‘Ho, ho, ho.’ Father Christmas waved awkwardly to the group of children who had already gathered along the sea wall. There wasn’t a sleigh in sight, or a reindeer, just him in his hired red and white outfit with a wide black belt and his horn-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose above his long white beard. He was swinging a brass bell, a sack stuffed with a pillow over his shoulder, and another one up his tunic to make a big, round jovial tummy.
Davina had persuaded him to make this kind of entrance, much to Joe Fox’s acute embarrassment. She then ushered him under the ribbon that was strung between the car park gates and into the signposted Santa’s Grotto, and locked the door behind them. Two huge sacks of presents that she and Tina had spent hours wrapping were placed behind the comfy armchair that Lucas had hired in specially. A fan-heater was blasting out much-needed heat.
‘Well, hello, Santa.’ Davina put her hand on the man’s chest and pushed him back into the armchair.
Joe ran his hand up her wool shift dress to find lacy stocking tops. ‘You are such a minx,’ he murmured. ‘The show opens in fifteen minutes.’
‘Plenty of time. Now you just sit quietly and let me see what goodies Santa has for me in here, shall we?’ She trailed her fingers down past his huge tummy. ‘Amazing what goes on in Cockleberry Bay, isn’t it?’ Licking her lips, she knelt and stared up into his eyes. ‘And no one likes to go to work on a full sack now, do they?’
‘Fuck it!’
‘That’s a nice greeting.’ Carly walked into the hotel bar to find Lucas searching frantically for something to cut the ribbon and officially open the grotto. He looked up and felt himself reddening immediately. ‘Oh hi, Carly, sorry for my language. I’m looking for a pair of scissors. Santa’s little helper, also known as my bird Davina, is just settling him into his cabin, and I think she may have taken them with her.’
‘Here.’ Carly pulled a pair out of her bag. ‘You can tell I was a Girl Guide.’
Lucas felt funny again. What was it with this woman? It was like she put him under a spell every time she saw him.
‘So,’ she went on, ‘South Cliffs Radio are here to do the live broadcast, and the Gazette is covering it too. Are you still OK to have a little chat with them?’
‘It so puts me out of my comfort zone,’ Lucas fretted. ‘I should have got Tom to do it. He’s much better at all this stuff.’
‘I’m surprised we got both the radio and the local rag on a Saturday, so let’s make the most of it.’
‘Are you joking? A grotto coming to town – this is big news for Cockleberry Bay.’
Carly laughed. ‘Good. Now, Lucas, please calm down. You’ll be fine. I’ll be holding your hand all the way. I’ve even written a few lines of what would be good to say. Key facts that the Gazette will hang onto and use. Reporters love it when it’s all done for them if possible. Here.’ She handed him a typewritten A4 sheet.
‘Thank you. You’re amazing.’
It was Carly’s turn to redden now. She cleared her throat. ‘Just remember, PR doesn’t stand for Public Relations at all, but Perjury Rules. Big it up and bring it on, Mr Hannafore. Oh, and here.’ She handed him an envelope. Lucas tore it open to reveal a card with a four-leaf clover on the front.
‘Aw, that’s so sweet. I don’t think I’ve ever received a Good Luck card before.’
‘Not that you need it, but I know this is kind of a big deal for you, especially as you mentioned about taking over from your mum and stuff.’
Lucas gulped and came round the other side of the bar. Just as he was giving Carly a spontaneous kiss on the cheek to thank her, a flushed Davina came charging in. Ignoring the pretty marketer and what she had just witnessed, she snarled, ‘So there you are. Are you coming out or not? It’s a minute to ten.’
Danny, who had only just finished stringing up the lights on the monster Christmas tree in the nick of time, gave a thumbs-up to Lucas as he passed the kitchen. Tina, all wrapped up, with Alfie by her side wearing an elf’s hat, was sitting at a table ready to take ticket money from those who had not purchased them in advance. As Lucas appeared in the car park, the gabbling of excited children died down, their parents shushing them in anticipation of the grand opening.
A big, fluffy grey Outside Broadcast microphone was pushed under Lucas’s nose. Rosa, running at speed along the beach path with Little Ned strapped to her chest and Hot trotting along beside her, made it just in time to give her friend a big grin of encouragement.
‘Welcome to the Cockleberry Bay Ship Hotel Christmas Grotto,’ he announced. ‘It’s fortunate I have my good teeth in, as that’s not easy to say.’ The crowd laughed. ‘For those of you who don’t know already, I’m Lucas Hannafore and I’m the proud owner of this place, along with my brother Tom, who’s over there.’ He pointed over people’s heads. Children were already getting jittery. Carly, standing right next to him, whispered like a ventriloquist through her closed mouth, ‘Bit faster.’
‘We hope you have a lovely day. Santa has allocated slots, but there’s a present for everyone – and if you want to write him a letter so that he can take it back to the North Pole with him, if you’ve been a good boy or girl this year you may get another present on Christmas Day.’ A few of the waiting kids cheered.
‘Mums and dads, we have mulled wine heating on the bar and of course we have a full menu of snacks on offer too.’ Rosa caught his eye and looked at him meaningfully. ‘And don’t forget to use your mince pie and hot chocolate vouchers over at Rosa’s Café, where they also sell an array of tasty snacks. Plus, they are offering take-out teas and coffees today, I believe.’ He looked at Rosa again, who nodded at him.
‘Where are the reindeers?’ a little lad shouted out from the front row of children. Lucas looked at Davina, who mouthed, ‘Later’ to him.
‘They…er…Mrs Christmas is just feeding them at the moment. They will be down shortly.’
Carly handed him the scissors, at which point a photographer from the Gazette came rushing forward, saying, ‘Just hold still there, mate, so I can get a good shot. Maybe you could get in there too, love.’ Carly awkwardly put her hands on top of Lucas’s as the photographer clicked away at the pivotal opening scene.
‘Before I let you in, we are here until December the twenty-third, the day before Christmas Eve, so tell all your friends, aunties, uncles, grandparents et cetera, won’t you, children? Everybody is very welcome.’ Lucas smiled, then went forward with Carly to cut the red ribbon that was holding back the crowd. ‘I now declare the Cockleberry Bay Ship Hotel Christmas Grotto well and truly open!’
Screams of excitable children and the voices of adults eager to get a mulled wine filled the chilly December air. Rosa, who seemed to be able to control her bladder less these days, left the pram and Hot with Raff, who had been instructed to see what all the fuss was about by Jacob, and rushed in the back door to the toilet.
As she did so, she looked through to the reception area to see a red-headed woman with alabaster skin and a beauty spot on her right cheek, pulling a wheelie suitcase awkwardly over the step of the front door. On seeing that nobody was there to greet her, she held her hand down on the reception bell and didn’t let it go.