Jay nodded enthusiastically. ‘No, I agree.’
She nodded her head. ‘It might be safer for us to huddle together for warmth on my sofa before you venture outside.’
The next morning was Tuesday and Lottie was awake early. With Jay, all her worries had been set aside for a few hours. However, now, her thoughts were all for Steph.
‘I’m afraid I have to go.’
‘Work?’
‘No. It’s Steph. She’s getting the results of her scan today and I promised I’d go with her to see the consultant. We’re hoping it shows the all clear.’
Jay held her. ‘I hope so too. Please let me know how it goes?’
‘I will. What will you do today?’
‘Me?’ He smiled. ‘Oh, I think I’ll find something.’
With that mysterious statement, and another kiss, he let her go.
While she drove to pick up Steph, Lottie debated with herself whether to tell her sister she and Jay had finally got together. On the one hand it would distract her sister, on the other, was it something that should wait for a happier moment? If that happier moment came. Lottie fought down panic. What if she there was bad news? More aggressive treatment? No treatment? How would they help the girls to understand? How would they tell their parents?
The joy of her time with Jay evaporated, but at least she now had someone she could share her own worries with. Someone to support her, who understood her fears and who, she sensed, would always be there for her and never run out.
That thought gave her the renewed strength to be positive for Steph’s sake.
An hour later, Lottie found herself sitting on a chair outside the consultant’s office, waiting for the door to open and find out the answer. Would Steph be smiling or grim-faced? Lottie would know in an instant.
The time stretched on. Ten minutes, twenty, half an hour and just when Lottie felt she might scream with tension, Steph emerged.
Oh God, she had tears on her cheeks. Lottie could see them glistening. She jumped up, grabbing her bag as the door shut behind Steph and she walked slowly forward.
Lottie hurried over to her. ‘Love …’ she murmured.
‘I-I’m OK. It’s gone. They can’t find anything …’
‘Oh God.’
‘Can w-we get out of here?’
‘Mmm …’ Lottie let out a breath and found her eyes full of tears. Her shoulders shook and she grabbed a handful of tissues from her bag.
It wasn’t until they reached the car park that they both gave in, hugging each other and sobbing with relief.
‘I am so so happy. I’m so relieved.’
Steph lifted her face to the sky. ‘I am going to be OK!’ she shouted.
‘This calls for champagne!’ Lottie said. ‘For you, anyway. I’m driving so maybe I’d better bring it over on Christmas Day.’
‘Look what happened the last time I had some! I put my foot in it with you and Jay!’
‘Ah – I have news about that.’ Lottie remembered that she’d also intended to tell Steph about Nadia and Jay. With all the chaos, and worry and excitement of the past few days, she hadn’t got round to it. Although it was her own relationship with Jay she wanted to focus on from now on, she didn’t think Jay would mind her explaining what had happened to Steph.
Steph wiped her eyes and they widened. ‘What news?’
Lottie grinned. ‘Jump in the car. I’ll tell you on the way home.’
After she’d taken Steph home and they’d had a cuppa and given the twins the good news, Lottie went back to the Bothy and she and Jay headed up to the fells with Trevor. It was a crisp winter afternoon, the fell tops were covered in snow, the setting sun turning them pink as the day drew to a close. Nearing Firholme, lights began to pop on in the windows of the villages around the lake, and smoke spiralled from the chimneys. Sharing the place they both loved, Lottie was filled with a sense of excitement and joy she hadn’t felt before, even with Connor.
The next morning, she had the very happy experience of waking up to a man beside her. A naked man, at that – Connor had favoured discreet grey shorts and T-shirt. Already awake, Jay got out of her bed, and crossed to the window, treating her to a pretty fabulous rear view. Lottie was in no mood to cut short her admiration so simply ran with it, drinking in his broad shoulders, toned thighs and bottom.
‘Sun’s out,’ he said, peering around the side of the curtain. He turned back to her, with a front view that was equally impressive. ‘I wish I could stay in bed with you all day but I have to get to work. The tree sales centre closes today and we need to start winding things up.’
‘I have another day off. Do you have time for breakfast?’
‘Yes, but …’ He sat next to her and pulled the duvet back. ‘There are better uses of that time.’
‘What about Trevor?’
With a smile, he climbed back into bed. ‘He’ll forgive me, just this once.’
Jay eventually left, crunching down a piece of toast on the run. Five minutes later, she watched him jog towards the forest with Trevor lolloping alongside him. She stood in the middle of her sitting room, trying to adjust – to even believe – that finally, she and Jay had got together. Instead of feeling exhausted after a night with little sleep, she was fizzing with energy.
Connor and Keegan were far away on honeymoon. They were a memory, already receding into the distance, and all she had to do was enjoy the moment.
Anything was possible.
Jay messaged her several times during the morning and called her at lunchtime, asking if she’d like to share dinner with him in his cottage.
Lottie went round, taking a bottle of wine.
He met her at the door, accompanied by Trevor, who could hardly contain himself at another human entering the house.
After the briefest of kisses and a pat for Trevor, Jay assumed a stern expression that made Lottie wonder what was coming.
‘Wait here,’ he ordered, taking the bottle bag from her hand. ‘Close your eyes.’
She squeezed them shut, wondering what on earth he could be up to. Trevor’s tail thumped against her leg as if he was as excited about the surprise as Jay was.
Jay guided her into his sitting room. ‘Don’t peep,’ he warned. Her nose twitched as she smelled woodsmoke mingled with a fresh familiar scent. Pine …
She was gently manoeuvred into position, until he declared, ‘OK. You can look now!’
She blinked. In the corner of the room was a small but beautiful spruce tree, its branches lush and green – and very bare.
‘You got a tree …’ Lottie said, stating the bleedin’ obvious, as Steph might say.
‘It is a tree,’ he said. ‘But not as we know it.’
Lottie burst out laughing.
‘I brought it home this evening. It was practically the only one left and I didn’t like to leave it lying there, all abandoned and lonely. We’d sold out of decs but I’ll nip out for some tomorrow.’
Lottie put her arms around him. ‘It’s absolutely gorgeous.’
‘So are you.’ He kissed her and the thrill travelled all the way to her toes. ‘You’ll help me decorate it? I’m out of practice.’
‘I can do better than that. Wait here. I promise I’ll be back.’
‘Sounds mysterious!’ he called after but she was already halfway out of the door. A few minutes later, she was back with the twins’ gift bag. ‘I’d forgotten this. It’s from the girls and while I don’t know exactly what it is, I’ve a very good idea.’
He took the bag. ‘I didn’t expect anything from them.’
‘They insisted on getting something for you from one of the stalls at the Christmas fair.’
He unwrapped the tissue and a broad grin spread across his face. ‘Wow. It’s a reindeer,’ he said, holding up the wooden figure by its red ribbon.
‘I thought so. I had one almost the same. Steph tried to hint that you didn’t do Christmas, but it was impossible.’
‘I can understand that … and it�
�s beautiful. Thank them for me.’ There was genuine delight in his voice and he looped the ribbon around a branch and stood back. ‘It’s a start but Rudolph’s going to be a bit lonely.’
‘We’ll sort it out tomorrow. I can even set the girls to work making some home-made paper chains, if you like. They’d love to.’
‘You do that.’ He went quiet and then said, ‘Lottie, I have a big favour to ask. I’d like you to come with me to my parents’. You’ll want to be with Steph and the girls on Christmas Day for lunch but if you’d like to come with me for tea, I’d love that. Ben, Nadia and Seb will be there and I’d like to surprise my mum …’
Lottie was taken aback. ‘I’d love to – but they won’t be expecting me.’
‘That’s exactly why I’d like you to come and if you were by my side, I’d feel a lot better. Mum and Dad will be delighted to see me with …’ his grin was sheepish ‘… with someone new, and looking happy. I’m sure Ben and Nadia will be relieved too.’
Still amazed to be asked, Lottie couldn’t refuse him. ‘If you want me to, then of course I’ll come.’
‘Good.’ He heaved a sigh of relief. ‘So, I have a tree, I’m ready to spread some festive cheer. I’m no longer an official Scrooge.’
She laughed. ‘All you need do now is to rush out and buy the biggest turkey in the shop.’
He took her in his arms. ‘That’ll have to wait. I can think of far more exciting ways of celebrating the new reformed me.’
‘In that case,’ she said, ‘let’s open the fizz and take it to bed. Dinner – and the tree – will still be here.’
Chapter Forty-Two
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve dawned dry but dull. No floods, no snow, just a grey dishcloth of a sky, but Lottie didn’t care about the weather. Her mood was as bright as if she were standing on top of a fell, on a glorious day, gazing down at the lake, with the green fields and bluest of skies stretching on forever. It was the happiness that comes from having climbed a mountain, in the roughest weather, and against all the odds reached the peak.
It seemed Jay had caught her mood too, because she could hear him whistling in the kitchen below, and smell the coffee brewing. They’d spent the past three nights together in either her bed or Jay’s, and it had been pure bliss. She went downstairs to find Trevor wolfing down his breakfast, while her own was laid out on the table.
‘Any update on Seb?’ she asked, thinking of the little boy first.
‘He’s doing incredibly well. The antibiotics are working and they plan to discharge him later today.’ Jay smiled. ‘Ben called to tell me. He’ll be home for Christmas Day.’
‘I’m so pleased. That’s typical of children. They can go downhill fast but they bounce back too.’
‘Thank goodness.’ He put a plate in front of her. ‘It’s an unusual breakfast. I didn’t have much in.’
‘Christmas-tree-shaped crumpets? Wow. Where did you get these?’
‘Petrol station store in the village. They’re cheesy, but hey, it is Christmas Eve.’
They ate them with butter from a farm in the valley and jam made from local damsons, while planning their day.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said, suddenly serious. ‘That I can’t possibly take you away from Steph and the twins tomorrow. It’s not fair to leave her alone.’
‘I’ve already thought of it. She honestly won’t mind if I come with you after lunch. We could always go back to hers later, if you like, once the twins are in bed.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes. She’ll enjoy some grown-up company and besides, I’m going to be there most of the day.’
He leaned over the table and kissed her. ‘I’m really glad you’re coming with me.’
‘I want to,’ Lottie said, though she already had a flutter of nerves as to how Jay’s family might react.
‘I spoke to Ben about tomorrow so he’s already forewarned. Nadia’s OK with it so it’s only Mum and Dad who aren’t in the know. We talked for a long time …’
‘I’m so glad.’
‘I’m not sure things can be exactly the same as before. Not yet, anyway, but we’ve made a good start.’
She was choked up by the promising news. ‘That’s all that matters.’
After breakfast, they took Trevor for a walk in the forest, and saw the squirrels again before Lottie left for Steph’s and Jay left for Keswick to do some last-minute shopping. Very last-minute, thought Lottie, driving along the lanes to her sister’s. She had finished hers and wrapped most of it. She also had some of ‘Santa’s’ presents in the boot of the car, ready to sneak them into the shed while the girls were distracted.
The sun had finally broken through the clouds, and shadows were scudding along the lake. Sheep grazed peacefully in the fields. They would already be expecting their lambs, she thought, thinking of them romping on the fells by March. For now, she had a proper Christmas break to look forward to before the new season started at Firholme. So many new things to look forward to … fresh hope, new love and Jay by her side.
Steph must have been waiting for her because the door opened the moment she parked on the road outside. Mindful that the twins would likely be watching too, Lottie decided to leave the secret gifts and go straight in.
Steph seemed a bit flustered, with flushed cheeks and a suspicious smudge of mascara under her eyes. ‘Everything OK?’ Lottie asked, stepping into the hallway. ‘Is the video call set up?’
‘Yes. Mum and Dad are ready.’ She grinned. ‘I think they’ll be a bit bleary-eyed as it’s late night over there.’
Lottie walked in to find the girls sitting on the sofa in their best dresses, ready for the video call.
‘You look lovely!’ she said and they grinned.
‘OK. It’s time. Let’s go for it.’ Steph and Lottie squashed onto the sofa either side of the twins and started the call. A few moments later, their parents appeared and there were the usual squeals of excitement on both sides.
‘Wow, you look smart considering it’s so late,’ Lottie said, seeing her mum’s dress and her father in a jacket. ‘I thought it was pyjamas at this hour.’
Her mum exchanged a glance with her father. ‘We thought we’d make an effort, didn’t we?’
Lottie stared at the screen. ‘Is that a new sofa?’
Her mum laughed. ‘We did some redecorating.’
Steph grinned.
‘Hang on a moment,’ her mum said. ‘There’s someone at the door.’
She got up and left the room. A moment later they heard her calling ‘Tim!’ to their father. ‘It’s for you!’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Won’t be a sec,’ he said and left with an indulgent smile on his face. ‘Must be a delivery.’
‘Where have they gone?’ Myra asked.
‘Typical. We wait all week for the call and they vanish,’ Steph said. ‘I may as well put the kettle on.’
Lottie watched the screen while the girls fidgeted and slipped off the sofa, running into the kitchen. Something was odd about her parents’ house …
Before she had time to wonder any longer, there was a commotion outside the door then shrieks and …
‘Oh my God!
Lottie’s hands flew to her face.
‘Santa has come early this year …’
The twins were bouncing up and down as if they were on springs and holding the hands of two tanned fifty-somethings who Lottie hadn’t seen for many long months.
‘M-mum! What are you doing here? Oh my God, Dad!’
She flew at her parents, every bit as excited as the girls, and hugged them as if she’d never let them go. Once tissues had been deployed and eyes wiped, they sat on the sofa with the twins on their laps, while Lottie interrogated them.
‘When did you decide to do this? I had absolutely no clue.’
‘It’s been planned for a while,’ her mum said. ‘We told Steph a couple of days ago but asked her to keep it a secret until now.’
‘How long are you
staying? Where are you staying?’
‘We rented a holiday cottage just down the street and we’re staying for a couple of months,’ her dad said, with Myra wriggling on his knee.
‘What about work? Have you both taken unpaid leave?’
Her parents exchanged a glance. ‘No … in fact, we have another surprise for you all. We’re moving back home to the UK. We’ve had a wonderful ten years but we miss you – all of you – and so we’re both taking early retirement and coming back to the Lake District. After all that’s happened lately, we’ve realised that nothing matters like family.’
‘So, we’ll be house hunting while we’re here,’ her dad said.
Much to the twins’ alarm, all the adults around them began to cry again.
‘The Internet is great,’ her father said, with a wobble in his voice. ‘But nothing compares with a hug, and being able to see your family face to face and we’ve decided that is far too precious to miss. We’re determined we’re never going to be apart again.’
After Steph had made tea, and everyone had stopped crying, the twins went to watch Frozen on TV.
‘So, we’ll all be together for Christmas Day, and I think we can just about squeeze around the dining table,’ said Steph. ‘I might need you to bring an extra chair from the Bothy, Lottie.’
‘No problem,’ Lottie said, still amazed that her parents were here. She was also working out how she could possibly be in two places at once. She couldn’t leave her family tomorrow but the prospect of letting down Jay was unthinkable too. There would have to be a compromise.
‘I have a favour to ask,’ she said. ‘Could you spare me after lunch for Christmas tea?’
Steph scrutinised her. ‘Would that have anything to do with the gorgeous Jay?’
Her mother also stared at her. ‘Who’s the gorgeous Jay?’
Her dad raised his eyebrows. ‘Is this a new bloke?’
‘Um. Well. Yes, I guess he is.’
Steph held her arms aloft. ‘Well. Hoo-bloody-ray! About bloody time.’
Her parents exchanged looks. ‘Has this been going on a while?’
‘Far too long,’ Steph said. ‘I’ve had so many sleepless nights worrying about the pair of them. It’s official, then, is it, if you’ve been invited to his for Christmas tea?’
A Surprise Christmas Wedding: from the best selling author of A Perfect Cornish Christmas comes one of the most feel-good winter romance books of 2020 Page 29