Page 66 of It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square
‘No, I’m afraid not. Management decided not to get one this year – too much hassle I think what with building all the grotto and everything. Shame, though – the one we had last year was great. I took my kids to see him; they loved it.’
‘Ah right … Thank you,’ I feel completely bewildered now. If there wasn’t a Santa here then what did I just witness?
‘All right?’ Ben says, heading back over towards us.
‘Er … yes. I think so. What did Angela want?’
‘Nothing really, the plumber hasn’t arrived yet. Angela just wanted to check if we’d be back for dinner tonight.’
‘Right … ’ I say as we leave the store, my mind still on the disappearing Santa Claus. ‘Wait a minute, how did Angela know we’d be together? And, come to think of it, how did you know where to find me today? I could have been anywhere, and yet you knew I’d be here in this very department store?’
‘Angela told me before I left the house this is where you’d be,’ Ben says, also looking confused now. ‘I assumed you’d been in touch with her, and told her where you were?’
I shake my head. ‘Nope.’
‘Well, thatisvery odd. But I guess when we’ve seen as many odd things as we have recently, little things like that don’t seem quite so strange now.’
‘I don’t know,’ I reply, taking one last look back into the store. ‘I think there’s plenty of strange stuff still going on that needs quite a lot of explanation, actually.’
Eighteen
Over a delicious lunch, Ben and I talk and talk. About our lives, our careers and the unexpected, yet quite wonderful run-up to Christmas we’ve both been experiencing this year.
Ben is the first to share more details of his childhood.
‘So, as you already know, the people I call my parents aren’t actually my real mum and dad,’ Ben explains while we’re between courses. ‘They adopted me when I was a few days old, after my mother left me at a children’s home. I know nothing of my father at all.’
‘Gosh, Ben, I’m so sorry.’
‘Don’t be. I had a wonderful childhood. I didn’t want for anything and I had kind and loving parents.’
‘Have you ever wondered about your mother?’ I ask gently. ‘Why she left you there?’
‘Sometimes. I even tried tracing her once, but she left no clues to her identity when she left me, so it was virtually impossible. I only know she requested I be called something beginning with E.’
‘That’s very specific, isn’t it? For someone giving their newborn baby up to make requests about their name.’
‘Yes, I thought so too. But my new parents just went with it apparently and that’s how I ended up being called Ebenezer.’ He rolls his eyes. ‘Trust me to be born at Christmas.’
‘Not much fun, is it?’
Ben smiles ruefully. ‘No, it’s not. So that’s why I’ve never really been that keen on this time of year because it’s when my mother left me. So, what’s your story?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Regarding Christmas. I know you feel like me about it, because we’ve talked about it before, but you’ve never fully explained why?’
I take a sip of my water, and then a deep breath.
‘On Christmas Eve,’ I begin. ‘How did your parents differentiate between Christmas and your birthday every year?’
Ben looks surprised. ‘I’m not sure. I had presents wrapped in birthday paper and not Christmas paper, and we had a cake. I sometimes had a party when I was younger, but it was never on Christmas Eve, it was always a few days before. Why do you ask?’
‘Do you know how my parents kept my birthday and Christmas apart?’
Ben shakes his head.
‘They didn’t.’
