A Merry Little Christmas (Little Duck Pond Cafe #43)

CHAPTER ONE

‘Katja, come and look. It’s snowing!’

At the sound of twelve-year-old Will’s call, I gave the pasta a stir, turned down the heat on the hob and hurried through to the sitting room.

Will was standing with his Uncle Caleb by the window looking out, and I paused for just a second in the doorway, thinking how alike they looked with the glow from the Christmas tree picking out the chestnut strands in their wavy, dark brown hair.

Caleb turned and gave me that smile of his – the one that always made my heart flip with happiness. He beckoned me over. ‘It’s just started. The snow. If it carries on like this, we could be making snowmen tomorrow.’

I joined them at the window. ‘It’s magical,’ I murmured, as I gazed out at the snowflakes swirling around on the night breeze. Caleb and I exchanged a smile as he slipped his arm around me.

‘School might be closed tomorrow.’ Will looked at us hopefully. ‘The last time it snowed a lot we all got the day off.’

‘I think it might have to snow heavily all night for that to happen, mate,’ said Caleb, laying his free hand on his nephew’s shoulder.

‘You never know. It just might,’ I added, snuggling my head into Caleb’s shoulder and thinking how wonderful it felt to be standing by the glowing fir tree with its aroma of Christmas – which Will had decorated with his mum, Caleb’s sister Penny – knowing that this year, I’d be celebrating the festive season with Caleb.

For a while, I’d worried that I was falling for Caleb too fast. I’d gone through a truly horrible split from my ex, Richard, earlier in the year, and it had seemed like a miracle when I’d met Caleb so soon after that.

He’d made me smile again and my feelings for him were growing all the time, but then I’d started to wonder if maybe the relationship was moving too quickly.

I didn’t want to jeopardise what we had by rushing in . . .

When I’d suggested this to Caleb, he’d been his typical understanding self, saying that we had all the time in the world and we could go at whatever pace I wanted.

But I’d seen the slight puzzlement in his eyes when I hadn’t invited him to Sylvia and Mick’s Hallowe’en wedding.

My reasoning was that I hadn’t yet introduced him to one of the most important people in my life – my Granny Olga.

She was one of Sylvia’s best friends so she would be at the wedding, and I wanted their eventual meeting to be special, not at somewhere like a wedding, with lots of people milling around . . .

Deep down, though, I’d known it was just an excuse.

The more I was falling for Caleb, the more I was starting to worry that he might break my heart, just like Richard had.

Not that he’d ever given me any reason to think he might.

But I’d been having these horrible nightmares where I was falling from the top of a skyscraper and everything was disintegrating around me.

The dreams left me exhausted during the day, and I’d begun to worry about what they meant.

Were they a sign that I was on another path to destruction?

I actually went as far as researching what was happening to me – the dreams were so vivid, like nothing I’d ever experienced – and I discovered that fear of losing control of your life was usually at the root of nightmares where you felt yourself in danger.

It all made sense. When Richard broke my heart, I’d felt as if I was indeed spiralling out of control. But surely, with Caleb in my life, I could start leaving the chaos behind?

I’d returned from the wedding determined to forget all notions of holding back in my new relationship. And now, a few weeks later, I couldn’t wait for us to celebrate our first Christmas together.

Tonight, we were looking after Will while his mum, Penny – separated from husband Tom since Will was six – had a rare night out with her friends.

I really liked Penny and I’d told her I’d happily babysit for her any time she needed me, whether or not Caleb was there.

‘What’s top of your list for Santa?’ Caleb was asking.

Will looked at him askance. ‘For Mum, you mean.’

I gasped. ‘You don’t believe in Santa anymore?’ I joked.

‘Not since I was about three,’ said Will, grinning. ‘I want a new games console.’

‘With some new car racing games, no doubt?’ I asked, knowing how mad Will was about cars of all shapes and sizes.

Penny had given him a notebook in the hope that he would start using it to record how he was feeling (she worried that his shyness kept him from making friends) but according to Caleb, the only thing Will was recording in that notebook were the makes of cars parked out in the street, which he could see from his bedroom window!

Caleb was of the opinion that Will’s shyness was just a part of him and nothing to worry about, and having been shy at school myself, I was inclined to agree.

‘Can we go out in the snow?’ begged Will. ‘It might be gone by tomorrow.’

Caleb looked at me and I shrugged and smiled.

‘Come on, then. Get your wellies on. Coming, Katja?’

‘How about I get the pasta ready? Ten minutes?’

‘Ten minutes,’ promised Caleb, and I forgot about the pasta for a moment as I ushered them out into the back garden, all muffled up in their winter gear, laughing as I watched them fooling around and attempting to make snowballs from the rather scanty layer on the ground.

Over pasta Bolognese, we talked about the ‘Jingle Bell Forest’ event being held nearby, which Will was going to with his mum.

It sounded gorgeous (and very romantic), the idea of getting well wrapped up and walking through a festive winter wonderland at night .

. . breathing in the fresh scent of the pine trees and everywhere glowing with sparkling fairy lights .

. . drinking mulled wine and hot chocolate and indulging in deliciously warm mince pies . . .

We also chatted about the pantomime – Shrek this year – which Will’s school was staging in the last week of term.

‘It sounds great,’ said Caleb. ‘I thought you might have changed your mind and decided to audition for a part.’

I smiled. ‘Caleb tells me you’ve got a great voice, Will.’

‘He has indeed.’

Will twisted his face and shook his head, clearly embarrassed.

Caleb grinned. ‘I’ve heard you singing in your room. You should do it, mate.’

He and Penny had been trying to encourage Will to become involved in the school show but his nephew had so far resisted their attempts, saying he wasn’t interested.

But I had a feeling it was shyness that was stopping him, and again, I totally understood.

No way would I have auditioned for a speaking part when I was Will’s age.

I would have been mortified and probably totally tongue-tied getting up on that stage.

I wouldn’t have minded singing in the chorus, where you were lost among a crowd.

But Will was even resisting doing that . . .

‘There might not be a show at all,’ he said with a shrug.

‘Really? Why?’ I asked.

‘Ryan in my history class was supposed to be playing the part of Shrek but he got ill at school and collapsed on the floor and the teacher Mr Harvey had to give him the kiss of life.’

‘What?’ Caleb looked alarmed. ‘When did this happen?’

‘Last week.’

‘What was wrong with him?’ I asked.

‘He had his appendix out in the hospital. It was an emergency operation.’

‘Is he all right now?’ asked Caleb.

‘I think so. But now Mrs Hunter – she’s the music teacher . . . she’s looking for someone else to play Shrek.’

‘Right.’ Caleb nodded thoughtfully. ‘I suppose Ryan will be out of action for quite a while.’

‘It was weird when he just fell on the floor. People were scared,’ said Will, frowning as he recalled what happened.

I guessed the incident must have scared Will as well . . . to be confronted by the fragility of life at such a young age . . .

‘It can be frightening when someone collapses in front of you,’ agreed Caleb. ‘I once had to help a man who’d been hit by a car and I remember feeling pretty helpless myself, to be honest.’

‘When was this?’ I asked, surprised. ‘You never told me.’

‘Oh, it was back in February, just before I met you.’ Caleb shrugged. ‘But as Will was saying, it can be quite scary, not knowing what to do when something like that happens right in front of you.’

I nodded. ‘Well, I’m just glad your classmate Ryan is okay.’

‘He’s definitely okay. His best mate went to see him in hospital and he said Ryan asked his parents if he could have one of his Christmas presents early because he was going to be really bored at home. So they said yes and he got it!’ Will paused for dramatic effect. ‘A new Xbox.’

Caleb and I chuckled. And Caleb said, ‘Well, that’s the silver lining right there.’

Will shrugged. ‘I don’t mind having to wait till Christmas Day.’

‘Maybe you don’t have to wait at all – for one gift, at least,’ said Caleb with a mysterious smile.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Will, an excited light in his eye.

‘Well . . . I bought you something for your stocking today. But I guess you could have it now.’ He rummaged in his back pack and produced a small plastic carrier bag. ‘Specially for my car-mad nephew,’ he smiled, handing the bag to Will. ‘Happy month-before-Christmas!’

Will reached in the bag and pulled out the contents.

‘A Bugatti Chiron racing car?’ He held up the diecast model and gazed at it, his eyes shining. ‘Thank you!’

Caleb smiled. ‘You like it? I thought the red with black trim looked good.’

Will nodded eagerly. ‘It’s the best car I’ve got now. My favourite one was my Ferrari Testarossa. But this one is even better. It’s totally mint!’

I grinned at Caleb. ‘I think it’s a hit.’

‘I just need to make a space for it on the special shelf in my bedroom,’ Will said, racing out of the room.

‘You just made one twelve-year-old boy very happy.’ I smiled up at Caleb.

‘I remember being exactly the same at his age. A complete car nut.’

Will came down five minutes later, saying he knew where he was going to put it – but he’d brought the model car with him, clearly not wanting to part with it just yet.

Later, after he’d gone up to bed still clutching his gift from Caleb, we snuggled together on the sofa watching a movie. (Die Hard was a good compromise, we decided, since Caleb wasn’t overly keen on the more schmaltzy festive films.)

‘I wouldn’t mind visiting the Jingle Bell Forest myself,’ I murmured during the adverts.

Caleb kissed my temple. ‘Can I come with you?’

‘I’m counting on it.’

‘Okay, it’s a date. How about the Saturday before Christmas?’

‘Perfect. But are you sure you’ll remember? You know how busy you always are with work.’

‘For you, I will remember.’ He grinned. ‘In fact, it’s going in my diary right now.’ He drew out his phone and did the deed. ‘There! Our visit to “Jingle Bell Forest” is now set in stone.’ He grinned and shook his head, as if to say, What on earth are you making me do, woman?

‘Brilliant. I can’t wait.’

Lounging there by Penny’s cosy log-burner – as gunshots rang out in the movie and I pretended to be scared so I could snuggle closer to Caleb – I experienced a moment of perfect happiness.

I was full of excited anticipation for what the days ahead would bring . . .