Carole Singer's Christmas (14 page)

‘I ... Oh, Nick!’

‘I hope I’m not interrupting anything.’ Nick stopped in his tracks in the doorway. He held out the ring and it sparkled teasingly in the light from the bulb overhead.

‘Wow! Thanks Nick,’ Sebastian said, letting go of Carole and moving forward to take the ring from Nick’s fingers. ‘What a hell of a morning this has turned out to be.’

‘I was just thinking the same thing,’ Nick replied. ‘I’m sorry about Nicodemus chasing Arten. He doesn’t seem to realise that not everyone likes him. I’ll just say hi to Mitsy and I’ll be off. Oh, and congratulations ... I think.’ He turned and marched along the hall.

***

‘It really wasn’t funny, Josie, so there’s no need to chortle quite so loudly!’ Carole said some thirty minutes later. She, Josie, Mitsy and Matilda were sitting in the study drinking hot chocolate, which seemed suitably comforting to everyone as conditions outside were now blizzard-like.

‘Oh, I just wish I’d been here,’ Josie said, hugging her sides as if they hurt. ‘When Matilda called me and told me that Sebastian was down on one knee, I was very tempted to dash round. If only I had!’

‘I’m sorry dear,’ Matilda said. ‘I couldn’t help myself. After our little secret agent routine last night I just couldn’t sleep, and this morning I was sitting beside the window watching the snow and thinking how peaceful it was ... and then I saw Sebastian. I ... I just had to tell someone and I knew Josie would be up so ... I called her.’

‘And then all hell broke loose,’ Carole said, grinning in spite of everything.

‘So ... does this mean that you’re engaged to a married man whilst living with another one? Isn’t that getting very close to bigamy?’ Josie asked.

Carole sneered. ‘I’m not engaged. I ... I didn’t actually say yes ... this time.’

‘Oh! So ... are you having second thoughts about Seb then?’ Josie looked almost hopeful.

Carole shook her head. ‘To be totally honest, I have no idea what I’m doing at the moment. When Seb was proposing this morning, it was so much like the first time that it brought mixed memories. A dream come true on the one hand but bearing in mind the way that worked out, a potential nightmare on the other. Part of me wanted to say yes but I ... I just couldn’t bring myself to say the word. And then, after everything that happened, when he asked for my answer later, in the kitchen, once Nick had found the ring, I ... I just said I needed time, and of course, there’s Dominic to think of.’

‘I bet he was pleased,’ Josie said.

‘He didn’t look pleased,’ Mitsy said, glancing at Carole over the rim of her mug.

‘He stormed out like a bear with a sore head,’ Matilda added. ‘Oh, wait a minute, that was Nick. I didn’t see Sebastian leave. Your house is getting to be a bit like Piccadilly Circus, Mitsy.

‘Why was Nick in a bad mood? Hasn’t he seen what you did last night?’ Josie asked.

‘What
we
did,’ Carole corrected her. ‘And I assume not. He usually pops in here, then takes Nicodemus for his walk, pops back in here, then goes to the garden centre. I ... I’m not sure what he did after he left here, are you Gran?’

Mitsy shook her head. ‘No. He said he had some things to do before going in today but he didn’t say what and I didn’t think to ask. I just said that you’d planned to be there around nine as it’s Sunday and he said, in a rather gruff manner now that I come to think about it, that he thought you’d probably have other things on your mind and that the garden centre would be the last place you’d be thinking of right now. That was before I knew what had been going on of course, so I had no idea what he meant at the time.’

Josie furrowed her brows and looked thoughtful. ‘It sounds to me as if he may be jealous,’ she said. ‘Is there anything you should be telling me, Carole?’ She gave her friend an accusatory glare.

‘No! Well ... no. Nothing.’

‘Now’s the time,’ Josie added.

‘No I ... oh hell. Okay. I’m really sorry, Josie but I like him. I ... I think I like him rather a lot, actually.’

Josie’s eyes narrowed. She smiled, albeit a little sadly. ‘Of course you do. I knew it. And why not add one extra man to the pot. After all, two are never quite enough, are they?’

‘Are you really annoyed?’ Carole asked.

Josie shook her head. ‘No. He’s not interested in me anyway so it’s irrelevant. Let’s face it, as Grandma Mitsy said, I’ve done everything but sit on his lap naked. If he had any intention of asking me out, he would have done so by now.’

‘Oh, my dear!’ Matilda said. ‘Does that mean that you can’t make up your mind between three men? Goodness gracious! But you can’t have them all, you know. Well, that just wouldn’t be right, would it?’

‘Not to mention that it would be downright greedy,’ Josie said.

‘And illegal,’ Mitsy added. ‘You can only marry one of them – unless you’re thinking of setting up three little love nests and flitting between each one – which I really do
not
recommend, sweetheart. Apart from anything else, you’d be exhausted!’

‘I have no intention of doing that, Gran so don’t worry. As for marrying one of them, well, let’s not forget that Nick hasn’t even said he likes me, Dom seems very reluctant to ask me and the only one who has proposed, is married to someone else.

‘Life can be such a bitch sometimes!’ Josie said with considerable feeling.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Carole trudged towards Four Seasons Gardens in ankle-deep snow, not knowing what to expect when she got there.

Her mind was whirling almost as much as the snow around her. It was still snowing heavily and she began to wonder if Nick would even bother to go to the garden centre in this weather. Would anyone actually be out buying plants, or compost or even Christmas trees in conditions like these?

All the way there she wondered what Nick must have thought seeing Sebastian propose. He knew she had a boyfriend and he’d already told her that he didn’t realise she was “that sort of girl” after he’d seen Seb kiss her, so now... But would he even care? Other than thinking she was some sort of wayward trollop or something, did it matter one way or the other to him what she did in her love life? She needed to know but she wasn’t quite sure how to find out. She couldn’t exactly ask him, could she?

She arrived around nine thirty, unsure whether she was pleased to see Nick’s hired Land Rover parked in one of the snow-covered bays. She smiled almost fondly at the line of human footprints – Nick’s footprints, and the line of Nicodemus’ paw prints running closely alongside. They led from the Land Rover to the door and despite having to make a slight detour in order to do so, she had an overwhelming urge to make her own imprint beside Nick’s and his hound’s.

She was so busy matching footprint for footprint that it wasn’t until she was just a few footsteps away that she saw Nick standing at the door watching her. She saw his boots first as she had her head bent and she slowly raised her eyes up the full length of his body until she met his dark, questioning ones.

‘Oh!’ she said. ‘I was ...’ She half turned, about to point at the trail of footprints behind her before realising how silly that would make her seem, so she straightened her body and pulled the collar of her compost and paint-stained coat up around her chin instead. ‘It’s freezing out here. May I come in or were you just leaving?’

‘Um ... I was just coming round to see you actually. To say thank you. I’m assuming you’re the one I owe for making Christmas Tree Land so ... Christmassy?’

She wasn’t sure if he were pleased or not. He didn’t sound that happy.

‘Don’t ... don’t you like it?’ she asked, shivering, and not just from the cold. ‘I ... that is we, we thought you’d be pleased. I can take it down if you don’t. It’s–’

‘We?’ he interrupted, his dark eyes narrowing.

‘Gran, Josie, Matilda and me. We did it last night when you were in the pub. It was Gran’s idea.’

He brightened visibly but by the look on his face, he still had questions. ‘But why?’

‘Could we do the interrogation inside, please? I’m rapidly turning from my usual drama queen persona into an ice queen!’

‘Sorry! Of course. Come in.’

He stepped aside and closed the door, shutting out the blizzard and making the garden centre seem eerily quiet. Nicodemus was clearly relieved not to have to venture out and he bounded towards his bed in Nick’s office.

‘I’ll make coffee,’ Nick said, heading towards the kitchen. ‘Did you walk here?’

‘No, I drove my invisible car. It’s my vehicle of choice in a snow storm.’

He turned and furrowed his brows before a loud chuckle burst from him and his handsome face softened considerably.

‘Ask a stupid question ...’

She grinned. ‘Do you think you’ll get much business today? I wasn’t sure you’d be here.’

‘Oddly enough, yes. The kids will want to buy sleds, which I just happen to have and the adults will want grit for their driveways, which–’

‘You just happen to have, too,’ she added. ‘I can see why you called the place Four Seasons Gardens now. You’re a man of all seasons.’

He smiled. ‘Actually it’s from Vivaldi’s
Four Seasons
. The concertos were my grandmother’s favourite piece of music.’

‘You have a grandmother?’

‘Had. She died a few years ago. This place is a sort of tribute to her. She was a keen horticulturist. I get my love of plants from her.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

‘Thanks. Why do you always seem so surprised to learn I have relatives – or had in Gran’s case?’

Carole hesitated. ‘I honestly don’t know,’ she said, giggling.

He handed her the coffee he’d made and grinned. ‘I’ve washed the mugs thoroughly, you’ll be pleased to hear although as the kitchen was spotless when I arrived this morning, it wasn’t strictly necessary. I thought I’d had little elves in overnight but now I realise it was you.’

She glanced around the kitchen. It was just as she’d left it and she couldn’t help but notice that Nick had even wiped the dribble of milk he’d spilt when he’d made the coffee.

‘I have a bit of a thing about cleanliness,’ she confessed.

He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. ‘Really? I hadn’t noticed. Anyway I really want to thank you for what you did. Even Nicodemus was impressed.’

She smiled. ‘He said that, did he?’

Nick grinned. ‘He was going to pee on the lamp post you drew because he thought it was real. That’s praise indeed. Don’t worry, I stopped him. I can’t believe you did all that in just one night though. What time did you leave? I drove past on my way home and I didn’t notice any lights on.’

‘No idea. Around ten-thirty I guess but we got here at six-thirty and there were four of us. Matilda’s got a wheelchair so Gran came too.’

‘It’s so beautiful,’ he said, staring directly into her eyes.

She could feel herself blushing even though he wasn’t talking about her but her artwork.

‘Well, it is what I do for a living so I’m very glad you think so.’

‘I do. More than you could possibly imagine and far more than I can find words to say. And I’m not the only one. You may have made a rod for your own back, I’m afraid. Bert Threadgold was here earlier and he saw it. You know of course that he organises the Christmas musical at the village hall every year? Well, he saw the castle turrets, the shop window and the trees and he’s decided he must find a way to persuade you to do some stage scenery for this year’s production.’

‘Rats!’ Carol said.

‘Surely you mean
Cats
?’ he said, chuckling into his mug.

‘Don’t be facetious. You know exactly what I meant and you’re very lucky that’s all I said! What is it this year anyway? I forgot to ask Gran and Josie. You’re helping out I hear.’

‘It’s one of Dickens’ classics, that old chestnut,
A Christmas Carol.
Although to be honest, it’s one of my favourites. Oh! Are you okay, Carole, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost!’

Her heart felt heavy but she managed a smile. ‘That was my dad’s favourite. He read it to me every Christmas Eve until the year he died. Partly because my name is Carole but mainly because we both loved it.’

‘God! I’m so sorry, Carole. I can be such an idiot sometimes.’

‘No. It’s fine. Well, there’s no way I can refuse to help with that then, is there? It looks like it’s going to be a rather hectic December what with looking after Gran, completing my work commissions, helping out here and now, the Christmas musical. It’s a good thing I like to be busy!’

He leant back in his chair and stared at her for several seconds as they drank their coffee in silence. She heard the garden centre doors open and several people from the village piled in, all moaning about the weather and the cold.

‘Not to mention juggling your boyfriend and, it now appears, your fiancé,’ Nick said, getting to his feet and marching out to meet the babbling throng without a backward glance in her direction.

Carole banged her mug down on the desk, startling Nicodemus who was curled up in his bed.

‘Sorry boy,’ she said, ‘but how do you live with that man? He makes me so cross!’

Nicodemus let out a tiny whimper, yawned, licked his lips and went back to sleep.

Carole knew Nick would have to mention it, of course. She’d been expecting it and if she were honest, she’d have to say that she was surprised it had taken him so long. But why did he always say something controversial and then walk away? Was it because he didn’t want to hear her reply?

Oh well. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t interested in her romantically anyway, so at least she could strike him off her Christmas list, metaphorically speaking.

She sighed for the umpteenth time, stood up, took off her coat and headed out to help Nick serve the increasing number of customers streaming in. To her complete amazement, bad weather and garden centres did seem to go together. Well, well, she thought, who would have guessed?

***

Christmas Tree Land was a roaring success from the very first moment. Nick said it was because of Carole’s superb artwork and the layout of that entire area. She, Josie, Matilda and even Mitsy had placed strips of artificial grass between the trees and then covered everything with a light dusting of spray snow. Ornamental robins were pinned amongst the branches of some of the trees, and fairies and elves were peeping out from various spots along the way. They’d wrapped empty boxes in shiny Christmas wrapping paper, attached giant bows and ribbons and positioned them under several trees that were for sale.