Page 2 of I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Ever since then Chrissie hadn’t wanted to come to Winterbruck at Christmastime. It was the most beautiful season of all, but to Chrissie it would always remind her of the day her family was ripped apart at the seams.

After Chrissie stopped coming for Christmas and Meg got busier at the chocolaterie, slowly Earl and Astrid had got used to it being just the two of them for the festive season, but oh how he would love to have his granddaughter here, in this sitting room, smiling and joking with him and talking late into the evening.

Her letter continued.

Christmas plans for this year are already proving to be tricky – Rhys asked me to spend Christmas with his family, and Mum wanted me to spend it with her. I have no idea what to do, but I think I’ll tell them both no and that what I would really like is to come and see you two.

I will call you once I’m sure this letter is there, so have a think about it. I really hope I can see you soon.

Love, Sarah x

P.S. – are all the decorations up yet?

Earl finished the letter. He didn’t have to think about it, of course – it was a definite yes to a visit from their granddaughter. But he was confused. He’d thought Sarah was happy, engaged to be married, and settled. But if that was the case, why do her own thing this year with regards to Christmas? Even if it was complicated, surely she wouldn’t want to be apart from her fiancé? And so close to the wedding?

He wondered whether Chrissie had any idea yet about Sarah’s request and her plans.

Earl registered talking coming from the kitchen – the sort of talking that couldn’t possibly be Astrid giving herself instructions as she baked, the way she usually did – and was about to go and see who she was speaking to when his wife emerged into the hallway. Apron on, phone at her ear, she came towards him but was saying her goodbyes to whoever was on the line.

‘Who was that?’ he asked.

‘Meg.’

‘She didn’t want to speak to me?’ She usually did, even if not for long. She’d always been a talker, just like her mum, and using that voice of hers had sometimes got her into trouble. One time in particular.

‘She had to rush off,’ said Astrid. ‘I guess that’s November at a chocolaterie when the world is getting ready for Christmas. She sends her love though.’

Meg’s partner, Grant, owned The Cocoa Cupboard where Meg was the lead chocolatier. It was a successful chocolaterie, but even though Grant owned it, Meg was the superstar in Earl’s eyes. He liked to think of his headstrong daughter doing something she loved, after all her waiting and hard work to do so. He’d enjoyed his time in the army, apart from the effect it had on his family, and he’d followed his career until his late forties when the time came to make a change, the best thing for everyone. The fact that Meg had found something she had a passion for was a good thing. She sounded like an absolute powerhouse when it came to The Cocoa Cupboard, where she got to dream up new varieties and flavours all the time, and when she wasn’t doing that, she was interacting with customers or helping to manage and lead the staff. Earl often wondered whether part of her management scope was managing Grant, the man she’d chosen to be with, but a man Earl had never been sure about.

Although unmarried, Meg and Grant were living together. Earl had learned to accept Meg’s decisions over time, but despite his efforts he was pretty sure he hadn’t been able to hide the way he felt about her choice of partner. Earl and Grant had clashed the one and only time they’d met, and not because Grant had done anything in particular, just that he was shifty-looking and never made eye contact. Whatever it was about him, Earl had always had a bad feeling when it came to the man. Since that visit, Meg had always come to Switzerland on her own. And on the few occasions he and Astrid had been over to England, Grant had always been mysteriously busy.

Astrid wore a red gingham apron – luckily, as she had plenty of dust and spillages down it – and her rosy cheeks highlighted her ice-blue eyes and the smile that didn’t look any different at eighty-two to the girl he’d asked to dance when she was only twenty years old.

The phone still in her hand, Astrid announced, ‘Meg wants to come and stay.’

‘In the New Year?’

‘No. That’s the thing… she says she’s coming in a few days. Until after Christmas.’

Earl’s eyes lit up, his heart soared. But then he frowned. Something wasn’t right. Meg’s business was always hectic at this time of year, then on Boxing Day she would go into sale mode, then there would be a brief respite before Valentine’s Day, Easter, and so on and so on. ‘She never comes for Christmas,’ he said. ‘She can never take much time off work.’ The mayhem had kept her away from Christmas in the Swiss Alps for too many years.

Astrid shrugged, put the phone down on its cradle, and tightened the belt on her apron. ‘It’s odd. But I’m not asking questions. It’ll be lovely to have her here.’ They shared a look that told Earl she’d missed the Christmases they’d had family around them as much as he did.

Earl picked up the letter he hadn’t told Astrid about yet. ‘This came today.’

She beamed when she spotted the name at the end of the letter. ‘It’s from Sarah. I’ll wash my hands and read it properly.’

‘She wants to come here.’

‘When?’

He pulled a face that suggested she hazard a guess.

Her brow rose. ‘She wants to come now?’

‘Not just that, she wants to stay for Christmas too.’ He slumped down in the armchair. ‘I don’t know what’s going on. With Sarah or Meg.’

‘I must admit, it does seem a little odd. For both of them.’