Page 69 of Christmas All the Way

The Merriest Month, ELIZA NORTON

Grace wasn’t sure what woke her on Christmas morning. She lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling and listening for clues that Keeley and Xander were awake, although she didn’t crane her ears too hard because there were some things she definitely didn’t want to hear. Once it had become clear on Monday afternoon that the two of them were very much reconciled, she’d retreated to her own house for the night, claiming she had some Christmas preparation to do. It hadn’t been a complete lie; she still had a few presents to wrap and needed to collect some more clothes to see her over Christmas Day and beyond. When she’d returned to Keeley’s cottage on Tuesday evening, Xander had left for London.

‘But he’s coming back, right?’ Grace had asked. ‘You’ve invited him for Christmas?’

Keeley had folded her arms. ‘Of course I haven’t. You’re my guest this year and Gavin won’t thank me for presenting him with another mouth to feed on Christmas Day.’

Gavin had invited Keeley and Grace to join him for a feast at the pub, along with several other villagers who would otherwise have been on their own, and had graciously extended the invitation to include Orla.

‘Gavin will cope,’ Grace replied. ‘And I’m more than happy to have Xander around, if that’s what you want. As a wise Victorian novelist once pointed out, Christmas is a time for togetherness.’

As she’d predicted, Gavin had taken the additional guest in his stride and Xander had arrived in Freezy Tye just as dusk was falling on Christmas Eve. The three of them had joined the rest of the village for carols on the green, then spent the evening watching The Muppet Christmas Carol and eating cheese. Grace had been grateful for their company, which had helped her not to dwell on all the little Christmas Eve traditions that had fallen by the wayside in Jack’s absence. At least when she’d crept downstairs at midnight to arrange her presents under the tree, she hadn’t needed to worry about waking him.

And now it was Christmas Day. In the distant past, Grace would have been awoken long before dawn by the thunder of feet on the stairs and a delighted bellow when Jack found the glittering pile of presents. More recently, his pleasure would have been more muted but she could still expect a hug and a gruff, ‘Thanks, Mum.’

Today she would have to settle for a phone call, which would probably make her cry in spite of her determination not to. But there was the promise of seeing Raff later; he’d invited her over for supper with Bilbo and she couldn’t deny a quiet thrill of anticipation at the thought of where that might lead.

Rolling over, she squinted at her phone and saw it was almost nine-thirty. When was the last time she’d slept so late? Not often in recent months, and definitely not on the days she’d needed to be up for work. But that was over now, at least for the foreseeable future. Santa’s Secret was closed to the public until the end of January, although she knew Ivy went in to assess the stock levels and tidy up before then, and the delivery team collected the various light displays they had provided. Before the conversation with Raff in the snow, Grace had felt consumed by emptiness when she’d thought about her life past Christmas Eve. But now, thanks to that wonderful heart-to-heart, she had hope that there was happiness and fulfilment in the months to come. Maybe – just maybe – she had found a purpose again.

With a sigh that was very nearly contented, she poked her head onto the landing to check the coast was clear, then tiptoed to the bathroom for a shower. When she returned, her phone held a message from Raff.

Merry Christmas, Grace. I can’t wait to start planning our future together. Sorry I couldn’t manage any snow today – my supplier was out of stock after last week. Bilbo says he’s looking forward to seeing you later. Raff x

A smile curved her lips. The future he referred to felt fresh and full of promise, as well as dauntingly unknown. The details were yet to be hammered out but thankfully, Ivy had leapt at the idea of Grace and Raff taking over Santa’s Secret; in fact, it was all they could do to dissuade her from handing over the reins there and then. Grace had been immensely relieved when she’d agreed to stay on in a part-time capacity to share her considerable expertise, although the twinkle in her eye suggested she had worked out there was more to the proposed new partnership than just business. Grace was grateful that she hadn’t immediately demanded to know everything. There had been several more kisses since the night of the party, and a lot more talking and dreaming, but both Grace and Raff had felt it was better to wait until after Christmas to share their news, although Ivy would obviously be first on the list.

Still smiling, Grace was about to reply to Raff when she heard the door knocker rattling downstairs. ‘What the hell?’ she muttered, pulling her towel more closely around her and crossing to the window to peer outside. It couldn’t be a delivery – not on Christmas Day – and sure enough, there was no sign of a van on the deserted lane. Shrugging, she began to pat her hair dry when the knocking came again, and this time it was accompanied by a thunderous hammering on the door itself. Now starting to fear that something awful had happened to one of Keeley’s neighbours, Grace pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms and an old jumper and hurried back out to the landing. Keeley’s door was firmly closed, which surprised her. Surely she could hear the racket and must be wondering what was going on? Muttering under her breath, she padded down the stairs.

There was definitely someone there – she could see a hulking shadow through the spyhole. Unable to decide whether she was more annoyed or concerned, she fumbled with the lock and yanked open the door to peer out. Standing on the doorstep, looking tanned but bedraggled and exhausted, was Jack.

‘Hello, Mum,’ he said, dropping a battered rucksack at his feet with a weary smile. ‘Happy Christmas.’

A sob welled up in her chest as she stared at him, wondering if she was somehow still asleep and dreaming. Tears pricked at her eyes. ‘What?’ she managed, swiping blearily to clear her vision. ‘How – what are you doing here?’

He grinned. ‘I’m home for Christmas. Aren’t you going to let me in?’

Grace didn’t move. She wasn’t sure she could. ‘But… but you’re in Australia. You’re not supposed to be here.’ She shook her head. ‘How did you even know where to find me?’

‘I know,’ he said, and shrugged. ‘But I hated the thought of you waking up on your own, and Dad could see I was miserable. Then Grandma messaged to say how much you were missing me, even though you were staying with Keeley, so Dad paid for me to get a flight back home. It’s not forever, just for a few weeks. I’ve got a job in a bar that I need to get back to. But I’m here now.’ He paused, his smile fading. ‘Except that you look like you’re going to burst into tears at any second so maybe you’re not as glad to see me as I thought you’d be.’

That was it – the dam broke. ‘Of course I’m happy to see you, you stupid child!’ she howled, throwing her arms around him and sobbing. ‘I just wasn’t – you’re not supposed to be here and I’d resigned myself to not seeing you and now you are here and I’m just so ha-ha-happy.’

He submitted to the hug for almost thirty seconds before gently disentangling himself. ‘You sound happy,’ he said teasingly. ‘But maybe we could go inside now. I’ve been travelling for more than twenty-four hours and everything hurts. Oh, and I’m starving. I hope you’ve got some food.’

She hiccupped then, but it turned into a laugh halfway through. ‘Of course I’ve got food,’ she said, stepping back. ‘Although I’m not sure what Keeley’s going to think when she sees you tucking into her breakfast.’

‘She’s going to think, “Excellent, he made it,” ’ Keeley said, from halfway up the stairs. She threw Grace an apologetic look. ‘Your mum let me in on the secret. That’s why I bought double the amount of bacon and eggs we actually need for breakfast this morning.’

Jack grinned. ‘Hi Keeley.’

She returned his smile. ‘Hello Jack.’ She glanced over her shoulder as Xander appeared in a pair of shorts. ‘Can I introduce you to Xander? He’s Australian so I expect you’ll have plenty to talk about.’

‘G’day,’ Jack said, waving.

Xander grinned. ‘Nice to meet you, mate.’

Grace slapped a hand to her forehead, still not quite able to believe her son – her actual baby – was standing in front of her. ‘I’d better message Gavin and let him know you’ll be coming for Christmas lunch too. I hope he’s got a big enough turkey.’

‘Gavin will cope,’ Keeley said, airily firing Grace’s own words back at her. ‘Mostly because he was in on the secret too.’