Page 26 of I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Meg shook her head at the pair of leopard-skin mittens Sarah held up. ‘I’ve never managed to get any of my honeycomb chocolate to taste as good as what I sampled today, nor have such a smooth and light texture. I’m not sure whether it’s the type of milk they use here, or the ingredient proportions, but a lot of the fun is in the experimenting. I always found that.’

She checked the price on a pair of fawn woollen gloves and took them up to the counter. In German she thanked the assistant and told him that she didn’t need a bag, thank you, and asked whether he could please cut the label off her purchase for her so she could wear them now.

‘You sounded like a local,’ said Sarah as they left the shop.

Meg pulled on her new gloves. ‘I lived here for long enough that I got to learn a bit of German,’ she said. ‘A lot of subjects at school bored me, but not languages.’

‘What was it like going to school here in Switzerland? It must have felt like an adventure.’

They moved out of the way of a group of people clutching skis and clomping heel to toe in their special boots. Ski fields were accessible from here, a short train ride away.

Meg was happy to tell Sarah about the good parts of her school days here at an international school that had smaller classes and a more diverse curriculum. She didn’t have to include the fact that despite the positives she’d still acted out, she’d looked for trouble, and she’d continued to do that in London once she left. If there was one thing Chrissie might thank her for it was keeping the muddled and messy side of herself quiet. The last thing she wanted was to be classed as a bad influence. That was likely why Chrissie had cut off contact and never accepted her reaching out over the years before Meg had eventually accepted it and backed off.

They grabbed a takeaway coffee each to drink while they window-shopped, looking at the cute stores selling tourist memorabilia, the bookshop with a wonderful Christmas display in its window, a cute café, a shop dedicated solely to jumpers, and a small French bistro. When they passed a bridal boutique Sarah didn’t even pause or pass comment. Odd, when she was getting married in three weeks. Then again, so was coming here so close to the wedding. But it wasn’t her place to say anything. Meg had learnt that sometimes you just had to stay quiet, and this was one of those times.

As they trudged through the snow up the hill and back towards the chalet, she felt happier than she had in a long while.

The only problem was, if Chrissie found out she was here and spending time with her daughter, it would all come to an end and could even make things worse.

11

SARAH

Sarah was helping Nanna make the evening meal. Grumps had marinated some beef, and they were in the kitchen preparing the vegetables and the potatoes to make a rösti. Meg had been in her room all day, working on her laptop, which was a shame because since their walk into town and the chocolate shop Sarah had started to bond with her auntie. Her grandparents seemed to approve, but nobody mentioned Chrissie and Sarah didn’t want to ask Nanna what her mum would say when she found out. She didn’t want to upset Nanna. It had to be hard enough having two daughters who were estranged.

Nanna took the peeled potatoes and rinsed them in the colander. She didn’t say anything other than, ‘If you need to talk, about anything, Sarah, you know where we are, don’t you?’

Mid-peeling a carrot, Sarah leaned across and kissed Nanna on the cheek. ‘Thank you.’ This was why she’d come here. She had her grandparents to talk to if she wanted but they’d also leave her alone, which was what she really needed.

Once they’d done as much as they could in the kitchen, Sarah went upstairs to read. Except she couldn’t focus. She lay on the bed in the familiar room – she always stayed here when she came. It had the same double bed with the denim blue duvet cover and patchwork quilt at the very end for when the nights got so chilly you had to pull it up and over you, the same slightly battered white dressing table with empty drawers for her things, and the sheepskin rug that her toes sank into when she got out of bed. She looked up at the snowflakes hitting the skylight before they splodged into different shapes entirely. And she stayed there until Grumps announced that dinner was ready.

Dinner was a sociable affair. She and Meg talked about the chocolate shop and more about Sarah’s job, and when they all turned in reasonably early, Sarah left her bedroom lamp on and went over to the window to stare out at the darkness and the snow still falling. Without letting the patchwork quilt fall from around her shoulders, she took a quick photograph and sent it to Rhys.

Snowy rooftops almost hid some houses, obliterated the divide between homes and roads for now, at least until the snow ploughs came round in the morning or cars squashed the snow away. She loved gazing out at the view. They didn’t have much to look at out of the windows in the flat she shared with Rhys in Oxfordshire, unless you wanted to look in other people’s windows or to the bins down below.

She was about to close the curtains and climb into bed to read for a while when she spotted Jonathan outside. He had a wide shovel and was clearing the pavement in front of their chalet. Then he moved up the path to begin clearing that too.

He looked up and Sarah almost ducked out of the way as if she’d been caught spying, but he raised a hand, waved as if he knew her.

Did he remember her? Her dad?

She smiled, waved back, and then he carried on shovelling and clearing the snow.

She climbed into bed at the same time her phone pinged with a message from Rhys thanking her for the photo. He was impressed with the snow. He asked if she could chat.

She replied that she was in bed but said that they’d talk tomorrow and he sent back a row of kisses.

She loved him so much. But she was twenty years old and the closer it crept towards the wedding, the more unsure she was of whether she was ready for what came next.

* * *

Sarah had set her alarm to make sure she was up earlier than she’d been waking since she arrived in Winterbruck. The sun wasn’t even up yet, and after she threw back the covers and tiptoed over to the window, she pulled back the curtain and peered out. There were only a couple of street lamps, with this being a quiet road, but those and the lights from other chalets illuminated the scene enough to show that snow had fallen pretty heavily overnight. The scene was unspoiled apart from what looked like a few footsteps out front of the chalet opposite.

She pulled on a pair of fleece-lined leggings, a T-shirt and a jumper, then went downstairs. Nanna and Grumps were in the kitchen, dancing around each other as Nanna made porridge and Grumps made the coffee.

Grumps’s face lit up when he saw Sarah. ‘I didn’t hear you get up.’ He lifted a mug in the air, indicating the offer of coffee.

‘Not yet, thanks,’ she said, before giving him a good-morning hug.