through the pile of magazines she had bought, watching what she wanted to for a change on the television and not what her mother and father dictated, but she hadn’t bargained on feeling so very sad, lost and lonely, with no heart to do anything whatsoever, the neverending day stretching before her.
Her desolate state had nothing to do with the absence of her parents but was all to do with Neil. Their chance encounter had resurrected all the feelings for him that she had been trying to bury.
She had firmly told Agnes not to come in today, and to enjoy being with her family and friends, but still she had insisted on preparing a meal that would just require heating up, so at least she knew Cait was enjoying a proper Christmas dinner. She had also been overwhelmed with the small gift that Cait had bought her: a bar of lavender-scented soap and matching talcum powder. Never having received so much as a token from her employers before after years of loyalty to them, from the way she’d responded an onlooker would have thought Cait had given her the crown jewels.
She had slept badly the night she had bumped into Neil, unable to get him out of her mind, and her only respite since had been while she had been occupied at work. But immediately Agnes had departed at six on Christmas Eve, leaving her entirely on her own, memories of Neil, and her own pain and heartache at losing him, had flooded back with a vengeance and not left her since. That morning, feeling wretched and exhausted, Cait had dragged herself out of bed and moped aimlessly around the house. She was still in her dressing gown, unwashed, her hair dishevelled. It was now after two o’clock and the meal Agnes had prepared her was still sitting untouched in the fridge where she had left it yesterday, Cait having had no appetite since her unexpected meeting with Neil.
She knew she wasn’t helping herself by wondering who he had held in his arms for the last dance on Christmas Eve; who he had kissed under the mistletoe; who was sitting by his side at the dinner table today, sharing jokes with his family; who he had bought a special Christmas present for.
She knew she was upsetting herself unnecessarily, and that she needed something to occupy her mind and take her thoughts off Neil, even for a short while.
What, though? There was nothing in this house that would provide the distraction she needed. She knew it would be easier for her when she returned to work the day after Boxing Day, but that didn’t help her right now. If only everywhere wasn’t closed. With somewhere to go, the cinema, a museum, a browse around the shops, she would at least have had other things to think about.
Cait heaved a deep forlorn sigh as she watched a robin fly from branch to branch, vehemently wishing she was just a bird with only the problem of where her next worm was coming from to think about. Then unexpectedly a memory popped into her head. But she did have somewhere to go. Somewhere where she had been told she’d be welcome. That was an invitation whichever way she looked at it and there was no reason to believe it wasn’t genuine. All thoughts of Neil were suddenly replaced by ones of what she would wear, how she would get there and what to take with her as she couldn’t go empty-handed.
It took her several telephone calls to find a taxi firm that was providing a skeleton service that day. An hour later, carrying a bottle of five-star Napoleon brandy she had taken out of her parents’ drinks cabinet and wrapped up in brown paper and tied with a ribbon, Cait went out to meet the taxi as soon as she heard its tyres scrunching on the gravel drive. Settling herself in the back of the car, she informed the driver of Glen’s and Jan’s address and they set off.
At just after twelve that night, three people climbed into their beds, tired but happy. Glen had thoroughly enjoyed his day. He had been in very pleasant company . . . had been most surprised when Caitlyn had turned up, but pleased she had taken Jan’s invitation seriously and didn’t mind sharing the day with two people old enough to be her parents. The food Jan had prepared had been sumptuous and he was stuffed to