Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay) (17 page)

‘We make a gingerbread house? Do we get to eat it afterwards?’

Penny laughed. ‘It’s the annual Giant Gingerbread House Race. The White Cliff Bay Furniture Company holds it every year. Everybody in the town goes to watch. But it’s not real gingerbread, they use plastic walls and foam and plastic sweets and decorations. The gingerbread walls are six-foot panels and I’m pretty sure the icing they use isn’t edible. There’s normally around eight teams and you have about an hour to build your house into something wonderful. It’s great fun.’

‘So you can be in our team too,’ Henry said, decisively.

‘I can’t, it’s families of employees only.’

‘You can be part of our family,’ Daisy said simply and Henry smiled that his daughter had just given her seal of approval so readily and unknowingly.

‘Edward isn’t going to care too much about who is on my team, he won’t exactly be demanding to see a marriage certificate before he lets us in,’ Henry said.

‘I’ll do it if you do it, Penny,’ Daisy said. ‘And it is for charity so you can’t really say no.’

Henry laughed at the exact same persuasion technique that Penny had pulled on him to get him to agree to the ball a few days before.

‘I’m rubbish at building things. You really won’t want me on your team, I’d be more of a hindrance than a help. When I built the barbeque in the summer, I ended up with pieces upside down and several pieces left over.’

‘We need you on our team, you have the inside edge, you’ve seen what other people have done before to win and we don’t have that. As newbies we need a fighting chance. And Daisy and I can’t do it alone, other teams will have five or six people in them. You can’t let us down, Penny, will you be part of our family?’

He fixed her with his best puppy dog eyes and she laughed.

‘OK, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

‘Now you’re part of our family, I think you should come for dinner every night,’ Daisy said. ‘It gets pretty boring looking at his ugly mug every night.’

‘Hey!’ Henry said.

‘Well, that sounds lovely, it does get a bit dull talking to Bernard every night, especially as he doesn’t talk back, but understand I’m only doing it for you, Daisy, to save you the tedium of talking to your dad.’

‘Hey, I am sitting here you know,’ Henry protested and Daisy laughed.

‘Except I can’t come tomorrow night, I have plans.’

‘Ooooh, do you have a hot date?’ Daisy said, getting excited about the prospect of some gossip. Henry rolled his eyes; she was going to thrive in this town.

‘No. I—’

‘I saw Fabio come round earlier, do you have plans with him?’

Henry was surprised by this. ‘Fabio was here?’

‘He was next door for over half hour and when he left he was looking pretty pleased with himself,’ Daisy said. ‘I saw it all from my bedroom window.’

Henry stared at his daughter incredulously. ‘I’ve raised a spy.’

‘Well, as we’ve already established, living with you can be really boring so I have to provide myself with some entertainment.’

‘What did Fabio want?’

‘Nothing much, to apologise for his behaviour the other night and to ask me out on a date.’

He cleared his throat. ‘And you’re going?’

‘Dad, it’ll be nice for Penny to go on a date. Let’s face it, her dates with you aren’t going to set her world on fire.’

‘I don’t think I did too badly last night.’

‘It was OK,’ Penny shrugged, clearly fighting with a smirk. He couldn’t help the smile from spreading across his face as she blushed bright red and focussed her attention on her spaghetti again.

‘So you’re going out with him?’ Daisy asked.

‘Sure, why not? I love a guy in leather pants.’

‘Hear that, Dad? If you really want to impress the ladies you need to wear leather pants and maybe get a medallion too. It seems the old clichés never die.’

‘I’ll be sure to remember that, especially as my dazzling conversation skills clearly need a lot of work. I have plans too tomorrow night. I’m going for dinner with a guy from work. You can come if you want, Daisy?’

‘Nah, I’m fine here. Shame though, there’s a mince pie making class at Linda’s bakery tomorrow night, I was going to suggest you go as your mince pie making skills are absolutely dire.’

‘Hey, I’m not that bad,’ Henry said, indignantly. ‘Why don’t I take you out for ice cream before I go out for dinner tomorrow night? I’m at work tomorrow too, someone has called in sick and there are a few jobs that need to be finished before the factory closes for the holidays, so you won’t see me all day.’

‘I’ll cope.’ Daisy flashed him a cheeky smile. ‘But yes to ice cream. Can we do some more carving tomorrow, Penny?’

‘We can actually. I have a snowman carving that needs to be finished for a corporate party so you could help me do that if you wanted, or just have fun creating your own pieces.’

‘You’d let me help with one of your professional pieces?’

‘Yes of course. You’re an ice carving champion now, your credentials more than speak for themselves.’

Daisy laughed.

‘I was serious about the job offer; if it’s OK with your dad, I’d be happy to pay you for your help.’

Daisy fixed him with pleading eyes and he nodded. ‘Only if you promise me you’ll be really careful with those tools and I don’t want her using the chainsaw.’

Penny and Daisy both nodded.

‘I have an errand to run tomorrow morning so come round about lunchtime,’ Penny said.

‘Does the errand have anything to do with Fabio?’ Daisy asked, clearly still digging for dirt.

Penny flashed Henry a mischievous grin. ‘Maybe.’

Obviously he had been forgiven.

Daisy looked over at Henry, obviously sensing that something was going on between them. ‘How did your important meeting with Clara go?’

‘It was fine.’ He watched the smile slide off Penny’s face.

‘Your meeting was with Clara? That’s who you rushed off to see?’

‘It was to talk through my designs, it was nothing,’ Henry said, staring at his plate again.

‘Dad, what happened to your shirt, it’s all torn at the top, did you lose a button?’

‘I just got it caught in something.’

Daisy giggled. ‘Is that lipstick on your neck? Wow, when you said it was fine, I didn’t realise just how fine you actually meant.’

He glanced up at Penny in time to see the look of horror and disappointment register on her face before she stood up to clear the plates away.

He wanted to tell her that nothing had happened, that she didn’t need to worry, but in front of Daisy it was out of the question.

A clap of thunder rumbled overhead and the tension that had dissipated had suddenly returned.

P
enny got
into her pyjamas later that night. Henry and Daisy had disappeared back to their own home shortly after dinner, leaving her alone, where if she had been in a proper relationship she could have spent the night cuddled up on the sofa with her boyfriend. Although she certainly wasn’t in the mood to cuddle up to Henry right now. She couldn’t get the thought of him and Clara together out of her mind and how guilty Henry had looked when Daisy had spotted the lipstick. He didn’t even try to deny that anything had happened. She knew, however, that if he cared about her at all, he would come over once Daisy had gone to bed and try to explain. She was going to try to keep an open mind until then. She had been cheated on before and she wasn’t going to let it happen again but she wouldn’t judge Henry until she heard him out.

She got into bed and had just started to read her book when she heard the soft thud of feet on the stairs.

She put her book down and watched him as he walked into the room. He looked scared as he approached the side of her bed.

‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there for dinner and you had to cook when I promised that I would.’

She arched an eyebrow at him; he had to do better than that. Annoyingly, very faint traces of lipstick were still present on his throat.

‘Nothing happened with me and Clara, I swear. She kissed me, I told her I had a girlfriend and I walked out. I was an idiot for thinking that she actually wanted to talk about my designs and I was so eager to have an opportunity to share them with her and Edward that I couldn’t see her true motive for bringing me there. I’m sorry, but you have to believe me, nothing happened. I’m not interested in her at all or anyone else in fact, I only want to be with you.’

He shivered against the chill of the night and she instinctively pulled back the duvet, shuffling over for him to get in. He hesitated for a moment and then slid in beside her.

‘You believe me?’

She nodded. ‘Actually I do. I have no reason to doubt you.’

‘You have no reason to believe me either.’

She moved closer to him, so close their faces were nearly touching. His hands moved to her waist, pulling her against him though she stopped him getting too close with her hand on his chest. ‘You can tell a lot about someone from their eyes. Fear, anger, shock, deceit and love are some of the many emotions that come from the eyes.’ She stared at his silvery grey eyes filled with warmth for her. ‘Your eyes are telling me that you’re speaking the truth.’

He smiled with relief as he pulled her closer and this time she let him. ‘What are my eyes telling you now?’

She laughed. ‘That you want to do all kind of wicked and dirty things to me.’

He kissed her, sweetly, his hands caressing over her body. Her body filled with need for him but before she could get too carried away, he pulled away slightly, his eyes filled with regret.

‘I can’t stay.’

She smiled, stroking his face. ‘I know, it’s OK.’

‘She’s only just gone to bed. She could get up and find I’m not there. I shouldn’t have come but I needed to see you.’

‘It’s OK. Go, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

He leaned his forehead against hers for a second, kissed her briefly and then slipped from the bed, giving her a smile before disappearing from the room.

They had to come clean with Daisy soon, this sneaking around was killing her.

P
enny grabbed
her coat and took her time doing up her shoelaces. She had put off doing this for the last few days but she knew she needed to do it now.

The sun was shining through drifts of fog, drying up all the rain from the night before and making the sea below Lilac Cottage glitter like gold.

She hadn’t been into town since Tuesday when everyone had decided to help her get ready for her big date. Who knew that the tiny piece of satin that she had been forced to buy would end up having such a devastating effect on both her and Henry? Despite telling everyone that listened that it wasn’t a proper date, that they were just friends, she knew that they would all be giving her that knowing look today or grilling her about Henry’s skill between the sheets. And with Henry desperately trying to keep their relationship hidden from Daisy there wasn’t a lot that she could say to the people of the town, not that she would share anything anyway but now she needed to be even more careful. With only five days before the Christmas Eve ball, the town would be filled with people doing last-minute shopping. She sighed.

Suddenly the connecting door flew open and Henry stormed towards her.

‘Daisy is in the shower and I have to go to work but I just wanted to give you something before I left,’ Henry said.

‘What?’

Henry gathered her in his arms and kissed her deeply. Good lord, she’d suddenly forgotten all plans for that day and only wanted to whisk Henry back to bed. When would be the next time she could make love to him? She knew any length of time would be too long. She wrapped herself around him, holding him tight and kissing him hard, but he just as suddenly pulled away.

‘I really have to go to work, I can’t be late on my first proper day as much as I’d like to right now. But there’s something for you to think about on your hot date with Fabio tonight.’

Penny laughed. ‘I’m not…’

‘It’s OK, I get that the lure of a man in leather trousers is too much to resist but just remember whose name you were screaming the other night.’

She smiled. ‘I don’t think I could ever forget. When are we going to get a repeat performance of that?’

‘When you stop dating men in leather trousers.’

He kissed her on the head and walked out the back door. He turned back and gave her a wink. ‘Soon, I promise.’

She smiled as she watched him go, that incredible kiss setting her up for the whole day.

She got in the car and drove down into town, the streets a hive of activity as people prepared for Christmas. In the foggy morning the Christmas lights that were strewn from the trees and hung from the lampposts and the fronts of buildings looked magical, even in the daylight, their twinkling orbs welcoming people into the town. The rain from the night before had clearly frozen in the early hours of the morning and it sparkled from the rooftops of houses and cars that lined the streets.

Penny pulled her car up outside The Pilchard, turned the engine off and took a deep breath before she stepped out of the car. She looked up at the pub sign as it swung gently in the cool sea breeze; a cheery fish smiling inanely as it leapt out of the water. Lights twinkled from the windows and even though the pub was closed it looked warm and inviting. This had been one of her favourite places to hang out in her later teen years, long before her and Chris had become friends and started dating. It was warm, cosy and traditional with little booths to sit in. She had imagined then that she would be coming there for the rest of her life, and still propping up the bar when she was old, grey and wrinkled. She would never have thought that, due to circumstances beyond her control, she wouldn’t step foot in there for eight years. Maybe it was time to rectify that.

She pushed open the door. The pub was empty as it didn’t open until just before lunch, but the log fire crackled in the fireplace, ensuring the pub was welcoming for the lunchtime crowd. Kathleen was at the bar, busily going through a list, probably doing a stocktake as Penny had seen her do several times when she had come in the past.

‘We’re closed until eleven,’ Kathleen called out as she turned round, her face going pale as she saw her.

They both stood staring at each other for the longest moment before Penny held up the bag of clothes lamely. ‘I just wanted to return these.’

Kathleen stood still for a second or two longer before she walked towards her. For a moment Penny thought Kathleen might hug her, as her hands moved out, but then it seemed Kathleen changed her mind.

‘Thank you.’

Penny handed over the bag and hovered awkwardly but as there was clearly nothing more to be said she turned to go.

‘Will you stay for a drink?’ Kathleen blurted out. ‘I’d really like it if you stayed for a drink.’

Penny turned back and nodded. ‘I’d like that too.’

Kathleen went behind the bar. ‘What would you like?’

‘Just a tea please, I’m driving so…’

‘How about a hot chocolate?’

Penny smiled as she leaned on the bar. ‘You always were so good at making those. We used to come in here before we were legal just so we could have your hot chocolates and you used to let us sit in the booths, making one glass last a whole hour and you never kicked us out.’

‘I liked having you lot in here, and you weren’t doing any harm. The pub has always been a family place, always will be.’

Penny watched as Kathleen put a handful of marshmallows, a large spoonful of cocoa powder and a splash of milk in two tall glasses and stuck them both in the microwave whilst she heated some milk on the coffee machine. The microwave beeped and she pulled the glasses out, poured the hot milk into the gooey chocolatey mixture and gave it a good stir, topping it off with a good layer of squirty cream and a handful of chocolate shavings.

She passed a glass to Penny and gestured for her to go and sit by the fire. Kathleen sat opposite her on a soft leather brown armchair.

Penny took a sip, smiling at the fond memories she had of this drink and this place. She stared into the flames, wondering what she should say about what had happened in the past or whether to say anything at all. Maybe it was best just to let it go, move on and look to the future.

‘I’m sorry,’ Kathleen said and Penny turned to face her. ‘I am so sorry for what happened. I wanted to come and see you after the baby died, but… I don’t know… I thought maybe I should leave you alone for a few days. You had your family around you and I just thought you’d need a bit of space. I planned to come and see you at the weekend but then Chris left you and I found out…’ She trailed off.

‘That he had been sleeping with Jade the entire time I was pregnant?’

‘Yes. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know until after the baby had died but when I found out I was so angry at him. Everybody was. But then what happened after, the lies he told about you, I have never been so ashamed of him before.’

Penny swallowed down the pain of that, returning her attention to the hot chocolate.

‘People will believe what they want to believe and most of the town saw the lies for what they were, but as you know, there were some that believed them,’ Kathleen said. ‘I couldn’t look at him for months, barely said a word to him. I was so embarrassed by him. God, he was hated by so many people for what he had done, but that hatred spread to me too. The looks I’d get, the comments. Even some of my friends turned against me as if it was my fault he had slept with Jade, abandoned you and told all those lies. He left the town shortly after, as you know, but I was left with all those looks and comments for months afterwards. I saw you quite a few times around the town but I was never brave enough to come and say anything. I was too ashamed to come and see you personally and eight years have passed and you’ve never been back in the pub since.’

‘Do you blame me?’

‘No, of course not. I just hoped that you didn’t hate me for what happened but, as time went on, I guessed that you did.’

‘I don’t hate you. I hated Chris for a long while, but I never hated you. Because I never saw you again, I just presumed that you believed the lies he told you and that you wouldn’t want a crazy, psychotic person in the pub.’

‘Oh love, I wish I had come to see you, maybe we could have put this to bed years ago.’

Penny nodded, sadly and took another sip of the comforting hot chocolate. They had both been victims of Chris’s actions.

‘You know he’s married now, and has a baby boy. Eric, he’s five months old and Chris absolutely adores him. I guess that must be really hard for you, after seeing how badly he reacted to your baby.’

‘Actually it isn’t. It was hard at the time when I saw the baby clothes and toys you had bought for him, but I hope Chris is a better person now. It was a long time ago and he was young, we both were. If he loves his little boy, as you say he does, I’m genuinely happy for him.’

‘He’s grown up to be a marvellous young man, and a fantastic dad. He’s actually someone I can be proud of. I hope you can forgive him one day.’

‘I don’t hate him any more and I wish him well, though forgiveness might take a little longer.’

Kathleen nodded with understanding. ‘And what about you? I hear you’re seeing Henry Travis.’

Penny sighed. Nothing was secret in this town.

‘He seems like a decent man.’

‘He really is.’

‘And I know it’s early days but do you think you might have your own family one day?’

‘Family comes in different guises. He has a daughter who I adore. Maybe it would be enough to just be part of their family.’

Kathleen nodded. ‘Sometimes the family you pick for yourself is miles better than the one you were given.’

Penny smiled as she looked into the flames. She just had to hope that Henry and Daisy would pick her too.

I
t was
a while later when Penny pulled back up outside her house. She had chatted to Kathleen for a few hours and, although she wouldn’t be popping into the pub every week, she knew she would be always be very welcome in there from now on.

She let herself into her kitchen and smiled when she saw Jill and Daisy chatting over lunch.

‘Hey.’ Penny dropped a fond kiss on Jill’s head.

‘Hello, lovely,’ Jill said. ‘I made you some lunch and then I found this little waif next door, practically starving to death, so I had to feed her up too, I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Of course not. Can’t have her wasting away.’

Daisy grinned at her as she polished off the last of her sandwich. Penny sat down next to her and gave her a friendly nudge. Daisy nudged her back.

‘
I saw you going into The Pilchard earlier, everything OK?’ Jill asked, casually, trying not to let anything slip to nosy ears.

‘It is now,’ Penny said, lifting the cover off her plate and tucking into her own sandwich.

Jill smiled with understanding and watched her carefully over her mug of tea. ‘You look different,’ Jill said eventually, ‘and I can’t place what it is.’

‘I had a haircut the other day,’ Penny suggested, though with her hair tied back in its usual ponytail, it was unlikely to be that.

‘No, it’s not that. You look… contented and really happy.’

‘I am happy.’ She tilted her head to the side subtly, hopefully indicating to Jill that the reason she was happy really shouldn’t be talked about in front of Daisy.

Jill picked up on it straight away and stood up to go to the kettle. ‘Did you want a cup of tea?’

‘Yes please.’

‘She is happy, she has a hot date tonight,’ Daisy said. ‘With a sexy Italian of all people.’

Jill turned round. ‘Oh and who might that be?’

‘Fabio,’ Daisy said, delighted that she had gossip to share. ‘He’s an ice carver, just like Penny and very talented.’

She flicked a few buttons on her phone and turned it round to show Jill. Penny laughed as Jill watched the very bizarre proposal video. Daisy was getting enormous pleasure out of this piece of gossip and Penny was loath to burst her bubble and tell her the truth. She had politely and very firmly told Fabio that she wouldn’t be going out with him when he popped round the day before, nor would she be marrying him and having his babies any time in the future. But while Daisy was fixated on this new, exciting bit of news, it might make things easier for her and Henry to secretly be together.

‘Look, you, before you show Jill any more embarrassing videos or photos of me, why don’t you go and get changed into something warmer than your pyjamas and then we can do a bit of carving this afternoon.’

This was the only incentive that Daisy needed. She leapt off the bench with a quick thank you for Jill and then she darted upstairs to get changed.

Penny got up and shut the connecting door and returned to her sandwich.

‘Am I to presume that the reason you are practically glowing has something to do with her father and not some Italian stallion?’ Jill said, passing her a mug of tea.

‘You would presume correctly. We’re seeing each other, it’s very early days and we don’t want to tell Daisy yet in case she gets upset by it, so we’re just going to see how it goes over the next week or so.’

Jill’s smile filled her whole face. ‘And how is it going?’

Penny blushed and picked up her mug to hide behind it. Jill’s face softened.

‘You’ve fallen in love with him.’

‘I think I might have.’

Jill squealed just as Daisy burst back into the room. ‘What did I miss?’

‘Penny was just telling me about young Fabio.’

Penny cringed a bit, this lie was going to trip her up, she just knew it.

‘Come on, you, we’ve got some carving to be done.’ Penny stood up. ‘Will you be here later?’

‘No lovely, I’m getting off now, but I’ll probably see you Monday.’

Penny kissed her goodbye and ushered Daisy into the cool room, hoping that the subject of Fabio would be dropped.

H
enry wiped
his hands on a cloth and looked at the table that was now gleaming in a coat of toffee brown varnish. It had been a brilliant day, working alongside his new colleagues, creating a table almost from scratch, and most importantly he hadn’t seen Clara all day. He hoped that she had got the message the night before and would leave him alone. The factory was closing on Friday for two weeks and this was his last day at work. If he could get through the next ten minutes of work without seeing her then he would be able to have a fresh start after Christmas and hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with her again. He still had hopes of sharing his designs, but this time he would go straight to Edward or one of the designers.