Page 54 of Christmas All the Way

Jim Bairstow moved away from the window, a stern look on his lined face. ‘What is it, Gavin? Is something wrong?’

‘You’d better sit down, Jim,’ Raff said. ‘What we’re about to say might come as a bit of a shock.’

The older man frowned as he considered the group before him. ‘I don’t know who some of you are.’

Gavin glanced behind him. ‘Shut the door, Raff.’ Once the noise from the pub downstairs was muted, he waved a hand at Keeley. ‘I’m sure you’ve met Dr Cotterill here – she’s the curator of Juniper Cottage.’

Keeley nodded in stilted greeting, wondering whether Gavin had used her formal title to add weight to the accusations they were about to make.

‘You also know Raff, whose mother runs the Santa’s Secret shop next door to Ruggles,’ Gavin went on. ‘Beside him is Paul, our resident electrical genius, and Grace, who works at Santa’s Secret.’

‘Thank you,’ Jim said, and settled into a nearby chair. He leaned his walking stick against the table. ‘Now what is it you want to say?’

Keeley exchanged a look with Grace. Now that the time had come to accuse Jesse of sabotaging the lights switch-on, she felt a prickle of unease. What if they were wrong? But judging from the determined expression on her friend’s face, she had no such doubts. She stepped forward. ‘How long have you known Ivy Caldwell, Mr Bairstow?’

He eyed her in surprise. ‘I couldn’t tell you exactly. Between thirty and forty years, at a guess. We were friends long before she took on the lease for the barn and opened Santa’s Secret.’

Grace nodded. ‘Has she been a good tenant?’

‘The best,’ Jim said, without hesitation. ‘I knew when she first described her business idea to me that it would be the perfect partner for Ruggles and her advice and assistance have been invaluable over the years. It was her idea to create the indoor Christmas displays that have proved so popular, and she also suggested we took advantage of the social media buzz around autumn and create a bespoke area for pumpkins.’ He smiled at Raff. ‘She’s a smart businesswoman.’

‘That’s why you charged her a peppercorn rent,’ Grace pressed. ‘Because you saw the benefits her business could offer.’

Jim looked uncomfortable. ‘I don’t see what that has to do with anything, but yes, that was part of it.’

Jesse sat up straighter in his chair. ‘But times change, Dad. Ruggles is much bigger now and has the potential to be even more profitable. We have to look to the future.’

His father frowned. ‘Perhaps, but profit isn’t everything.’ He returned his attention to Grace. ‘What’s this about?’

Grace took a breath. ‘Are you aware that Jesse has told Ivy he plans to increase the rent she pays for the barn by two thousand pounds a month?’

There was a moment of stunned silence before Jim’s head whipped round to stare at Jesse. ‘What?’ he exploded. ‘Is this true?’

‘Relax, Dad,’ Jesse said, holding up his hands in a placatory gesture. ‘It’s all part of the restructuring I told you about. When everything is transferred over to Ruggles Holdings, we’ll be able to negotiate new terms with all our business partners and suppliers, and demand a fair rent for the use of the barn. Although, to be honest, I can see much better uses for it than a shop selling Christmas tat.’

Beside her, Keeley saw Raff’s expression darken. She placed a restraining hand on his arm. ‘Let Grace handle this,’ she whispered.

‘That didn’t stop you asking Ivy to supply Flaxwood with lights for your village display, did it?’ Grace asked Jesse. ‘Which brings us on to more of your sneaky behaviour.’

Gavin took a step forward and fixed his gaze on Deke. ‘Want to know why the lights went out and ruined your moment of glory?’

Deke looked confused. ‘A power overload or something?’

‘Wrong,’ Gavin snapped. He stabbed a finger at Jesse. ‘He broke into the village hall and flipped the switch to turn everything off.’

Every head turned towards Jesse. ‘What the hell, bro?’ Deke said, glaring.

Jesse laughed. ‘Don’t listen to them. I never touched the switch. Why would I?’

‘To make Freezy Tye look bad,’ Grace said. ‘It’s no secret you want Flaxwood to win Britain’s Most Christmassy Village this year. You think it will be good for Ruggles.’

‘It will,’ Jesse said. ‘But the lights going out was nothing to do with me and you can’t prove otherwise.’

Keeley crossed her fingers. ‘We can, actually. There’s a CCTV camera outside the hall. It’s there to keep a record of everyone going in and out.’

‘And you’re claiming you’ve got me on video breaking in, are you?’ he said disbelievingly.

She steeled herself. Up until this point, she hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true. ‘We know it was you, Jesse. Just admit it.’