Chapter 7
To the crunch of crostini nibbles and with the glow of the summerhouse tealights, Cath looked around her supper club gang: five very different souls so warm and friendly around her.
Friendship lifted you like a buoy, and these guys had been there like a life raft when she’d been tossed up on the shores of Tilldale village all battered and bruised.
She was still wondering how the festive season might pan out here. Her first taste of a tinsel-dusted Tilldale. ‘So, what kind of things happen in the village on the run-up to Christmas then?’
Unusually her gang were rather quiet.
Nikki started with an ‘umm’ and Dan an ‘ah …’
‘Well, is there a village tree, decorations? Any carol singing?’ Cath quizzed.
Her mind had already created a festoon of sparkling lights along the main street.
And a huge fir tree adorned with baubles and coloured bulbs on the grassy triangle of the village green.
She’d seen enough romantic movies in her time to sink a boat with Christmas scenes of snow and sentiment.
That’s what English village life was all about, surely.
‘Craft fair for gifts? Christmas coffee morning?’ she continued.
‘Umm, no, not been a Christmas coffee morning in our time here,’ admitted Dan with a shake of his head.
‘Bruh, no craft fair either, though that’s such a sweet idea,’ said Lily.
‘Nothing like that goes on really. And we don’t have a village Christmas tree. Not a public one, anyhow,’ admitted Will.
‘You don’t?’ Cath was surprised.
‘Nope, never have,’ said Nikki.
‘I did try to warn you the other day.’ Andreas pulled a grimace. ‘We always put on a good show at the shop, but I seem to be the only sparkling soul who lives for Christmas here.’
‘Well, are there any decorations? Like village ones, I mean? I know the shop window will be looking festive and lovely, but I thought that’d just be the start of it.
’ Cath was curious and a little taken aback.
Leeds centre was covered in sparkly lights.
It had always given her a lift seeing the festive displays.
Had she moved into the quietest place for Christmas, ever?
There were sleepy villages, of course, but this sounded positively dormant.
‘Oh, the pub, yeah, they put some decs out,’ added Nikki.
‘Good Lord, yes, the gaudy plastic Santa and his sleigh.’ Dan grimaced. ‘Along with the half-bald furry reindeers who look like they’ve come from the 1970s.’
‘They actually have.’ Will laughed. ‘I remember seeing them when I was a kid.’
‘Well, at least there’s something jolly here. Thank goodness for that.’ She’d been picturing the village in darkness in December, with no sparkly lights at all. Her cottage and the shop being the only ones lit up like twinkly beacons.
‘It’s just, people seem to do their own thing around here at Christmas time. We do get in the festive spirit. But there’s not a particular village event,’ Nikki explained further.
‘It’s a bit boring, is what she’s trying to say,’ added Lily.
‘Well, our house is never that!’
‘Yeah, everyone seems to decorate their own home, and do their own thing really,’ agreed Dan.
Well, that insight into village life left Cath feeling even flatter than before. She hoped to goodness Adam was going to be wending his way back to her for the festivities.
*
Over warming bowls of beef stew and gravy, served with chunks of crusty homemade bread, the conversation moved on. Unfortunately, rather too close for comfort for Cath and Will.
‘Anyway, how’s life going for you two lovebirds?’ Dan asked teasingly. ‘Did we set the romantic ball rolling at the last supper club, or not?’
Nikki gave a knowing smile, having already quizzed Cath earlier. She was happy to let the lads lead this one.
Cath felt herself blush, and though she knew it was merely Dan’s friendly banter, she couldn’t help but fidget in her seat.
She felt protective of these recent meet-ups between her and Will.
And though it all felt new and vulnerable, there was also the fact that the ‘romantic ball’ had been set rolling thirty-six years ago. ‘Ah, we’re doing fine …’ she started.
Were the two of them ready to share that snippet of information yet? She was still trying to get her head around it herself. But these were their close friends, and after all they wouldn’t have taken these first tentative steps without them. Cath felt they had their best interests at heart.
‘Well,’ Will began, as though he’d been mulling this over too, ‘there’s a little more to our story than you may have realised …’ He gave Cath a look, as if checking he had her approval to continue. She responded with an affirming nod, along with a shy smile.
Well then, here goes, she thought. The truth will out.
Will held Cath’s gaze warmly with his toffee-hazel eyes as he began, ‘The thing is Cath and I have met before—’
‘Oh, he’s not harking back to that car park prang again, is he?’ Nikki heckled with affection.
Cath and Will’s first meeting had literally been a clash of bumpers in the local supermarket’s car park earlier in the year. Will hadn’t been best pleased at the time.
‘Nope. We go back way longer than that,’ Cath interjected, feeling a tad nervous that their secret was about to be revealed.
All ears were now pricked in the supper shed.
Will resumed, ‘Cath or Cathy, as I knew her back then, and I were actually childhood sweethearts back in the late Eighties.’
All eyes had now widened.
Cath was nodding, unable to stop the smile that was spreading over her lips. ‘And this is my Matty. We fell for each other when I was staying here on a caravan holiday at Belford with my mum, dad and sister. I was sixteen.’
‘Wow,’ from Lily. ‘That’s a-mazing.’
‘But Matty? How’s that?’ Dan’s forehead was scrunched, trying to work it out.
‘It was a holiday romance. And I was the lad from Belford. Back in the day, known to my mates as Matty … William Matthewson,’ Will explained.
‘But we hadn’t realised, not until a few weeks ago, that is,’ Cath took up.
‘Ah, that’s such a coincidence! You coming here, meeting again.’ Andreas was pondering it all.
‘The years had rolled on,’ Will added, ‘and of course, we didn’t recognise each other when we met again, not at first, but there was something there. And then, when Cath’s sister turned up the other week, and with talk of holidays in Belford, it all began to add up.’
‘Hah, I thought there was something between you. But wow, that’s incredible.’ Matchmaker Nikki, who’d thought she knew it all, was stunned by this new revelation.
‘That’s cool. And so romantic – it’s like something from a movie,’ said Lily.
‘Bloody hell, guys. We thought there was a spark—’ Dan shared a look of surprise with Andreas ‘—but we’d never have guessed that.’
‘First loves, hey.’ Nikki grinned, now the news was sinking in.
‘Well, that was all very much a long time ago.’ Will was keen to put things back into perspective. ‘And we’ve both been through a hell of a lot since, so it’s early days yet. No one’s rushing into anything here.’
And although he and Cath had already discussed this, agreeing to take things slowly, Will’s tone sounded cool and somewhat dismissive, in contrast to that playful crumble kiss in the kitchen earlier, leaving Cath feeling confused and a little disappointed.
The evening air was cooling, along, apparently, with Will’s desire for anything more meaningful for their fledgling relationship. Cath hugged her fleece blanket tighter around her.
Was she wanting more from this, a deeper relationship? Already her heart was saying one thing, while her head was agreeing with Will about taking things slowly.
She gave herself a mental shake. Was some daft part of her still clinging on for a ‘happily ever after’? A new rush of romance? After Trevor, she should bloody well know better.