Baby It's Cold Outside (20 page)

Parker shook his head slowly.

‘I'm not really friends with the kids at school,' he said. ‘They're kind of mean to me.'

My heart broke a little bit to see his sweet face twisted in pain.

‘I have a lot of friends at after-school club though,' he said with a smile that made me feel much better. ‘We play dominoes and tell jokes.'

I grinned at him.

‘Tell me a joke,' I said.

‘How many astronomers does it take to change a light bulb,' he said.

‘Don't know.'

‘None!' Parker said triumphantly, giggling to himself. ‘Astronomers aren't afraid of the dark.'

I laughed loudly, pleased he was showing some of his usual spark, even if that joke was terrible.

‘While you're here, though, in Scotland, I want you to know you can tell me anything that's upsetting you. Or you can tell Harry. Or Daddy Jamie.'

Parker looked horrified. He slid off the sofa and picked up his space book.

‘I'm going to read for a while,' he said. ‘I guess I'm tired after all.'

I decided not to push him. Instead we sat together in friendly silence, Parker reading his book and me leafing through a copy of Good Housekeeping that I'd found on the coffee table and must have belonged to Mum or Suky.

After about half an hour, I set aside the feature about Felicity Kendal I was reading and looked at Parker once more. I knew what it was like to be a solitary child and I definitely knew what it was like to be a bit different from the other kids at school. I'd had a safe place – a haven – when I was wee. A cave, sheltered from the wind on the banks of the loch. It was only small; a tiny alcove where a big boulder had once rested. But after a big storm changed the look of the coastline, the boulder rolled away and exposed the cave. I used to hide out there all the time. It was where I'd met Jamie, in fact, when his own solitary wanders along the beach meant he stumbled upon my hiding place.

I looked at Parker, apparently engrossed in his space book, which he was reading for the tenth time. Then I started pulling the cushions off the sofa where I'd been sitting and piling them up.

Parker watched me over the top of his book.

I left him sitting on his chair and trotted upstairs to grab a couple of Suky's crocheted blankets. When I came back down, he gave up all pretence of reading, put his book to one side and looked at me.

‘What are you doing?' he asked.

‘Building a den,' I said, draping one of the blankets over the top of the cushions. ‘Want to help?'

Parker nodded. He rolled off the chair and followed me as I crawled inside the little snug hole I'd made in between the cushions.

‘We need to arrange the blanket on the floor,' I said. Parker copied me as I patted it down and fitted it into the corners.

‘What now?' he said.

‘Now,' I said, backing out of our den. ‘We need supplies.'

We went into the kitchen and found a packet of biscuits. Outside it had started snowing again.

‘Hot chocolate?' I asked. Parker nodded, beaming.

We took the biscuits and our hot chocolate back into the lounge then Parker crawled back inside our den and I followed with our snacks.

It was warm inside, and the light glowed through the regular holes in Suky's crocheting. I felt safe there and I hoped Parker felt the same.

‘I think it's nice for kids to have a safe place,' I told him. ‘Do you have a garden at home?'

‘We have a back yard,' he said. ‘But it's not very big. Grandma and Grandpa have a big yard with grass and trees and a summer house.'

‘That sounds lovely,' I said. ‘Maybe you could find a little corner of their garden and build a den there. Then, if you're ever feeling sad or confused or upset, you can go there and think about happy stuff.'

Parker looked solemn, except for his hot chocolate moustache.

‘Where do you go if you're sad?' he said.

I smiled at him.

‘I go running,' I said. ‘There's a big park near where Jamie and I live with a pond in it. I like to run round the pond and look at the ducks. Harry does yoga – do you know what that is?'

Parker nodded.

‘It's bending,' he said. He drained his mug. ‘Did you go running when you were a kid?'

‘Not really,' I said. ‘I used to go to a cave.'

Parker's eyes widened.

‘Like the bat cave,' he said.

I giggled.

‘Well much smaller than the bat cave and with far fewer batmobiles,' I said. ‘It was just a tiny cave on the beach. You've been for a walk by the loch with your mum haven't you? It's still there – look out for it if you go that way again before you go back to Boston.'

‘Is it near the café?' Parker asked.

‘Not far from there,' I said. ‘Just a little bit further along the shore.'

‘Cool,' said Parker. ‘Can I have a biscuit?'

I was pretty proud of myself as I tore open the packet. Maybe this whole stepmother thing wouldn't be a disaster after all.

‘Come on then,' I said. ‘Why don't you show me the Jupiter page in your space book.'

Chapter 30

We were still in the den when Tansy and Jamie came home. We heard them talking and Parker grinned.

‘Let's surprise them,' he whispered. So we waited until they came into the room, then we jumped up shouting “surprise!” and sending the blankets and cushions tumbling.

Jamie and Tansy mocked shock and Parker laughed hysterically, rolling on the floor and holding his tummy like a cartoon character.

‘Seems like you guys have been having lots of fun,' Tansy said, leaning down to tickle her son. ‘You're much happier than you were this morning.'

She looked up at me and mouthed “thank you”. I smiled at her, feeling very pleased with myself and more than that, pleased that I'd made Parker smile. He really was wriggling his way into my heart.

‘I'm finished now so we can have some more fun this afternoon,' Tansy said. Parker looked pleased.

‘Can we build a den?' he asked.

‘If you like,' Tansy said. ‘You'll have to show me how, though.'

Leaving them to it, Jamie steered me through into the kitchen.

‘I spoke to Frankie,' he said.

‘And?'

Jamie shook his head.

‘He's got contacts but there's a massive demand for all the helicopters,' he said. ‘And that means all the prices are through the roof.'

‘What are we talking?' I asked, thinking that we'd saved so much money with everything being cancelled that perhaps we could cover the cost.

‘Apparently to hire a helicopter normally is about two grand,' Jamie said. ‘But because there are only a few available, and so many people need them, Frankie reckons we could be looking at five thousand – or even more.'

‘You are kidding me?'

Jamie shrugged.

‘It's the only way to get around half the Highlands at the moment,' he said. ‘The charter companies set their prices and then people will come along and offer more.'

I sat down heavily at the kitchen table.

‘Oh Jamie,' I said. ‘I just can't imagine getting married without Dad there.'

He stroked my hair.

‘I know sweetheart,' he said. ‘Frankie's on the case with a webcam, though.'

I forced myself to smile.

‘He's working out what equipment we'll need and then he's going to send me through a list. Lou said she'll help get it all together and Frankie's going to talk us through setting it up this end. Tansy's pretty techy – she said she'll help if she can. Frankie will set everything up at Chloe's so they can all watch and we can speak to them at the end of the ceremony.'

I bit my lip. I wasn't sure I could speak without crying so I didn't say anything.

‘I know this isn't what we wanted,' Jamie said. ‘But the important thing is we'll be married. And when all this is over and the snow has melted we can have a big party and make sure your dad, and Chloe, and Frankie can all come. You can even wear your wedding dress again. In fact, wear your other dress – that way it won't go to waste.'

Despite myself, I smiled, though I was still desperately sad at the idea of getting married without Dad to walk me down the aisle. Jamie wiped away my tears with his thumbs and kissed me.

‘I'm going to ask Parker to be my best man,' he said. ‘As Frankie won't be here.'

‘Sweet,' I said, managing to control my tears. ‘He'll make an awesome speech.'

‘And your mum can give you away.'

I nodded. I'd planned to have Mum and Dad walk me down the aisle together actually, so that wasn't such a big difference.

‘And Harry's here so I've got one bridesmaid,' I said, trying my hardest to see the positives in the situation.

‘It's going to be fine,' Jamie said softly. ‘Better than fine in fact. It'll be wonderful. Because I'll be there and you'll be there and that's all that really matters.'

I nodded, not wanting to spoil his mood, even though I wasn't sure it was all the mattered. To me, getting married meant making promises to Jamie – of course – but I wanted to make those promises in front of all my family and friends. All of them. Not some of them, with the rest watching on a rubbish webcam. For a brief moment I wondered if we could, after all, postpone the wedding. But everyone had worked so hard to make it happen – Harry, Leona, Millicent, Kirsty, even Douglas. It was too late to call it off now.

‘Right,' Jamie said. ‘I'm going back to the surgery to help Dad. Do you want a lift down to the café?'

I looked out of the window, thinking I could walk down the hill and clear my head a bit. But the snow was falling again and the sky was leaden. I smiled at Jamie.

‘Yes please,' I said.

It was freezing outside – the temperature had dropped again and the windscreen of Jamie's dad's car was already icing up. I got into the car and turned up the heating while Jamie scraped the windows.

We followed the snowplough down the hill, already scattering grit even though it was only lunchtime.

‘There's more snow forecast,' Jamie said as he drove, deliberately staying far enough behind the gritter so the car didn't get splattered.

I shivered.

‘So,' Jamie said, as we trailed through the grit on the way down the hill. ‘Mum wants to meet Parker.'

I was both thrilled and slightly put out. Even though I couldn't bear the idea of Jamie's mum rejecting poor Parker, I'd also felt a bit like she was the only person thinking of me in all this. Which was obviously ridiculous but that's how I felt. Still, even in my most ungracious mood, I could see that her meeting her grandson was a good thing.

‘That's great,' I said. ‘When is the big meeting going to happen?'

‘Tonight,' Jamie said, indicating to turn down into town, even though there were no other cars on the road. ‘After Dad and I are finished at the surgery, we'll come back and pick him up and head over to my parents' for tea. I think Mum's quite excited actually. She keeps texting me with questions about what Parker likes to eat.'

‘Is Tansy going with you?' I asked.

Jamie made a face.

‘I'd rather she didn't,' he admitted. ‘This is quite a big deal you know, and I'm still finding it hard to forget how she's handled all this, even though I understand her reasons. I'll just ask Parker if he wants his mum to come. He might want her there. Especially if the snow gets worse and it looks like we might have to stay the night.'

‘Do you want me to come?' I said, not sure if I wanted to be part of this Brodie family reunion or not.

Jamie thought for a moment.

‘No,' he said eventually. ‘I think this one has to be just me and the olds.'

I nodded, understanding.

‘I know we had plans to slob out and watch a film tonight,' Jamie said, pulling up in one of the many deserted parking spaces. ‘Maybe you can hang out with Harry and Lou instead.'

‘Of course I can,' I said, picking up my bag. I leaned over the handbrake and kissed Jamie.

‘I might not see you until tomorrow,' I said. ‘Good luck with your mum. Let me know how it goes.'

‘And good luck decorating the gallery,' Jamie said. ‘Just two more days and we'll be saying our vows.'

Chapter 31

I waved to him as he drove off, then trudged through the snow towards the cafe. The loch was now hardly visible, though the snow was melting on the beach so there were patches of orangey sand showing through the white here and there. There was a small digger, driving back and forth, digging out sand to fill the bins that stood on every street so people could grit their own paths and driveways. The water was completely frozen now, though, and covered in a layer of snow. To my left a tiny, abandoned rowing boat was stuck solid at the shore and some geese huddled miserably by a rock. I wondered if Suky could crochet them some blankets. She'd probably already started, knowing her.

As always, the cafe was a welcome oasis in the gloom. The fairy lights round the windows twinkled and inside it was warm and smelled amazing. They'd obviously been baking.

There were a few customers dotted about, but it was quiet. Mum and Suky were sitting at the counter deep in conversation. Suky was jotting down notes. They both smiled when I entered.

‘You look busy,' I said.

‘Coming up with some ideas about how to give the town a boost when all this snow is over,' Suky said. ‘We're thinking of some kind of arts festival.'

‘That's a great idea,' I said, pulling off my coat and hanging it on the rack. ‘You should get Millicent to help you.'

I kissed them both hello, then looked at Mum.

‘Are you ready to get started upstairs?' I asked. ‘Is Allan up there?'

‘He is,' Mum said. ‘Are you okay holding the fort here Suke?'