Chapter 28
28
Ethan felt absolutely exhausted by the time he got home from the hospital in the early hours of the morning and fell asleep in the same clothes that he had been wearing when he had driven the train almost twelve hours previously.
Despite the late night, he still woke up early, his mind was whirring after the events of the previous day.
The first thing he did was text his brother to find out if there had been any updates on their grandad overnight. Ryan sent a swift reply that Eddie had apparently slept well and that they could visit him in hospital later in the afternoon. He then invited Ethan to a family brunch at Platform 1, telling him that their dad was already there. Ethan replied that he would be along in a while.
He sat up in bed for a moment, but the house was silent. The peace wasn’t helping to settle his mind and so he swiftly got up to take a long shower.
After getting dressed, Ethan faced up to the next problem. He had been due to leave for America the following day, however he needed to cancel the job contract in order to stay close to his family.
After calling his business contact, he was grateful that they accepted his apologies that he couldn’t give them any kind of start date, especially whilst his grandad was still in hospital. He hated to break a professional commitment but there was no way he could leave Cranfield now. Family had to come first in such an emergency.
With that piece of difficult business concluded, Ethan took a moment in the old school, but it was still too quiet, especially without Libby pottering about in the kitchen. The aroma of cocoa hung in the air and the worktops were still full of all her ingredients and equipment. But he found himself missing their everyday banter that he had got so accustomed to over the past couple of weeks. The house felt empty without her presence.
Ethan grabbed his coat and headed outside. He looked down the railway line briefly. At some point, the tree would need to be cleared from the railway line, but first he needed to see his family, so he turned in the other direction and walked along the platform towards the coffee shop.
There was a real chill in the air as he realised that it was the first of November. The temperatures had dropped, promising a cold winter ahead.
Pushing the door into the coffee shop, he realised that by referring to family, Ryan had meant their close friends as well.
After sharing a hug with his brother, Dad and Katy, Ethan then found himself embraced by all of their friends as well. Except one, he realised, as he sat down next to Libby.
He turned to look at her and found she was already watching him.
‘You okay?’ she murmured.
He nodded. ‘Sure,’ he lied. ‘Not working today?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s not important,’ she told him. ‘I didn’t think you would want to be bothered after last night.’
‘I don’t mind,’ he replied, thinking back to the empty, quiet schoolhouse.
Ethan looked over at his dad who was sitting on the opposite table, He gave a start as he realised that Maggie was holding his hand and talking softly in his ear. He liked Maggie and knew that she had his dad had become close friends over the past year. But when had it blossomed into something more, he wondered, and how had he missed something of such significance in her dad’s life?
He was amazed that his dad was able to trust and become close to anyone ever again, after the way that his wife had treated him. And yet, there he was, nodding and looking back at Maggie with fondness.
As Katy passed Ethan a large mug of coffee, he stared blankly around, focusing on the station memorabilia from a time when the station had been open. From the old ticket station to the posters and even the stationmaster’s hat up on the wall, it felt warm and cosy.
‘Here you go,’ said Ryan, placing a large basket of muffins and pastries on the table for everyone to help themselves.
Ethan automatically took one of the still-warm breakfast muffins but found he had no appetite and put it down in front of him.
‘It’s one of my best recipes,’ Ryan told him in a pointed tone, standing over him.
Ethan looked up at his brother but couldn’t find the words. Luckily, they knew each other so well that they didn’t need to speak. Ryan just placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze before moving away to sit next to their dad.
‘Eat,’ ordered Libby, giving Ethan a nudge with her elbow. ‘You’ll feel better for it.’
However, Ethan wasn’t sure that anything would make him feel better. He had let his grandad down at the worst possible time. The Halloween train had been a complete disaster and being back in the station only merely reminded him how terrible it had been.
‘People were very kind about the fallen tree on the line,’ he heard Katy tell Joe and Harriet.
‘You know, some of the people absolutely loved the really scary decorations,’ said Harriet, trying to put her usual positive spin on the situation.
‘And you really can’t blame the weather, can you?’ added Nico to Bob. ‘The problem with the fallen down tree could hardly lay at your door.’
‘No, the main problem was letting your nephew get involved,’ Ryan said to his dad, rolling his eyes.
‘You didn’t see the worst of it,’ said Katy with a grimace. ‘When the lights went out when the power failed, all the decorations had Die! and Kill! written on them. I screamed along with everyone else. Talk about a nightmare!’
‘Everything Del does gives us nightmares,’ muttered Libby. ‘Honestly!’
Ethan had listened to them all in silence, but he couldn’t bear it any longer.
‘Well, it’s too late now,’ he said, running a hand through his hair. ‘It was my lack of care that made the whole thing a disaster.’
‘You couldn’t have stopped the tree falling on the tracks,’ said Joe with a frown. ‘That was just bad luck.’
‘But I could have ensured that the train was decorated properly,’ said Ethan, shaking his head. ‘It’s not like I don’t have skills with lighting, is it?’ He took a shaky breath. ‘I let Grandad down.’
‘He won’t think that,’ said Bob softly. ‘Nobody does, son.’
‘Exactly,’ added Ryan, frowning with concern at his brother. ‘All’s not lost, bro.’
‘So why does it feel like it is?’ said Ethan, before gulping back the emotion caught in his throat. ‘It was Grandad’s dream and now…’ He sighed heavily.
There was a short silence in which he jumped slightly at the feel of a warm hand slipping into his. He looked up into Libby’s concerned face and she squeezed his hand.
She didn’t need to say anything, just like when they had been growing up she could read his mind. She knew the pain he was in and, just like in the early days, his pain was less because she shared it with him.
Ethan glanced around the room, where everyone was trying to avoid looking at him and concentrating on their breakfast. Ethan glanced at the wall next to him and realised there were a couple of newer photographs that he didn’t remember.
‘They’re new,’ he murmured.
‘I found those when we were clearing out the loft in the apartment,’ Katy told him, following his gaze. ‘Thought they’d look great down here.’
He concentrated on the nearest one. It was an old black and white photograph, in the time of the steam trains. There was snow on the platform but he could see the lights twinkling on a large Christmas tree on the platform. Even back then, the steam train had run at Christmas, its engine decorated with a large holly wreath on the front.
The same steam train that his grandad had proposed to his grandmother on.
And then it struck him. ‘You’re right,’ said Ethan, looking across at his brother and nodding at him.
‘Of course I am,’ said Ryan, smiling for the first time that morning. ‘About what this time though?’
‘That all’s not lost,’ Ethan told him. ‘We’ll do it again and do it better. Much much better.’ He looked at his dad. ‘We’re going to have a Christmas train right here in Cranfield, just like Grandad wanted. And it’s going to be the best one this village has ever seen!’
Bob was nodding in tearful agreement. ‘That’ll be just the tonic your grandad will need, son,’ he said.
‘But…’ Katy was looking confused. ‘But aren’t you leaving tomorrow? For work, I mean?’
Ethan shook his head. ‘I’ve cancelled the job,’ he replied, before looking at his brother. ‘This is the most important thing in my life right now,’ he carried on.
Ryan raised his eyebrows in surprise but merely gave him a nod of approval in return.
There was a short pause before everyone started talking all at once in excited tones. Ethan turned to look at Libby, who nodded and squeezed his hand once more.
This time, the train idea would work, he promised himself. This time, he would throw every ounce of effort that he could to make it a success. He would give it one hundred and ten per cent and not let his grandad down.
Of course, he would need help and input from his friends and family. And he would also have to accept that he would stay on in Cranfield longer than he had planned. But he owed it to his grandad, and to prove to himself as well that he could contribute. That he didn’t need to run away and let his family down again.
He might not believe in the magic of Christmas, but he could provide it for everyone else, couldn’t he? And hopefully a little magic might just rub off on him too, he thought, looking down at Libby’s hand in his once more.