Page 105 of It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square
Ben just stares at me, and I notice all the colour has drained from his face.
‘What’s wrong?’ I ask. ‘Ben, you don’t look too good.’
Ben gets up and silently goes over to the Christmas tree. He bends down and picks up the gift he said he was going to give to me for Christmas. Then he walks back over towards me and holds out the gift.
‘Why are you giving me that now?’ I ask. ‘With everything else going on, I think Christmas presents are the last thing we need to be thinking about.’
‘Open it,’ he says quietly. ‘Please.’
I look at him for a second and then do as he says. Carefully undoing first the ribbon, and then opening up the outer gift box to reveal nestled in white tissue paper, a small green velvet box.
I look up at Ben again.
‘Go on,’ he says, nodding at the box.
Carefully, I lift the hinged lid. Inside the velvet box is a large, silver, antique locket.
‘It’s beautiful,’ I say. ‘I love it. But I don’t understand … ’
‘Open the locket,’ Ben says, still in a hushed voice.
I do as he says, lifting the locket from the box and then opening it at the clasp.
I gasp when I see what’s inside.
‘It’s the same one, isn’t it?’ Ben asks.
‘Yes,’ I whisper, hardly believing my eyes. Fitted carefully inside the locket is a red velvet heart embroidered with holly, ivy, mistletoe and the wordsSt Nicholas. ‘But how … ’
‘My mother left me the locket,’ Ben says, still gazing at it in the palm of my hand. ‘Remember, she gave it to Fred? My parents presented it to me when they told me I was adopted. They said it was the only thing they had that was hers. But I had no idea what the significance of the embroidery was – until now, that is.’
‘The embroidery must have been added to the locket as it was passed down through your family. This is so special, Ben. You must keep it now.’ I try to hand it back to him.
Ben shakes his head. ‘No, I still want you to have it, Elle. You’re the most precious thing in my life right now. And who knows, maybe one day we can pass it down through our own family … If that’s what you would like of course … ?’
I put the locket back carefully in the box and then I stand up to face Ben. ‘I can’t think of anything I’d like more,’ I tell him, putting my arms around his neck, ‘than to live here with you, have many more Christmases together, and continue this house’s tradition of a huge Christmas tree every year, with all of Estelle’s decorations on it.’
We’re about to kiss when I notice something odd.
‘Look!’ I say, staring past him up at the tree. ‘The moon is shining through the window again.’
Ben turns around and we both gaze up at the Christmas tree as the moonlight falls upon two very specific decorations – the angel, which sits almost at the top of the tree, and the star, which tops the highest branch.
‘How is that happening?’ Ben asks, watching them both glisten in the moon’s rays. ‘Estelle and Angela aren’t here any more.’
‘Maybe not,’ I say, smiling at the star and the angel as they sparkle. ‘But haven’t we just learnt that at Christmastime, anything is possible … ’
Epilogue
Embankment,London
18 December 2023
Five Years Later …
‘Sorry, can we take a detour?’ I say to the taxi driver as we drive back from the school where I’ve been giving one of my book talks. ‘Can you take me to Waterloo Bridge, please?’
‘Er, all right then,’ the taxi driver says, looking in his rear-view mirror at me. ‘Is everything all right? You’ve not gone into labour, have you?’
