A Family For Christmas (39 page)

Next morning over breakfast, Grandfa Sam
lectured Luke about the previous day's escapade.

‘Your thoughtlessness affected many people,
young man. Firstly, those poor Sisters at the school were going frantic in case you'd had
an accident. Then there was the anxiety you put poor Eliza, Nan and Amos through, not to mention
the person whose boat you stole.'

‘I never stealed nothing, I only borrowed
it,' Luke argued.

‘Without permission, so that is stealing.
Then there's the question of the lifeboat crew and that man who risked his life jumping
into the sea to save you. He could have drowned, had you thought of that?' Luke shook his
head. ‘And whilst the boat was out rescuing you, another vessel might have been in
distress and what would have happened then?' Grandfa Sam asked, looking sternly at
Luke.

‘I never thought. Guess I'd better be
getting off to school,' he said, anxious to get away.

‘There'll be no school for you today,
young man.'

‘But you said I had to learn my sums and
fings,' Luke protested.

‘Indeed, that is the reason for going to
school. However, you put the Sisters to a lot of trouble yesterday and I'm not sure
they'll want you back.' Eliza stared at Grandfa
Sam in dismay but he shook his head. ‘Amos needs help in
the dispensary unloading and arranging new stock. Go downstairs and tell him I said you are to
sweep the floors, dust and polish the shelves and then do anything he asks of you.'

‘Yes, Grandfa Sam,' Luke
muttered.

‘And I shall be arranging for you to learn
to swim in the very near future. Now be off with you,' Sam said, waving the boy away.

‘The Sisters haven't really said they
won't have him back, have they?' Eliza asked in dismay.

‘No, of course not, but it'll do no
harm to let him ponder on the effects of his misdemeanour. Now, are you all right this
morning?'

‘Yes, thank you, but I would like to go and
see James during my noon break.'

‘Well, as it's Saturday and our half
day, you will be free to, won't you?' Grandfa said, his lips twitching.

‘Oh, Grandfa, there's no school today
anyway,' she laughed.

‘Don't let on, and with any luck
he'll be bursting to go to school in future. There's nothing like the threat of
having something taken away for you to realize you want it after all.'

How right he was, Eliza thought, thinking of
James.

‘Now to business. Tomorrow we must go
through your finances. Have you made a list of your requirements?'

Eliza nodded.

‘Well, we can go through that tomorrow as
well. Now, I'm sure you're anxious to get back to that concoction you began brewing
yesterday,' he smiled.

‘Thank you again for your generous offer of letting me rent
half your shop. I'm still overwhelmed.'

‘You do realize I'm looking to you
and Amos to keep Nan and me in our dotage?' he laughed.

As she made her way downstairs, an idea popped
into her head and she decided she'd discuss that with Grandfa Sam the next day as
well.

Down in the shop, Eliza donned her apron and
began breaking up the partly dried moss. She could hear Luke chatting away to Amos as he carried
boxes back and forth and, relieved he was occupied, she settled down to her work.

All morning, between serving her customers, she
distilled, inhaled, added, blended and inhaled again. Her glance kept going to the clock,
though, as she could hardly contain her impatience to see James. But just before noon, she
tested her final blend and let out a jubilant yell.

‘What's up?' Amos asked,
hurrying over to her work table.

‘Smell this, I'm sure I'm on
the right track now,' she cried, her eyes shining as she held out her mixing glass. He
dipped in the paper, wafted it under his nose, inhaled then repeated the process.

‘Well, well, well, that is almost a
symphony,' he proclaimed.

‘Almost?' she cried.

He grinned. ‘Very almost.'

‘It's still not quite right, though,
is it?' she asked.

He shook his head. ‘Look, where's
that bottle you're always on about?'

Eliza scrabbled in her drawer and handed it to
him. Taking off the top, he inhaled then went back to the
testing paper and wafted it around first under one nostril and
then the other to compare. ‘Hmm, yours is close but heavier. The balance is wrong. That
freshness needs to be more dominant. Your symphony, it needs to sing with the fresh notes,
Mademoiselle,' he said, throwing his arms in the air as he imitated their old tutor.

‘Come on, Amos, I've been waiting
ages,' Luke called.

‘Leave it for today and return to it fresh
on Monday,' Amos grinned. ‘Fresh, get it?'

‘Yes, very funny,' she smiled.

‘The plants will have completely dried out
by then and your nose will have cleared. Oh well, better get back to the urchin before he finds
more mischief to get up to. I shall be staying on this afternoon to get things sorted so you can
leave him with me if you want to go and see James.'

‘Thank you,' she said gratefully.

Hearing the clock chime the hour, Eliza cleared
away her things. Then, after checking her appearance in the little glass on the wall, she went
to the bottom of the stairs.

‘I'm just going out,' she
called. ‘Luke is with Amos.'

Making her way through the busy town towards the
cobbler's, she nervously rehearsed what she was going to say. Then, when she arrived, she
stood dithering outside. Should she go in through the shop door or down the entry to the side
one? Thinking the latter would be too personal, she stepped into the cool interior of the shop
with its rich smell of leather, only to be confronted by old Mr Cary.

‘Come to thank him for saving the
boy's life, have ee? Well, he's out the back, but if you upset him you'll have
me to answer to, got that?' he snarled, rubbing his cheek.
He turned back to his work and began banging in a nail with
unnecessary force.

Nervously, she pushed open the door to find James
finishing his meal. As he looked up she saw his eyes were red with tiredness. The breath caught
in her throat and she couldn't speak. Finally he broke the tension.

‘Late breakfast,' he said, pointing
to his empty plate. ‘Slept the clock round,' he said ruefully.

‘I'm not surprised after yesterday. I
can't begin to thank you for what you did. If it wasn't for you, Luke could have
been …'

‘Well, he's not. Luckily I had the
lifebelt on. They're vital in keeping us afloat yet they don't have enough to go
round. Crazy, isn't it?' he shrugged. ‘Anyhow, it was all part of the service,
Eliza.'

‘But you could have drowned and if that had
happened and I hadn't apologized … Oh, this is coming out all wrong. I meant what I
said yesterday. My behaviour has been selfish and unforgivable but if you can find it in your
heart to forgive me, I really will try.'

He gave her a level look. ‘You'd best
be sure, for I'll not give up the boats,' he warned.

She nodded. ‘If you can just give me
another chance …' The rest of her sentence was muffled as James jumped up and threw
his arms around her. Breathing in his familiar scent, she felt her senses race. It felt so
right.

‘Oh, Eliza, I've been so unhappy
without you, especially when Father said you had other …'

‘Now let's get one thing clear,
James. I have not walked out with anyone else and I never will.'

He chuckled. ‘No, Nan put me clear on that
the other
afternoon. I should never have doubted
you on that score,' he admitted, staring at her so tenderly her heart flipped. ‘But
with you working with that Amos … I mean, he's a handsome fellow and …'
He shrugged.

‘Amos is a fine fellow,' Eliza
agreed. ‘He makes me laugh but doesn't make my heart beat fast.'

James grinned. ‘Eliza Dryad, will you do me
the honour of walking out with me again?'

‘I would be delighted to, James
Cary,' she answered.

He beamed and, leaning forward, kissed her gently
on her lips.

‘Oh, James, I have so much to tell
you,' she said, when the room finally stopped spinning.

‘Let's go to Carla's and catch
up on all our news,' he suggested. ‘We'd better say goodbye to Father first,
though,' he grinned, and held out his hand.

‘You'll be pleased to know that Eliza
and I have sorted out our differences and are walking out again, Father. We have a lot to catch
up on so if you can spare me this afternoon, I'd be obliged. Of course, I'll make up
the time tomorrow,' he added quickly as Mr Cary grunted.

‘Go on, then. Nan told me off good and
proper for jumping to conclusions, but just you make sure you treat him right, girl.'

‘I will, Mr Cary, I promise,' Eliza
assured him.

‘Pleased to see you're walking better
in them shoes.'

‘Thank you so much, Mr Cary. They've
truly made a tremendous difference. They're a fine piece of workmanship and I'm very
grateful.'

Mr Cary nodded, then winced and put his hand to
his face.

‘Is something wrong, Mr Cary? Only I notice you keep
rubbing your cheek,' Eliza asked.

‘Bit of neuralgia, since you ask. Pains me
something terrible,' he admitted.

‘My grampy had that too. He used to grate
horseradish and hold it to his temple. Swore it worked every time,' she offered.

‘Bloomin' old wives'
tale,' the man grunted, and turned back to his last.

Eliza looked at James but he shrugged and made
his way outside.

The walk down back through the town was such a
contrast to her earlier journey. Now she was aware of everything: James close by her side, the
waves and tang of salt carried by the gentle onshore breeze. He grinned down at her and she felt
her heart do that funny little skip again.

‘Ah, my
bambini
,' Carla
cried, as they stepped inside the little café. ‘At last you have seen the sense. I so
glad. True love, it does not run smooth.' She clutched her chest dramatically.

‘We've missed you, Carla,'
James declared. ‘And your chocolatinas.'

‘Two of Carla's specialities coming
up. The making up is fun,' she said, giving them such a saucy wink, that Eliza felt her
cheeks grow warm.

James laughed. ‘Now tell me all your news.
I know about young Luke, of course, and Nan made sure I understood Amos has been taken on to
train as an apothecary,' he grinned, shamefaced.

‘So much has happened, I don't know
where to start,'
she said, nodding her
thanks as Carla placed their drinks in front of them.

‘Now I leave you for the
lovey-dovey,' she giggled, wiggling her way back behind the counter.

‘How about starting at the
beginning,' James quipped.

Eliza nodded and told him about Duncan's
visit, Fae's bequest and Grandfa Sam's offer to rent her Nan's part of the
shop.

‘So you're rich?'

‘Hardly. What Fae left me was generous in
the extreme, and will enable me to set up my perfumery in the shop and give something back to
everyone as well. But I shall need to have an income. Nan kindly offered to give me her products
but I insisted on paying her a fair price. I will still make a profit on sales and can use this
whilst developing my perfume. And guess what? You remember that black bottle?'

James rolled his eyes. ‘As if I could ever
forget those evenings spent looking for flowers to match the scent in it.'

‘James Cary, I thought you enjoyed our time
together.'

He immediately became serious. ‘Of course I
did. Now what were you going to tell me about that bottle?'

‘I think I've found the ingredients
to recreate that fresh scent. When I've finally perfected it, I intend to call it
Fae's Fragrance and sell it in little black bottles just like hers, with blue labels to
match the stopper. It will be my way of honouring her and thanking her for all she taught me. Or
does that sound stupid?'

‘I think it sounds amazing, and so are
you,' he said, his eyes lighting up.

‘I'm so pleased you're happy,' she said,
feeling her face growing hot once more.

‘Oh, I am. Now we can spend our time
together doing sensible things rather than collecting blooming plants,' he replied.

Next morning, Eliza sat at the table in the
parlour with Grandfa Sam, watching as he showed her how to enter things in the ledger. He
explained about business practices and asked to see the list of equipment she'd made
out.

‘Doesn't seem too
unreasonable,' he commented, running his finger down all the items. ‘By my reckoning
you should be able to buy these, pay your first month's rent and still have some put by. I
take it black bottles are essential?'