11. Thora
THORA
‘ M y hands are cold, Mum,’ Rosie said as they walked down to the village square the following evening. With just a month to go until Christmas, there had been a slight delay in the turning on of the lights, but now everything was good to go.
‘I told you to wear your gloves.’ Thora took a deep breath, preparing for Rosie to have another moan. She’d put a spare pair of gloves in her coat pocket for Rosie but didn’t want to tell her straight away, as Rosie was fifteen and not five and needed to learn to be more organised.
‘I should have listened to you.’ Rosie held out her hands to show how red and cold her fingers were and Thora’s heart sank. She couldn’t hold out on her daughter, not even to teach her a lesson, when she was suffering like that.
‘Here you go.’ Thora got the gloves out and Rosie grinned.
‘I knew you’d bring some for me.’
‘How did you know?’ Thora asked with mock outrage.
‘Because you’re the best mum in the world!
’ Rosie slid her arm through Thora’s and leant in close and Thora glowed at the praise.
Of course, there were days when Rosie looked at her with a certain amount of teenage disdain, but there were also times like these when she felt her daughter’s love wrapped around her like a warm hug.
‘Can I have a badge with that on it, please?’ Thora asked.
‘Of course you can! I’ll make you one.’ Rosie laughed.
Next to them, Reggie was walking with his hands in his pockets. He had his headphones on so hadn’t heard a word they were saying but when he realised Thora was looking at him, he removed them. ‘What’s that?’
‘Rosie said I’m the best mum in the world.’
‘Kissing ass—’ He stopped himself and rephrased what he was about to say. ‘Sucking up to Mum now, Rosie?’
‘Shut up, Reggie!’ Rosie poked out her tongue.
‘I’m only saying what I see.’ Reggie snorted and Rosie poked her tongue out even further.
‘Children!’ Thora shook her head. ‘Remember how old you are.’
Despite how they sometimes argued, Rosie and Reggie normally got along well. However, they were at that awkward stage between childhood and adulthood and so, sometimes, they lapsed into immature displays.
Barry was trotting along at her side, wearing his winter coat.
He looked up at her now and then as if to say he understood the twins were being silly.
He also liked to check on Thora as if to ensure that he was being a good boy.
She often thought that if children were as straightforward as dogs, life would be a lot easier.
Barry thrived on praise and learnt a lot faster than the twins did.
‘Why were the lights delayed this year, Mum?’ Reggie asked, his headphones now wrapped around his neck.
‘A variety of reasons, I think, love,’ she said.
‘There was something to do with the electricity supply struggling with the extra load last year, so they were going to update it, but then it was delayed. They’ve carried out the work now though, so that should be fine.
Then there was the fact that some of the new lights were missing.
I think a few of them were lost in shipping, so they had to be reordered and they were coming from abroad.
Plus, there was a disagreement at the village council meeting about who was going to turn the lights on and a few noses got put out of joint over it. ’
‘And you say we’re immature when we argue.’ Reggie shook his head. ‘At least we reach a resolution without holding up Christmas decorating for a whole village.’
‘You’re right,’ Thora agreed.
They reached the village square, and Thora looked around.
She felt tense and anxious, as if she was expecting something to happen.
As her eyes roamed the crowds that had gathered, she realised who she was looking for.
She was looking for Lucas and hoping to see him there, even though she had not allowed herself to think about him all day.
Every time she’d found her thoughts wandering in his direction, she’d shaken herself and made herself think about something else.
It wasn’t easy but she’d done it, only now there was a chance of actually seeing him, it was much harder to do.
‘Are you OK, Mum?’ Rosie asked.
‘Yes, love, why?’
‘You just shivered really violently. Are you cold?’ Rosie scanned her face and Thora shook her head.
‘I’m fine. I think I just had a weird tingle down my spine.’
‘They say that’s when someone walks over your grave,’ Rosie said and Reggie snorted.
‘For fudge’s sake, Rosie, that’s horse-ship.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ Thora blinked. ‘What did you just say?’
‘He thinks he’s being clever. All the boys in school do that now,’ Rosie explained.
‘They say words as close to the swear words as they can. It drives the teachers mad because they think they’re about to swear and then they don’t.
But obviously it’s clear what they mean.
’ Rosie glared at Reggie and it was his turn to stick his tongue out at her.
‘Whatever next?’ Thora said, feeling a million years old.
Some days, she found it hard to accept that she was over forty.
It seemed like just yesterday that she’d been fifteen with her whole life ahead of her and now here she was, on the wrong side of forty and feeling it.
OK, not the wrong side, she reasoned, because it was a gift to reach this age, but she couldn’t turn back the clock and the next big birthday was fifty and she was well aware of that.
‘Mmmm. Can you smell that?’ Rosie said, squeezing Thora’s arm. ‘It’s Christmas!’
Thora breathed in and savoured the scents of mulled cider and wine coming from a stall near the harbour. Steam curled into the air as the vendor stirred a large vat of mulled cider over a flame, sending aromas of cinnamon, cloves, and orange into the air.
‘Delicious,’ Thora said.
‘Can I have a cup?’ Rosie asked, batting her eyelashes.
‘No, you can’t. There’s alcohol in it. You can have a mulled apple juice.’ Thora got her purse out of her pocket. ‘Here.’ She gave Rosie some money. ‘Get one for your brother, too.’
‘Sure.’ Rosie headed for the stall and Thora turned to Reggie. ‘Are you hungry?’ It was a silly question because he was always hungry.
‘Starving!’ She handed him some money. ‘Here. Get something to eat for you and for Rosie.’
‘You want anything?’ he asked.
‘I’m good, thanks. I’ll have a wander around and meet you near the cider stall in half an hour.’
‘Cool.’ He smiled, then wandered off on his long legs like a young giraffe.
Thora watched her children head in different directions. They were so young and filled with potential. They were her entire world, and she wanted the very best of everything for them.
‘You OK, Barry?’ she asked, looking down at him.
He barked, so she stroked him and then looked around.
‘Let’s go to the bookshop. I want to see if they have a book I’ve seen advertised.’
They crossed the square to get to The Book Nook.
It had opened recently, to Thora’s delight, because she loved reading and having a bookshop in the village was wonderful.
She’d already taken the twins in there several times and treated them to books they’d seen on BookTok.
While she wasn’t a massive fan of the video app because of some of the hashtags, she could appreciate the one that encouraged a love of reading.
It was amazing the power that social media had to get children to do things.
Rosie had always been an avid reader, but Reggie had lapsed over recent years as life had become distracting, but since he’d had BookTok videos on his algorithm, he’d started reading again.
Seeing him reading led Thora to acknowledge its effectiveness and she felt grateful.
Standing outside The Book Nook, she admired the window display.
Colourful copies of A Christmas Carol, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and The Night Before Christmas were displayed on red velvet and surrounded by twinkling silver fairy lights and bunches of holly, ivy and mistletoe.
A Christmas tree stood further back in the shop, decorated with book-themed ornaments and more twinkling lights.
‘Let’s go in and have a look, shall we?’ she said to Barry, and he barked with excitement because he loved spending time at the bookshop. Whenever they went in there, the owner Rosa Lake and her employee Vinnie Russo spoiled him, so he knew he was going to get treats and scratches.
The delicious scents of coffee, cake, books, and stationery greeted her as she pushed open the door and stepped inside.
There was also the scent of pine from the tree at the rear of the shop and from the garland hanging on the front of the counter that was decorated with tiny silver and gold baubles.
Rosa was serving a customer at the counter, but she looked up and waved at Thora.
Rosa was a lovely person, and Thora had got to know her quite well since she’d moved to the village.
She was about six years younger than Thora, but she’d holidayed in the village as a child, so they’d known each other to say hello when they were children.
Rosa had moved to Porthpenny after a painful divorce, keen to have a fresh start.
She’d inherited her aunt’s house in Bath, which she’d sold so she could set up the bookshop.
Thora admired her bravery at having the courage to move somewhere new to begin again.
Rosa was dating local teacher Henry Clay, and they made a cute couple.
Thora wandered through the shop, admiring the festive displays and reading the labels stuck on shelves that said things like: Stories for the Fireside, Books Make the Best Gifts and Winter Wonderlands .
Also Perfect for Your Person, Treat Yourself This Christmas and Festive Feasts .
While she browsed the shelves and table displays, Barry sniffed around the lower shelves, the table legs, and the wooden floorboards.
She found the book she’d wanted and picked out a few books she thought would make nice gifts then took them to the counter.
She stood there gazing out of the front window while she waited for Rosa to finish serving.
‘Evening, Thora,’ Rosa said with a smile after she’d said goodbye to the man buying a pile of romance novels for his wife. ‘How are you?’
‘Good thanks and all the better for coming in here. It’s beautiful.’
Rosa looked around, pride written all over her face. ‘It’s a dream come true for me and I have to pinch myself every day when I wake up and come to work here.’
‘Nothing like finally realising your dream.’ Thora smiled then she felt a pawing at her leg so she looked down. ‘Oh, sorry, Barry. He wants to say hello.’
‘Of course!’ Rosa came around the counter and crouched down to make a fuss of Barry. She pulled a treat from her pocket and held it up for Thora’s approval.
‘That’s fine. Go ahead,’ she said.
Rosa gave Barry the small treat, and he licked his lips then turned in a circle before placing his tiny paws on Rosa’s legs.
‘He’s grateful,’ Thora said, laughing.
‘We love a visit from Barry.’ Rosa stroked Barry’s head again, then got up and went back behind the counter. ‘Right then … What are you getting today?’
She checked which books were going to be gifts, then wrapped them in black and gold tissue paper and put everything into a large paper bag with handles.
‘If you don’t want to carry this around with you, you can leave it here and collect it in the week,’ she said. ‘I’ll stow it under the counter with your name on it if you like? Or I can get Vinnie to drop it off for you?’
‘If I can leave it here, that’ll be fabulous. I’ll pick it up in the week. Tomorrow probably if that’s OK, when I’m walking dogs in the village.’
‘That’s no problem at all.’
Thora paid, then Rosa stapled a name tag to the handles and tucked it under the counter. ‘There you go, all done. You staying for the lights?’ she asked.
‘Definitely.’ Thora nodded as she gazed out of the window. ‘They say they’re going to be the best yet.’
‘I can’t wait!’ Rosa said. ‘I’m going to close up soon and then wrap up warm and join you all.’
‘I’ll see you out there.’ With a smile, Thora ventured out into the cool evening air.
She spotted Rosie and Reggie standing near to the tree with her parents so she walked over to them. Her parents hugged her, then they asked if she wanted a mulled cider which her dad went to get.
‘Cold this evening,’ her mum said from under a large woolly hat that looked about three sizes too large for her.
‘Certainly is.’
They chatted for a bit, and when her dad brought her drink over, Thora sipped it. Her mouth watered at the delicious, spiced cider, and it warmed her right through. When the village choir sang In the Bleak Midwinter , goosebumps rose on Thora’s arms and she felt Christmas was really on the way.