Chapter 25
Scarlett hummed along to the Christmas tune playing on the radio as she cleaned up the breakfast plates.
It was another early one. Both the young couple and the Buntins had left before seven again today, off to spend another day with family, the Smith family had also headed out early, though only just after eight, and the O’Sullivans had had their fill before going through to the sitting room to peruse a stack of local attraction leaflets from Laura’s twirly stand on the reception desk, to choose where to visit today.
It was a good day. And she still couldn’t quite believe what had happened last night: the illicit ice skating, the kiss. She felt good. It felt right between her and Rowan, easy, as though it were meant to be.
She scoffed as she shook pastry crumbs from a plate before putting it in the dishwasher. Was that even a thing? Meant to be? Well, if it was, then, yes, she and Rowan felt as though they were meant to be. As though it was fate, all of that. Why not?
As she closed the dishwasher door and turned it on, she picked up the cloth and headed towards the tables.
Wiping at a sticky patch where one of the O’Sullivan boys had spilt his apple juice, Scarlett suppressed the niggling doubt in the pit of her stomach, the persistent reminder that this wasn’t a sure thing.
Not yet. She still had a lot to discuss with Rowan; she still had to tell him about her relationship with Tyler.
But that could wait. Perhaps they could get to know each other a little more before she dropped that particular bombshell.
The better he knew her, the more likely he’d believe the truth and if he did that, he couldn’t possibly hold the sorry situation against her, could he?
It hadn’t been her fault. She’d been just as much a victim in the whole mess as Donna had.
With the last of the tables now clean, she straightened her back and looked outside.
The snow which had begun falling whilst she and Rowan had been ice skating had continued into the night and, although the skies were now clear, it still clung to the grass, hedges and the branches of the willow tree.
She spotted the tracks of a cat and the dainty footprints of a bird or two, but apart from those the garden was untouched, just waiting for the first person to explore.
Maybe she’d suggest to the O’Sullivans that they could go out and build a snowman or two.
Heading back to the kitchen area, Scarlett turned on the tap and began rinsing the cloth beneath the water just as an almighty crash sliced through the calming Christmas tunes. Throwing the cloth into the sink, she dried her hands on her skirt as she hurried through to the sitting room.
After pushing the door open, she stood there frozen taking in the scene in front of her.
The large Christmas tree she, Laura and Jackson had decorated which had been standing in the huge bay window was now lying on its side, the top branches lying across the coffee table, the angel face down in a puddle of coffee, the tree having knocked into the O’Sullivans’ coffee mugs which now lay on the rug beneath the coffee table amongst splatters of liquid.
She looked across to the O’Sullivans, who were standing stock-still by the fireplace, little Seb hiding his face in the folds of his mum’s jumper. ‘Are you all okay?’
‘Yes, yes, I think so. I’m so sorry. Seb and Finn were playing, and Seb somehow backed up into the tree.’ Crouching down next to her son, Zoe pulled Seb’s hands gently away from his face and spoke quietly. ‘What do you need to say to Scarlett?’
Little Seb spoke, his voice wavering. ‘Sorry, Scarlett.’
‘Don’t worry, these things happen. As long as no one was hurt then that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
’ Scarlett smiled at him. She remembered doing something similar in a shopping precinct, although she’d been fifteen, on her roller-skates and it had been a Christmas display of plastic polar bears and flimsy trees she’d sent flying across the floor rather than a Christmas tree.
‘Thank you for being so understanding. We’ll obviously reimburse you for any damage.’ Bill pulled his wallet from his pocket and opened it.
‘Yes, of course we will.’ Zoe knelt to the rug and began collecting up the mugs before looking across at her sons who were still standing sheepishly next to the fireplace. ‘Come on, you two. Come and help, please.’
Holding her hands out, palms forward, Scarlett shook her head. ‘No, don’t worry. There’s no need for you to pay me anything. Besides, it doesn’t look as though anything is broken anyway. I’ll clean up, you go and enjoy yourselves for the day.’
‘We can’t possibly leave all this for you to tidy.’ Zoe looked up at her from the rug, an empty mug in her hand.
‘Of course you can. I’ll belt out some Christmas songs while I sort it all out and I’ll be more than happy.
’ Picking her way across the floorboards, careful not to trip over any of the tinsel or stand on any runaway baubles, Scarlett held out her hand and took the mug before helping Zoe up.
‘Honestly, you’re here to enjoy yourselves.
Did you decide where to go and explore?’
‘Thanks.’ Once standing, Zoe brushed off the knees of her jeans. ‘We’re going to go to Stratford-upon-Avon.’
‘I want to go to The MAD Museum.’ Seb, clearly fully recovered from his bout of guilt over the mess created, stepped forward and held a leaflet up to Scarlett.
‘The MAD Museum. What’s that then? With a name like that it does sound fun, whatever it is.’ Taking the leaflet, Scarlett skimmed the front page.
‘From what we can gather it showcases mechanical and kinetic artworks. Apparently, it’s very hands-on and interactive so it should suit our boys. Hopefully.’ Bill grimaced.
‘Yes, and then we might take a wander across to have a look at Shakespeare’s birthplace. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit.’ Zoe smiled.
‘That sounds like a great day out.’ Scarlett grinned as she handed the leaflet back to Seb. ‘Make sure you wrap up warm, it looks cold out there.’
‘Talking of which, can you go and get the coats from our room, boys, while we help Scarlett here?’ Bill watched as Seb and Finn ran out of the room before stepping towards the tree.
‘It’s fine. Really it is. You just go and have fun and this lot will give me something to do.
’ However sweet it was of them to offer to help, she didn’t want their visit here to be consumed with tidying and cleaning.
They were here for a holiday. Walking towards the door, Scarlett held it open.
‘Why don’t you grab some pastries to take with you for the journey.
I can pop them in a Tupperware tub if you like? ’
Scarlett stood in the doorway to the sitting room with her hands on her hips as she took in the mess the little O’Sullivan boy had made.
How come it looked worse now than it had thirty minutes ago?
She realised the coffee splatters weren’t just on the rug but somehow on the sofas too, and the mantelpiece looked suspiciously empty so she assumed that beneath the mound of branches and fallen ornaments lay the photo frames and candlesticks that had once adorned it.
Where did she start? Gingerly, she walked across to the tree.
If she could stand this back up, then at least she’d be able to see what the damage was.
Bending, she wrapped her hands around the crown of the tree, wincing as the dry needles dug into her palm, and pulled.
As it lifted, she realised she wasn’t going to be able to stand it up properly on her own, it was too heavy.
She’d just have to wait until Nicola came in.
As though she’d read her mind, Scarlett heard the front door click open and Nicola’s cheerful voice calling out, ‘Morning.’
‘In here.’ Letting go of the Christmas tree, Scarlett watched as a cloud of needles sprung from its branches as it landed back into position with a thud.
‘Wow, what on earth happened here?’ Appearing in the sitting room doorway, Nicola dropped her bag to the floor.
‘Seb O’Sullivan. That’s what happened here.’ Turning, Scarlett looked down at the tree. Its branches sported huge bare patches, needles having cascaded across the floorboard, the rug and the sofas.
‘What’s happened to the branches?’ Stepping forward, Nicola bent and ran her hand across one, more needles falling into her palm.
Scarlett shrugged. ‘I guess they’ve come off because it’s fallen?’
Shaking her head, Nicola inspected the needles in her palm. ‘No, it’s dry.’
‘Ohhh,’ Scarlett groaned as it dawned on her that she hadn’t quite been covering everything on the list that Laura left her. ‘I’ve not been watering it.’
‘Ah, that’ll be why then.’ Nicola grimaced. ‘Sorry, I should have taken over and watered it when Laura and Jackson left for their holiday, it just hadn’t occurred to me.’
‘No, it’s not your fault. It was on the list, I’ve just not thought about it.’ Scarlett chewed at the cuticle on her thumb. ‘We’re going to need a new one, aren’t we? Even if we had the entire world’s supply of glue, it’s not going to be enough, is it?’
‘To stick them back on?’ Nicola laughed. ‘I think we’d need the glue and a million years to spare too.’
‘True.’ Lowering her thumb from her mouth, Scarlett sighed as the doorbell rang through the inn. ‘Come in.’
‘I think we’re definitely going to need a new one.’ Nicola turned as the front door clicked open.
‘Hello?’
Scarlett grinned as Rowan’s voice reached them. ‘In here, Rowan. Come through.’
‘Hi, I was just…’ Walking through to the sitting room door, Rowan came to a halt just as Nicola had, his eyes widening as he looked around the room.
‘Welcome to the Mad House.’ Scarlett laughed, resisting the urge to run across to him and kiss him. ‘I bet you wished you’d never popped by now?’
‘Just pretend you’ve not seen me.’ Rowan glanced behind him and began walking back to the door before twisting on the spot and grinning. ‘Seriously, though, that’s some mess.’
‘Haha, tell me about it. The perils of working at an inn, having kids around, and forgetting to water the tree, I guess.’ Scarlett shrugged.
‘In my defence though, I’ve never had a real Christmas tree before and I’m not the best at following instructions, even if it’s all written in a list, so…
Anyway, who knows of a good place to get Christmas trees from?
I can’t remember where Laura and Jackson said they got this one from? ’
‘I know a good place. There’s a huge Christmas tree farm out towards Nettleford. It’s where I got my one from and I have a couple of hours before I need to open the coffee cart if you want some company?’
‘That’d be great. Let me just do something with this lot and I’ll be ready.’ Scarlett waved her hand towards the mess. As much as she was tempted to just shut the sitting room door on this particular disaster, she couldn’t risk guests walking in on it.
‘I can do that while you go and get another one.’ Scooping her bag from where she’d dropped it on the floor, Nicola walked towards the other end of the sitting room and placed it on the other coffee table before turning back.
‘Why don’t we all chip in and we can get this lot cleaned up in no time then?’ Rowan shrugged out of his coat before rolling up the sleeves of his jumper.
‘If you’re sure you don’t mind, that’d be great.’ Nicola pointed to his jumper, depicting two robins sitting on a branch on a pale blue background. ‘Love today’s jumper.’
‘Thank you.’ Looking down at it, Rowan grinned.
Scarlett smiled. That was one thing she’d fallen for Rowan for, his confidence to wear what he wanted and do what he wanted.