One Family Christmas: The perfect, cosy, heart-warming read to curl up with this winter

by Bella Osborne

  They went downstairs and Jessie joined the others, who were now trying to share Zach’s proposal on the internet via Scott’s phone. This was proving tricky as there was no WiFi and only a dodgy signal, but it was taking Jessie’s mind off the animal crisis.

  Lottie was waiting on the steps for Joe. It was bitterly cold. The temperature had dropped again. Lottie hoped there wouldn’t be any more snow. She looked up at the stars in the clear sky. She heard the crunch of the Land Rover’s wheels on the ice as it turned into the drive. He pulled up right outside and jumped out.

  ‘Hiya,’ called Joe as he crunched his way towards the house carrying his veterinary case.

  ‘Hi.’ This was beyond awkward.

  ‘I’d forgotten how much fun snow was,’ he said, taking off his wellies and hopping around the puddle they’d left.

  ‘Fun?’ questioned Lottie, trying to keep her shivering under control by wrapping her arms around herself.

  ‘Yeah. You don’t get this in Florida. Where is she?’

  ‘Nana’s wardrobe,’ said Lottie. Joe took the stairs two at a time.

  Lottie hung back, leaning in the bedroom doorway, and let Joe deal with the situation.

  ‘Hey, boy. What’s the problem? Is she sick?’ Joe asked Dave. The little dog’s tail flicked about and then went still. ‘I need you to move just a fraction so I can get a good look at her. Okay?’ Joe held his fingers in front of Dave and he sniffed them. ‘Good boy.’ Joe reached his other hand around the dog to touch the Duchess. Dave watched him closely. ‘See? I’m not going to hurt her.’

  Dave licked his outstretched fingers and Joe gave him a scratch round his ears. ‘Lottie, he’s fine. Can you come and take him?’

  Lottie wasn’t sure but she’d try. She was toying with the idea of being an artist of some sort, so she’d need all her fingers. She copied Joe and showed Dave her fingers, but she put forward her left hand just in case things turned nasty. She knelt on the floor and tried to encourage the dog to come to her. Dave was distracted enough to move out of the way and let Joe get to work. Lottie gave Dave some fuss and watched in awe as Joe checked the Duchess over and listened through a stethoscope. Then he inserted a thermometer up the cat’s rear end and the cat didn’t object at all.

  Lottie feared the worst. Sadness pulled her down. She loved the Duchess. She knew it was silly, but it felt like a final piece of Nana was slipping away from her. What would she tell Bernard and Dayea? They were expecting the cat to move in with them tomorrow. She concentrated on cuddling Dave as they both watched intently.

  Joe turned around with a silly grin spread across his face. How can he be smiling? thought Lottie.

  ‘She’s having kittens,’ he said.

  ‘So am I!’ said Lottie, before what he actually meant registered. ‘She’s pregnant?’

  Joe nodded. ‘I can feel at least two kittens – or it could be one mutant one with lots of legs.’ The humour was lost on Lottie; she was just hugely relieved that the Duchess wasn’t dying. The relief only lasted for a moment before she realised she was going to have more cats to rehome.

  ‘How long has she been like this?’ he asked.

  Lottie shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘I think she’s fine, but we’ll sit with her just to be on the safe side.’ He sat down and Dave went to him. ‘You knew, didn’t you, boy?’

  ‘You think?’ Lottie didn’t credit Dave with that much intelligence.

  ‘Definitely. He’s been desperate to get to her ever since he turned up. I bet he could sense what was going on. Animals have senses we can’t begin to understand.’

  ‘So the whole chasing thing was because he wanted to protect her?’

  ‘Most likely. You secretly love her, don’t you, boy?’ Joe scratched Dave’s head and the dog’s tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth.

  Lottie didn’t like being this close to Joe. ‘Can I get you a coffee?’ She got to her feet.

  ‘No, I’m fine. Lottie, about earlier—’

  She cut him off. ‘I need to update everyone else. Jessie has been really worried.’

  He looked sombre. ‘Okay.’ He turned back to the cat as Dave settled down next to him. Lottie knew they needed to talk, but it wouldn’t change anything, so there really was no rush.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Back downstairs, the kitten news was received with joy and more rounds of champagne. But as much as Lottie wanted to stay away from Joe, she couldn’t keep away from the Duchess for too long. She knew the cat was in good hands, but she felt she should be there too as moral support.

  ‘Emily?’ Lottie beckoned her to the hallway. Emily was standing wrapped in Zach’s arms staring at her engagement ring. She disentangled herself and joined Lottie. ‘Sorry to drag you away, but it’s a bit awkward upstairs with just me and Joe.’

  ‘You want me to play gooseberry?’ Emily gave a cheeky grin.

  Lottie tilted her head to one side. ‘Not exactly. But it might be nice to have someone to stop me from strangling him with his own stethoscope.’

  Emily’s grin disappeared. ‘Or I could at least be a witness,’ she suggested. ‘Lead on.’

  ‘Actually,’ said Lottie, biting her lip, ‘the thing with Melissa.’

  ‘Go on,’ said Emily hanging on her every word.

  ‘I really don’t want you thinking she was perfect, but I’m about to tell you something even Zach doesn’t know. You see—’

  ‘What don’t I know?’ asked Zach, stepping out of the kitchen.

  Bugger, thought Lottie. There was no going back now. ‘Look. I’m really sorry, and I don’t want to upset your engagement and everything, but there’s a secret I’ve been keeping about Melissa and it’s eating me up.’

  ‘Lottie, it’s fine. Just tell me,’ said Zach, squeezing her arm and giving her the confidence to open up.

  ‘You know Melissa was a workaholic, right?’ began Lottie.

  ‘No,’ said Emily, her head swivelling between the two of them.

  ‘Maybe not a workaholic but work was important to her,’ said Zach.

  ‘Anyway,’ continued Lottie. ‘She was offered this massive promotion, but the job was in Austria and … well …’ Emily and Zach were watching her closely. ‘She’d accepted the job. So she was going to be living part of the time in Austria. Away from you and Jessie. The day she died, she was going to sign the paperwork. I told her she should tell you,’ Lottie pointed at her brother, ‘but she was adamant that you’d try and talk her out of it. All the times you said you couldn’t understand why she was driving to London when the accident happened. That was why. But I couldn’t say because then I’d have to explain about Austria. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Oh Lottie,’ Zach pulled her into a hug. ‘You daft thing. I knew about the promotion.’

  ‘What?’ Lottie snapped her head back.

  ‘Not when she died, not then. But a few weeks later her boss brought the contents of her desk home.’ He swallowed hard. ‘She said something about the Austria job then because she assumed I knew.’

  ‘So Melissa put her career before her family?’ ventured Emily.

  ‘She did on this one occasion, but that doesn’t make her a bad person,’ said Zach. ‘She was right to think I would have tried to talk her out of it because I would have done. Jess was still a baby and the timing wasn’t great. But I would never have stopped her from following her dreams.’ He turned to Emily. ‘Just like I’ll never stop you.’ Emily gave him a hug.

  Lottie blew her nose. ‘I’ve been fretting over that for five years and you bloody well knew?’ She gave him a whack on the arm. ‘You could have said.’

  ‘And sound like I was bad mouthing my wife and your best friend? I think not.’

  ‘I guess,’ said Lottie. ‘Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I was just borrowing your fiancée.’ Lottie took Emily’s hand and pulled her towards the stairs.

  Joe turned as they came into the bedroom and gestured for them to be quiet. As they approached,
Lottie could see that Dave and the Duchess were no longer the only two animals in the room. Nestled at the Duchess’s tummy was a tiny cream kitten and her mum was frantically washing her. Emily’s eyes lit up and she gave a strangled sob. ‘Sorry. I’m blaming baby hormones,’ she said, pulling another piece of kitchen roll from her sleeve like a magician producing a string of bunting.

  ‘Is she all right?’ asked Lottie, in a hushed voice so as not to disturb them, forgetting herself and kneeling down at Joe’s side.

  ‘She’s fine. She’s doing a great job.’ Dave was sitting next to her looking concerned, and his head darted in Joe’s direction as the Duchess let out a yowl. ‘And Dave is playing the role of the expectant father brilliantly.’

  ‘He won’t harm them, will he?’ asked Emily.

  ‘No, he’s just alarmed when she cries out. But he’s a gentle soul. I’m sure he just wants to help. If she thought he was a danger, she’d have gone for him and she’s been very calm.’

  The cat started to convulse again and her back leg twitched. She paused from washing her kitten to let out another yowl. Dave stood up and his tail wagged furiously. ‘Another one’s on the way,’ said Joe, stroking Dave.

  A few more twitches and yowls later and out popped another kitten. The Duchess immediately set to work breaking into the sac and washing her new arrival. This one had more of a ginger tinge. Lottie was delighted to see it wriggle its way to join the first one – her smile was almost splitting her face. She looked over her shoulder to beckon Emily forward but she was no longer there. She must have snuck back downstairs.

  She was alone again with Joe. They stared at each other. His expression was earnest. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, Lottie.’

  She straightened her back and replaced her smile with her ‘I don’t give a crap’ face. ‘How’s Megan? Has she got over the proposal debacle yet?’

  Joe checked his watch, which Lottie thought was an odd thing to do. ‘Right now, she should be in a taxi on her way to the airport.’

  ‘Oh. And are you going to follow her?’ She didn’t want to pry, but how else was she going to find out?

  ‘No.’ He shook his head. Relief washed over her and she felt instantly guilty.

  ‘Right.’ They both watched the Duchess wash her kittens for a moment. ‘I’m sorry,’ said Lottie, her words sounding deliberate and false. ‘About Megan leaving.’

  ‘Why?’

  Okay not something she wanted to elaborate on. ‘It’s not nice when couples split up.’

  ‘We’ve not split up.’ Oh, for goodness’ sake, thought Lottie. Her emotions weren’t just on a rollercoaster; they were doing loop-the-loops.

  ‘Oh. That’s good then,’ she said, and gave what she hoped was at least a perfunctory smile. But it wasn’t good at all. It meant the very glamorous Megan would be back sometime soon. At least by then Lottie would probably have moved on. She needed to get away and leave Joe and Henbourne behind her – that was the answer. At the thought of leaving the manor, more ice plunged into her gut.

  ‘Lottie. Look at me, will you?’ His voice was pleading. She slowly lifted her head, looked into his eyes and held on tight to her heart. ‘Megan and me. We’re not together.’

  ‘Since the non-proposal?’

  ‘Since ages.’

  Lottie’s mouth opened and closed involuntarily. ‘But she said she was your partner.’

  Joe’s mouth twitched at the edge. ‘She was my girlfriend for a while, and she still is …’ Lottie wasn’t sure if it was just her, or whether the pause was as long as the results announcer on a game show, ‘… my business partner. But that’s all.’

  ‘But she said … and she thought … and I assumed …’

  Joe smiled warmly at her. ‘Megan is struggling to move on. That’s why she followed me here. It was only a brief thing, and it was definitely over between us months ago. Long before I decided to come back to Henbourne.’ Joe’s eyes were intense and Lottie had to look away. She pushed her hands into her back pockets and felt something there. She’d worn these jeans on Christmas Eve – it was Nana’s Christmas card. Nana’s words swirled in her mind.

  The Duchess had her back leg in the air and she twitched. ‘Oh, I think she’s having another one,’ said Lottie, adjusting her hair clip, hugely grateful to the cat for the distraction.

  After kitten numbers three and four arrived in quick succession, Joe checked the Duchess over and advised that she was finished. The Duchess continued to wash them all for another thirty minutes, and they all had a feed before settling down to sleep.

  Lottie heard creaking outside the bedroom door as people moved across the landing. ‘Hi,’ said Scott, poking his head round the door. ‘Is it safe to come in?’

  ‘He means is the gruesome bit over?’ asked Angie, as a second disembodied head appeared under his.

  ‘Shhh,’ said Lottie, but she motioned for them to come in anyway. ‘She’s had four kittens.’

  ‘I didn’t expect they’d be puppies,’ said her mother and Lottie stuck her tongue out. Scott gave a conspiratorial smirk and patted Lottie affectionately on the shoulder. He held her mother’s hand as they studied the newborns.

  ‘So Daddy was a ginge, then,’ said Scott. ‘Excellent.’

  ‘They’re quite pretty,’ said Angie, leaning in to stroke one. Dave stood up and eyed her carefully.

  Little footsteps and a large yawn announced Jessie’s arrival. She leaned on Lottie’s shoulders, her teddy bear flopping in front of Lottie’s eyes. ‘They’re so cute. Can we have one, Daddy? Please?’ asked Jessie.

  Lottie and Jessie both looked at Zach with pleading eyes.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Zach. ‘It depends.’

  ‘On what?’ asked Jessie, perking up.

  ‘Whether you want a kitten or a dog.’

  ‘A dog, a dog! A DOG!’

  ‘Shhh,’ whispered Joe and Lottie together, as Jessie threw herself into her father’s arms.

  ‘Thank you, Daddy!’

  ‘We need to find the right dog for us, so it may take a while, but I’ve seen how you are with Dave and I think it would be nice to have one around.’

  Lottie smiled as Emily joined them in a family hug. She gave Emily a congratulatory nod. A friendship had been formed this festive season that Lottie knew would last a lifetime.

  ‘Aw,’ said Rhys, peering over everyone’s heads.

  ‘We should have one, Nicola,’ said Daniel. ‘It’ll give you a hobby.’

  ‘Oh, great. I’ve been replaced by a cat,’ said Rhys, with a pretend huff.

  ‘Hmm,’ said Nicola, having a closer look. ‘I don’t want a male,’ she said.

  ‘Understandable,’ said Angie. Lottie gave her a stern look.

  ‘We’ll not know for sure for a couple of weeks,’ said Joe. ‘But I had a quick look when they each arrived and I think we have two males,’ he pointed at the pale ginger ones, ‘and two females.’ He indicated the cream pair.

  ‘Oh, they’re just like Duchess. I’d like one of those,’ said Nicola.

  ‘Sure,’ said Lottie. One down, three to go, she thought. If only she was as easy to rehome.

  Chapter Forty

  Lottie said goodnight to Jessie and eventually managed to shoo everyone else out of Nana’s room.

  ‘I’d better go,’ said Joe, packing away his equipment.

  ‘When can I move her out of here?’

  ‘Not for a few days if you can help it. She’s chosen somewhere she feels safe. If you move her too soon she’ll try to move the kittens back, and with the stairs that could be dangerous.’

  ‘Okay. And Joe?’

  He whipped his head around quickly. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Thanks. You know, for coming up in the snow. Sorry I panicked.’

  He looked defeated. ‘It’s fine. It’s what we vets do.’

  ‘Well, thanks. I appreciate it. And—’

  ‘Yes?’ He was hanging on her every word.

  ‘Let me have the bill.’

 
‘No need. I was doing it as a friend. I’ll see myself out.’

  She followed him down to the front door anyway. The silence stretched between them. She needed time to process what he’d told her about Megan. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

  ‘Lottie,’ he said, and she looked up into his eyes. ‘I’m truly sorry that I’ve hurt you. I know you’d never do that to me.’ Lottie broke eye contact. Her heart started to race.

  ‘We all do stuff we regret.’

  ‘Lottie?’ She could tell from his tone that he knew she was hiding something. He just didn’t know quite how long she’d been hiding it for. ‘Lottie, if we’re going to be living in the same village again, I really want us to get on. No expectations of anything else, but above all I value our friendship.’ She finally looked up. She could see genuine affection in his eyes.

  ‘Okay. I think we can do that.’

  ‘So no more secrets?’

  Lottie felt the colour drain from her face. She couldn’t agree to this without breaking his heart.

  ‘Lottie? Do you have a secret?’ He held up his thumb for her to push hers against. Their secret sign. She sighed heavily as their thumbs connected. There was no going back now.

  Lottie pulled Nana’s Christmas card from her back pocket. ‘Nana sent the family Christmas cards and they each had advice in them.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Joe with a smile.

  He listened while she read it. His eyes widened when she reached the line about him:

  There is also something I want you to do for me – talk to Joe Broomfield. Life isn’t easy and we make the decisions we do with the best of our knowledge and with the best of intentions, but keeping secrets is like a cancer and if you don’t sort it out it will eat away at you.

  When she’d finished reading, she closed the card. Joe’s eyebrows were pulled tight.

  ‘What did Rose want you to talk to me about?’ he asked.

  ‘Joe, just after you left, I found out I was pregnant with your baby.’ Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. ‘I didn’t know where you were and despite my best efforts I couldn’t track you down. Then at four months gone I had a miscarriage.’