Carole Singer's Christmas (10 page)

‘Hmm. Like Gran falling off a ladder and me tripping over a watering can, you mean?’ She smiled but he looked deadly serious suddenly. ‘That was a joke,’ she said.

‘Not from where I’m standing.’

‘Oh, Josie’s probably out of the question then?’

‘I think so. It would be good to have the help but when things start to get busy, it’s going to be very difficult to keep an eye on everyone and make sure they’re safe.’

‘Do you need to do that?’ she said, handing him a mug of hot chocolate, his fingers sending tiny shock waves through her as they brushed against hers.

He gave her an odd look. ‘I rather think I do.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

Carole slept fitfully. She had the strangest dreams but when she awoke, she couldn’t remember any of them. One thing she could remember though. Nick would ring the front door bell before he came in. When she switched on the light and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, she was very glad of that fact.

Her long wavy hair was even more tangled than usual and she’d forgotten to take her mascara off last night after Dom had phoned. She now had Panda eyes. So much for smudge- proof, she thought.

She dragged on her dressing gown and headed downstairs to make coffee. She would need at least three cups – and very possibly a mild sedative – before she could face working amongst the dirt and debris of the garden centre for a couple of hours this morning.

She pushed open the kitchen door and wasn’t sure what she heard first – the crunch of bone or the ring of breaking china. She definitely heard the moan of a man in pain.

‘Oh my God, Nick!’ she shrieked, poking her head around the door to see blood trickling from his aquiline nose. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Bleeding all over Mitsy’s kitchen floor,’ he said, tipping his head back to stem the increasing flow.

‘Sit down,’ Carole said, grabbing a tea towel and holding it under the running cold tap before applying it to Nick’s nose.

‘Ow! For someone who accused me of beating people up, you’re doing a pretty good job yourself.’

‘I’m sorry! How was I supposed to know you were in here? I thought you’d ring the bell.’

‘I would have, but Mitsy called and asked me not to, in case I woke you up. She asked me to drop in some milk because she thought you might not have any left.’

‘Don’t tell me ... it’s from your cow, or possibly goat.’

‘What?’ he said, looking askance. ‘No. The post office stores. They open at six.’

‘Is it gone six?’ Carole glanced at her watch.

‘It’s six-thirty,’ he replied before she had a chance to read the display.

‘And I said I’d be at the garden centre by seven! Are you okay? I’d better get a move on if I’m going to help you today.’

‘I think you’ve done quite enough already.’ He leant his head forward slowly and removed the tea towel. ‘What happened to you?’

She saw the questioning look in his eyes as they scanned her face. She wasn’t too pleased that he was obviously referring to her Panda eyes and tangled hair. So much for him being a gentleman. Mind you, she reasoned, she had possibly just broken his nose.

‘This is what I often look like in the mornings,’ she said, switching on the kettle. ‘Get used to it.’

‘I’d like to,’ he said, ‘if you don’t kill me first.’

She didn’t dare ask what he meant by that.

‘I’d better get on,’ he continued. ‘I’ll see you later. I’ve got an appointment so I won’t be at the centre until around seven-fifteen, so you’ve got some time yet. Mind if I take the tea towel with me? I’ll wash it and return it later.’

‘What? Oh yes, that’s fine. I’m really sorry about your nose, Nick.’

‘I’ll live, although I’ll probably get a black eye and that may take some explaining to Mitsy.’ He grinned at her. ‘I’ll leave that to you.’

He walked into the hallway and Carole leant around the kitchen door to watch him go. For some absurd reason, she loved watching him walk.

***

Carole showered and managed to untangle her hair before trying on the clothes Nick had given her last night. He was right about her and his sister being about the same size. The jeans, T-shirt and over shirt fitted her perfectly; possibly a little too perfectly. Mary obviously liked to show off her figure. The jeans were skinny-fit, the T-shirt clung to her like a second skin and even the brushed cotton over shirt seemed to cling around her bottom. She wondered whether she should try on something else but she was running late as it was and everything looked a similar style anyway.

She popped her head around Mitsy’s door.

‘I’m off, Gran. Will you be okay? Do you want me to ask Nick to take you down stairs?’

‘No thank you. I’ll stay in bed this morning. I’ll be fine, sweetheart. You go and have fun.’

‘Fun! In a freezing garden centre surrounded by dirt and goodness knows what else. Yeah. It’s going to be a riot. Oh, I didn’t tell you, I nearly broke Nick’s nose this morning. Don’t worry, he’s okay but if you see him with a black eye later, you’ll know why.’

Mitsy chuckled. ‘I’m not sure I should ask how that happened.’

‘Best not to. See you later.’

She dashed down the stairs and out of the door and was about to jump in the car when she saw Sebastian running towards her.

‘Carole,’ he called out. ‘May I have a word before you go?’

‘I’m running late, Seb. I was supposed to be at the garden centre fifteen minutes ago.’

Sebastian arrived at her side, breathless but as gorgeous as ever; possibly more so with his rosy cheeks, his dishevelled wavy blond hair and his bright blue eyes alight with enthusiasm.

‘I just need a minute, Carole. Just one minute. I thought you would come to the pub last night or ... or call me.’

‘Sorry. So much happened yesterday and I had to work last night. I’m on some pretty tight deadlines. Besides, I couldn’t leave Gran.’

He nodded. ‘No. No, of course not. Look, what if I get Mum to spend the evening with her? We could go out for dinner and talk. I really think we need to talk, don’t you?’

Carole knew her gran didn’t like Sebastian but she had remained friends with his parents so she wouldn’t mind that, apart from the fact that she’d know the reason for it and who Carole would be with. Besides, should she really be going out to dinner with her ex?

‘Yes. But not tonight, Seb. What’s the rush? I’ll be around for at least six weeks. That’s how long it’ll take Gran’s leg to heal and possibly a bit longer so there’s plenty of time. Unless you’re thinking of going somewhere.’

‘No. No, I’m not going anywhere. You’re right. There’s time. It’s just … well, when you said that you thought your ... what’s his name? Your boyfriend?’

‘Dom. Dominic.’

‘Well, when you said that you thought he’d propose any day now I ... I suppose I wanted to talk to you before that happened. I assume he’ll be coming down this weekend.’

‘No. He’s going ... he’s away on business. He won’t be down until next weekend.’

Sebastian heaved a sigh of obvious relief. ‘We’ve got all next week then. That’s good.’

Carole was confused. ‘I’m not sure what you mean, Seb. Are you saying that we need to talk before next weekend because whatever we discuss may have an impact on my relationship with Dom?’

He stepped forward. ‘I think we both know the answer to that, Carole. If we’re honest with ourselves.’

She swallowed and looked into his eyes. ‘Are ... are you saying that you think we may have a future together? You and I? After all this time? You ...you think we can just pick up where we left off?’

He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. Her breath seemed to desert her and she gasped for air.

‘I would say ... almost exactly where we left off. All I could think about last night was holding you in my arms again. Making love to you. Kissing every part of your body. We were good together, Carole. You must remember that?’

‘I do.’ The irony of those words hit her like a wet fish and she managed to regain her composure momentarily. ‘I’ve got to go, Seb. We’ll talk next week.’

Before she knew what was happening his mouth was on hers in a kiss as demanding as it was passionate. It was a kiss of possession. A kiss claiming ownership and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. It took her a few seconds to pull herself free.

‘Seb!’ She gasped for breath. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t kiss me outside Gran’s house after all this time. Especially not like that!’

‘I’m sorry, Carole. I ... I didn’t mean to kiss you. It ... it just happened. I want to hold you so much. I–’

‘I’ve got to go,’ she said, stopping him before he did anything else – before he said anything else.

She was confused enough already. She wasn’t sure about the kiss but his words had stirred something inside her. If he wanted to pick up almost exactly where they had left off, that meant being engaged, possibly marriage, once his divorce came through, of course. And the absurdity of that thought brought a need for distance for now. Space for her to think.

‘I’ll call you next week, Seb and we’ll see.’

She jumped in her car and raced out of the drive, glancing in the rear-view mirror when she reached the T-junction at the end of the lane. Sebastian was still standing there, staring after her.

***

Carole pulled up at Four Seasons Gardens and was surprised to see that Nick’s Land Rover wasn’t in one of the parking bays. The gates of the centre were wide open but there was no sign of life. Well, not human anyway. Only plant life.

She noticed that the mass of shrubs, trees, and plants appeared to be in some semblance of order and it surprised her for some reason. She remembered what the place used to look like in the old days, when it was just an old-fashioned plant nursery, and she smiled.

Nick’s Land Rover appeared from nowhere and screeched to a halt beside her Toyota Aygo. She almost jumped out of her skin as the sound yanked her from her memories. She caught her breath and got out of her car smiling at Nick. He opened the passenger door of his vehicle and Nicodemus leapt out and bounded towards her.

‘Good morning,’ she said cheerily. ‘You gave me such a fright just then. I was miles away, dreaming of days long ago.’

‘I can imagine. You’re late!’

Carole felt the temperature drop by several degrees.

‘So are you. At least I’ve got an excuse. I had to–’

‘Yes, I saw what you had to do. I didn’t have you down as that sort of girl. Clearly, I was wrong.’

Carole blinked several times in bewilderment. What
was
he talking about? Realisation dawned.

‘Oh my God! You saw Seb kissing me!’

‘I couldn’t really miss it.’

‘Were ... were you watching me?’

He was lifting a box from the back of the Land Rover but his head turned towards her and a look of contempt swept across his face.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You really do have a very vivid imagination, don’t you? If you hadn’t been so ... wrapped up in what you were doing, you might have seen my Land Rover parked outside Matilda’s cottage. She wants to have a Christmas tree planted outside in the front garden and we were discussing the best position for it when ... when she commented on ... your morning activities. I think she was even more surprised than I was – if that’s possible.’

‘Matilda saw me?’

‘That would be a very definite yes. And she did watch. Every long minute of it. And gave me a running commentary.’

He grabbed the box and headed towards the doors of the centre whilst Carole stood, open- mouthed and shaking from head to toe. She wasn’t sure whether it was from fear of the possible repercussions once her gran and everyone else no doubt, heard about it, or from anger at Nick’s arrogant and holier than thou attitude. She decided it was the latter and stormed after him with Nicodemus following at her heels.

‘For your information, Mr High and Mighty, that wasn’t what I was going to say, or why I was late. I was late because, apart from oversleeping as you know I did, I had to clean up the mess you made on Gran’s kitchen floor!’

He turned and glowered at her. ‘The mess I made! Well, I’m so sorry about that but you were the one who nearly broke my nose let’s not forget, and I did offer to clean it up but you said you’d rather do it because – and let me get this right – you’d “make a better job of it” than I would.’

‘Well, it’s true! You’ve only got to look at your kitchen here to see that cleanliness isn’t high on your list of priorities. And I wouldn’t have nearly broken your nose if you hadn’t been loitering in Gran’s kitchen at six-thirty in the morning without telling me that you were there!’

‘Well, forgive me! You moan at me for waking you up and bringing you coffee in bed at “some ungodly hour” to let you know I’m around. Now you moan at me for not waking you up and telling you I’m there. It seems I can’t win with you. Give me your mobile number and I’ll send you a text message in future.’

‘Don’t be facetious. And you have my mobile number. You called me to berate me for not coming down to be with Gran, if you remember?’

‘I didn’t call to berate you. And that was your landline.’ He opened the doors and marched through, letting them swing shut in Carole’s face.

‘Oh! Now you’re trying to break my nose, are you?’ She pushed the doors open so hard that one of them hit a stack of boxes, knocking them flying.

‘I’ve got my arms full or haven’t you noticed? I thought you’d come here to help, not to wreck the place,’ he said.

‘Wreck the place? I think you got there before me on that one.’

His eyes creased into tiny slits as he stared at her. ‘I don’t think this is going to work. This place is clearly an affront to your sensitivities. Perhaps you should go and see if there’s anything you can help Sebastian with instead. I’m sure you’d find that more to your taste and that’s obviously where you’d rather be. I just hope your soon-to-be-fiancé doesn’t find out.’

Carole’s mouth fell open as she gasped in surprise. ‘How dare you! How dare you lecture me on something you know nothing about? For your information
Nick,
not that this is any of your business, I didn’t kiss Seb this morning – he kissed me!’