‘Obviously, things were tense, and Jeff and Cara soon moved away. Jeff rented out the cottage until late last year, when he put it on the market.’
‘And that’s when you bought it!’
‘Yep. And last Christmas, Cara had Marcus served with divorce papers. And I wondered why my neighbours weren’t in the festive spirit last year, and why they didn’t, and still don’t, speak to one another. Oh, and apparently, Cara and Jeff are getting married this Christmas. Adele knows someone who’s been invited to their wedding. So I don’t think I’ll be getting Marcus hanging Christmas decorations and having fun, do you?’ I said, adding a bit of drama to my voice by deepening my tone. Not that it needed it. The whole sorry tale was pretty dramatic.
‘Fat chance,’ Madi said. ‘Although … maybe that’s exactly what Marcus needs. A bit of cheering up and something to take his mind off the fact that his ex-wife and his former best friend are getting married this Christmas.’
Nine
Now that I knew the story of Adele and Marcus’ past, I was aware I had my work cut out to get them to become friends again, let alone more, especially as I only had twenty-two days until Christmas Eve, including today.
Marcus had accused Adele of saying hurtful things to Cara, and later, of lying. He’d ended their friendship because he believed Adele was effectively, stalking him, lying about his wife and his best friend, and trying to break up his marriage. To top that off, he’d threatened Adele with litigation.
Not exactly friendly, was it?
And although Adele had been more than a little in love with Marcus for several years, his behaviour towards her after Cara had come into their lives, had turned that love to hate.
And yet, as Adele had regaled me with their sad and sorry story, I got the feeling that the line between love and hate was wafer thin.
Perhaps there was some hope.
Or perhaps there had been too much water under that particular bridge.
Marcus had been completely wrong about Adele. It would’ve been good if he could have found the heart to apologise. Obviously, he was caught up in his own sadness and he might have resented Adele for being the one who had first made him aware of his wife’s infidelity, which he had chosen not to believe. He might have felt foolish for allowing himself to be blind to the betrayal by his wife and his best friend.
Yet, without knowing any of their history, I had seen how much Marcus and Adele had in common. And Adele had said they were such good friends before he had met Cara.
Was there any way that I could get them to at least, share the gift of friendship again this Christmas?
I would have to give the matter some serious thought. I’d discuss it more with Madi.
And maybe with Berry too. I might also ask Paul for his opinion, merely to get the male perspective, although I wouldn’t tell either of them all the details, or give them names. That wouldn’t be fair to Adele and Marcus. I’d simply tell them that two friends had fallen out when the partner of one of them had had an affair with a third friend, and that one of the first two had revealed the affair. Hopefully, that would sort of explain it.
But for now I needed to make some Christmas decorations.
The cottage was lovely and warm, the heating having been on ever since I’d come home from Adele’s, and I had enough hot chocolate to last me for a while yet. Adele had kindly offered to make me a fresh flask later, or to make tea if I would prefer that.
Life was strange sometimes and often threw us surprises. If I hadn’t spent the night with my parents, and if Dad hadn’t given me a lift, and if I hadn’t stopped on the wooden bridge and marvelled at nature, I might not have seen Adele open her front door, and I wouldn’t have waved, and I wouldn’t have been invited in for coffee.
That string of events had meant that Adele had poured her heart out to me, and in doing so, we had finally struck up a friendship.
I munched on one of her delicious cinnamon cookies. She’d given me a plastic container with enough of them to last me for a week. As I savoured the second one and washed it down with some more of her equally delicious hot chocolate, I had an idea.
Adele had told me she was struggling financially. She needed extra cash; I was thinking of taking on some help. Would she be interested in helping me with my Midwinter Cottage Decorations? I knew she worked shifts in Fairlight Bakes, but I was happy with someone who needed flexible hours. I’d run it by her later. But I’d mention it to Madi first to see what she thought.
What Adele should really do was set up her own small business, selling her scrumptious cookies locally. She could have a market stall like Berry and me. And maybe sell them online, too. I didn’t know what was involved with edible goods, but I was sure Adele could soon find out, or might even know already.
I could offer to sell a few batches on my stall on Thursday and again on Saturday. Christmas cookies and Christmas decorations went together like Santa and his reindeer.
And then I had another idea. I could buy several batches from Adele and give them as Christmas presents. That would help both of us.
And what if…?
‘Wow!’ I said aloud. ‘Ideas are coming to me like snowflakes on a wintry day.’
Although there wasn’t any sign yet of the snow that had been forecast. But it was only Monday.
Which reminded me. I had told Mum I would call the heating guy to see if there was any chance of an earlier appointment. I knew it was a long shot but it was worth a try. I’d do that after lunch.
