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Behind them, still unseen, Mabel and Brooke hugged each other.

35

Mabel

They all wanted to stay and support her, but Mabel assured them she would be fine, and that they should start their journeys. The sun was shining, and road clearing was well underway, but still there was no telling how long it would take for them to make it to their destinations.

They needed to leave, but it surprised Mabel how much she wanted them to stay.

Who would have thought it. Who would have thought when they’d appeared at her door in the snow a few days ago that she’d be waving them off like old friends, with regret in her heart. But there was also something else in her heart. There was hope. They’d shaken her out of the safe little world she’d created for herself, and now she was ready to step forward.

And although part of her wanted them to stay, that wasn’t the part she paid attention to. They had places to be. Life didn’t stand still. No matter how much you wanted to hold it tightly and keep everything the same, it would always slip through your fingers. Adapting to change was part of being human. Their unusual, accidental Christmas was proof of that. It wasn’t what any of them would have chosen at the beginning, but by that morning over their final breakfast, they’d all admitted that it was a Christmas they would always remember.

She heard a shout and saw Brooke gesturing to Matt, who was ploughing through the snow with more luggage.

Mabel smiled. The man was a keeper as far as she was concerned.

He’d been outside before breakfast, meeting the rental company, who had turned up with a replacement car. They’d arranged to take the original car to a local garage and once they’d driven away, Matt had focused on assessing the damage to Mabel’s wall.

Jason was with him and together they’d removed snow and taken a good look, while Izzy built a final snowman with the children to keep them occupied.

“The snow took most of the impact,” Matt told Mabel as he strode across with an update. “The wall looks surprisingly intact considering, but I’m going to make some calls and get it fixed once the snow has melted.”

“I don’t care about the wall,” Mabel said. “I’m grateful to the wall. If it hadn’t been there, we might never have met.”

Matt leaned in and gave her a firm hug. “We’re going to miss you, Mabel. Next time we visit Brooke’s parents, perhaps we could meet up.”

“Yes. We must do that.” Armed with the last of their bags, Brooke joined them. She was wearing an elegant winter coat, her makeup was immaculate and she looked quite different from the woman who had been sprawled on the sofa in the library for much of the past few days, playing with the children.

Matt took the bags from her and headed to the car.

“Mabel, are you sure we can’t stay?” Brooke put her hand on Mabel’s arm. “I really want to be there to support you if it would make it easier.”

“You’ve already done more than enough. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even be standing here waiting for her to arrive. I’d still be locked in the past, wallowing in blame. Thanks to you I’ve forgiven myself, or at least I’m trying to. Now I have to hope Chrissie forgives me, too. And Tom.”

To her, that mattered as much. She’d been unfair to him. She could see that now. Poor man. But she was going to make it up to him if he would only let her. She was going to build bridges.

“Brooke!”

Brooke glanced towards the car where Matt was gesturing and then back at Mabel. “Call me.” She hugged Mabel tightly. “Anytime.”

“I will. And I hope everything goes well with your parents. They’re lucky to have a daughter like you, and a son-in-law like Matt.” Emotion threatened to choke her so she pulled back and cleared her throat.

If Chrissie did turn up then it wouldn’t do for Mabel to be crying.

“Goodbye, Mabel.” Elsie ran up to her and so did Poppy.

They both hugged her, all pink cheeks, big smiles and bright wool hats.

The snowman was resplendent by the front door, and Mabel held both children close for a moment, hoping it would take the snow a while to melt because she knew that seeing the snowman there would make her smile and help her through the cold of January.

There was another emotional moment as the whole family said goodbye to Jason and Izzy, who were also almost ready to leave.

Elsie ran back to the house and picked up Crumpet for yet another hug. The cat had been kissed so many times its fur was damp.

“Can Not-A-Cat come with us?” Poppy was trying to twirl in the snow, but it was too deep and she plopped onto her bottom with a thud.

Matt scooped her up. “Not-A-Cat lives here. But Mabel is going to send us photographs from time to time.”