actually, Brie does.”

  “Get your proposal on paper and let me look it over.” Grandad’s cup fell to the floor as he missed the table. He shook and groaned.

  “Grandad?” Hector glanced up. “Nan!” he yelled.

  Nan came running in. “His pills are in the pocket of his chair arm.”

  Hector reached down and grabbed the bottle. “Call an ambulance.”

  Nan took the bottle and shook out two pills. “There’s no need, it’s a mild angina attack. This will work.”

  Hector sat back on his heels. “Does Mum know he’s so sick?”

  Nan shook her head. “Don’t tell her. Doctor says he’s fine. He just needs to slow down and take it easy.”

  Hector wasn’t convinced. Brie had picked up on the fact Grandad wasn’t well. Why hadn’t he? And there was no way he was keeping this from his parents.

  Nan looked at him. “Now, how about a slice of cake and you can tell me what’s happening at the store.”

  Hector shook his head. “You can’t drink tea and eat cake when Grandad’s so sick.”

  Nan patted his hand. “Trust me. The pills kick in fast. And if they don’t, then I’ll call the doctor.”

  Brie didn’t see Hector in church on Sunday, so assumed he attended a different one. After all, Reading was a huge town with numerous churches, varying between the Minster which was several hundred years old, to the tiny church plant in Tilehurst which was barely three. Between the morning and evening Sunday services, she spent the time baking. She needed to talk to Hector. What happened on Friday wasn’t his fault, she knew that now she’d had chance to calm down and think things through.

  Her phone rang. She hit answer then speaker. “Hi, Mum. Can’t chat long I’m making a cake and have flour everywhere.”

  “That’s fine, dear. I wondered if you’d made a decision about moving up here.”

  Brie pulled a face at the phone, not caring if that made her childish. “Not yet. I said I’d let you know when I was up there at Christmas.”

  “Yes, well, there’s been a development on the job front.”

  She listened in a mixture of shock and outrage as her mother outlined the situation, before she did something she’d never done before in her life. She stabbed the red button and hung up. Getting flour all over the phone, she turned it off. Then she concentrated on the cake mix. There was plenty of time for any other decisions later. Right now she had several batches of cupcakes to make and an apology to Hector to work out.

  Brie was ready when Hector picked her up on Monday as usual. She climbed into the car. “Morning.”

  He shot her a smile. “I tried calling last night, but didn’t get an answer. I was half expecting you not to be here.”

  “Sorry. My mother was being frightful. I turned off the phone. I’m also sorry for being so juvenile over the weekend. That whole girlfriend thing was sprung on you as well.”

  He looked sympathetic. “That’s mothers for you.”

  “Mine wants an answer about Scotland. She’s lined up a job interview for me, two days after Christmas.”

  “Oh.” His face fell and he turned to stare at the windscreen. “I see.”

  “A guy from their church owns an import/export company and needs someone to run the office. Mum’s been singing my praises apparently and he can’t wait to meet me. Of course the fact I’m young, single, and according to my mother, pretty, only helps the situation.”

  “I’d have to agree on the pretty comment,” he said, a sideways smirk on his face. “And with the young and single. Of course, never having seen you work in an office, I can’t tell whether you’re any good at it or not. However, if you’d like a reference on your elfish capabilities, I’d be happy to oblige.”

  Brie snorted. “No. Thank you for the offer. But no.” She laughed. “Although, I would love to see my mother hand over a reference from Mr. Clause on her daughter’s skills in Santa’s workshop.”

  Hector stopped at a traffic light, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. “Are you really thinking of leaving? Because if it’s because of me and Friday and the entire cabinet thinking you’re my girlfriend…”

  “It isn’t that. And no I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Only I was thinking, maybe we should go out.” He paused, driving as the lights changed to green.

  “We’ve been out. Several times.”

  “Properly. On a real date, not as friends or my plus one.”

  Her heart sped up to double time. “A real date?”

  “Is there an echo in here?”

  She snickered. “Echo, echo, echo.”

  Hector stifled a grin. “Nothing fancy. I thought we could go and see the lights properly. There are horse and carriage rides in town tonight. We could take one of those.”

  “I’d like that. Thank you.”

  He smiled. “Might even treat you to burger and chips afterwards.”

  “Last of the great spenders,” she teased.

  Chapter Ten

  WORK FLEW. THEY WERE INCREDIBLY BUSY. By the end of the day she still hadn’t thought any more about Scotland or made a decision. The problem was she liked it down here. Her friends were here. Hector was here. And if their relationship was going anywhere, she couldn’t up sticks and move six hundred miles away. She looked at her reflection in the mirrored tiles behind one of the elves workstations as she cleared up another piles of boxes.

  Relationship? He’d asked her on one date. And he hadn’t even kissed her yet. Hardly a relationship. But the thought that he liked her enough to ask her on a date left her totally conflicted. She’d always tried to honor the commandments about obeying your parents. When Mum said do something, she did it, no matter what her own personal views were. Move to Scotland however, was a little more involved than a simple bake a cake for the church fundraiser next weekend.

  Not that she’d baked a cake for them recently. She’d crocheted a dozen shawls and baby blankets. Postage cost a small fortune, but that at least was something she could do. Which reminded her, she had two blankets and three shawls to do before going to her parents for Christmas.

  Her section of the shop floor tidy, she headed to the locker room and changed quickly. Hurrying to the staff entrance, this time it was her waiting for Hector. She smirked and leaned against the wall, trying to come up with ways of teasing him about this for the next couple of days.

  Finally, he appeared. “Sorry. I got caught up with something. You ready?”

  Brie tugged on her hat. “Willing and able. Where are we going?”

  “Butter Market. Not far.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “Should have been sensible like you and picked up my gloves this morning.”

  “They live in my coat.” She resisted the temptation to add but I’ll happily warm your hands in mine.

  “Mine usually do, but for some reason I left them on the radiator last night and they’re still there.”

  The Butter Market was packed and Brie decided half of Reading must be out tonight on the same quest they were. She and Hector joined the end of the queue. It was cold, even with gloves on. She counted how many people were in front of her, then looked at Hector. “I’ll be right back.”

  She nipped across the pedestrianized street, grateful for the fact there were no longer cars to dodge, and into the coffee shop. For once there wasn’t a line. She gave the barista her best smile. “Two flat whites to take away, please.”

  Fishing out her purse, Brie pulled out both cash and points card. Did Hector take sugar? Unsure, she picked up enough packets for even the sweetest tooth. Thanking the barista, she hurried from the shop, to find Hector had only moved about three feet. “I got you some coffee.”

  “Thank you.” He took the cup, wrap
ping his hands gratefully around the warm cup.

  “Do you take sugar?”

  Hector shook his head. “Nah, I’m sweet enough.”

  “Too many cookies on Christmas Eve, no doubt,” Brie quipped.

  He laughed. “Shh…don’t want everyone knowing my secret identity.” He patted his slim stomach. “Diet starts December 26.”

  Brie snorted. “You diet and we won’t be able to see you if you stand sideways.” She shuffled forwards as the queue moved.

  Hector sipped the coffee. “Just right. Have you decided what to do about Scotland yet?”

  Brie shook her head. “No. Didn’t really have chance to think today, we were so busy. I want to stay here, but…”

  “But?”

  “I need a reason. A really good reason.”

  He grinned. “You can take Ephesians 6:1 too literally you know. Along with Exodus 20:12.”

  She shuffled forwards again. “I know, but part of me thinks, what if they want me up there because they miss me.”

  “And maybe they want you there because they don’t like the fact they can’t control who you go out with. They might have decided you’re not safe here.”

  She angled her cup at him. “You have a point. They’ve been trying to get me up there to live since the accident.” She finished her coffee and tossed the cup into the bin next to her. “But I like my independence. I like Reading. I love my church, and don’t get me wrong, I love my parents, but it’s nice not being the pastor’s daughter all the time. I don’t have to watch everything I do or say in case it ruins Dad’s reputation.”

  Hector drained his cup, tossing it after hers. “Actually, you should anyway, in case it ruins your Father’s reputation. But I know what you mean. If people knew what Dad did, I’d no doubt have to act totally differently. No more Irish jokes.”

  “Or Elf jokes.”

  “Speaking of which, I found a new one. How many elves does it take to change a light bulb?”