Chapter Twenty-Nine
If she’d eaten breakfast, it would’ve been splattered over her shoes by now.
It was only after she’d finished playing Superwoman and put on a blasé act in front of her son and Gage that she realised how reckless they’d been.
But would she do it again? Hell, yes. Seeing Rocky’s white-faced wife, clutching their baby son in his elf pyjamas and hovering over her husband while Judy checked him over, confirmed they’d done the right thing.
‘It always hits afterwards,’ Gage murmured in her ear. ‘Sometimes it’s right away, but it can be days or weeks later. Something triggers it and there you are again. I still have nightmares and probably always will.’ His voice broke. ‘I would never have forgiven myself if—’
‘That’s enough, okay?’ She blinked back tears. ‘The lunch.’ Tamara begged Gage to go along with her. ‘The venue is obvious. The—’
‘Bookshop.’ He chipped in to finish her sentence. ‘We need to borrow a few more tables and chairs to go with the ones we’ve got for the café. That’s the easy part.’
Her mind raced. There was no hope of salvaging any food from the pub. Would it be the end of the world if they celebrated with sandwiches and crisps rather than turkey? Wasn’t the companionship of gathering together the important part?
‘Is this the village-lunch-rescue committee?’ Chloe joined them, her blonde ponytail swinging. She looked stunning in a sparkly red jumpsuit.
‘I suppose it might be.’
‘What can we do to help?’ Evelyn appeared, followed closely by Quinten and Ophelia, who looked worryingly frail. ‘The rest of the girls who are free are on the way.’
‘I’ll open up the shop and we can gather there to make plans,’ Gage offered. ‘Toby, do you want to come shift furniture with me?’
‘No problem. Lead the way.’
It warmed her heart to see the two go off together.
‘We need to start spreading the word and asking for contributions,’ Evelyn suggested. ‘Everyone overbuys food. The only challenge might be the meat, but we’ll make do with whatever we can get.’
‘We heard the news.’ Paul arrived now. ‘We’re all here to help.
Except Daniel. We left him home to keep an eye on the turkey and he’ll bring it down for you when it’s cooked.
The kids fussed a bit when Becky told them, but taking care of neighbours who’d be on their own or whatever — that’s Christmas, isn’t it? ’
Paul would be mortified if she hugged him, so Tamara made do with a smile and a nod.
Half an hour later, the bookshop kitchen was organised chaos, and Chloe and Evelyn had taken charge of coordinating the donations that were pouring in.
They certainly wouldn’t be short of mince pies, Christmas puddings, fancy biscuits and chocolates because Vernon had arrived, with his wife in tow, having stripped his shop of everything he’d planned to put on sale tomorrow at half-price.
The hum of conversation grew louder as the piles of cut-up vegetables grew. Gage had laughingly rolled his eyes at the sight of yet more carrots and parsnips that needed peeling. The mouth-watering spicy aroma of Christmas puddings steaming away filled the kitchen.
‘How does that look?’ Emily held out the chalkboard they normally used to highlight their bestselling books, adapted to display today’s menu.
They were up to four turkeys now, along with a spectacular joint of beef brought in a few minutes ago by Monica, who’d heard about the news from Wilf Buckingham.
Wilf and Karen had been among the first to turn up, bringing with them their seven-kilo turkey.
They insisted that, on their own, they would’ve been eating turkey until they were sick of it.
Tamara persuaded Monica to ring her husband to tell him to get down here and join the party.
All the helpers were intent on staying, in addition to the original list of people who had signed up.
‘That’s awesome, Ems.’ Gage beamed at his niece. ‘Are the tables—’
‘All done and decorated. Ollie and Lily didn’t do a bad job on them.’ High praise for the siblings she usually referred to as useless wastes of space.
Evelyn poked her head around the kitchen door. ‘Our first guests have arrived.’
‘The buffet is ready for people to come through and serve themselves,’ Monica said proudly. The woman was someone who could be relied on to do a job well and was an asset to the village. They needed more like her.
‘I’ll tell them.’ Tamara stepped back into the shop, but couldn’t make her announcement straight away because the sight of everyone happily gathered took her breath away.
In addition to the tables in what would soon be her café, others were squeezed between the bookshelves.
People weren’t necessarily sitting with their own families or friends, either, but had fitted in wherever there was space.
Wilf and Pixie were taking orders at the impromptu bar they’d set up, and it was a relief to see her friend looking less stressed now that she had something to focus on, other than her wrecked pub.
The Spirit of Christmas name couldn’t be more appropriate today.
Quinten’s precise, professorial tones silenced the room. ‘Before we eat, I think a round of applause is in order for the wonderful people who stepped in to pull off this meal under challenging circumstances. As Tiny Tim said in A Christmas Carol, “God bless us every one.”’
‘This is all down to you,’ Gage whispered.
‘Don’t be daft. I’m stubborn, that’s all, and don’t like to be told I can’t do something.’
‘Do you think we should aim for a similar turnout next year?’
She met his glittering dark-blue eyes and nodded. The promise of more Christmases together was the only gift she needed today.
* * *
‘To us.’ Gage clinked his champagne glass against Tamara’s and revelled in her glorious smile.
They’d been exhausted by the time the bookshop had been shipshape again, and although the nap they’d decided to take should’ve helped, had they napped?
Had they hell. Not that he was complaining.
He’d celebrated the festive season in many parts of the world and in a variety of ways, but none equalled today.
To be with this special woman and surrounded by family and friends, in a community that had embraced him and his new venture, was perfect.
‘Are you ready for your proper present now?’
‘You mean my piggy lingerie was improper?’
‘Absolutely.’ He chuckled. ‘Fetch the pink envelope from under the tree, then snuggle back here with me and open it.’
Gage studied her face as she pulled out the card inside and read it once, then read it again.
‘You sneaky thing. This is awesome.’ Her face glowed. ‘I’ve always wanted to see the Griselda Hill pottery in Ceres where they make the Wemyss pigs.’
‘And while we’re there, you get to choose a personalised commission that they’ll make specially for you.’
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. ‘You are absolutely the best.’
‘I picked those dates in late June for our trip because they coincide with the Ceres Highland Games. They’re the oldest in Scotland, according to my research. Our hotel is only about an hour or so from Edinburgh, so I thought we could visit my dad as well while we’re that close.’
‘I’d love to.’ A tiny frown marred her smile. ‘But what about the shop and café?’
‘All organised,’ he said boastfully. ‘Melissa and Emily volunteered to run the shop, and Becky’s excited about taking on the café. I’m sure they’ll have help from our other friends too.’
‘You’ve been plotting behind my back.’ She sounded anything but cross.
‘It’s your turn now.’ Pink blotches flared on her skin.
‘We must be more alike than we realised because I’ve gone down the same road with your gift.
’ Tamara whipped out a gold envelope from behind her back.
‘It’s not for the two of us, but you’ll understand why when you take a look.
You’re not the only one who pays attention. ’
A minute later, Gage held two tickets in his hand and couldn’t stop smiling.
‘Taff’s going with you.’
She’d arranged for them to join a four-day tour of the Normandy beaches with a group of military-history buffs.
Anything connected to the D-Day landings, and particularly the important role played by the Royal Marines, was a long-time obsession of his.
The opportunity to follow in their footsteps was a dream come true.
‘I won’t ask how you’ll run the shop as well as the café in my absence because I’m sure you’ve got that sewn up.’
‘I might have.’ A teasing smirk pulled at her lush mouth. ‘I’d say we know each other pretty well, considering the short time we’ve been together.’
‘Yep, we’ve got this.’ It hovered on the edge of his consciousness to say more.
‘You must be starved. I know I am.’ With a bright smile, she sprang off him. ‘We passed on food earlier for excellent reasons, but I need something to soak up all this champagne. I was far too busy to eat a lot at lunchtime and I doubt you had much either.’
He squashed a flare of disappointment. Maybe she’d saved him from making a fool of himself.
‘And since then your thoughtless boyfriend has kept you otherwise occupied.’
‘Not thoughtless at all. He’s my super-sexy, favourite hunk.’
Gage wasn’t arguing. He’d take whatever compliments she threw his way and be grateful. Very grateful. ‘Let’s go fix some snacks.’
Tamara popped a couple of baking trays in the oven, loaded with miniature spring rolls, tiny pork pies and chipolata sausages.
Following her instructions he put together a platter of cheeses, cold meats and pickles, along with crackers and grapes.
It was the kind of thing he would’ve made himself as a single guy when he couldn’t be arsed to cook.
But according to her, variations on this were incredibly popular these days and laughingly called charcuterie boards.
Tamara started fixing the slightly retro prawn cocktails they both had a weakness for in two antique, blue glass goblets she’d picked up at a flea market.
‘Is there any chance Sandy might come out to play later?’ he asked.
‘Ah, now we find out what you really asked Father Christmas for.’
‘I’ve been a very good boy this year,’ he said huskily. ‘I could nip back to the flat and get my white suit if you like?’
She turned her head to pop a kiss on his mouth. ‘I knew I’d been a good girl for a reason.’