A Winter Wedding at Mistletoe Gate Farm by Helen J Rolfe

Chapter Five

 

 

 

‘Mum, the house is fine.’ Tilly was fielding yet another call from her parents. ‘I bought four timer switches for lamps and they go off at different times, your neighbour is keeping an eye out and I gave her a key to the back gate so she can check around that side.’ Tilly rolled her eyes at Jade, who was browsing the candle selection in Tilly’s Bits ’n’ Pieces, holding up a pale pink tapered dinner candle for closer inspection and to see what it looked like in one of the pastel candle holders on the chest of drawers. ‘Yes, the neighbour locks the gate afterwards. Now, go, enjoy your holiday. Your neighbour is already texting me twice a day; I have a job to do as well as being your security detail,’ she laughed. ‘OK, love you too.’

‘I heard they were broken into.’ Jade, dressed in jeans and a navy knitted sweater down to mid-thigh beneath a slightly shorter jacket, set the candle and candle holder onto the counter ready to pay.

Tilly put her phone out of the way. ‘They were, but no real damage done and not too much taken. I think we’re all looking at it with the view that it could’ve been worse.’

‘Still, not nice knowing someone’s been through your things,’ Jade shuddered.

‘No, definitely not. But enough about that, these are beautiful – great choice,’ she said, complimenting the purchases before she wrapped each item in tissue paper.

‘They’re for Celeste. She just painted a pink feature wall in her bedroom – it sounds a bit too much, but it’s a subtle pink and this candle and holder will go really well on top of her tallboy.’

‘Well, she’ll love them. Do you have much more shopping to do?’

‘This is the last gift I need to buy, thank goodness.’

‘You must be busy with cake commissions in the run-up to Christmas.’

As well as owning and running the bakery with her sister, Jade had launched an additional extra, specialising in cakes. And she was very good at it. Her Christmas cakes were like nothing Tilly had ever seen before – there were two in the window now that attracted plenty of stares and apparently a fair few orders. One was a reindeer’s face made out of tender sponge and covered in chocolate icing, with a sprinkling of gold dust across its chocolate antlers. The other was an alpine village complete with penguins, ice-skaters, skiers and snow-covered fir trees.

‘How’s the wedding cake coming along?’

Jade wagged her finger after dropping her purse into her bag. ‘Nice try, but no details – it’s a surprise for everyone.’ Jade’s latest commission was for Harvey and Melissa’s wedding and was to be a combination of a wedding and a Christmas cake. The details were for now between the baker and the bride and groom.

‘Spoilsport.’ She handed Jade her receipt.

‘I’ve heard about the plans to have the wedding at Mistletoe Gate Farm. Melissa can’t stop talking about it.’

‘I did wonder if I’d overstepped the mark by suggesting it.’

Jade shook her head. ‘Not by the sounds of it.’

Tilly had lain awake last night thinking about Benjamin – something she did often, contemplating their friendship and whether it would ever be more. But what had made her so restless in the small hours was thinking of his parents, too, the form to file for a divorce that was completed already. This wedding idea could be what they needed, as she hoped, but what if it was something else that would cause tension and make things so much worse?

‘Everyone loves Melissa and Harvey,’ Jade went on, ‘and Barney. And everyone knows how cut up they all are about the barn not being used for the big day. So, I’ll bet Danny and Heather are delighted, and what a venue! I mean, Linc and I are nowhere near thinking of marriage – but I wouldn’t say no to having my ceremony there one day,’ she grinned. Jade had been dating local teacher Linc since his arrival at the Cove in the summer.

‘It is going to be incredibly romantic.’

‘I hear you and Benjamin came up with the idea together.’

‘I suppose we did.’

‘Has he asked you out yet?’ She asked the question after lowering her voice when a man Tilly didn’t recognise came in to browse. At the handmade card section, he’d be hard pushed to overhear what they were saying.

‘I think we’re established as friends,’ Tilly shrugged. The discovery of his parents’ marital issues the other night hadn’t exactly ignited a romantic spark.

When Jade went back to the bakery, not far from the shop on the same side of The Street, Tilly tidied the jewellery tree at the counter. She was still aware of her male customer, who hadn’t picked anything up yet and seemed to be watching her every now and then. Either he was about to pinch something or he was doing what a lot of men did when they came in here – they looked at everything because they had no idea where to start.

‘May I help you find something?’ she suggested to the man, who seemed nervous. He had blond spiky hair, the kind that looked like it did its own thing after it was washed and he didn’t attempt to tame it in any way. He smelt of stale smoke and Tilly stood back a bit from him.

‘You can help me.’ The confidence in his voice made her realise his hesitancy clearly wasn’t nervousness as she’d suspected. ‘But I don’t need to buy anything.’ He pushed his hands into a donkey jacket with sleeves that were slightly too long for him. ‘You’re Tilly, aren’t you?’

‘That’s right, I am. And you are…?’ She casually stood nearer to the door. Mostly, she didn’t mind being in the shop on her own. There were plenty of people milling up and down the street outside all day, many of whom popped in to say hello or waved, and she glanced now to see whether anyone was loitering, just in case she needed them.

‘I’m Scott.’ Hand out of his pocket, he thrust it in her direction as though his name was the only explanation she needed.

She had no idea who he was but it seemed the polite thing to do to return the gesture. ‘I’m sorry, do I know you?’

‘Scott Baker.’

Baker? Her family surname. But she had to shake her head because she still had no idea who he was.

He made a noise that might have been jeez or something similar, his eyes roaming the room as if it might help him form a sentence. ‘I’m Nigel’s brother.’

That made no sense. Her dad, Nigel, didn’t have a brother. He was an only child. ‘I’m not sure I understand.’

He opened his donkey jacket and flapped at the collar. ‘It’s hot in here,’ he frowned. Beneath the coat he wore a creased T-shirt, sea-blue, with a well-known brand printed across the front except part of the first word had begun to peel off.

Tilly wasn’t sure what to make of this man, who must be confused. ‘I’m not being funny but –’

‘You’ve never heard of me.’ He looked around the shop either in curiosity or to avoid Tilly’s scrutiny. ‘This place has changed.’

‘You’ve been here before?’

‘Well, it did belong to my mother.’ He smiled at her then, ice-blue eyes showing a hint of emotion or amusement, she wasn’t sure which.

Tilly couldn’t believe it. How could her gran not have told her about another son? And how could her dad have kept it quiet all these years?

‘It used to be called something else in those days,’ he went on and she tried to ignore the way he sniffed and used the back of his hand to get rid of any drips that might be lingering. ‘You changed the name.’

It took her a moment to think of anything in reply, she was so discombobulated by his claim. ‘I had to – it was called The Candle Shop and when I started selling so many other items and the shop evolved, the name didn’t fit anymore.’

He moved towards the Welsh dresser along the far wall. ‘This was on the other side of the shop, I think.’

‘That’s right,’ she stammered. So much had changed since she’d been at the helm.

‘It smelt different back then, too.’

‘Not so many candles now.’ Her words almost tripped over one another as they came out.

‘Smells better now,’ he said, facing her briefly before he walked around inspecting what else she had on offer. ‘Back then the waft was too much. I always wanted to leave the door open when I came in here.’

She managed a hesitant smile as he moved around regarding the shop from all angles.

‘This wall ladder,’ he said, putting his hand across the rungs. ‘It used to be black with yellow stars painted on. I should know, I painted it.’

Tilly had no idea what to say. Her brain was still grappling with this revelation, that her dad had a brother. And his brother was here. Not only that, he claimed to have painted the ladder that Grandma Shirley had kept and the one time Tilly had asked whether they should repaint it to something brighter, she’d said she liked it the way it was but never elaborated further. Tilly had only repainted it recently in a bright white.

‘Nothing lasts forever, right?’ Scott shrugged and she couldn’t tell whether he was being wistful or facetious.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say to you,’ she blurted out. ‘This is all a bit sudden.’

‘I apologise.’ His demeanour changed and he seemed to remember she might be shocked at his appearance. ‘Here I go, lumbering in here like a complete idiot, scaring you when you’ve obviously never heard of me. Me and your dad…well, we never did see eye to eye.’

Clearly not. Neither her dad nor her grandma had ever mentioned this man. Why?

He was flapping at his coat again now the buttons were open.

‘You can hang your coat over the stool if you like,’ she suggested. She wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hang around, whether that’s what she wanted either. But it seemed the right thing to do and she did want to know more about him and the claims he was making. What on earth had happened to cause her gran to keep quiet about one of her own children?

And then Tilly had a sinking feeling. Had this Scott done something so terrible it was unforgivable?

And if he had, here she was, alone in a little shop with him, trapped behind the till.