Christmas Promises at the Garland Street Markets: A feel good Christmas romance (New York Ever After, Book 5)

by Helen J Rolfe

  When the house was quiet Cleo wished she could put her feet up, have a tea or a coffee, or even go back to bed for an hour. But not today. Kaisha was in the city minding the stall and she’d join her later, so first up was a stint at the Inglenook Falls markets ensuring they had plenty of stock at the ready, and then she needed to order in supplies for the Little Knitting Box, restock some of the shelves in there, and make sure her seasonal employee Brianna was set for the day. Even with the extra staff she’d taken on this year, the season and the markets were big moneymakers and they’d have plenty for their wedding and a nice honeymoon too. It was part of the reason she’d opted to be so crazy busy, not wanting them to miss out on getting away somewhere, just the two of them. And if Prue dug her heels in and was difficult about having Jacob and Ruby while they were away, her dad had told her on the phone last night when she mentioned the wedding in a year’s time that he would be happy to fulfil his grandparenting duties during their visit. It was a lot though, four kids at once, and she’d rather not do it to him unless she had to.

  Cleo started at the Inglenook Falls markets and helped local Trish set up. Trish had been in the store one day and volunteered her services on a casual basis as and when Cleo needed her and Cleo had snapped her up. Her kids were older, she didn’t have to disappear for the school run, and she knew her stuff when it came to knitting. They unpacked stock from the boxes they’d hauled over from the store, uncovered existing stock from yesterday that they had put a dust sheet over at night before locking up the little hut, and Cleo left confident Trish had everything in hand.

  Over at the Little Knitting Box next, Cleo opened up for Brianna and between them they had the shelves tidied, yarn supplies replenished, and Cleo disappeared up to the apartment above so she could log on to the computer and pay invoices as well as reordering. She went onto her Facebook account and responded to a couple of messages and was about to log off when something in her news feed caught her eye. It was Prue and Ruby, photographed at today’s bake sale already. Prue must’ve had someone else take the picture and Cleo tried her best not to let it bother her. They were mother and daughter, their bond was strong and she respected that. What she didn’t approve of, and she knew Dylan shared the sentiment, was Prue stirring up trouble behind their backs.

  Ruby had on a new coat, something that instantly niggled Cleo because she’d already been told to make do with the one she had for this season. It fitted her, it was warm, and they weren’t going to buy another just because she fancied a change. Prue must’ve had other ideas and Ruby wouldn’t have had to say much for Prue to leap in and buy her the heavy red wool coat she’d been admiring in an online catalogue last month, thus making her the good guy and Cleo the baddie. Prue’s behaviour, never mind Ruby’s, rankled Cleo. Dylan was a good dad, he never poisoned his kids’ minds against his ex-wife even when she blatantly did something untoward like messing him around with times when she could have them or not turning up when she should. She’d done it a couple of months ago and Dylan had had to calm a tearful Ruby when instead of having her daughter for a sleepover, Prue attended a glam party in the city. But even then he hadn’t said he agreed that it was a terrible thing to do; he’d comforted Ruby and said he was sure her mum wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t really important. Now the kids were getting older, maybe it was time to be a little more honest about Prue and not keep covering for her when she let Ruby and Jacob down.

  Cleo looked at the photograph, at Ruby’s smiling face. She looked happy enough. Their talk tonight might help to iron out a few issues – who knew, maybe Ruby would get enthusiastic about the wedding and even want to be more involved.

  With the Inglenook Falls markets done, the store dealt with and the ordering complete, it was into the city for Cleo. Amelia was going to start helping out tomorrow, so today it was all systems go the second she arrived. Mitch had taken boxes of stock there for her – they still had plenty locked in the chalet overnight from yesterday so it was only a small replenishment – and Kaisha said the morning had been steady. The afternoon was a mad rush from noon until sundown and Kaisha had stayed on to help, but both of them buzzed at the excitement of it all.

  When she finally put the key in the lock to their home that evening, Cleo was exhausted. But at least there was laughter and chatter coming from the kitchen – that had to be a good sign.

  ‘Hello,’ she called out as she hung up her coat next to Ruby’s brand-new red one and made her way in to join her family.

  ‘You’re home,’ Dylan smiled when he saw her come in. He had the extractor fan going above the cooker while he made bolognese, Ruby and Jacob’s favourite, and Jacob clutched a big bunch of dried spaghetti trying to assess how much was enough.

  ‘Twice that amount will be good,’ Cleo told him and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. ‘How was school?’

  ‘Good, I got to eat cake from the bake sale.’

  ‘How many did you have?’

  ‘Two,’ he said with confidence.

  Cleo picked up Tabitha, who had come charging through from the playroom when she heard her mummy’s voice, and cuddled her tiny form against her. Her cheeks were rosy but cold; she’d likely been leaning on the window as she played with her doll’s house again. Emily had a rusk and was strapped in the high chair, happy enough. She’d always been placid, didn’t demand to be picked up unless she was upset or not feeling well. Cleo guessed it was the chaos in a family with four kids that gave her a natural assumption she’d have to be patient.

  ‘And how many did you eat, Ruby?’ Cleo walked over to the table where Ruby was drawing a picture of the bake sale to go with the written account she’d already done beneath.

  ‘Two,’ she admitted, changing her coloured pen from red to brown.

  ‘What flavour did you go for?’

  ‘Chocolate.’

  ‘One of ours?’

  ‘No, it was a reindeer, Tyler’s mum made them.’

  Tyler’s mum had one child, didn’t work, and a husband whose only worry should be the gardener who spent an awful lot of time round their house supposedly working on land that was no bigger than a postage stamp.

  ‘You weren’t too embarrassed supplying non-Christmas-themed cupcakes?’ she asked. ‘I’m sorry again, Ruby.’

  Ruby shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter.’

  It was then that Cleo spotted the Tupperware container next to Ruby’s school bag and it was still full. ‘Did you even take them in and give them to your teacher?’

  ‘I was going to talk to you about that.’ Dylan appeared at her side with a spoon that he thrust towards Cleo’s mouth so she could taste the bolognese. He was trying to win her over and stop a fight, she suspected, and what better way to do it than this? He was good in the kitchen and he generally took over the lion’s share of deciding what to have for dinner as well as preparing and cooking it.

  ‘Talk to me about what? Did you leave them in the car?’ She looked at Ruby again but she was determined to keep colouring and fixed her eyes to the page.

  ‘She left them in the car,’ Dylan confirmed.

  Cleo shifted Tabitha to her other hip. ‘Then it must’ve been worse because you would’ve been the only person not to bring any, surely.’

  ‘Mom made some,’ Ruby blurted out, and when Dylan looked the other way Cleo knew Prue had scored another win at making her look like the baddie.

  Cleo set Tabitha down when she began to wiggle and let her toddle off towards the playroom again. She joined Dylan by the stove, where he was holding one end of the handful of spaghetti in the boiling water and waiting for it to soften so he could fold the rest in. ‘Since when did Prue bake?’

  ‘I doubt she did, the cakes looked shop-bought to me.’

  ‘But they were Christmas-themed. Prue wins again.’ She took out a glass from the cupboard and poured a generous measure of red wine.

  Dylan turned the heat down now the pasta was cooking, set the button to go on the timer and gently coaxed her out into the
hall, and out of earshot. ‘It’s not about winning or losing.’

  ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘No, of course not. Prue is her mom, I can’t change that. But Ruby loves you. She’s being difficult right now but we’ll get through this.’

  ‘She never mentioned the cupcakes had to be Christmas-themed, you know.’

  ‘I didn’t hear her say it either, but thank you for not arguing the point. Prue would’ve done.’

  They went back through to the kitchen and Cleo entertained Emily with a game of peekaboo from behind the table, making her giggle with glee. Even Ruby seemed amused by her youngest sister and cracked a bit of a smile, something of a rarity in Cleo’s presence these days.

  When they were eating dinner Cleo asked, ‘What were the cupcakes that your mum brought like?’ Might as well pretend it didn’t bother her.

  Jacob was first to describe them when Ruby looked less than enthused and Cleo went along with it as she heard all about the cupcakes with their peppermint frosting topped with red, green and white sprinkles. ‘Well, I guess neither of you will want one of our cupcakes for dessert, seeing as you’ve had two each anyway.’

  Jacob’s face fell. ‘What if I eat all my dinner?’

  She sucked the air in through her teeth. ‘I suppose I might consider it if you don’t leave anything on your plate – that includes not picking out pieces of mushroom.’

  He weighed up whether it would be worth it or not and then re-added a few tiny pieces of the mushroom he’d already scraped to the side of his plate.

  ‘Ruby, that goes for you too.’ Dylan nodded towards the pieces of mushroom his daughter had picked out. Whenever Cleo chopped the ingredients for their favourite meal she always remembered to chop the much-hated vegetable so small the kids would never be able to find it, but Dylan frequently forgot.

  ‘I don’t want one.’

  ‘Fine,’ said Cleo a little too harshly, earning her a look from Dylan. She ate the rest of her dinner in silence unless she was talking to Emily, who sat contentedly in her high chair and didn’t need any persuasion although some of the dinner inevitably ended up in her hair every time, with tonight being no exception.

  Cleo was tired, she didn’t have time for melodramatics, it had been a long day, and the second Tabitha and Emily were finished she took Emily upstairs for her bath. Getting out of the way with the two easier girls and a glass of wine was a godsend until Ruby came and knocked on the door.

  ‘Daddy sent me up,’ she said sullenly.

  ‘Why?’

  Ruby looked at the floor. ‘I’m sorry I was rude.’

  ‘I do my best, Ruby.’ She looked away from her and squeezed the rubber duck in the bath so that it gently squirted water against Emily’s chest, making her grin and squeal in delight. She could sense Ruby was still there but she didn’t know what else to say. She was fed up being the enemy, too tired to justify herself.

  Ruby knelt down beside her and began talking to her little sister. She even picked up the multicoloured plastic umbrella that had raindrop-shaped holes in it to let the water pour out and moved it over Emily’s head. Cleo couldn’t help but join in with the laughter as Emily gasped in shock at the water in her face before she clapped her hands together at her entertaining half-sister.

  ‘You’ve got a new coat I see,’ said Cleo.

  ‘Mom says she got it on sale. She bought one for Jacob too.’

  ‘Right.’ Prue sure liked to bend the truth. Cleo bet there was no sale at all.

  Emily soon started fussing and Cleo scooped her out and into her hooded bath towel that was laid on the floor.

  ‘Can I wrap her?’ Ruby, who’d been aloof when it came to paying her sisters attention in the last week or so, suddenly wanted to be a part of it all again. Cleo suspected the kid didn’t know which way to turn, whether to make Cleo the antagonist and, by association, the babies she’d brought into the world, or whether they could all turn out to be on the same side.

  Cleo let Ruby wrap Emily and instead of trying to talk to her about how she was feeling when it came to the bigger picture, her position in her life, they sang to Emily as Ruby helped put her diaper on and Cleo found an outfit for bed. Dylan had taken over with Tabitha’s bedtime routine and left them to it, which was probably the best way.

  ‘Thank you for helping, Ruby.’ They were sitting in the nursery with soft lullabies playing in the background to help settle Emily before they put her in her cot. Tabitha wouldn’t be too far behind, then Ruby and Jacob an hour later. They’d all mastered the routine by now. They had to. Their household would be chaos otherwise.

  Ruby let Emily toddle over to her and sit on her lap on the floor.

  ‘I wanted to talk to you, Ruby.’

  ‘About the cakes.’

  ‘Not really about the cakes. More about me and you.’

  Ruby had picked up one of Emily’s favourite books with a story about a cow and furry animals on each page to touch.

  Cleo took her silence as a green light to come out with it. ‘I thought we always got on very well. I thought you were happy for me to be a part of your lives – yours, your dad’s, Jacob’s.’

  Ruby shrugged. ‘I am.’

  ‘You don’t seem it.’

  ‘Mom says blended families never work because you’ll always treat me and Jacob differently.’

  Cleo tried not to let her temper rise. She’d been right to think Prue had played a part in Ruby’s altered mood. ‘Differently to Emily and Tabitha?’

  Ruby’s eyes were glistening with tears and she’d done a good job at hiding it as she played with Emily and the dolly she’d picked up.

  ‘Ruby, please look at me.’ Cleo scooped Emily onto her lap for a cuddle and then put the dolly in front of her. She waited for eye contact from Ruby before she continued. ‘The only thing that is different is that you already have a mum. But to me, you and Jacob are still my children. You might not call me mum, I may not have grown you in my tummy, but you are just as important to me as Tabitha and Emily.’ She could throttle Prue, and Dylan possibly would when she relayed this little gem of a conversation. ‘Is this why you’ve been a bit strange lately?’

  ‘I didn’t think you’d notice.’

  ‘Of course I notice. I notice all of our children. Remember the Halloween costumes I made this year?’ Ruby’s face said she had no idea where this was going. ‘I spent hours on yours and Jacob’s, then Emily’s and Tabitha’s I picked up from a second-hand store because I’d forgotten. It doesn’t mean I love Emily and Tabitha less than you guys. And then last week when I left Emily’s favourite blanket at my gramps’ house and made her cry, that wasn’t because I love her any less. And today when I bought the wrong cupcakes that weren’t Christmas-themed, it was because I’m trying to do a thousand things at once, it’s no reflection on the way I feel about you.’

  Sheepishly Ruby fiddled with the corner of the shaggy rug on the floor, the surface Emily loved to crawl through and squish her face against. ‘I never said they were supposed to be Christmas cupcakes.’

  ‘I know you didn’t,’ Cleo said softly, reaching out to tug at Ruby’s hand until Ruby came and sat next to her and Emily. ‘Tell you what, let’s get the girls to bed, your daddy can hang with Jacob, then how about you and I watch the end of the Santa Claus movie?’

  ‘But it’s a school night.’

  ‘I think we can make the exception just this once.’

  ‘Can we eat one of your cupcakes?’

  ‘Did you eat all of your dinner? I can’t treat you any differently to Jacob.’

  ‘I ate it all, ask Dad.’

  ‘No need.’ She lowered Emily into her cot and turned on the mobile above.

  When they were down in the lounge room with the movie playing and the empty paper cases from their cupcakes discarded, Cleo felt Ruby snuggle up next to her as she’d done plenty of times before, just not in the last couple of weeks since talk about finally getting moving with wedding organisation had started.

 
Cleo had never liked Prue all that much but she tolerated her, so did Dylan, because she’d always be in their lives. But if she was intent on causing trouble by feeding Ruby with false information then they’d have their work cut out for them. She only hoped tonight was a step in the right direction. She wanted to get married surrounded by family and friends who were happy for them, she didn’t want anyone thinking this was a terrible mistake.

  Chapter Six

  Nathan

  Nathan carefully sat himself down at the breakfast table in the dining room at the Inglenook Inn, and Scarlett didn’t miss a thing.

  ‘What’s going on with you? Why are you moving like an old man?’ She thanked Rupert for the pancakes she’d ordered for both of them while Nathan had finished up in the shower.

  ‘Nothing,’ he said.

  ‘Liar. Don’t tell me you’re still hurting from the ice-skating the other day.’

  ‘My body isn’t built for those sorts of activities. I used muscles I didn’t even know I had, but it’s the bruise on my arse that’s the problem.’

  ‘I’ll take your word for it, don’t do anything crazy like try to show me.’

  He tucked in to the double blueberry pancakes and a large glass of juice. ‘You were always covered in bruises when you were little. So many of my photos are ruined because of your legs.’

  She rolled her eyes and changed the subject by asking what the plan was for today.

  ‘Nothing that involves me balancing on two wafer-thin blades.’

  ‘That’s a shame. One of my aims is to skate in every rink in the city before we leave.’

  She almost had him fooled. ‘Very funny. I don’t mind being the photographer if you really want to do it.’

  ‘I’d like to go at least one more time, but not yet, my legs are a bit achy too.’

  ‘Ah, so youth didn’t win this time round.’