Page 66 of All We Want for Christmas
‘Then let’s go.’ Without a moment’s hesitation, Lara pulled her coat from the rack and scooped up her keys.
It took half an hour to reach the coastal village where Molly, Esme and Brenda lived. Flynn was largely silent, sending messages to Molly while Lara drove along the unlit road, concentrating hard in case there were any lingering patches of slush.
Brightly lit homes heralded their entrance to the village, with trees twinkling in people’s windows and glowing reindeer grazing on front lawns. Some people had really gone to town, and while none of it could measure up the Ravendale light show, Lara found it touching. It gave her a pang of homesickness for her own family home. She didn’t think she’d see them now until well into the New Year, when they returned from Australia.
And the consolation of sharing a communal Christmas lunch with Flynn was now gone; he’d be sure to spend it with Molly and Esme, which was only to be expected. She hoped that Flynn and his new family would be able to get to know each other better by then – meaning that Molly would have to tell Imogen and Brenda.
‘We’re only a couple of minutes away,’ Lara said, turning off the main street into a residential area.
‘It’s number twenty-eight,’ Flynn said, scanning the houses for Molly’s.
‘On the left. Might be that one with the Santa in the garden?’
Lara slowed and stopped the Land Rover outside a stone semi-detached cottage where the street lights showed a blow-up Santa tethered to the front lawn amid patches of melting snow.
‘There are no lights on, so I think it is.’
She turned off the engine and headlights, but Flynn seemed frozen to the passenger seat.
‘To think they were here all this time,’ he said, looking out of the window. ‘And I had no idea.’
‘I know …’ Lara thought of the switchback of emotions that the past couple of months had brought. Flynn walking into her life so dramatically at Halloween, breaking down her defences and giving her the hope of a fresh start – and now the future had been turned on its head again.
She took the keys from the ignition. ‘Come on, we don’t want to keep them waiting any longer. It’s past 10 p.m. already.’
Flynn snapped into life and carried his toolkit and torch into the house, where a pale-faced Molly let them in. Flynn had already told her Lara was coming too, so her presence wasn’t a shock.
Flynn set up a powerful torch that doubled as a lamp.
Molly had her coat on but was still shivering. It was almost as chilly inside as out.
‘I brought the travel cot down here,’ she said. ‘Luckily Esme’s now gone off to sleep.’
‘That’s one good thing, then,’ Lara said, smiling at the sleeping babe while Flynn opened up his toolbox.
Molly was still agitated. ‘I’m sorry to call you, but I didn’t know who else to ask,’ she said. ‘Nan’s gone to aStrictlyChristmas show in Manchester. She took the car or I would have driven myself. She’ll go spare when she sees the damage but I’m not telling her until she gets home. I don’t want to ruin her special trip.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Lara said.
‘Burst pipes and leaks can happen to anyone,’ Flynn said kindly. ‘Can you show me where the worst of the damage is?’
‘I can sit here and keep an eye on Esme,’ Lara offered, aware that she was even more of a stranger to the baby than Flynn.
Molly nodded and took Flynn into what seemed to be a kitchen area.
Ten minutes later, they both returned to the sitting room, much to Lara’s relief. Esme had woken up and she hadn’t dared let her crawl around in the dark, so she’d been entertaining her with YouTube kids’ videos on her phone.
Flynn set up his torch so they could see each other while he delivered his verdict on the damage.
‘It’s not great,’ he said, with a grimace, although Lara could tell he was trying not to over-dramatise the situation for Molly’s sake. ‘The water has leaked through the floor of Esme’s room, through to the utility room below and damaged the circuit breakers there, which is why there’s no power or light.’
‘It’s bad, isn’t it?’
‘I’ve seen far worse, but the most important thing is that you’re both OK. The ceiling can be fixed, but that’s abigger job and I can’t even call anyone to see when they can repair it until morning. We’ll also need to call out an emergency plumber and clear up the mess. I can check the electrics properly myself tomorrow and fix any issues.’
Lara thought it was very fortunate for Molly that Flynn was an experienced maintenance manager.
Esme let out a snicker of protest and Molly took her from Lara. ‘I can’t let her sleep in the dark and cold.’
