CHAPTER FOUR
My heart leapt with joy at the sight of Caleb as it always did, although my natural instinct was still to play it just a little cool as I walked over.
‘What are you doing here?’ I smiled up at him. ‘I’ve just finished my shift so your timing is spookily brilliant.’
He grinned. ‘Ah, well, it’s that telepathy between us. I always know where you are. I can feel it in here.’ He tapped his heart twice with his fist.
I chuckled. ‘Like an internal satnav, you mean?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Actually, that sounds a bit creepy.’
‘It does, doesn’t it?’
‘I don’t really want you to track me when I’m heading to the fridge for my third slice of cheesecake of an evening.’
He laughed. ‘I hope you saved some for me.’
‘It’s cherry. Your favourite. Of course I did.’
He put his arms around me and our lips met as he drew me into the warmth of his body. His lips were soft but his kisses were urgent, and as my head spun with desire, I reflected dreamily that no one – not even me – could mistake Caleb’s embrace for anything else but true passion.
At moments like this, as we drew apart and smiled into one another’s eyes, all my doubts about whether our relationship would last seemed to vanish into the ether. Caleb wanted me as much as I wanted him. What better feeling was there in the world? I wanted to stay wrapped in his arms forever.
As we snuggled together and gazed up into the glowing branches of the village tree, Maddy came by and shouted, ‘Get a room, you two!’
Laughing, I turned, just as Caleb’s mobile started ringing.
He looked at it and frowned, then he turned away and began speaking urgently into the phone.
I huddled more firmly into my winter coat, already missing the warmth of his arms around me.
It sounded like business – probably his new assistant, Amanda, with a message.
Caleb made his living building communities of stylish eco houses, but being the boss came with daily problems to sort out.
‘We’re off to Salzburg tomorrow for the Christmas markets,’ Maddy was reminding me, ‘so I won’t be here for your birthday. Got time for a drink at the Swan in half an hour?’
I smiled at her. ‘That would be lovely.’
‘Good. I’ve got your gift but I need to wrap it.’
‘I’m so envious of your trip to Austria. You’re heading for a snowy winter wonderland and I want lots of pics, please.’
She grinned. ‘Jack’s never been to a Christmas market. I have a feeling he’s terrified.’
‘Terrified? What of?’
‘The effect on his bank balance.’
I laughed and glanced at Caleb. He’d ended his call, although he was still looking a little preoccupied. ‘Maddy’s saying Jack’s worried about her spending too much at the Christmas market.’
He smiled at Maddy as he pocketed the phone and slipped his arm around me again. ‘You’ll be needing a spare suitcase for all the snow globes you’ll be bringing home.’
‘That’s a distinct possibility.’ Maddy grinned. ‘See you in half an hour in the Swan, Katja?’
I nodded happily and we waved her off. Then I glanced back at the glowing lights of the café, not wanting to let Caleb go. ‘Got time for a quick coffee?’
It had been so lovely, our evening babysitting for Penny, snuggled together on the sofa.
After the ‘cooling off’ period I’d instigated, in which we hardly saw each other, it had felt as if we were right back to the way we were at the start of our relationship.
We needed more nights like that and I was planning on taking Caleb out for a romantic dinner. My treat.
But he was glancing at his watch and hesitating.
‘Was that a problem at work?’ I asked. ‘On the phone?’
‘What?’ He looked quizzical. ‘Oh, yes. Yes, it was work. And in fact, I really need to dash just now. I’m needed in Guildford for a meeting.
All very last-minute, but it’s important I be there.
’ He glanced at his watch, the frown line between his eyes a deep groove.
‘If I leave now, I should just about make it in time.’
‘Right.’ I nodded. ‘How about dinner later, when you get back?’
He grimaced. ‘It’s going to be a long meeting. Sorry.’
‘That’s fine. We can do dinner some other night.’
‘Absolutely.’ He gave me a wistful look and kissed me firmly on the mouth. Then he was striding away across the green, calling back, ‘Text me and let me know when you’re free?’
‘I will. ’Bye!’
*****
Feeling at a bit of a loose end, I wandered back to the café.
There was no point walking back to the flat. I’d just have to leave again almost immediately to meet Maddy. So I’d grab a coffee on my own to fill in the time until I was due at the Swan Hotel bar.
There were only a few customers left in the café, and Ellie was wiping tables and getting ready to close up when I entered.
‘Back so soon?’ She looked surprised to see me.
I explained the situation and she abandoned her cloth and brought two coffees over. We sat at a table in the window, and we talked about Maddy and Jack’s trip to Salzburg.
‘I do so love a Christmas market,’ said Ellie, a wistful look on her face. ‘But when do I ever have the time?’
‘There are Christmas markets in this country. You don’t have to go abroad,’ I pointed out.
‘That’s true. But still . . .’ She frowned. ‘Unless . . .’
I smiled. ‘Unless what?’
‘We could have one here. At the glamping site. We’ve got plenty of room.’
I nodded. ‘You’ve got all that green space at the far end of the field.’
‘It could be great, couldn’t it?’ Her eyes were sparkling at the very thought. Like me, Ellie adored the festive season.
‘It could. But won’t you have enough to do, what with baby Isla and the café and getting ready for Christmas?’
She laughed. ‘What is it they say? If you want something done, ask a busy person? You know me, I need to have a project on the go and a Christmas market here would be just perfect! And it’s not as if we’d be starting from scratch – the Winter Wonderland the Christmas before last was a great success and we did lots of the preparatory work then, so it’ll be easier this time around.
There’ll be plenty of local craftspeople willing to take a stall and sell their wares again, I’m sure – maybe one weekend in mid-December?
’ She sighed dreamily. ‘I can just picture it. Stalls festooned with fairy lights selling mulled wine and mince pies, with festive songs playing and everyone milling around buying their last-minute Christmas gifts. It could be wonderful. I could even have a stall myself.’
‘What would you sell? Christmas cakes and mince pies?’
She gave me a mysterious smile. ‘And other things.’
‘Well, if you need some help organising it, we’ll all pitch in. Well, I definitely will and I’m pretty sure Maddy and Fen and Jaz would want to be part of it as well.’
At that moment, the door opened and Maisie came in, her cheeks glowing from the freezing air outside. She was carrying her baby sister, Isla, tucked up warmly in her car seat.
‘Dad dropped us off here because he wants to go to the library,’ she announced breathlessly, and we pushed our cups aside so she could place the baby seat on the table.
I smiled at Isla, who was still sleeping peacefully, and Ellie stood up to fuss over her baby daughter, tucking the soft, sunshine yellow blanket more firmly around her.
She glanced at me with a wry smile. ‘Zak’s been looking after Isla all day. I expect he wants to get some writing done in peace before dinner.’
Maisie nodded. ‘Dad’s got a nasty deadline. He says his editor is going to actually murder him if he doesn’t deliver his book on time.’
‘Oh, dear.’ Ellie chuckled. ‘We can’t have that, can we? Murdered before his new book hits the shelves!’
Maisie shook her head. ‘Definitely not. Dad has to help you put up the tree because you can’t reach the top branches.’
‘Well, exactly!’ Ellie caught my eye and we started to laugh. ‘Zak’s editor is lovely but she can be quite fierce when she needs to be. I don’t blame him for panicking. I wouldn’t want to be on the other end of her stern disapproval.’
‘How about I keep Maisie and little Isla company while you finish up here?’ I suggested.
‘Great.’ Ellie got to her feet.
‘I’m meeting Maddy at five, so we can all leave together.’
‘Can I have a hot chocolate, please, Mum?’ asked Maisie with a winsome smile.
‘Okay. It’s still quite a while until dinner.’
‘I’ll get it for her,’ I volunteered.
Back at the table, Maisie smiled gleefully at the extra marshmallows I’d added to her hot chocolate. ‘Thank you, Katja.’ She started eagerly spooning up the whipped cream and chocolate flakes.
‘You’re very welcome.’ I grinned at her enthusiasm. She already had a splodge of chocolate on her upper lip. ‘So, what’s new at school? Are you taking part in the Christmas show?’
She took a sip of her drink, yelping and waving her hand in front of her mouth when it was too hot. ‘I’m going to be in it,’ she said. ‘Just in the chorus, though.’
‘The chorus is very important.’
‘Actually, the show might not even happen.’
‘Oh, I heard about this. The boy who was playing Shrek had to be rushed to hospital to have his appendix out?’
She nodded solemnly. ‘It exploded and there was blood everywhere.’
I stared at her in horror.
‘I didn’t actually see it happen,’ she said hurriedly, ‘but the people who were there said it was awful.’
‘Right.’ I adjusted the horrific, blood-soaked image I’d had in my head. Twelve-year-olds did tend to exaggerate for dramatic effect. ‘So is the poor boy all right now?’
‘Ryan? Oh, yes, although he won’t be back at school in time to play the lead part in the show.’
‘So is someone else going to play the part of Shrek?’
She nodded. ‘Mrs Hunter, the music teacher, is doing auditions.’ She frowned. ‘This horrible boy in my class called Lewis Hatcher will probably get the part. He can’t sing very well but he’s a proper show-off and quite good at acting and he makes Mrs Hunter laugh. So he’ll probably be a shoo-in.’
‘A shoo-in, eh?’ I hid a smile. ‘Well, that doesn’t seem very fair to me. It should be people with good voices that get the parts. Not show-offs like Lewis Thatcher.’
‘Hatcher,’ she corrected me. ‘Yes, I know.’ She gave a theatrical sigh. ‘But when was life ever fair?’
‘That’s a good point.’ I smiled. ‘I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Lewis Hatcher doesn’t get the part.’
She giggled. ‘Or that he gets really bad tonsilitis and loses his voice.’
‘I know someone who goes to your school. A boy called Will Armstrong?’
‘Oh, Will? Yes, he’s in my class. I sit next to him in English.
He’s nice. I like him. He doesn’t show off like some of the other boys and he’s very brainy.
He helped me finish my story for creative writing class.
It was homework and I was stuck, but Will thought of a brilliant ending.
’ She gave a mischievous smile. ‘But don’t tell Mum I cheated. ’
‘I won’t.’
‘It was just that one time,’ she added, looking worried.
I smiled at her. ‘It’s okay, Maisie. Your secret is safe with me.’
Ellie came over at that moment and I quickly mimed zipping my mouth shut.
‘What’s going on here?’ chuckled Ellie. ‘What have you two been plotting in my absence.’
‘Nothing,’ said Maisie with a mischievous glance in my direction.
Ellie shook her head with a fond smile. ‘We’d better go, Katja, or you’ll be late for Maddy.’
‘What about the last few tables? Can I help you clear them before we go?’
She dismissed this with a wave of her hand.
‘It’s fine. I’ll come in ten minutes early in the morning.
’ She bent to Isla and kissed the sleeping baby’s soft cheek.
‘Okay, my love. Let’s go home. Ready, Maisie?
’ Looking at her stepdaughter, she laughed and pointed at her empty cup.
‘I take it you enjoyed that? You’ve got a definite chocolate moustache going on there.
’ Whipping out a clean paper hanky, she handed it over and Maisie wiped her face vigorously.
I carried Isla out to Ellie’s car and she fixed the seat securely in place in a few swift moves. Then she was hurrying around to the driver’s side and telling me to wish Maddy bon voyage when I saw her.
I watched her drive away, bombing along the lane in the trusty little blue car she’d had for years, and I wondered where on earth she found the energy.
It was so good to see Ellie all bright and breezy again.
She’d had a terrible time with postnatal depression, but thankfully she seemed to be over it now and back to her usual bouncy self . . .