‘Ow.’ Titch put her hand to her stomach.
‘What’s up?’ Rosa asked, on the alert.
‘I’m fine, it’s just I’ve been having those silly little contractions all day. Baby Rogers wants to get out and show everyone how to do it, I reckon.’
Mrs Treborick, who was also now sniggering nervously, went to the kitchen to check whether Mr Ping-Pong (no relation to Jacob and Raffy’s pug Pongo), her ancient Pekinese, named after a character in the Rupert the Bear books, was behaving himself with Hot. She returned to report to Rosa that both animals were lying down, contentedly chewing on either end of an old dog toy, and that Zaki was sleeping soundly in his pram. Amira, not wanting to put upon Mary and Kit, had decided to take her chances and bring her baby son with her again.
Nate, who’d been persuaded by Rosa to join them to make up the male numbers, was the only one there who seemed to be taking the concert seriously. ‘Listen everyone, Felix is right,’ he said. ‘It would be good to win. After all, Ned’s Gift is the reason we are doing this, and it would so make sense to promote the charity efforts further.’
‘Hear, hear, darling boy,’ Felix affirmed, blowing an exaggerated kiss at him.
‘The radio is covering it, aren’t they?’ Nate added.
‘They sure are,’ Rosa replied.
‘Good! We can plug the café too,’ her brother said. Then: ‘Actually, that’s a point. If I’m singing, someone will need to cover the food for our bit.’
‘We’ll sort it out nearer the time. It’ll be fine,’ Rosa pacified him.
‘Yes, we do not wish to lose your fine tenor voice, dear boy,’ Felix announced, causing Nate to look shy.
‘The only tenner you’re going to lose is if you bet on us winning,’ Vicki quipped humorously. ‘It’s supposed to be a bit of fun too, you know.’
Felix carried on regardless. ‘And we mustn’t forget the whole evening is for the church roof fund, must we? My dear mother Celia would turn in her grave if we made a mockery of it.’
Hearing this, Rosa had a sudden vision of Jamie tanning his perfect body on a sun-lounger in the Ibiza sunshine. Wherever Celia Carlisle was looking down from, she was sure that an old church roof would be the last thing on her mind. Nonetheless, to keep the peace she agreed. He needed her support.
‘We are with you, Felix. Come on, everyone,’ she urged.
The singer dramatically lifted the wooden spoon baton in the air. ‘Very well, everyone. We’ll take it from the top, Gladys dear. Amira, remember to breathe ready for your solo this time please, if it’s not too much trouble.’
‘Peace at last,’ Rosa whispered to Titch, who had now started washing up the teacups in the back kitchen. ‘It’s bloody funny though, isn’t it? I nearly wet myself when Gladys fell asleep at the piano. I thought Felix was going to explode like Monsieur Creosote.’
Titch laughed. ‘I’m loving it, and it’s so nice to be doing something for us without the kids too.’ She had reckoned without Hot, who had woken up and came running around to them. He gave an ‘I need to pee,’ kind of bark.
‘You told Josh then?’ Titch asked.
‘Yes, he’s so excited. I am too. I feel…well, I can’t really explain how I feel.’ Rosa bent down to tie on Hot’s warm tartan coat and harness before putting her own coat on and lifting her bag over her head, messenger-style.
Titch said, ‘We will both have two little monsters each to grumble about now. Anyway, you go off, Rose. I’ll finish up here. I’m meeting Ritchie at the chippie straight after. He’s gonna drive us up the hill when he’s done. What’s the time? I only went and left my phone in his van earlier.’
‘Nearly nine. If you’re sure, thank you. I can relieve Mum of Little Ned then. Just pull the door to behind you and I’ll put the key in the key safe for Gladys tomorrow. Her Frank wanted to get her home.’
‘Brilliant. Thanks, mate.’
‘Jingle Bells, jingle bells…’ With jazz hands aloft, Rosa began to sing on her way out, causing both of them to laugh out loud and Hot to run around his mistress’s legs with frantic barks that meant: ‘Stop that! I need to get out and cock my leg against the vicar’s yew hedge right this minute.’
CHAPTER 47
‘I know that expression,’ Tina Green said to her son as he walked back into the hotel kitchen. ‘You talk to me before you act on it.’
Ignoring her, he went to the fridge, fetched some carrots and began to chop them furiously.
Lucas locked the car park gates that blocked off the grotto area, then calmly apprehended Davina as she walked through the back door to the reception.
‘Have you got a minute?’
‘Um. Well, I need to cash up for you out there and then I said I’d give Father Christmas a lift home.’
‘It won’t take long.’
Davina frowned. ‘Look, I’ve one more day off then I’m back on shift at the station, so I want to make sure everything is in order before Tina takes over.’
Lucas felt slightly sick at what he was about to do. ‘Has Father Christmas not got a real name?’
‘I’m trying to keep in the spirit of Christmas – for the kids, you know.’
‘You are so good.’ Lucas then growled, ‘What’s his fucking name?’
‘It’s um…Jon, Jon Badger.’
‘Badger, that’s an interesting name for a fucking fox. I think we need to talk, don’t you?’
‘Can’t it wait until tomorrow? Er, Jon needs to get back and the reindeer is hungry.’
‘Upstairs now!’ Lucas was trying to suppress the white-hot anger that was pulsing through him.
‘You can’t tell me what to do.’
Lucas took the woman’s arm and dragged her to his bedroom. His laptop was open on his desk.
‘Sit down.’ The fair cop, realising this could well be a fair cop, sighed deeply as Lucas looked her in the face and said, ‘Strangely, I can kind of deal with you cheating on me. We are over, of course, but it’s the rest I’m struggling with.’
‘I don’t know what you’re on about.’ Davina stood up and went to push past him.
‘Been screwing him since the interview, or did you know him before that?’
Davina held up her hands as if in surrender ‘OK, OK, I’ve done wrong. But me and you, we weren’t getting on anyway.’
‘So rather than communicate that like an adult and talk it through, you thought you’d shag the first guy who came along and then wave him in front of my eyes on a daily basis, right? It is Joe Fox, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, all right, it is!’ Davina spat. ‘And you’re not angry about me and you, you’re only angry because he did the dirty on your precious Rosa.’
‘I’m angry because he’s a shyster. And that you – my girlfriend, someone who I should be able to trust implicitly – have not only been cheating on me but stealing from me too. I don’t want him on my premises. I don’t want to be giving him money – my hard-earned cash. But most of all, I don’t want to ever see you again.’