“Do you need any help around here?” Amy asks.
“I thought you were watching the tree being put up?” I point out.
She shrugs. “I was but it got boring; thought I’d come and help in here, instead.” She looks around; all the tables are empty, except one in the corner where Bob Newton is reading the paper over a pot of tea and a teacake, his dog, Jack, asleep at his feet. For a Saturday afternoon, it’s a ghost town. “But you seem quiet.”
“No one can fault your observation skills,” I mutter.
Amy ignores me. “Mum…?” she begins, leaning on the counter.
“Yes, Amy?”
I glance at Amy; it doesn’t take a genius to realise where she’s going with this.
“Seeing as you’re really quiet, can we… do some baking?” she asks tentatively.
Amy and I both turn our gazes to Holly, eagerly awaiting her answer.
Holly looks at her daughter, no doubt sees the hopeful expression on the teen’s face, and seems torn; I know it would be so easy for her to say no, to make up an excuse and find something else to do, but I’m hoping she doesn’t.
“Pleease,” Amy pleads, her puppy dog eyes working overtime. “We could make Christmas cookies and the chocolate cake with snowmen on, like we did last year!”
“Seems like she’s got it all planned,” I observe, nodding at Amy.
Holly sighs. “Okay, yes,” she finally relents, “we can do some baking.”
Amy punches the air in delight before practically running behind the counter and into the kitchen, her mum in her wake.
“Have fun,” I call after them, smiling.
It’s good to see some of Holly’s old-self returning and, if this is the first step to her getting over Mike, and his betrayal, then it’s a positive one.
Seeing Bob’s empty plate, I head over to him, eager to clear his table of clutter. “Shall I take this for you, Bob?” I ask, pointing at the plate.
He smiles at me, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Ah, yes, love that would be grand; thank you.”
“No problem.” I pause as I pick up the plate; I don’t usually get to make idle conversation with the customers in London so it’s an opportunity I don’t want to miss here. “Have you seen the tree going up?”
He looks out of the window, to the village square where there’s a crane and a yellow council van complete with flashing light parked beside an enormous Christmas tree – Amy hadn’t been kidding when she said it was big. A couple of policemen are talking to the workers, obviously having overseen the set up. “Ah, yes; it’s a big-un this year,” he announces.
I smile. “It sure is.”
“Are you going to the Switch-on next week?” he asks.
What is it with everyone and this Switch-on? “Yeah, Amy and Holly just roped me in.”
“It’ll be good to see you there, I can tell you,” he says, sipping his tea. “And see if you can get that father of yours to come, too; it’ll be nice to see him out and about.”
I smile, uncertain if, even Christmas, miracles stretch that far; he used to go with me and Mum but… I’m sure you can imagine why we’ve both stopped going. “I’ll try,” I say, hearing the emptiness of the promise as I speak. “Can I get you another tea?” I continue brightly, eager to change the subject.
“No, love, not for me,” he says. “I’m going to finish this and then I’d better be off; have a bowling meet in half an hour.”
I smile, glad to hear he’s still keeping himself active. “Right, well, I’ll leave you to it, then.”
As I make my way back to the counter, Josh crashes in, dressed in his football kit, his bag thrown over his shoulder, looking like he’s just taken a mud bath.
“What happened to you?” I laugh.
“Saturday practice, weren’t it?” he mumbles, as if the answer should have been obvious.
“Oh yeah; I see you spent most the time lying on the ground, rolling about in the mud!”
Josh shoots me a glare as he sits down on the nearest chair. “Ha ha; you’re hilarious, you know that?”
“Hey, it was only a joke,” I mutter, watching him carefully.
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t funny.”
An awkward, almost painful, silence settles between us as he continues to slouch moodily in his chair, staring at his phone. That bloody phone; he seems to have developed a very unhealthy relationship with it, lately.
“Do you want a drink?” I ask breezily, looking for any way to break the tension.
“No.”
I sigh, very aware that Bob is now watching us, despite trying to appear interested in the sports section. Approaching him, I say gently, “Look, Josh; I know things have been tough recently-”
Suddenly, his head snaps up and he’s glaring at me. “What do you know about it? You have no idea about anything!” he growls. Pushing himself away from the table, he stands up, knocking the chair over in his haste as he storms out, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 10
“Bloody hell,” Bob mutters, looking at me. “You better go after him.”
You think? I want to yell, but I’m already hurrying to the kitchen. “Holly… Josh and I are just going for a walk,” I announce, far too breezily for my liking.
She frowns, her hands covered in flour and butter. “Everything okay?”
I nod. “Yeah, yeah; just want to look at the tree,” I say, running to the door ignoring the confused look she shares with Amy.
Outside, I look around as I zip up my hoodie; the light’s fading fast but I can see Josh crossing the square and I set off after him. Thank goodness he’s not running; I’m not sure I’d be able to catch him, if he were. As I close in on him, I grab his arm. “Hey, Josh, slow down, will ya?” I gasp. Thankfully, he does as I ask and turns to me as I catch my breath. “Geez, you sure know how to give a girl the run around, don’t you?”
“You’re in really bad shape,” he observes.
“Thanks for that,” I mutter with a grin, pleased when he offers me a tiny smile in return; at least he’s not growling at me anymore. My grin soon fades, though, as I steer the conversation back to the reason I’ve just chased him halfway across the village green. “Josh, we really need to talk.”
Shaking his head, he turns away. That’s something, I guess – at least he’s willing to stay.
“Look, I’m not giving up,” I tell him. “So, you can push me away or tell me to get lost but…” I pause, pulling him round to face me. “I didn’t just come back for your mum, you know; I came back for you kids, too.” He looks down in silence, scuffing the ground with his shoe. “You can talk to me, Josh,” I remind him, “and, if you don’t want to talk, yell at me, I don’t mind.” Gesturing to a bench on the green, I ask, “Do you want to sit down?”
Glancing up, he smiles at me. “Okay; you probably need a rest anyway.”
“Oi, you cheeky so-and-so!” I protest, laughing, slapping his arm playfully. I head over to the bench and sit down, relieved that he seems to have calmed down. I remain silent, content to just sit with him and wait until he’s ready to talk and I take the time to look around the green; the two policemen are deep in conversation with the council workers, no doubt admiring the tree.
“Is it okay to hate my dad?”
Josh’s sudden, unexpected, question jolts my attention back to him. Okay, so I’m not totally surprised by it; is it any wonder he feels like this, given the circumstances?
I turn to face him. “Josh… you’re entitled to feel any way you want to, right now.”
He nods, considering my words. “I’m so angry with him, Jess,” he confesses. “I don’t want to be; I mean, he’s my dad but…”
I reach over and place an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close; I know how messed up he’s feeling, right now, how guilty he feels for even thinking this way. “Look, I know it doesn’t seem like it now but-”
“Hey, Josh.”
We both look up to see Glenn making his way towards us. A
nd… it’s official: Glenn looks even sexier in his uniform than he does in jeans and I can’t help staring; he’s wearing a black police uniform and a fluorescent jacket; a radio is clipped to his pocket and I can see a canister of something (probably pepper spray?) and a pair of handcuffs hanging from his belt. He smiles briefly at me before focusing on Josh.
“You okay, mate?” he asks, his brow furrowing in concern.
Josh shrugs me off, obviously embarrassed at being caught being hugged by me. “Yeah,” he replies defensively, hastily moving along the bench.
Glenn looks at me, for a moment, before turning his attention back to Josh. “Listen, I asked about the work experience you wanted for next year…” he starts.
Josh’s eyes light up at this. “Yeah? And?”
Glenn grins. “And the Chief said he’d be happy to have you for a couple of weeks.”
Josh practically jumps off the bench, he’s that excited. “Man, that’s brilliant!”
“You’ll only be doing admin, mind, none of the cool stuff,” Glenn laughs. “But, yeah, it will give you an insight into the station and the type of work we do.”
“Thanks, Glenn, I really appreciate this,” Josh beams, looking at Glenn with barely concealed admiration. He glances at me. “I’ve gotta go tell Mum.” He turns and starts to stand, but I stop him.
“Josh, I thought we were-”
He shakes his head. “I’m fine,” he insists before taking off. “I have to go!” he calls back.
I stand and throw my hands up in the air, rounding on Glenn. “Well, thank you very much!” I snap.
Glenn stares at me like I’ve just grown two heads. “What? What did I do?”
“For your information, we were in the middle of a very important conversation,” I inform him, my frustration getting the better of me. “And, then, you come along and, in two seconds, manage to undo everything.”
Glenn watches me for a moment, his expression torn between guilt and amusement. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realise I was interrupting.” His gaze drifts in the direction of the tearooms before returning to me. “Is he okay?”
I shrug, sighing. “I don’t know,” I admit. “He’s angry, that much I do know.” I’m not sure why I’m saying any of this to Glenn but, from what I can tell so far, I get the impression he wants to help Holly and the kids.
Glenn nods in understanding. “Is it any wonder considering what they’re going through?” He pauses, his gaze lingering on me for a moment. “Hey, look, I really am sorry about interrupting you; if I had known, I wouldn’t have come over.”
I give him a weak smile. “Don’t worry about it; you certainly gave him something to be happy about and, right now, you’ve achieved the impossible as far as I’m concerned.”
Glenn smiles. “He’s been going on about work experience at the station for ages,” he explains. “He wants to be a cop; after seeing me at work, he probably wants to follow in my footsteps,” he adds, puffing up his chest.
“Oh, yeah; I’ve no doubt watching you oversee the Christmas tree being put up has inspired him beyond measure,” I mutter sarcastically.
“Hey, it’s an important job, that,” he protests. “I mean: what would Christmas be without a tree?”
I leave that question unanswered; the less I say on Christmas, the better. “Should I be impressed?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“You tell me: are you?”
I shake my head, laughing softly. “You’re an idiot, you know that, right?”
Now it’s his turn to laugh and I like that he’s not easily offended. “So, I’ve been told – too many times to count, actually.”
“I can believe that,” I agree.
“Somehow, I thought you would.”
We stand in silence for a moment; part of me wants to stay and banter with this guy some more but I know I have to get back to the tearooms. “Look, I should go…” I start, backing away.
Glenn nods, though I can’t help wondering if he looks disappointed. “Um… Jess, I was wondering…”
I pause, watching him expectantly. “Yeah?”
“Do you want to go for a drink in The Dragon tonight?”
I’m a little taken aback by the question, to be honest, but I recover quickly – at least, I think I do. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”
“Why? Come on, give me a chance to prove I’m not the idiot you think I am.”
I shake my head; suddenly, the urge to leave is strong. “Sorry, I can’t; I have stuff to do, you know how it is.”
Glenn grins, clearly not put off, in the least, by my refusal. “Well, if you change your mind, I’m usually in there most nights.”
I smile, amused by his resilience; if I had just asked a guy out and they’d turned me down, I’d be wanting to find the nearest hole to crawl into. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Can’t afford to these days; otherwise the good ones will always get away.”
The good ones… I can’t help laughing at that. “You don’t even know me,” I point out. “How do you know I’m one of the good ones?”
Glenn raises an eyebrow. “Who says I was talking about you?” he retorts.
And now I’m looking for that hole I just mentioned.
“But, you can easily find out if I was by meeting me for a drink,” he continues, winking at me. “I’ll be there around seven if you’re interested.”
And, with that, he turns and walks away, leaving me lost for words.
Turning, I head back to the tearooms, smiling to myself. I’m not going to deny that it felt nice to have a man flirt with me – it’s been a while, I can tell you. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking with it – good-looking and, annoyingly, charming.
But, enough about Glenn Campbell; I can’t think about him anymore.
As I walk back to the tearooms, my thoughts turn to Josh and what he had said about his dad; despite my own feelings for Mike, I never expected to hear Josh say anything like that. It’s all so messed up and I hate that Mike’s made him feel like that.
Thinking of Josh and his dad, makes me think of my own father and I find myself taking out my phone and dialing his number, unwilling to waste anymore time.
Chapter 11
Entering The Dragon, I head straight for the bar, my latest conversation with my dad playing over and over in my head.
“Hey!” Sofia greets me, glancing up from the beer she’s pouring.
“Hey,” I reply, barely able to hide my smile as I glance around the pub; I didn’t come here looking for Glenn (at least, I’m pretty sure I didn’t) but now that I’m here, I can’t seem to help myself.
“What’s up with you?” Sofia asks, leaning on the bar, watching me carefully.
“Nothing,” I reply quickly, my head snapping back to look at her. “I phoned my dad earlier; we’re having dinner tomorrow.”
“Sunday lunch, eh?”
I nod; Sunday lunch was always a big deal in our house so I was surprised when he agreed to me coming over and cooking for him. “I’m cooking.”
Sofia laughs. “Oh, wow, I guess Christmas really is a time for miracles.”
“Shut up and get me a drink, would you?” In my defense, I do cook; I cook all the time in the tearooms (toasted teacake and beans on toast happen to be my specialties) so when I go home, I prefer to eat out or just make something quick and simple. Plus, cooking for one doesn’t inspire me.
“I don’t think so,” she says, shaking her head before waving at someone on the other side of the bar.
“Are you kidding?”
Her gaze returns to me. “Oh no; I’m under very strict instructions that, if you were to come in, you were not to buy your own drinks,” she explains, nodding to someone behind me.
I turn and am not really surprised to see Glenn making his way towards me, grinning smugly.
“I knew you’d come by,” he says by way of greeting. “I’m far too tempting for you to resist.”
I smile, despite myself. “Yo
u know that would be so true if it wasn’t for the fact that, every time I see you, all I can hear is Rhinestone Cowboy on repeat in my head.” He falters at that. Ha, this round goes to me!
Behind the bar, Sofia laughs.
“I’m gonna kill Joe when I see him next,” he mutters. Leaning on the bar, he glances at me, smiling; clearly he wasn’t going to let his embarrassment affect him for too long. “So, now that we’ve established you can’t resist me, let me buy you a drink.”
“Go on, then,” I relent with a sigh. Glancing at Sofia, I say, “The usual, please.”
“And the same for me,” Glenn says, placing his empty pint glass on the bar.
“Coming right up,” she says, getting a glass for my lemonade.
“Hey, hold on,” Glenn interrupts, holding his hand out to Sofia and looking at me. “You can push the boat out, you know, if you want something with a little more kick.”
I hold his gaze for a moment, aware that Sofia’s looking uncomfortable. I shake my head. “No, it’s fine; I don’t actually drink.”
A questioning look crosses his face (the same one I always see when I tell people I don’t drink) but he says nothing more.
Once our drinks arrive, Glenn nods towards the far end of the pub. “Do you want to take these to a table?” he asks. “I figured we could get to know each other better,” he adds, throwing my earlier words back at me.
I nod; I’m exhausted after being on my feet all day and could use a sit down. And, I don’t suppose the company’s all that bad, either.
Glenn leads me over to the table and we sit down. I have to say, I’m suddenly a little nervous; this is feeling less like a casual meeting and more like a… (dare I say it) a date. But it can’t be a date because I don’t want to date him and, besides which, I’m going back to London soon so nothing can happen anyway, even if I wanted it to - which I don’t.
Okay, I’m babbling now.
“So, tell me about yourself, Jess Harrison.”
All I Want For Christmas (A Sweet, Contemporary Romance) (Romance In The Lakes Book 1) Page 5