it now.’
Except he wasn’t. And both he and Jolene knew that.
Why couldn’t he simply say it? It wasn’t complicated. It wasn’t a matter of life or death.
Except it sort of, was.
‘I love you too, honey. I can’t wait to see you on New Year’s Eve. And to meet your mom. I hope she’s looking forward to meeting me.’
‘Er. Yes. Yes she is. I’d better go because I promised I’d make breakfast. Sorry I woke you up. Speak soon. Sleep well.’
He closed his laptop with a groan and banged his head on it.
‘Speak soon. Sleep well.’ What kind of boyfriend was he? All Jolene wanted to hear were three little words. Maybe four. ‘I. Love. You. Jolene.’ There. He’d said it. Only not to her.
And why did it feel as if he’d just told the biggest lie ever?
He’d have to do some serious thinking. But not right now. His mum was calling him and he could hear Molly in the background, laughing.
Shortly after breakfast, the snowfall turned into a full-blown blizzard. News reports said flights were being grounded and several UK airports closed. Numerous roads across the country were blocked and entire villages cut off. This was the worst blizzard in living memory and people were predicting a miserable Christmas for some. There were power cuts in certain parts, but thankfully not in Easterhill or anywhere in the county. Wales was hit badly and so were parts of Scotland and the Midlands; the South of England came off better than most.
Molly, Vicky and Chance stayed indoors for most of Monday, only venturing out once to try to give the dogs some exercise. But trying to do that in over a foot of snow proved difficult and the dogs didn’t seem to mind spending the day curled up in front of the fire.
Chance hadn’t minded either, even though he still had so much to do at the cottage. But he could give himself one day off and it had been years since he had played Monopoly and all the other board games both Molly and his mum had suggested they play. It was actually a lot of fun.
They’d eaten pizza that the three of them had made from scratch. They’d also made mince pies, shortbread biscuits and a rather misshapen Yule Log. Molly baked some gingerbread men which she turned upside down and made to look like reindeers by drizzling various colours of icing on them. She used white icing on the legs to make them into antlers, and on the arms to make into the reindeer ears. She added two blobs of blue icing on the body to make eyes and used red in the centre for the nose. A black half circle on what was once the head of the man, made a mouth.
‘They look amazing, Molly,’ Chance said as he took two.
They tasted pretty amazing as well.
The three of them watched the news from time to time throughout the day where images of people trudging through the snow to get to where they needed to be, made Chance, Molly and Vicky grateful that they didn’t need to be anywhere at all.
Molly had called Terry and Sarah a couple of times and both of them were staying in.
‘Sarah’s spending the day at her sewing machine,’ Molly said when she rang off. ‘Terry’s taking a ‘snow day’ but Sarah’s asked him to do some DIY around the house.’
Terry was an accountant so it wasn’t as if a day off would be a major event, unlike all the police, firemen, doctors and nurses and other necessary services. Most of those did struggle to make it in, according to the news reports.
The local authority did what they could to clear the roads or at least make them passable, but they stated on the website that travelling anywhere other than a mile or so from your own front door, required determination, dedication … and several tonnes of their grit. Once the gritting lorries could get out, that is.
Seventeen
The blizzard finally eased on Tuesday but snow continued to fall, on and off, all day.
Even so, Chance and Molly made it to the cottage, leaving Miracle with Vicky once again, and they both got quite a bit done.
Chance painted the sitting room a deep, dark bottle green. Molly had said it needed a bright, bold colour and the room suited the green perfectly. Or the green suited the room. It made the fireplace stand out, and brought out the warmth in the polished oak floorboards.
Together with