A Country Village Christmas Page 11

  ‘Exactly.’ Olivia understood perfectly, feeling a glimmer of sympathy for Tom’s ex-wife.

  ‘What about since?’ He hesitated. ‘Has there been anyone else for you?’

  ‘Beyond the crappy dates and the dodgy dinners? The no-shows and the effort of even bothering?’ Olivia was weary but not bitter. ‘Not seriously. I had a little girl to think of and I wasn’t going to bring anyone into our lives that wouldn’t stay or didn’t fit. I learned my lesson well and I won’t rush into something like that again. And I haven’t really found anyone I’d like to see more than a couple of times.’ Until now, but she wasn’t going to admit that part to Tom.

  It was a few moments before he offered a reply. ‘Does Ellie still see her father?’

  ‘Sometimes. Jared lives in Tobago and he sends her a ticket every six months or so. They get on. It could’ve been a lot worse and he’s incredibly lucky to have her in his life at all. She has three half brothers and sisters scattered around and she sees them too from time to time. She’s actually going to be with her dad this year for Christmas, with her boyfriend.’

  ‘Not you?’ Tom dried the last of the dishes, stacking them neatly on the worktop.

  Olivia was trying not to love having him alongside her. ‘No. She spent last year with me and the year before that in Australia, with Logan’s family. It’s only fair, I can’t keep her all to myself, much as I’d like to, and we’ll Zoom on the day.’

  She wondered how Tom felt, listening to her talk of her daughter, her child, as she thought about him telling her that he hadn’t had a family but had wanted one. She’d finished the washing-up and couldn’t find a reason to linger, crossing instead to the fridge to see how much wine they had left.

  ‘You’re teaching me bad habits, I don’t usually drink on a school night.’ She lifted the bottle out. ‘There’s still another glass or so each in here. Would you like to finish it with me?’

  ‘I would.’

  ‘Probably not worth lighting the fire in the sitting room, even though it’s warmer in there once it’s going.’

  ‘I remember.’

  Her eyes caught Tom’s and she was trapped there, sure he was having the same thoughts, remembering Monday night and how she had held him. She saw the alteration in his face, the desire that it be more for him, too, and her resolve to remain friends was fading dangerously with a look such as that aimed her way.

  ‘I should probably catch up on work later.’ She wrenched her eyes from his and pulled out a seat, pulse still hurrying. Her phone was on the table and she put her glasses on to toy with it, scrolling through messages without seeing them. ‘I’m taking some annual leave soon so I ought to try and get ahead.’

  ‘What, six-hour days instead of twelve?’

  His flippant comment didn’t make her laugh as she began to realise its truth. Even when she was on holiday she always checked in, kept an eye on her emails, told her assistant to call her if necessary.

  ‘Sorry, I… That wasn’t fair.’

  ‘You have a point, Tom. Maybe this time I’ll aim for three.’ She turned her phone over and took her glasses back off. As long as Ellie and her dad were all right, everything else would have to wait until tomorrow. ‘You must think my work very trivial.’

  ‘Of course I don’t. It’s your job and you’ve clearly made a great success of your career. Almost no one gets to be a success just on luck alone.’

  ‘I’m sensing a “but” coming.’

  ‘Not from me. You’re clearly dedicated to your clients and I hope they appreciate it, know how much of yourself you give them.’

  ‘A few do, not all.’ Olivia thought of the hours, the travel, the last-minute requests. She had intended to go a Pilates class yesterday afternoon and had missed it. Was it all worth it, really?

  ‘How did you get here, Tom?’ She raised her glass to the room, this house where neither of them was completely at home. Maybe they didn’t know each other well enough for her to be asking that of him. She was aware of some of the choices he’d made and the disappointments that had followed but she didn’t yet understand how it had brought him to her dad’s door with nowhere else to go.

  ‘You mean why am I effectively homeless?’ There was resignation in his tone and she nodded. He joined her at the table, sipped more wine.

  ‘My marriage was in trouble before Harrington came along, probably since we both wanted a family and eventually found out we couldn’t have one because of me.’ A flash of pain darted through his blue eyes. Olivia thought of Ellie and how much she loved her daughter, how many times she’d held her throughout the years, and she was saddened that Tom didn’t know that same love for a child when he clearly wanted to.

  ‘After the series came out, I spent more time in LA and we were living off what I’d already made and Nicole’s career, until there wasn’t much left. I kept assuming something else would come along and she tried to get me to see the reality: that it wasn’t happening. I just buried it, ignored what I didn’t want to hear.’

  Tom paused, his look unflinching on Olivia. ‘We’d bought a bigger house which I re-mortgaged to invest in my comeback play and lost it. We separated soon after, split what little was left. Eventually she met someone else and they wanted to try for a family and we divorced. Nicole’s ten years younger than me and still had a chance.’

  ‘Tom, I…’

  ‘Don’t, Olivia.’ Tom held up his glass. ‘If you were going to say something kind then please don’t. I walked away with almost nothing, which was all I deserved. At least she’s with someone who’s really there for her. I’ve always been able to take care of myself and leave when I needed to.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Olivia saw the sympathy he blinked away. ‘Is that when my dad offered to help you?’

  ‘No, it was about a year after the divorce when he found out. We’d kept in touch but I didn’t really tell anyone how it was for a long time. I stayed with friends whilst I worked out what to do next but there’s only so many times you can impose, however good they are to me. I couldn’t afford to rent anywhere in London without regular work but selfishly I wasn’t quite ready to give up the arts completely.’

  Tom finished his wine and put the empty glass on the table. ‘I’d had the idea about the thriller and took myself off to Ireland to research it and rented a scruffy old cottage near the sea in Kerry. I was only planning to stay about three months, but it ended up being nearly nine. I did some bar work and shifts on boat tours in the summer, other bits of casual work.’

  ‘Didn’t anyone recognise you?’

  ‘Occasionally, but I picked up the accent pretty quickly. That helped, it wasn’t what people expected to hear if they thought they’d seen me somewhere else. A few locals found out and made up a story about me being a black sheep back to make amends with my family.’ Tom smiled and Olivia’s own followed.

  ‘It was a tiny village miles from anything and you were soon put in your place if they thought you were getting above yourself. The people were great, just what I needed. A world away from LA and all that nonsense. Living there gave me time to think, and I decided I had one last chance at writing something decent and I was going to give it a go.

  ‘Then your dad got in touch and learned I was writing again. I couldn’t afford to keep the cottage over the winter without work and when he found out he offered me the house on the spot. Told me he was leaving soon and I could stay as long as I liked. The only condition he imposed was that I had to write; he wasn’t going to let me get away with not finishing a draft. I’d been to see him to sort things out, that day I met you in the pub.’

  ‘So had I.’ Olivia wondered if everything between them might’ve been different if she’d bumped into Tom at her dad’s flat. They’d have passed one another by, offered a polite nod and been on their way, strangers still – not sitting here in her dad’s house, spilling stories of sorrow into the darkness. She only had to close her eyes to recall that night with Tom in her room. A shiver worked its way down he
r spine at the memory of their arms around one another, the intensity of their kiss. ‘I’m glad Dad asked you to come.’

  ‘Are you really?’ There was a suggestion of humour in Tom’s question. ‘Because that’s not what that atlas implied.’

  ‘Good thing you switched the light on, then.’ She gathered her phone and her glasses, offering him a smile she hoped didn’t reveal all of the turmoil his story had sparked within her. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got work I need to do. See you tomorrow.’

  ‘Night, Olivia. Sleep well.’

  She wasn’t at all sure she would now after hearing the softness in his reply.

  * * *

  Olivia’s plans on Thursday changed again with the arrival of an email before she had even woken up. Another house had become available north of the Scottish borders and it made sense to see it after the Northumberland one. Given the vagaries of the weather she decided to stay at an inn close to the second property and travel back to Thorndale on Friday.

  She preferred the Scottish property to the Northumberland one when she viewed it and informed her business partner accordingly. The house in Scotland, Victorian with some interesting features and a burn in the grounds, would suit a client who was moving from Surrey and wanted a country home within shouting distance of Edinburgh.

  She didn’t rush on Friday, calling in to see her dad on the way back to Thorndale. He was in good spirits and wanted to know exactly what she thought of Tom and how they were getting along. She told him the truth but was careful not to let him suspect that her feelings for Tom were changing, growing every day she spent with him. Hugh didn’t seem too worried that she hadn’t had time to do much about clearing the house yet.

  They parted when he eventually told her to leave, concerned about her driving through the Dales on a night glittering with frost. She brushed away his concern, despite knowing she would be saying exactly the same had it been her speaking to Ellie. Olivia promised to Zoom on Sunday and pop in again next week.

  Arriving back at the house, she was absurdly pleased to see the glow of a light in the library and that Tom had apparently taken her up on the offer to work in there. It was much more comfortable, and she couldn’t have said why she liked the idea of his writing with her dad’s old books around him. She had eaten a sandwich in the car on the way home and took a glass of water to bed without disturbing Tom.

  She was up early on Saturday and surprised to see a light still on in the library. She knocked and stuck her head around the door when he called her to come in. ‘Morning. Please tell me you haven’t been writing all night?’

  ‘Not quite.’ Tom gave her a grin and Olivia decided she rather liked that first thing in her day. ‘I came down at five, couldn’t sleep. How was your trip?’

  ‘Productive. The Scottish house will sell, the Northumberland one wasn’t right.’

  ‘Shame.’

  ‘Yes. Coffee?’

  ‘Please.’

  She brought a cup back to the library and placed it on the desk. His thank you was a distracted one and she left him to it. As it was the weekend, she decided she ought to get on with some Christmas shopping, her phone upstairs. Ellie and Logan were due in a week and she still hadn’t got their stockings sorted. Tom joined her about forty-five minutes later, finding her browsing on her laptop and halfway down another cup of coffee.

  ‘Work?’ He helped himself to more coffee, nodded at the laptop.

  ‘Would it astonish you if I said no? I’m Christmas shopping. That day is coming round far too quickly for my liking.’

  ‘Are you going to the Christmas market, then?’

  Olivia looked at him blankly. ‘What market?’

  ‘The one outside your front door.’ Tom checked his watch. ‘The one that’s already started, with all the festive stalls you’d expect in December. I’m heading over soon.’

  ‘Shopping?’ She wondered who for, pushed the thought away. It was not her business.

  ‘No, I’ve offered to help with selling Christmas trees for the fell rescue, they have a space outside their headquarters on the green. I thought it was the least I could do after my escapade on Monday,’ he finished wryly.

  ‘Oh, I saw something about that on a flyer. That’s nice of you.’ Olivia thought that she might find a few stocking fillers at the market. Her dad only ever wanted books or socks, and she was certain he had enough of both. Surely she could find something else, there was bound to be—

  ‘Why don’t you come with me?’

  ‘What?’ She looked up, her finger poised on the mouse, ready to click ‘checkout’ on the gifts she had selected for her team in the office. If she were quick she’d get them on an overnight delivery. ‘To the market? With you? Why?’

  ‘Why not?’ Tom finished his coffee and stood up, stretched in a way she found distracting as he lifted his arms above his head, tilting his neck sideways. She returned her attention to the laptop instead and completed her purchase.

  ‘Selling trees will be fun. Plus you might pick up a few gifts, save buying everything online.’

  ‘Standing around outside in the freezing cold, dragging Christmas trees about? Your idea of fun is a little odd, Tom. Mine usually starts with a good meal, a decent bottle of wine and ends with a great movie.’ First bit of shopping done, Olivia tried to turn her mind to her inbox instead, the contract she needed to read. But a morning with Tom was far more appealing and she was wavering.

  ‘Don’t be such a wuss. Wrap up and let’s go. I’ve got to be back by lunchtime anyway to open up the shop. Getting out and about might take your mind off work for a while.’

  ‘I’ll need a miracle to do that,’ she muttered, following him upstairs to change. ‘Not sure I’ve brought enough layers for selling Christmas trees on the green.’

  They met in the hall soon after, Tom wrapped up in a grey waxed jacket, a thick scarf around his neck below the beanie covering his hair. Olivia went for the practical over stylish, helping herself to her dad’s coat and woolly scarf again.

  ‘Will you be warm enough?’ She took in Tom’s jacket, flushing as she saw his eyebrows raise.

  ‘Worried about me?’

  ‘Only a little. As your friend. I don’t want you to get another chill.’

  ‘I’m fine. Thanks. If I do get chilled will you warm me?’ His grin was unabashed. ‘Encourage me to take my clothes off again?’

  ‘Definitely not. That’s not a sight I could cope with twice in one week.’ Or should be thinking about as much as she was.

  ‘That good, huh?’

  ‘Nope.’ She threw him a look over her shoulder as she opened the front door. ‘I might’ve had a sneaky glance at Harrington and I’m not convinced those breeches will still fit.’

  ‘You cheeky…’ Tom went to catch her and she was already darting ahead into the garden. ‘I can see I’ll have to prove you wrong.’

  ‘Promise?’

  ‘Maybe.’

  They were still laughing as they set off and Olivia had to admit that Thorndale looked beautifully festive. Stalls were lined up on both sides of the green, with chairs and a covered marquee in the centre for enjoying mulled wine and the hot, seasonal food on offer. Cars were crawling along the high street and the brass band was back, accompanying some carol singers.

  It was much smaller than the city markets Olivia was used to and she appreciated the village charm, the groups of people chatting together and taking their time to enjoy it all. It was an unpleasant jolt to realise that Ellie had been to the market with her grandad, but Olivia hadn’t. Last year something had come up with a client and she’d gone racing off to sort it out, leaving her daughter and her dad to spend the weekend without her.

  Sam Stewart was behind a stall selling handmade bags and Olivia promised to return later for a proper browse as she followed Tom to the fell rescue spot. It was already busy outside the barn headquarters. People were sizing up the different trees on offer, pulling them from their stands to stare critically or put them straight back. />
  She saw Annie and went inside to say hello. Tom was with Jon, shaking his hand and, Olivia guessed from the look on his face, apologising for having to call the team out on Monday night. Annie’s bump seemed to have expanded again in the week since Olivia had seen her, and she admitted she was tired and not sleeping very well. But she brushed that away, wanting to know more about how Olivia was getting on, sharing a house with Tom.

  ‘I bet your dad’s enjoying creating a bit of mischief, Liv.’

  ‘You know him well, Annie.’ Olivia saw Tom laughing with Jon and looking ridiculously sexy, her resolve to remain friends wilting a little further at the sight. ‘Tom’s actually quite nice to share a house with, it could be worse. He cooks and he doesn’t mind clearing up. And we’re both busy.’

  ‘We were at the vicarage for supper a couple of weeks ago and Tom was there too. He and Sam were as thick as thieves, chatting about drama and acting, and he had us falling about with some of his stories.’

  ‘I can imagine.’ Olivia could, all too easily. He was lovely company when he allowed himself to be.

  ‘Sam’s hoping he might take an interest in the arts consortium too.’

  ‘Oh?’ Olivia tried to tone down her surprise. ‘Why?’

  ‘You know what she’s like, Liv.’ Annie had one hand on her bump as she lowered herself carefully onto a chair. ‘They’re going to need someone to manage the events programme for the retreat and she’s got this idea that he’d be perfect. I think she’s been talking to your dad about it too, she took Esther to see him the other day.’

  ‘You don’t think Tom would seriously be interested, do you?’ Olivia was watching him outside, supporting a tree with one hand and talking to a young couple who, by the look of them, were hanging onto his every word.

  ‘Possibly, he did tell Sam he’d think about it. Sorry Liv, I’d better find Jon and get going. We’ve got a birthday lunch to go to. Don’t know why I bothered sitting down.’ Annie slowly stood up again. ‘Would you like to come over for supper before the baby’s here? It would be lovely to catch up before I’m otherwise fully occupied.’