The simple explanation for my Twister-inspired pose was that I just couldn’t say goodbye to Sebastian. I had my reasons. I didn’t want to embarrass myself and tell Sebastian how much I wanted him to stay. I didn’t want to let the tears that were gathering in the corners of my eyes overspill. And I didn’t want to ruin my Christmas. I was still determined that everything was going to be perfect. Even if I was alone.
As Sebastian’s car faded away into the dark corridors of the winter roads, I straightened and headed towards the Manor.
“You’ve just missed Sebastian,” Barbara said. At least I’d been successful in hiding. “But I gave him the gift you left.”
I smiled as genuinely as I could muster. “Thanks, Barbara. He’ll be in Barbados soon.”
“I can’t understand it,” she said. “Who’d want to be anywhere but here?” She glanced over at the green below us.
“Not all those people spending money, that’s for sure.”
With the coverage on the Good Housekeeping and Rallegra social media, together with the Instagram influencer attention we’d been getting, business had never been so good. I’d set up some social media accounts for the village and we already had over a hundred thousand followers. People came from far and wide to visit and take pictures and drink hot chocolate.
And it wasn’t just footfall. The visitors had come with money in their pockets and we were on track to have our most successful Christmas season ever, despite the slow start.
We’d done it. We’d saved Christmas.
“Just going to pop in and give Ivy this hot chocolate,” I said to Barbara as I stepped over the threshold of the Manor. “Catch up later.”
Maybe Ivy’s sprained ankle had been far from the disaster I’d first thought it was. After all, it had brought Sebastian to the village. He’d brought his new ideas and sometimes his brute strength. And he’d brought lazy hours spent around my kitchen table, and scorching hot nights in bed.
Sebastian had made Christmas for me this year, even if he didn’t stay for the day itself. I was so sad he’d gone.
But he had. And I’d survive. Better that he go now so I didn’t have longer to get to like him even more.
As I reached the back sitting room, I found Ivy, without a Zimmer frame, walking around the room. “Ivy! Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”
She nearly hit the ceiling as if she’d been caught stealing from the till. “I’m just doing as I’m told. You know me. The physio said I need to start walking again. And actually, there’s less pain than I expected.”
“That’s great. I brought you some hot chocolate.” I set it down next to her seat on the sofa. “I’m just leaving it here.”
“Did you catch Sebastian? He just left.”
I shrugged, trying to come across as blasé. “Must have just missed him. He get off okay?”
Ivy hobbled back and sank into the sofa. I took a seat on the wingback chair next to her. “I suppose.” She pushed her lips together and shook her head like she was trying to solve a puzzle. “I really thought he’d stay. I’d been hoping at least.”
My heart swooped. Me too, I thought. Me too.
“But sometimes it takes people longer to find their right path in life.” She turned and looked me straight in the eye. “Carl wasn’t ever the right man for you.”
The mention of his name didn’t make my heart flutter in anticipation anymore. It didn’t create the same creeping feeling of dread that I’d worn like a cloak for the last twelve months. I’d more than accepted he was gone—I was grateful for it. “I know. It took me a while to see it, but I’m better off for him leaving.”
Ivy nodded. “It leaves room for someone else to come into your life.”
At the moment, all I could see in that space was Sebastian, but I knew that would fade. Wouldn’t it? I’d have to work hard to rub away the oh-so-vivid images he’d left behind. But I wasn’t going to be a woman who waited around for a fantasy. There had been nothing fake between Sebastian and me, but it had been fleeting. I’d always known that.
“You need someone who sees what a kind, generous, lovely girl you are. And you’re still a girl. To me at least. You have your entire life ahead of you.”
“Thanks, Ivy. I feel a lot better than I did this time last year.”
“Sebastian going hasn’t brought to the surface all that nasty business with Carl?”
A shiver raced up my spine. Had she known all along? I shook my head. “Your grandson is a special man and a good friend. But I have no expectations there.”
Ivy laughed, long and throaty. “Well, that makes one of us. I’d have loved to have seen you two together.” She took a sip of her almost-cold chocolate. “Sebastian takes a while to see what’s right in front of him. Look how long it took him to come back to Snowsly.”
“Well, no offense to Sebastian, but this woman isn’t waiting around for him to catch up. I’ve been that girl. I waited six years for a proposal from Carl and I won’t make that mistake again. I want to build my own life, have my own desires and ambitions. Then, if the right man comes along who shares my vision and wants to join me on that journey, we’ll see if there’s a path forward for us. For now, I’m in the right place with the right people.”
Ivy gave one slow nod. “Sounds like you’ve done a lot of growing up in the last year.”
I grinned, thinking back to the memory of that first kiss with Sebastian, of the night in Snowsville, of the burning ritual. “All any of us can do is keep moving forward. And keep striving toward happiness. Which reminds me, can I accept your kind Christmas lunch invitation?” I’d been putting off accepting because I really didn’t know how I was going to feel celebrating after what had happened last year. But Sebastian had made sure I’d moved on and that I wanted to celebrate this year, no matter what had happened last.
“I’d be delighted to have you. There will be a whole gang of people. I say, the more the merrier.”
A merry Christmas was almost guaranteed in Snowsly. A merry Christmas at Snowsly Manor was an absolute certainty. It was just a shame that the man who’d shared my bed recently wouldn’t be sitting next to me.
Twenty-Five
Celia
I stepped out of the Manor and into the frigid night air. I pulled my Christmas tree hat down so low I could barely see. Maybe it would snow tonight. That would go some way to making up for not having Sebastian here tomorrow.
The Christmas market was in full swing and the smell of cinnamon and roasting chestnuts wafted their way up the hill to the Manor entrance. It was like living in a Hallmark movie. Except this year, there was no happy ending.
A car pulled up just as I started to head home and the door opened.
“Celia?” a voice said. A blonde-bobbed head popped out from around the door, followed by a squeal. “Celia!”
Was I hallucinating? “Lemon?”
I barely kept my balance as my best friend launched herself at me, wrapping her entire body around me. I joined in the squealing. “I can’t believe you’re here!” I said as the driver of Lemon’s car approached, carrying a suitcase.