A Country Village Christmas Read online

  Hugh was staring straight into the camera on his iPad. ‘Tom understands what my work has meant to me over the years, and he’s my friend. So that’s why I’m signing over the entire collection to him just as soon as my solicitor has finished drawing up the necessary paperwork.’

  Olivia felt Tom shift, sensed his look going to her before racing straight back to her dad.

  ‘Hugh, I can’t, really. I wouldn’t…’

  Her dad held up a hand, halting Tom. ‘I want you to have it, Tom, and that’s that. No arguments. I think the three of us know that Olivia wouldn’t want it.’

  Wouldn’t want it? She could’ve cheered. Not only would she have less to sort out, but her dad’s cherished books would be going to a wonderful guardian, and she was thrilled for Tom. Her dad was right; much as she’d loved the shop over the years and having so many books to choose from, there were only so many she could take to her apartment. Hugh seemed to be reading her mind when he spoke again.

  ‘There are a few, maybe more, that I think Liv will want to keep from her childhood, Tom. Please let her choose.’

  ‘Of course.’ Tom still seemed stunned. ‘But Hugh, please, I’d feel much happier if you…’

  Olivia saw her dad grin. ‘That’s just it, isn’t it? You understand. I know you don’t want to see them dumped in a skip or carted off for pulp. Whatever happens with the arts consortium, the house sale will take some time and you can stay as long as you like to sort through it.

  ‘It also goes without saying that the collection is yours to do with as you please, Tom. I suggest you sell it and use the proceeds for whatever you wish. I will be perfectly satisfied, knowing that you have done it with care. And that’s the end of it.’ Hugh yawned and Olivia was sure he was doing it on purpose. ‘I’m tired now, I’d like a snooze before it’s time to eat. Liv, come over when you can but not in that ruddy car if it’s still snowing. And if Tom’s not too busy, bring him with you. I’m glad you’re getting along. I thought you might.’

  Hugh took himself off out of the meeting before either she or Tom could say another word.

  ‘That,’ she said, closing down the meeting and logging out of her laptop, ‘was a masterclass in manipulation.’

  ‘Ah, so that’s where you learned it from.’ Tom slowly got up from the table; he didn’t seem to know quite what to do next.

  ‘Don’t be so cheeky. I’m good at getting what I want, usually people don’t even notice it happening. Congratulations, by the way. I’m really happy he wants you to have his collection because it means the world to him.’

  She gave Tom a reassuring glance to back up her words and prove that she meant them, but he still didn’t look convinced, his eyes sliding guiltily away from hers.

  Chapter Seven

  Monday wasn’t as awkward as Olivia had thought it might be with Tom, trapped in the house by the snow. She’d sensed the beginnings of a tentative friendship between them over the weekend, especially after the snowball fight, and they mostly managed to avoid each other during the day. He was already working in the dining room by the time she came down for breakfast. She had lunch before he did and didn’t like to exclude him, so left sandwiches in the fridge and a note on the table.

  Her online grocery shop had been delayed until tomorrow because of the weather, so she nipped down to the post office to stock up on a few things to tide them over until then. It had stopped snowing last night but everything was still covered in its thick white blanket. Quite a few snowmen had popped up on the green, making her smile as she remembered the fight with Tom yesterday. She saw Mrs Timms in the cafe and made as hasty an exit as she could before her dad’s friend waylaid her for too long.

  Back at the house Olivia worked at the kitchen table, setting up appointments for the new year and trying to bring some online meetings forward as travel was out of the question for a couple of days. But not everyone she wanted to pin down was available so instead she made herself go into the room where Ellie usually slept and started clearing some belongings.

  There were books in every room, and she was about to sort through those in here when she remembered her dad’s gift to Tom, realising they would no longer be Hugh’s or hers to decide upon. She removed a few and put them in her room, saving some for Ellie too. She was making a peppermint tea when Tom came into the kitchen, dressed in running gear. She hadn’t gone out herself yet, deciding to wait until the snow had cleared.

  ‘I’m guessing you don’t want one of these?’ She gestured to her mug and the kettle.

  ‘No thanks.’ He zipped up his jacket and pulled fingerless gloves and a head torch from a pocket. ‘I need to get out for a bit.’

  ‘Right.’ She poured hot water into her mug and swirled the teabag around. ‘How was your day?’ Olivia was astonished she’d spoken the words out loud; she couldn’t remember asking someone that particular question very often before.

  ‘My day?’ Tom raised his eyebrows. ‘It was fine.’

  ‘Is your writing going well?’

  ‘Is that what all this questioning is about? Are you still trying to find out where I’m up to, how soon I can be out of here?’

  ‘I thought we were past that, I was just making conversation.’

  ‘You don’t seem like the kind of person who has time for idle chat, Olivia.’

  ‘Nor you for a polite one apparently,’ she threw back, stung by his rebuff of her attempt at friendliness, especially after their conversation yesterday morning. ‘I’m not concerned how long you’re planning to stay, I was just interested in your work.’

  ‘No need, there’s nothing to tell.’ He drew a beanie on, fastened the head torch in place, checked his watch.

  ‘Tom, it’s dark outside.’

  ‘So?’ He was pulling the gloves on now.

  ‘So is it a good idea to be running in the snow at night?’

  ‘I’m fine, I can look after myself. And before you say it, no, I don’t know how long I’ll be or where exactly I’m going.’

  ‘Don’t you think you should tell me?’

  ‘Why? Are you worried I’ll get lost?’ Tom was at the back door and he gave her an exasperated look. ‘I’m not used to checking in with anyone, Olivia, and I see no reason to start now. But as its dark and you seem concerned for me, forty minutes or so, towards Ellerby Moor.’

  Sixty minutes later Olivia was only the teeniest bit concerned, expecting him back at any moment. Though she had no idea why her skin was beginning to prickle with alarm and anxiety seemed to be lodged in her stomach. Her dad had informed her that Tom had been in Thorndale for two weeks now and he must have run here before now; the conversation she’d overhead in the restaurant confirmed it. There was no need to be nervous.

  Twenty minutes after that she was at the kitchen window and googling how long to wait before reporting a person missing in snow. There didn’t seem to be a conclusive answer unless the person was vulnerable, and Tom wasn’t. At least not in ways she could easily explain or identify.

  By six p.m. it had been two hours and Olivia was seriously worried. She didn’t believe he would have stayed out in this weather just to prove a point and she hoped he had taken his phone with him so he could call for help if he needed it. The phone wasn’t in his hand anywhere near as often as her own was and she checked the dining room. No sign of it and she ran up to his room, hesitating before walking in. His phone was sitting on the bedside table, on top of a book, and she felt her anxiety increase.

  She was absolutely certain Tom wouldn’t thank her for dialling 999 and calling out the entire fell rescue association on his behalf. However, there was no harm in a casual, quiet word with Jon to alleviate her worries, surely? She had Annie’s number but not Jon’s, so she gave her a call and Annie passed her phone straight to Jon when Olivia quickly explained what had happened.

  Jon didn’t hesitate. He told Olivia to stay in the house in case Tom returned and was already using his own phone to call it in to the fell rescue as an emergency. She thanked
Jon, feeling relief at the thought of a search underway, and an increase of apprehension that Jon believed it necessary. If Tom walked back through the door this minute, then she could well imagine his dismay at what she had set in motion.

  She couldn’t settle anywhere, finally lingering in the library with its view of the village, the shutters open to the night. The fell rescue headquarters opened up across the green in sudden activity, lights blazing through the darkness and a Land Rover raced out into the night, searching for Tom. She felt a spike of real fear then, wondering if she had left it too late. What if he’d fallen, knocked himself unconscious? Slipped into the river and drowned in icy water? She couldn’t bear to think of it, and she watched, waiting, her heart racing and stomach sick with dread.

  Olivia snatched at her phone when it rang forty minutes later and Annie’s name flashed up, almost missing in her haste to answer it. Annie quickly informed her that Jon had called to pass on that Tom had been found. He had tripped on his way back from his run, lost the head torch he had been wearing and taken the wrong route. He was mildly hypothermic, and the volunteers were in the process of warming him up and trying to persuade him to go to hospital.

  Olivia couldn’t have explained why she was ready to cry as she thanked Annie gratefully. Within fifteen minutes a fell rescue vehicle was pulling up outside the front door. Olivia grabbed a coat and stuffed her feet into wellies, rushing outside to see Tom. Wrapped in blankets, a volunteer was on either side, one supporting him into the house through the snow, and she saw the relief and the apology in his face. Jon had been driving and he jumped down to speak with her.

  ‘We’re satisfied he’s only mildly hypothermic as he was actually moving, trying to find his way back, and he’s adamant he doesn’t want to go to hospital. He didn’t lose consciousness, he’s not drowsy or confused and his temperature is improving.’ Jon lowered his voice. ‘If you have any concerns or there’s any change for the worse, call an ambulance, okay? No matter what Tom says. If there are any delays call me, and I’ll come. Annie will text you my number.’

  ‘Thank you so much. I’m really sorry to have had to call you out.’

  ‘You did the right thing and don’t let Tom tell you otherwise.’ Jon sounded weary and he ran a hand over his face. ‘No one would be in good shape out here overnight. Keep him warm, layers, no hot baths, alcohol or direct heat on his limbs. Think you’ll be okay?’

  ‘Of course.’ Olivia thought of Annie and their baby. ‘You need to go home too.’

  ‘Sure do. Just have to go back to headquarters first and sort everything out. Take care.’ He grinned wryly, heading back through the snow to the vehicle.

  ‘You too. Thank you.’

  Olivia returned to the house, thanking the two other volunteers who were waiting with Tom in the sitting room. He was hunched on a green velvet sofa and the room wasn’t very warm without the fire lit. She flew upstairs, grabbing blankets from the box on the landing and dashed into Tom’s room for clothes. She had to rummage through drawers, feeling awkward for going through his belongings, but finally had enough for him to change into.

  The volunteers gathered their blankets and left them alone as Tom thanked them tiredly. Olivia was oblivious and already helping him undress, tugging the soaking jacket off and then the two layers beneath over his head, replacing them with a T shirt and a thick hoodie. He was trying to smile in between bouts of shivering.

  ‘Hell of a way to get me naked, Olivia, calling 999. You could’ve just asked.’

  ‘You’re not completely naked,’ she told him briskly. She knelt to remove his trainers and socks, feeling the chill on his legs even through the running trousers, and dragged them off too. ‘And I didn’t call 999. But you do need to get those shorts off.’ She paused, suddenly warm. ‘Can you manage?’

  ‘I hope so. Not sure how I feel about the alternative.’

  She busied herself lighting the fire and turned around to find him trying to pull on cotton lounging trousers with trembling fingers. She helped him with those too, tugging on socks and making him lie back whilst she covered him with two blankets.

  ‘I’m going to bring you a hot drink.’

  The shivering wasn’t so obvious when she returned with a mug of strong tea topped up with two spoons of sugar. ‘Here.’ Olivia passed Tom the mug, rearranging the blankets around him as he sat up.

  ‘Thank you.’

  She threw some more logs on the fire, satisfied the blaze was heating the room nicely now, and not directly on him. She watched him drink the tea, and made sure it was all gone before she took the mug away. He caught her free hand, already laying his head back onto the cushions she had plumped for him.

  ‘Thank you. I’ve been such a fool, I’m really sorry. I’ve never needed rescuing before.’

  She didn’t know why she doubted that. ‘That’s okay.’ His hand felt cool and she held it, remembering somewhere that you weren’t supposed to rub hands or feet for hypothermia. ‘Next time please take your phone.’

  ‘Mmm.’ He seemed drowsy now and she watched anxiously, wondering if he was only tired or if it was a symptom of something more serious. ‘I still feel cold.’

  When her daughter had been poorly as a child, she had loved to be held, cuddled and comforted; Olivia would bring Ellie into her bed and snuggle her through the night until she was better. There was another way Olivia could help Tom and keep an eye on him at the same time.

  ‘Can you move over?’ She pointed to the back of the sofa. ‘Turn on your side.’

  He did as she asked, shuffling across and she got onto the sofa and lay down behind him, pulling the blankets over both of them. She slid her arm around him, covering his cool hands with her small one.

  ‘Spoons,’ Tom said sleepily. ‘This is nice.’

  ‘Hush.’ Her voice was a whisper as she snuggled up to him, tucking her legs into his bent knees. ‘Don’t talk, just rest. You are an idiot, by the way.’

  ‘Mmm. I like this,’ he said, his fingers squeezing hers. ‘Like you’re trying to wrap yourself around me.’

  ‘I’m just trying to warm you.’

  ‘Maybe we should both be naked now. Warmer that way.’

  She swallowed, felt the tremor in her fingers. ‘That’s not going to help.’

  ‘Mmm. Probably would.’ Tom sighed. ‘Not used to being held, cuddled.’

  She brushed that one away. ‘Not since you were a child maybe.’

  ‘Not even then.’ He was sleepier still. ‘Was me who did the looking after. Don’t leave me, please. Don’t want you to go.’

  Olivia felt her heart bump. That was totally unexpected, and she had no intention of moving or leaving him. She held him even more tightly than before, remembering doing the same for Ellie, her dad soothing her all those years ago and before that her mum, and she wondered if Tom really had had no one in his life to do that for him. Gradually she felt his shivering reduce and heard his breathing change. He was asleep. Olivia’s eyes grew heavy too, and it wasn’t many minutes more before she joined him, wrung out by the anxiety and the drama.

  When she woke up hours later, she felt stiff and disorientated. She blinked, the lamp she had lit earlier brightening the room. The fire had dwindled to a glow and Tom was still asleep. She touched his hand, relieved it felt warm, and lifted the bottom of his hoodie to check his stomach. It too was fine and she carefully slid away, tucking the blankets tightly around him. A glance at her phone told her it was one a.m., and she didn’t want to reply now to the text Annie had sent earlier that she had missed in case she accidentally woke her friend up.

  Olivia quietly put more logs on the fire, poking it gently so they began to catch, and settled on the armchair opposite Tom. She wanted to go back to holding him but was frightened of waking him and disturbing the rest he so obviously needed. She covered herself with a spare blanket, resisting the impulse to check her inbox when sleep refused to find her quite so easily as before.

  Daylight was stirring outside when she
woke up again, creeping over to Tom on the sofa to check on him. He was on his back now, and his eyes opened just as she was sliding a hand beneath the blankets.

  ‘Where did you get to?’ he asked drowsily, covering a yawn with the free hand he lifted from the depths of his makeshift bed. ‘I woke up and you weren’t there.’

  ‘I was just on the chair.’ She removed her fingers from his. ‘I didn’t think we could stay like that all night.’

  ‘Aren’t you supposed to be warming me up?’

  ‘I did.’ She hoped she wasn’t revealing how much she liked taking care of him. That was new. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘My head hurts.’ Tom was blinking at her. ‘I’m a bit cold still, like I might have come down with something.’

  ‘Paracetamol and a hot drink. Stay there.’

  Olivia made him a hot blackcurrant from some juice in the fridge, found paracetamol in her bag. She didn’t have many and Tom would probably need more, so she would have to go out later. She re-laid the fire whilst he drank, his gaze full of apologies whenever hers wandered over to his, unable to stop checking on him.

  ‘What about work?’ He still sounded half asleep.

  ‘I think you might need a day off from writing, Tom. You should probably rest.’

  ‘I meant yours.’ He pointed to the window, the curtains she had forgotten to draw last night still open. ‘The snow’s thawing. You should be able to get to your appointment.’

  ‘Maybe.’ Olivia expected the roads would be very wet, probably flooded in places. She had planned to go to Cumbria today, but she didn’t like the thought of leaving Tom alone with no one to check on him. She knew Annie would do it in a heartbeat but neither did she want to drag Annie out in poor weather, not with the baby due in a month. ‘I can rearrange it for later in the week.’

  What was she saying? Olivia never rearranged anything that wasn’t out of her own control, though she supposed she had the excuse of the poor weather again. She hoped her anxious vendor wouldn’t mind and decided it was tough if they did; she was staying here.