Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
H olly was on a tour of inspection in the kitchen, opening and closing fridge, freezer and larder doors. It was a good thing the snow was melting, really, otherwise people wouldn’t be able to get here for the Christmas Eve party, nor Nan and everyone else on Christmas Day, and then all this food – enough to feed the whole village for a week – would go to waste. Well, not all of it. Holly pinched a squidgy, dark-chocolate brownie from the plastic box in the larder and bit into it.
Through the window, she saw a robin perched on the wall. It cocked its head prettily to one side, then vanished with a flash of red into the tangle of the hedge. Looking at the garden, Holly was reminded of Clayton. The way he’d smiled at her mum the other day, all sort of secretively, like it was just the two of them and there was nobody else around, had got her thinking. She never normally liked to dwell too much on the topic of her mother’s love life – well, you didn’t, did you? – but it was glaringly obvious she liked Clayton, and not just for his gardening skills. And he definitely liked her. She was an attractive woman, still, of course. Why wouldn’t he like her? Any decent bloke over a certain age would. And now Mum had dumped Spencer, who knew what might happen?
Holly finished her brownie and wiped her fingers on the tea-towel. That was a bit of a mystery, the split with Spencer. Her mum had said would Holly mind if she didn’t tell her exactly what happened just yet because it was all a bit much, so it must have been over something quite serious, especially with it happening so close to Christmas. Holly couldn’t say she was sorry, though.
Her thoughts turned to Lorcan. Now that she was seeing him every day at uni, she had the sneaking feeling that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t quite as much in love with him as she’d thought. It was too soon to tell, properly, though. Besides, she did love him enough to miss him like mad. They’d talked on the phone last night. Daft talk, lovey stuff, stuff that Holly couldn’t have imagined herself saying in a million years, until she’d met Lorcan. But when he’d said he wished Christmas would get on and be over so they could be back at uni, Holly had thought, no , that’s wrong . Christmas, with all its glitz and tackiness, was wonderful, and no matter how childish that was, she’d always think so, the same as her mum did, and Dad had too, although he’d never admitted it.
Come to think of it, where was Mum? Oh yes. Holly had passed her on the stairs earlier, going up to the turret. The turret was her mum’s thinking place. Most likely she was up there now, thinking about rotten old Spencer. Holly hoped she wasn’t brooding too much. If she didn’t come down soon, she’d go up and see if she was all right.
Her mobile beeped and vibrated. She took it out of the pocket of her hoodie.
‘Oh, hi, Saul!’
‘Hi, Holly. Look, now the snow’s clearing, how d’you fancy meeting me in the village? We could… oh, I don’t know, walk a bit, grab a bit of lunch in the Goose?’
‘I thought you were at Clayton’s house, selling Christmas trees?’
‘Nope. We’re nearly sold out and Clay said he can manage on his own, so I’ve got the day off.’
Holly thought for a moment. Really she should hang on here, make sure her mum was cool and everything, and not moping too much about Spencer. But in truth, she’d like to be out of doors, and she needed to check out the village to see if anything had changed since she was last home.
‘Okay.’
They went to the Ginger Cat for lunch, Holly’s choice. Saul would have preferred a private corner in the Goose and Feather or one of the other pubs, but as long as Holly was happy, that was all that mattered.
Before lunch, they’d walked all the way up the high street, looking at the Christmas displays in the shop windows, then crossed over and walked all the way back down the other side. Holly said she’d missed Charnley Acre when she was in Birmingham, and that she must’ve turned into a real country bumpkin. The prettiest bumpkin he’d ever seen , Saul had thought. But of course, he hadn’t said it. He’d walked kind of close to her, so that it would be easy to catch her hand, but when he’d reached for it, she’d quickly put her hands in her pockets. He tried not to read anything bad into that, but it wasn’t easy.
There was a live act on in the Goose tonight. A couple of guys with guitars. A bit folkish, but if you could get past that, they weren’t at all bad. Saul planned to go but when he’d mentioned it to Holly earlier she said she’d promised to spend the evening at home with her mother, which sounded like an excuse to him. But then, she’d cheered him up no end by inviting him to the Christmas Eve party at her house. Actually, Laura had already invited him, but he accepted this second invitation like it was the first.
The soup bowls were empty and the bread eaten before Saul found the right moment to say what had been on his mind the whole time.
‘After Christmas, I thought we could go into Brighton one night, have dinner, or see a film, if there’s anything on you fancy?’
‘Like, go on a proper date?’
‘Yep, a date. I’d really like to take you out, Holly.’
The warm smile she gave him spoke of success. Then she leaned into the table, and her eyes had a serious look about them.
‘Saul, I’m sorry but I can’t go out with you, not like that. We can see each other around, like before, but I’m going out with somebody at uni and it wouldn’t be right. Even if I wasn’t seeing anyone… the distance, you know? It just wouldn’t work.’
He didn’t know why he was surprised. Except that night, in October… But hey, it was just a snog. Happened all the time, didn’t it? Yep. Get over it, Fielding .
He nodded. He tried to smile but for some reason his face wasn’t co-operating.
‘Gotcha. No worries. It was just an idea, a spur-of-the-moment thing.’
She didn’t believe that any more than he did, he could tell. There was a brief, slightly awkward silence, during which Saul realised he wasn’t quite as devastated as he might be that Holly had knocked him back. A bit miserable, and hacked off, but not devastated. Odd, this love stuff, wasn’t it? Had you fooled, if you didn’t watch out.
Holly looked up brightly at him, as if she’d just remembered something.
‘D’you think Clayton likes my mum? You know, likes her?’ She pulled a face, as if she was talking about something distasteful.
Saul laughed. ‘I’m damn sure he does. I reckon she’s not exactly averse to him, either.’
‘That’s what I thought. She’s finished with Spencer Jennings, you know.’
‘Has she? Blimey, that was a bit sudden, wasn’t it?’
‘Yep.’ Holly grinned.
‘Interesting.’
‘It could be.’
‘Watch this space, then,’ Saul said.
They left the Ginger Cat shortly afterwards. He walked with Holly to the bottom of Charnley Hill. He would have walked with her all the way to her house but it didn’t seem the thing to do, under the circumstances. Saying goodbye felt a bit tricky, but they had a bit of a hug, mouths brushing against cheeks, and it was fine.
Instead of going straight home, Saul walked back to the village and ducked into the Goose. George was in the back room with another couple of mates, playing pool. Saul got himself a pint to drown his sorrows and joined in the game.