Page 11 of A Snowy Seaside Christmas
‘It’ll be good to see him, too, he’s a grand lad.’
Here we go!He was as bad as her friends at times, teasing her about Nate. It was time to steer the conversation in a different direction.
‘Don’t suppose you’ve heard from Elfie or Mum recently, have you?’ she asked.
Lark’s mother and godmother lived on Koh Samui in Thailand where they ran a successful yoga and well-being retreat. They’d been working on Lark over recent months, trying to tempt her to join them without success, thus far.
‘Not for a while, no. How about you?’
‘Same here. From the way they were talking last time I spoke to them, I’m not sure they’ll be coming over for Christmas.’
‘Oh, right…’ Silas hesitated. ‘Listen, if you’d rather head over to them for the festive break, don’t let me stop you. I can?—’
‘Dad,’ Lark said, cutting him off. ‘There’s no way I’ll be doing that. I want to spend Christmas here in Micklewick Bay with you.’
‘But—’
‘No buts and no argument, okay?’
‘No argument,’ he replied, an unmistakable smile in his voice.
‘And besides, I love the snow at Christmas time.’
‘Yeah, same here,’ he said. ‘So, you’ve had all my news, sweetheart. How’ve things been with you?’
‘Oh, where to start!’ Lark launched into telling her father about the suitcases and the contents, to which he’d listened intently, his interest and enthusiasm almost bouncing down the phone line.
Once the call ended, Lark fired off a quick text to Florrie, asking her to reserve the ticket for the bookshop’s author event while it was still fresh in her mind. Much as she kept her hunches at arm’s length these days, she had a good feeling about her father’s return to Micklewick Bay, and she couldn’t stop the smile that pushed its way over her face.
It didn’t take long for a reply to land from her friend.
Hi Lark, hope all went well at Crayke’s Cottage and the spiders left you alone!! It’s great to hear your dad’s doing okay. I’ve kept the book event ticket for him. Don’t forget it’s the window reveal beforehand. See you then – if the snow doesn’t put folk off! Fxx
Lark smiled at the smattering of emojis including a spiders’ web and a snowman. She tapped out a quick reply.
Thanks flower! We’re both looking forward to it. And plse don’t mention spiders!!! There were hundreds!!! Don’t fret about the weather, a bit of snow won’t put folk off being there for Ed’s window reveal or one of the bookshop’s events xxx
Lark added a slew of spider, snow and shock-faced emojis before pressing send. A heart-shaped tapback followed a couple of seconds later.
Ed was Florrie’s fiancé as well as her business partner, and his window displays had become a huge attraction in Micklewick Bay, particularly those he created for Christmas. They were kept hidden behind thick curtains until the grand reveal which always generated a buzz of excitement in the town. His displays had set the bar high for the rest of the tradespeople and as a result the festive window displays in particular were stunning.
TEN
MONDAY 1ST DECEMBER
Lark peered through the curtains of the small, low window of her bedroom that looked out over Smugglers Row, straggles of mussed-up hair framing her face. It had just gone seven a.m. and the cove was still cloaked in darkness. Old Micklewick was starting to shake off its slumber, lights flickering on in the cosy-looking cottages while frost glittered in the glow of the streetlamps. Even in the dim light it was easy to see there’d been no let up with the snow overnight, leaving the cobbles and steeply pitched rooftops hidden under a thick blanket of white.
If the weather forecast was to be believed, they were due another load of the white stuff later that morning and it was set to continue on and off through to the evening. Lugging what was left at Crayke’s Cottage wasn’t going to be an easy task in such weather. Lark wasn’t sure Nate would even be able to get his van down Skitey Bank, never mind to the end of the road. This part of town was never a priority when it came to gritters and snowploughs making an appearance, not that one would fit down Smugglers Row nor the surrounding equally narrow streets, but the wider roads that led to the cluster of houses was usually an afterthought to the local council. It was invariably left to the residents and local shopkeepers to keep the pathwaysclear and scatter rock salt they’d bought themselves. She’d send him a text, let him know how bad it was here.
Luna stretched from her place at the foot of Lark’s bed, where she usually slept. She purred contentedly, her distress of the previous evening all but forgotten.
‘Morning, Luna,’ Lark said through a stifled yawn as she lifted her dressing gown off the hook on the back of the door and shrugged it on over her brushed cotton pyjamas. She normally slept like a log, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, but last night her mind had been full of so many different things all vying for her attention it had taken her brain an age to wind down. Her dad had occupied a huge chunk of her headspace as she’d gone over the plans he’d shared. It gladdened her that he seemed to be breaking free of his shackles of grief, he was too young to lock himself away. A smile spread across her face at the prospect of seeing him this week; she was looking forward to it.
Of course, she’d found her thoughts being drawn to the small suitcase and its strange clutter of contents too, not to mention the energy it had hung on to. Getting to the bottom of that was going to be interesting.
But it hadn’t been her dad nor the suitcase that had been her waking thought. It had been Nate.
As she’d blinked sleep from her eyes, her mind had taken a couple of moments, going over his face, his gentle, dark brown eyes and his easy smile. His presence in her home felt natural and comfortable, as if it was where he was meant to be.
