One Christmas Kiss in Notting Hill

by Mandy Baggot

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered finally. ‘But you can’t know the theme.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t quite catch that.’

  ‘Please don’t make me say it again,’ she begged.

  He leant forward and kissed her. ‘I’ll get you a venue,’ he promised.

  Seventy-Six

  The Royale, Hyde Park

  Chase concentrated on the MacBook on the breakfast table in front of him. He was reading through an email from James, a board member, about their plans going forward for the super-village. There were a list of things they wanted him to kick-start in the time he had left in the UK. He had no intention of doing any of them, but he had to think up some sort of reply because going a whole day without a response was going to look suspect and that was the last thing he wanted before tonight’s burial. What had happened with his life that he was even thinking the word ‘burial’?

  ‘Can I get a Nintendo Switch?’ Brooke was pulling apart a croissant and stuffing large pieces of it into her mouth.

  ‘I have no idea what that is,’ Chase replied, eyes fixed on the screen.

  ‘It’s what Raj had last night,’ Maddie added. ‘We played MarioKart8 and I got a blister on my thumb.’

  ‘And that’s a reason for me to buy it? To help you get skin issues?’

  ‘It’s F-U-N,’ Brooke said. ‘You know, that thing we used to have when I was about eight.’

  Chase looked away from his laptop. ‘Well, Christmas is coming.’

  ‘Ugh!’ Brooke exclaimed. ‘People say that when you have no chance of getting what you want but they want you to shut the hell up.’

  ‘That isn’t true,’ Chase answered.

  ‘Mom said “Christmas is coming” last year when I asked for a puppy,’ Maddie chimed in.

  ‘I think she knew by then we’d have to get rid of the cat so a dog had no chance,’ Brooke bit.

  Chase folded his arms across his chest and looked at his daughter. ‘So, how much do you want this Nintendo Switch?’

  He watched her lean forward, the croissant dropping to her plate. She was definitely interested.

  ‘I can smell bribery and corruption,’ Brooke stated. ‘You do know that isn’t something you should involve your children in?’

  ‘Oh, like NC-17 movies?’ Chase queried.

  Brooke’s front seemed to diminish quite substantially then. He continued, ‘Okay, so, when we get into the office I need you to do something for me.’

  ‘Hold someone hostage?’ Brooke asked, almost excitedly.

  He frowned. ‘Last night it was “let’s find a body” and today you’re talking about hostage-taking?’

  ‘Steal something?’ Brooke suggested.

  ‘No! Nothing like that.’ Well, it was a little bit criminal but for a good cause.

  ‘Is it something to do with those Roman coins, Daddy?’ Maddie asked.

  ‘Shh!’ Chase said, putting his finger to his lips and giving the hotel restaurant a surreptitious glance. The less they mentioned anything about those rarities in public the better.

  ‘Sorry, Daddy,’ Maddie replied, looking a little sad.

  ‘It’s okay, Pumpkin,’ he whispered. ‘We just have to keep that on the down-low right now.’

  ‘Boost a car?’ Brooke continued.

  ‘Whoa!’ Chase exclaimed. ‘Stop. Enough.’

  ‘Well, what do you want me to do?’ Brooke inquired, still sounding eager.

  ‘I just …’ Was this right? And to get his daughter to do it? Aaron had already had no luck. He’d got a text an hour ago.

  ‘Jeez, Dad,’ Brooke said. ‘Tell me!’

  ‘Can you hack into people’s laptops?’ he blurted out. ‘I’m not sure I really want to know the answer to that but I really need to get into someone’s laptop – for good reasons, not bad – but I have no idea where to start.’

  Brooke yawned, then stretched out her arms, hands laced together, cracking her knuckles. ‘So, if I do this, I’ll be saying a sweet hello to a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, right?’

  Chase took a breath and gave a slight nod. ‘I will do my very best to pass that memo on to the man in red.’

  ‘Okay then,’ Brooke said, getting to her boot-clad feet. ‘We need to get into the office because I have work to do.’

  Seventy-Seven

  Breekers London, Canary Wharf

  Isla rubbed at her eyes as she sat at her desk. Earlier, at home, she had composed a text to Poppy saying if she didn’t turn up to walk Hannah to work she was going to come round her house and break her box set of Game of Thrones. Then she thought better of sending it and instead thanked her for helping Hannah but, going forward, Hannah would be getting herself to work. It had hurt to press send. She still wasn’t completely confident in letting go when it came to her sister, but she needed to have faith and she had promised Hannah more freedom in exchange for being super-vigilant at the horrible four-way crossing and messaging her as soon as she got to Portobello Flowers. And she had. It had been very tongue-in-cheek, she hoped. Hannah Winters marks herself safe in the ongoing Wheeling To Work Situation.

  It had been an hour since Isla arrived at work and she had been emailing and calling potential caterers in the hope someone, anyone, was going to be able to provide anything. Gone were the days back in October when she was perusing menus almost tasting the sweet salmon and chive parcels and grazing on online photos of large spreads of olive-topped water biscuits with cool Saint Agur. Now she would be happy if a hot dog van could make it. She’d fit it into the theme … somehow.

  ‘You have to help!’ Aaron was panting like a dog who’d been trapped in a car in a heatwave. His head dislodged a pompom and it fell to Isla’s desk.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Isla asked.

  ‘It’s Hilda. She’s going to kill me!’ Aaron exclaimed. He let out a blood-curdling screech then clutched at his throat, turning himself backwards and almost lying across Isla’s desk.

  ‘She isn’t here, is she?’ Isla asked.

  ‘She’s always here,’ Aaron answered, getting himself back up. ‘Can’t you feel her? And smell her? There’s essence of lily of the valley everywhere.’

  ‘Aaron, what do you want me to do?’ Isla asked.

  ‘Can you take her Skype call this morning?’ He started blinking his eyelashes like he was auditioning for a Revlon commercial. ‘She misses you. I can tell.’

  ‘Oh, Aaron, I really can’t,’ Isla said. She needed to find a caterer and be at her desk the minute any emails came in from the ones she had contacted already.

  ‘Isla, purlease! I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. I’ve got Martin Quigg coming in at eleven and if I get caught up with Hilda I’ll be late for him and you know I—’

  ‘Fancy him,’ Isla filled in.

  ‘Yes, well, he hasn’t taken my not-so-subtle hints about hooking up for drinks yet but I do believe he’s toying with me.’ He inhaled. ‘Some men like to do it slow.’

  ‘What time is Hilda skyping?’ Isla asked.

  ‘In ten minutes,’ Aaron stated quickly, taking off his jacket and putting it round his chair.

  ‘Ten minutes! Aaron!’

  ‘Not my idea,’ he said quickly. ‘She has some other meeting with the Forestry Commission at twelve, so you see my dilemma,’ Aaron began. ‘She’s earmarked from now until twelve to talk at me!’

  Isla clicked her mouse on to her screen, opening up the Ridgepoint Hospital file. ‘Well, you’d better catch me up quickly. What’s been progressed since I handed it over?’

  ‘Oh, so, so much,’ Aaron answered, sitting on the edge of Isla’s desk. ‘I even know her aunt Amy’s special recipe for dumplings.’

  ‘Come on! Come on!’ Aaron said, waggling his arms around like an excited French traffic policeman. ‘Hilda talks to me for hours but Isla is adept at being concise. We might have thirty minutes if we’re lucky.’

  Chase, Brooke and Maddie rushed into the space behind Isla’s desk, Brooke leaping on the chair.

  ‘T
he file is called …’ Aaron began.

  ‘Breekers’ Christmas Party 2017? Got it,’ Brooke said, seemingly navigating the system like a programmer navigates code.

  ‘No!’ Aaron screeched. ‘That’s a dummy file.’ He shook his head. ‘Don’t you know how big a thing this is? Staff have been trying to get the heads up on the Christmas party ever since Isla’s very first extravaganza.’ He put a hand to his chest and looked like he was about to reminisce. ‘It was all The Wizard of Oz meets Disney on Ice.’

  ‘Goddamn,’ Chase said. ‘Now I’m concerned about my promise to make good on a venue.’

  ‘I’ve got it,’ Brooke said. ‘Boulder Cooper Parker 2017.’ She nodded like she was satisfied. ‘She used the initials of Breekers’ Christmas Party and it’s the only one that’s password protected.’ Brooke pulled her phone out of her bag and plugged it into the PC. ‘Give me a couple minutes.’

  ‘This is so exciting,’ Maddie said, giggling gleefully.

  It didn’t feel exciting to Chase. It felt like a breach of trust and he really wanted Isla to trust him now. But he needed all the information he could get if he was going to come through for her with the party. He didn’t want to take over, but he didn’t want her usual flawless night to be marred because he had come to London and turned her life upside down.

  ‘I’ve got this, Dad,’ Brooke said, taking it in turns to look from her phone to the computer.

  ‘Is that binary?’ Aaron asked, leaning over and staring at the flashing icons on the screen of Brooke’s phone.

  ‘It’s something I got from a friend,’ Brooke answered. She tapped her nose with her finger.

  ‘Do I need to review this list of friends?’ Chase asked.

  ‘Hey, I’m helping you out here,’ Brooke said.

  ‘Can you teach me?’ Maddie asked.

  ‘No,’ Brooke and Chase replied simultaneously.

  Brooke’s phone made a bleeping sound and she looked at the screen triumphantly, the folder opening at the click of a mouse.

  ‘Okay, we are in,’ Brooke announced.

  ‘Oh my!’ Aaron exclaimed as the first document revealed itself.

  ‘Is that a Jeep?’ Chase inquired, edging nearer to the screen.

  ‘It’s a very old British Land Rover,’ Aaron answered. He made another exclamation as Brooke opened a second document. ‘Oh, would you look at that? It’s wonderful! So romantic!’ He smiled at Chase. ‘It’s the perfect theme.’

  Maddie turned her head almost upside down, as if doing that would make her see more clearly. Chase watched her blink, then blink again. ‘What’s that rubber mask?’

  ‘Okay,’ Chase said, putting his hand on Brooke’s shoulder. ‘Close it down. Do whatever you have to do to make sure Isla doesn’t know we’ve looked.’

  ‘So, now we know,’ Aaron stated. ‘What are we going to do?’

  ‘Well, I’d like you to find us a real old British Jeep …’ Chase began.

  ‘Land Rover,’ Aaron interrupted.

  ‘Yes, that,’ Chase agreed. ‘And we are going to visit Portobello Flowers. I think someone there might be able to help us out.’

  Seventy-Eight

  Holland Park

  It was the dead of night, pitch black and freezing cold. The worst thing about the sub-zero temperatures, apart from feeling like your limbs might seize up completely if you stayed still, was that the earth they were going to disturb was now going to be less child’s sandpit and more rock solid.

  Isla had fortified the troops with hot chocolate and warm mince pies before they had set off, dressed in matching black hoodies that had a rather alarming logo of a vengeful-looking snake on the breast. No one had asked Raj what it meant or where he had got them. Not even inquisitive Maddie.

  With the large, ornate gate at the entrance locked, scaling it had been the only option and that was never going to happen for Hannah and Ronnie. Disappointed but practical, Hannah and Raj had decided to maintain a watch while the group of four – Isla, Chase, Brooke and Maddie – went over the top. Now, trudging over the crunchy white layer of snow on the ground they were trying to muffle every footstep.

  ‘Are we breaking the law?’ Brooke questioned, with a hint of too much glee.

  ‘Yes,’ Chase answered. ‘We are trespassing.’

  ‘Cool,’ Brooke said.

  ‘Listen,’ Chase said. ‘It’s not cool, okay. What we’re doing is wrong and I am not an advocate for law-breaking.’

  ‘So, this is a “do as I say not as I do” kinda scenario?’ Brooke asked. ‘Just so we’re clear.’

  ‘Something like that,’ Chase agreed.

  ‘In the daytime,’ Isla whispered, her hand wrapped around the bag-for-life filled with artefacts, ‘this is a lovely place to visit. There are two wonderful Japanese gardens and a wild area with peacocks and squirrels.’

  ‘Really?’ Maddie exclaimed. ‘Do you think we’re gonna see them tonight?’

  ‘Shh! We’re meant to be in stealth mode,’ Brooke said.

  ‘Do you have any idea where we’re going?’ Chase asked. ‘Because I’ve seen more with a match than I can see with this flashlight.’ He waved it around as if to prove a point.

  ‘We don’t want to attract any attention,’ Isla reminded him. ‘It’s just over here.’ She headed east, knowing exactly where Raj had said the works were taking place.

  She still couldn’t believe they were doing this. What had her neatly ordered life come to? The run-up to Christmas had always been about preparation, relaxed preparation. Parties, prosecco, present-buying … not planning the plantation of pre-modern-day pots!

  ‘God, I hope this works,’ Chase announced into the dark. Isla turned her head towards him. He looked different dressed all in black, the hood over his tawny hair, jeans and Caterpillar boots on his feet, but still so handsome. Her stomach really did flip every time she looked at him.

  ‘Did you speak to New York today?’ Isla asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ he answered. ‘I replied to their email. Just kept it vague, light, nothing controversial. You know, very inspirationally evasive.’

  ‘I can imagine you did that very well,’ Isla answered.

  ‘And I am taking that as a compliment.’

  ‘Wow!’ It was Maddie with the ‘wow’.

  ‘Sshh!’ Brooke ordered.

  ‘But, look!’

  There ahead of them, now they had turned a corner, was a towering Christmas tree covered in bright white Christmas lights, a star at its tip There were so many lights it looked as though a long, illuminated cloak of lustre had been draped over it.

  ‘That’s one great tree,’ Chase agreed. He put the barrel of the torch in his mouth, adjusted his hold on the black sack containing the axe heads, then put a hand on Maddie’s shoulder.

  ‘Have you got a tree yet, Daddy?’

  ‘In my place in New York?’

  Maddie nodded, the hood falling over her face a little.

  ‘No, not yet,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve been busy here and—’

  ‘Can we get one together?’ Maddie asked. ‘When we go back?’

  ‘Sure, Pumpkin,’ he answered.

  Isla swallowed. Yes, Christmas was coming and no matter what happened with Notting Hill after tonight, Chase was going back to the U.S. She had always known that. But what she hadn’t always known was that she was going to fall for him. She needed more time … just to think.

  ‘We should hurry a little,’ she said, quickening her pace. She really didn’t have time to be incarcerated if she was going to meet the only catering company who had replied in the affirmative to that day’s pleas. They might only offer a dozen different turkey options but turkey was the food of the season and she was sure turkey curry, turkey meatballs and turkey and aubergine rolls would suffice if she sold it to staff as part of the night’s theme.

  ‘Let’s get this done,’ Chase agreed.

  ‘So cool,’ Brooke replied.

  Chase looked down into the pit of soil in front of them and made
a wish. He made a wish. Someone who believed you could only make change yourself. He couldn’t remember wanting something to succeed as much as this in quite some time. There seemed to be so much at stake. His job. His relationship with his children. This whole area of London. Isla. Being here had changed him in so many ways in such a short space of time. When he’d arrived, he had been the consummate businessman, the Mr Corporate he had to be to fill the role Breekers needed him to fill and to get himself better, back into life. But he had ignored the person he was at his heart. The man who cared. The man who had been too scared to care this past twelve months. He needed to find a way to redress that balance. Because he wanted in on emotion again. And he wanted in on Isla.

  ‘I can’t see any of the Roman stuff from here,’ Brooke announced, staring into the hole. ‘If I can’t see it and I know it’s there, how are we expecting the workers to find it tomorrow?’

  ‘It can’t look too obvious, Brooke,’ Chase reminded her. ‘That’s also why we haven’t put it all in the one place.’

  ‘But what if they don’t find it at all?’ Maddie wailed. ‘What if they come here with the big digger and just break it all up and, even if they find it, what if they just throw it in the garbage?’

  ‘Well,’ Isla said, straightening Maddie’s hood so she could see out of it better. ‘That’s where Mrs Edwards comes in.’

  ‘She does?’ Maddie queried.

  ‘She’s going to come here first thing in the morning and “stumble over” a Roman coin and “see” the edge of one of the axe heads in the hole,’ Isla informed.

  ‘And Raj is gonna be right there, calling all the press I gave him the numbers for tonight,’ Chase said.

  Brooke grinned. ‘So cool.’

  ‘So your dad is cool now, yeah?’ Chase checked.

  ‘A little,’ Brooke admitted. ‘Sometimes.’