Page 40 of The Village Christmas Party

Kian returns with the drinks, just as Sue and Barry arrive.

‘Morning, hun.’ Sue kisses me on both cheeks in the hallway. She has her dark hair up and is wearing a denim dress, looking at least a decade younger than her real age.

‘Oh wow, look at that!’ Sue glances at the not so little Little Mermaid cardboard statue. ‘I bet your daughter will be thrilled.’ She turns to Kian. ‘I’m Sue, by the way. This is Barry.’ She chats away. ‘I take it you are Kian? Lauren has told us all about you.’

‘You mean all about the predicament with the hall.’ I can feel my cheeks colouring.

‘Yes, that’s what I meant.’ She gives me a glance that says ‘sorry’.

Maybe I have been talking about him a lot?

‘That’s a gorgeous Irish accent,’ Sue says to Kian. ‘Whereabouts are you from?’ she asks.

‘Wexford in south-eastern Ireland. Just outside actually, in a small village,’ he reveals.

‘Lovely. I’ve always fancied going to Ireland. We toyed with the idea of hiring a car in Ireland and exploring, didn’t we, Barry? You can get really cheap flights to Knock apparently, and pick up a car from there.’

‘True enough,’ agrees Kian. ‘It’s around a four-hour drive from the airport to Wexford, but there are some lovely towns to visit on the way.’

‘We did talk about it, yes,’ says Barry. ‘Well, we considered a camper van actually, which I don’t think would have had enough space for all of your clothes and make-up. Anyway, in the end you said you prefer cruises,’ he reminds his wife.

‘I did, didn’t I?’ Sue concedes. ‘Ireland just looks so wild and wonderful, so maybe one day. So, Kian, how long have you lived in the Lakes?’ she asks. ‘I take it you do live around here?’

‘Ten years, and, yes, I do. I moved here for the love of a woman,’ he explains. ‘Although I have only recently moved here to Fellview. Before that I was living near Keswick.’

So he is with someone? I assumed when he said he was divorced that he was single. I feel my heart sink.

‘The marriage didn’t last, but I fell in love with the Lakes anyway,’ he says. ‘And, of course, my daughter is here. Anyway, I’m sure you would enjoy Wexford. It’s a great mix of coast and town so definitely worth visiting if you do ever decide to take that trip,’ he tells Sue.

‘Lovely. I’ll pick your brain if we ever do. Right, Barry, you’re on meat carving duty,’ Sue tells her husband. ‘Lovely to meet you, Kian.’

‘And the rest of us had better get ready for some serious veg peeling,’ I say as we head off to our various tasks. ‘The more potatoes the better.’

‘Oh, the pensioners love their roast potatoes, don’t they?’ Sue laughs. ‘Right then, maybe we had better crack on instead of standing here chatting, or Christmas lunch will never be served.’

TWENTY-THREE

It occurs to me that Sue has been here all of five minutes and has managed to find out a lot more about Kian that I have this last week. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have seemed appropriate to be asking where he was from and chatting happily in a car the other day to the man who had just soaked me to the skin.

We are heading into the kitchen to begin preparations, when the door opens and in walks Audrey, carrying a large bag. She takes in the children’s section with admiration as she enters the hall.

‘Oh, wow. I wish I had had the chance to go to a party like this when I was little,’ she says. ‘In fact, even now I love Disney.’ She smiles.

‘Well, I’m sure Kian would more than welcome a hand with the children once the pensioners are settled with their food,’ I suggest.

‘I definitely wouldn’t say no to that,’ he agrees, smiling.

‘Then I would love to,’ she says, gazing at the giant-sized Little Mermaid.

The pensioners’ side of the room is also looking great as my mum is a dab hand at turning red napkins into pretty fans, and Christmas coasters featuring robins are set next to the cutlery.The rosy-cheeked Santa poster on the windows will be smiling down on them all when they arrive, creating the perfect festive scene.

‘I guess you already have a central table decoration, but I wondered if you might like this,’ says Audrey, pulling the most glorious centrepiece from her bag that has us all gasping in admiration.

‘Audrey, it’s beautiful,’ I say, glancing at the huge showstopper of a centrepiece.

It’s a winter garden scene, adorned with silver pine cones and mistletoe berries. A robin is sat atop a snowy log, nestled amongst sprigs of holly and ivy and the whole sculpture is dusted in a sprinkling of silver glitter. When she places it in the centre of the table and adds a chunky red candle, it looks absolutely perfect.

‘We have an old plastic one that looks nothing like that,’ I tell her, thinking it another example of Audrey’s creative talent. ‘Thank you so much, it will take pride of place every year. If we can keep it, that is?’

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