‘Lucas is such a dick sometimes.’
‘He’s busy and stressed about the hotel inspector, that’s all.’
‘He won’t bleeding believe me that that bitch of a girlfriend of his is cheating – with old Santa Claus out there. I saw a message.’
‘Shush your language in here. And if she is, you have warned him. He will take that in, and it is his business, Danny – not yours – not ours. His business,’ she repeated. ‘You’d think you’d have learned that with all our years living where we did before, especially where relationships are concerned. You keep your nose out of it. If their relationship needs to run its course, it will. The truth will out.’
Danny punched his fist into the palm of his other hand, then bent down to retrieve his apron. All the while, Tina Green picked up the big bits of glass from the floor then swept it deftly with a dustpan and brush.
‘Now, I’m going upstairs to fetch Alfie and take him home,’ she told her son. ‘You make sure you cook a feast fit for a queen for that woman, you hear me?’
Danny breathed out then forced himself to get a grip and pulled his apron back over his head just as Joe Fox was pulling off his beard as Davina entered the hut and shut the door.
‘You did good, Santa.’ Davina kissed him on the cheek. ‘Lucas has no idea it’s you. He’s still so protective over his darling Rosa that if he finds out, you’ll be kicked off the grotto before you can say pigs in blankets.’ She sniggered. ‘Anyway, I’ve thought up a plan to keep them all side-tracked with something else. We’re going to cash in, I tell you.’
‘We haven’t delivered any reindeers yet, either.’
‘I have a little idea about that too.’ Davina grinned.
‘Full of ’em, aren’t you, blondie?’ Joe ran his hand up her dress to reach her stocking tops again.
She moved it away and stepped back, saying, ‘No – too dangerous tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Right, I’ve got to go. See you soon, Santa. Oh, and I’ll message you later about the reindeer.’
CHAPTER 34
Rosa bathed and fed Little Ned and settled him in his cot. She was tired. It had been a long day but a fun one, with the opening of the grotto and spending some time with her brother.
What a good job that Jacob had given her a heads-up on the hotel inspector, or they would probably have just lost the rating by the woman having to wait to check in. Thank God they had got the room prepped and ready in advance too. She so hoped Lucas got the accolade he deserved after all the hard work he had put into the newly revamped Ship. It would give him a much-needed boost. She would tell Jacob that she had shared the information about the hotel inspector. In her eyes competition was healthy. And there were plenty of rooms at both inns to service this busy seaside town.
How lovely that now she was home with the heating cranked up, she could have a nice bath herself and relax. And then watch her guilty pleasure, Strictly Come Dancing, without Josh interrupting. Just one more weekend after this one and he would be home.
It would feel strange having him back but so, so good to be able to share not only the bed but their precious son with him again. Luckily, Danny had managed to squeeze in some time to make good the damage to the kitchen ceiling with a lick of paint, so that was another tick off her list. And a tiny lower tooth was showing now, giving Little Ned respite from his painful gums and allowing for more sleep for the pair of them until the next one came through. Maybe it was getting easier.
Deciding a milky coffee would make a nice bath accompaniment, she went into the kitchen and spooned coffee granules into her favourite mug, but as she began to pour the hot milk in, the strong aroma hit her and she only just made it to the downstairs toilet in time before being sick. After throwing up her hot chocolate and mince pie from earlier she sat on the closed toilet lid and put her hand inside her bra. She’d been trying to ignore the fact that her boobs were feeling not only a little bit bigger, but decidedly sore. Adding Amira’s astute remark of earlier to her bout of nausea, all bets were off that the Smith family might well be growing from a family of three to four.
Hot came waddling in and lay down across her feet. ‘Oh Hot, what have we done again?’ She put her hand on her tummy and smiled with happiness. Yes, she’d been finding motherhood hard, but the couple had always discussed having more than just one child. A lot more, if Josh had his way. And now that another miracle could well be growing inside her, rather than feeling agitated at having to go through all the trials of motherhood again so soon, she felt a weird sense of peace. Feeling, somehow, that it was meant to be.
She gently moved Hot, then washed her face and rinsed her mouth. Feeling better, she went back to the kitchen to look at the wall calendar and started counting the weeks. She knew the exact date of conception as they had only had sex once in the three months – just before Josh had left for the States. She thought they had been careful – as careful as the rhythm method ever allows. If her deductions were right, then baby number two would be due on the ninth of July, exactly the same day as their precious Little Ned.
Rosa leaned down and tickled her furry companion behind his ears. ‘Looks like we may need to make more room at this inn too, eh Hot Dog?’
CHAPTER 35
‘OK, are you ready?’ Davina rushed into the kitchen. The evening tide had brought with it a brisk wind, so much so that Lucas was outside in the car park trying to secure the Christmas tree to a pole with a rope to prevent it from blowing over and crashing into the Christmas huts – or worse still, onto a customer, or the roof of the hotel. ‘She wants pâté on toast to start and the pan-seared tuna for main.’
‘Which sauce?’
‘Lemon and caper. She’s already on her second large glass of Sauvignon, so that’s good. She may not even taste the food.’ Davina laughed spitefully.
Danny opened the fridge – and promptly turned a matching shade of pale. ‘I sold the last tuna steak to that family earlier. Fuck it! I should have taken it off the menu. That’s so not a good start.’
At which point Lucas walked in, his face red from the cold and wind. ‘What’s not a good start?’
‘Mate, I need to come clean. She wants tuna and we’ve run out.’
‘That’s all we need! OK – think, Hannafore, think!’ Lucas said aloud. ‘I know – let me call Rosa. She can call Jacob; he will have some, I’m sure, even if it’s frozen. We’ve got none in the freezer, no?’
‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t expect it to go so crazy today.’
Lucas could see how pained Danny’s face was. ‘We’ve got this, don’t worry. Be slow but not too slow with her starter. Davina, offer her a glass of wine on the house, say that’s what we do for all first-time guests.’
‘It’s happened to us all,’ Jacob replied to Rosa’s urgent plea down the phone. ‘Tell him not to worry but send someone up here to the back-kitchen door and Raff will have a couple of our tuna steaks ready for them.’
‘Jacob, thank you so much. Luke would help you in a situation like this, I know he would.’