Escape for Christmas (24 page)

“Drink this,” he said gently, helping her raise the glass to her lips. “Little sips, now. That’s grand. You’re doing grand, so you are.”

Gemma sipped, although what she really wanted to do was drown Cal in the tumbler of water. How dare he look so worried and so normal? He was putting his arm around her now as though everything was fine and she hadn’t just discovered him shacked up in his love nest with his ex-girlfriend. Cal looked so utterly like his usual self, with his curls standing at odd angles and his sleepy eyes crinkling at her as he smiled, that it all seemed impossible; yet here she was, in the cottage they’d dreamed about and with Aoife hovering nervously like an anxious butterfly.

“Don’t touch me,” she muttered to Cal, shaking him off. “How could you do this to me? I gave you so many chances to tell the truth about you and her, and you still lied through your teeth.” Her eyes filled and Gemma blinked the tears away furiously. There was no way she’d give the pair of them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Sitting on the floor like this, all of her dignity was gone. She smelt of old dog and felt as though she was close to throwing up. But Gemma wasn’t going to dissolve into tears. Not until she’d ripped Cal’s head off and beaten him with the soggy end, anyway.

Cal sighed. “Ah, Gemma, I know this looks bad and, yes, I haven’t told you the truth.”

“‘Looks bad’?” Gemma couldn’t help laughing at this. Cal was always one for an understatement. Like when he’d told her he had
quite
a big tax bill or that Mammy South was visiting just for a
few
days, which had actually turned out to be three weeks. “Cal, I’ve caught you here with Aoife, who you denied over and over again you ever see. I don’t think it gets any worse!”

For a moment Cal looked as though he was going to try to deny it yet again. Then he shrugged and gave her a rueful smile. “You’re right, darlin’: I have been keeping a big secret from you. I know how it all looks and, believe me, there’ve been so many times when I’ve just wanted to tell you the truth.”

So it was true. Gemma hadn’t realised just how much she’d been longing to hear Cal say that she was mistaken. Even with her scarf wrapped around her throat and wearing the thick wax jacket, she felt icy cold. It was over. Cal really was in love with Aoife.

“Gemma, listen to me, so.” Taking the glass away, Cal took her cold hands in his. “The secret I’ve been keeping, it really isn’t what you think. Yes, Aoife is involved, but very indirectly, and I swear on my mammy’s life only in a professional legal capacity.”

She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

Cal tightened his grasp on her hands and his big brown eyes twinkled down into hers. “Gemma, I bought the cottage! I only bloody managed to buy it! I knew how much it meant to you and,” he winked, “after that afternoon we spent here I was pretty fond of the auld place myself. So, I managed to do some digging and with the help of your mammy and daddy I persuaded the owners to sell it.”

Gemma felt as though she’d stepped into some weird parallel universe. “You’ve bought the cottage for us? And my parents know about it?”

Cal nodded, his curls bouncing merrily. “Sure, and hasn’t it cost me an arm and a leg? No wonder I had no money and had to work so bloody hard. But I knew what it meant to you, Gem, and it’s time we had a place of our own, so. I’ve been frantically hoping it would be ready for your birthday. The money from the show should hopefully pay for the last bits and pieces.” He grinned. “Now do you see why I had to keep going? Anton Yuri would have released me but, sweet Jaysus, I needed the money! This place gobbles it!”

It was too much to take in. Cal had bought and renovated the cottage for her? And as a birthday present? Gemma wanted to pinch herself; this had to be a dream.

“But what about Aoife?” she asked. “You were seeing her in London, weren’t you?”

“Sure,” admitted Cal, smiling at Aoife, who was still looking worried. “I couldn’t have done any of this without her. She’s my project manager. This is what she does. Aoife and her partner Lucy develop and manage investment portfolios. I couldn’t tell you the truth because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Saying that, all but splitting up with you because it looked so bad on my part kind of took the edge off a little. You should have trusted me, Gem. I love you and I swear I’d never cheat.”

Gemma felt terrible. She’d been so quick to judge – although, in her defence, the evidence had seemed pretty damning.

“Cal’s been working with me and my partner, Lucy,” Aoife said softly, stepping forward and fixing Gemma with her clear green-eyed gaze. “‘Partner’ as in my girlfriend, as well as my business associate. You really don’t have anything to worry about, Gemma. I promise. You never did. I’m more likely to fancy you than Cal!”

It was just as well that Gemma was already sitting down, because this was a bombshell she really hadn’t been expecting. Scary black-bob lady, she who shouted at people trying to peek into cottages, was Aoife’s girlfriend? Aoife, whom she’d been so certain was out to steal Cal away, wasn’t even interested in men? Seriously?

“But you dated Cal,” Gemma said, totally thrown, and Aoife laughed.

“Yes, for about ten minutes when I was fourteen and before I acknowledged that I really wasn’t into guys. I think Cal knew the truth about me long before I reached that point.”

“Sure, if you didn’t fancy me you had to be gay, so,” teased Cal, and Aoife rolled her eyes at him.

“Men, you’re all the same. Jaysus, you’ll be offering to convert me in a minute,” she complained.

Gemma stared at her, fascinated, watching the ice maiden melt before her eyes. Or maybe Aoife had never been an ice maiden in the first place and it was only her own insecurities that had convinced Gemma otherwise? The truth had been there all the time.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked Cal. “Why the big secret?”

“My mother is very old fashioned,” Aoife said before Cal could reply. “She’s just like Cal’s mammy in that respect. When she finds out, then it should be me she hears it from. I owe her that much.”

Gemma thought of Mammy South.
Old fashioned
was putting it politely.

“Cal was the first person I told the truth about me,” Aoife continued. “He’s kept my secret for years and I trust him totally. In London it’s simple. Lucy and I have our private life away from home, but my mother would be so shocked if she ever found out. I’m going to tell her very soon because Lucy and I want to get married, but the news has to come from me and I have to tell her in my way. It can’t come from anyone else.”

“That’s why I couldn’t tell you there was absolutely nothing to worry about, no matter how much I longed to,” Call said tenderly. He knitted his fingers with Gemma’s and dropped a kiss onto her knuckles. “It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

Gemma’s heart melted because this was Cal all over. It would have made his life a thousand times easier if he had just told her the truth about Aoife – but he’d never betray a confidence, just as he’d never break the contract with Seaside Rock
and let the team down. It was what had made him such a brilliant captain for the Dangers and why she should have known better than to ever doubt him. When Cal gave his word it was rock solid.

“Lucy and I are in Cornwall for Christmas because we were planning to help Cal finish the last bits on the cottage,” Aoife was saying, just in case there was still any doubt. “Gemma, Cal’s employing me and he’s the most loyal person on earth. He’s never breathed a word about my personal life, even to you. I promise he would never, ever betray you.” She shook her head. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had more than enough of secrets. Total honesty: that’s going to be my New Year’s resolution. And if you guys will excuse me, I’m going to get back to Talland Bay where there’s a hotel, a Christmas dinner and somebody very special waiting for me.”

The front door clicked shut behind Aoife, and she was gone. Moments later her car crunched over the drive and Cal and Gemma were alone in the cottage. It smelled of new wood and paint and possibilities. Cal raised Gemma to her feet and pulled her close. Instantly she felt all the tension and despair of the past few weeks slip away. He fitted perfectly in her arms, and he felt so right.

“I love you, Cal,” Gemma whispered into his chest. “I’m so sorry I didn’t trust you.”

As she looked up at him again, Cal’s hands cupped her face and he gently brushed the tears from her cheeks. Then he bent his head and kissed her. It was just the softest of kisses, but one that made her shiver all over – and with desire this time, rather than from the cold.

“You planned all of this for me,” she said, still unable to quite believe this. It was hardly surprising that her friends and family hadn’t seemed to back her. “Everyone knew, didn’t they? Angel? My folks?”

Cal pulled a face. “Angel could get blood from a stone, so she could. I couldn’t keep it from her; she was ready to kill me for cheating on you, so she was, and I feared for my life. She went mad that Laurence already knew.”

“Laurence knew about this too?”

He nodded. “Laurence has been grand. If anyone knows how hard it is to rebuild a house, it’s him! Sure, he gave me as much extra film work as he could find but, Jaysus, I thought it would kill me at times on top of the bakery. Laurence always knew that I was going to escape for Christmas to be with you here. The original plan was that I’d tell you after the Christmas show – that was my last one – and we’d drive down here together. When it all started to fall apart he told me to go anyway, and feck the contract.”

He drew Gemma close and she rested her head against his chest once more.

“You did all this for me and you didn’t complain even when I was angry with you?” she said, feeling ashamed. She could feel his heart beating against her cheek – his loving and generous heart. “The cottage was our dream.”

When she raised her head, Cal leaned down and rubbed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss. “It
is
our dream, you mean. I hope you’re ready for it? We are going to escape for Christmas after all! I’ve left the show now and we’ll be moving the business here in the New Year, if that’s what you still want?”

He looked so worried as he said this. Gemma tightened her arms around him.

“Of course I want it,” she assured him. “I want to be with you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my whole life. This cottage, the show, the business even – none of that matters more than being with you.”

“Phew,” said Cal. “As for the business, I’ve neglected it something terrible, so I have. It’s probably hanging by a bloody thread with those trainees running it. Jaysus, I hope Rick and Jamie still want me to supply their places, otherwise we’ll probably starve!” He winked. “I’m teasing, Gem; don’t look so worried. Now come on, don’t you want to see what’s happened to the auld place?”

Gemma certainly did. It had come a long way from the ruins they’d explored before, and hand in hand they wandered through the renovated cottage. Nothing had been decorated yet – because Aoife had been adamant that this was Gemma’s job, Cal explained – but it was the perfect blank canvas, and she could see how he’d taken their summer daydreams from that one perfect afternoon and woven them into this special place. It had been done with such love that she could hardly speak. Cal had listened to all her wishes and had quietly gone away and built her dream home. He hadn’t expected thanks; he’d worked twice as hard and never complained when she’d been angry with him.

If you needed an example of love then this was it. With love he had made this place – their Christmas escape – their home. And if she was brave enough to tell him her news, maybe it would also be where their future would truly begin?

The final room was the kitchen, which for Gemma and Cal was not just the location for their business and their passion for baking, but the very place where all those months ago they’d held each other closely, gazed up at the summer sky and dreamed. That day when she and Angel had trespassed, Gemma had already seen how the cottage had been extended, and that a glass roof spanned the entire length of the south-facing side. She knew that the sun would pour in during the morning, always the hardest time for an early-rising baker, and stay with them all day as Cal’s work finished and Gemma perfected her cakes. It was – as they’d imagined on that summer’s day while the wood pigeons had called and the bees had droned among the wildflowers – the perfect spot to house their bakery.

Cal paused on the threshold. He hadn’t let go of her hand for a second, but suddenly his fingers were chilly and he was chewing his bottom lip in the way he always did when there was something on his mind. Gemma rose onto her tiptoes and kissed him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Did you see the show?”

Gemma shook her head. “I turned it off, even though my mother was adamant I should watch it. I only lasted as far as Fifi arriving. I couldn’t bear seeing her looking like she was going to jump your bones.”

“
My
bones?” laughed Cal. “Sure, you should have stayed tuned! She snogged Dougal under the mistletoe and then they vanished off for ages. Mammy’s gone mad, so!”

Gemma grinned at this. Handsome, silver-tongued Dougal was an utter devil, although nothing would convince his mother that he wasn’t whiter than the baby Jesus’s swaddling bands, and he and Fifi would be a match made in reality-TV heaven. Already Gemma was sure that if Angel had her way there’d soon be another South joining the cast.

“So you never saw what happened next?” Cal continued.

“No.” Gemma stepped back and looked up at him. “What?”

He gazed down at her. “I didn’t stay. I told them all – and the whole of Britain too, so – that I couldn’t be anywhere without you. Then I left. I said I had to be with you, Gemma Pengelley, and then I drove here. There’s something I needed to show you.”

His brown eyes were bright with emotion. He didn’t have to say that he loved her; Gemma knew she would never need to hear it again, because she could see it in his expression.

“The cottage?” she smiled. “That was what you had to show me!”

But Cal didn’t speak. Instead, he shook his head and, still holding her hand, led her into the kitchen. Now it was Gemma who couldn’t speak, because there simply weren’t the words. This was a space that had been created with such love that it took her breath away. Above them, just as they’d envisioned it, was the glass roof. Even on a midwinter’s day when the sun had slipped below the hill and the stars were already getting ready for a night out, it flooded the kitchen with light, revealing a flagstone floor and acres of work surfaces. Although the fittings had yet to arrive, Gemma could picture them all perfectly and even smell the bread as it rose in the ovens.