The Christmas Spirit (10 page)

16th December

The cry of,
‘Sheba! Come here, girl,’
woke Meredith. She had now been at Amelia’s house for just shy of forty-eight
hours and no-one had come to blows, there had been no icy silences nor awkward
moments. Mostly she had slept. The children had behaved beautifully, playing
out in the garden when the rain was off and playing indoors but more quietly
than usual when the weather dictated.

Meredith recognised the voice as Jasper’s. Over the past few
days she’d worked out that Jasper was the one who mainly walked the dog.
Meredith had never owned a dog, although she did like them and in fact her
family had always had dogs when she was growing up. Amelia had continued the
tradition with her children, and the golden retriever was clearly an important
part of the family.

Meredith joined the family for meals and sometimes to watch
a bit of TV together. She had a TV in her room, but she discovered she wanted
the company; she wanted to see what the children were doing. Being surrounded
by children was a novelty for her and she found them quite endearing in their
own full-on, one hundred miles an hour way. She wrapped her bathrobe around
herself and made her way downstairs.

The scene which greeted her was one of chaos: four children,
three of them in school uniform, digging into bowls of cereal, munching pieces
of buttered toast, and coaxing pieces of egg out of their egg cups. Sheba lay
at the foot of one of the chairs, whilst Max, the youngest, tried to chew round
his toast, without actually eating it. The previously immaculate kitchen was
anything but. Worktops were covered in lunchboxes, with various pieces of
fruit, packets of raisins and sandwiches with the crusts cut off lined up in rows,
as if on parade. A pile of dirty clothes was heaped in front of the washing
machine - towels from the children’s showers that morning and their pyjamas,
except Max’s. He was still wearing his. Toast crumbs, marmalade-covered knives
and Pokemon figures graced the breakfast table.

Far from turning around and walking away in disgust as she
would normally have done, Meredith pulled up a chair and sat down with them.
The children immediately started firing questions at her. Her favourite had to
be Edward’s; ‘So how come it’s new monia and not old monia?’ At this point his
mother interjected and gave him a bit of a spelling lesson before explaining
the meaning of the word. Meredith smiled. Maybe Amelia had the right idea. She
was surrounded by people who loved her, had a nice lifestyle, and a husband who
adored her.
Am I missing out?
she wondered.

The weekend had been a long one, and miserable weather too,
which Stanley often felt went a long way to setting your mood. He had been glad
when Monday had come around again. The night out at the pub the other night
with a few of his friends from the club had done him the world of good;
hopefully they could do it again soon. Stanley had noticed that not everyone
came to the club every day, or even on the three days that he did. Many had to
pay for it, particularly if they had private pensions. Stanley felt that was
unfair, even though he didn’t have to pay. Forty pounds a day seemed pretty
steep to him. Who would have that kind of money? But apparently there were a
few; not that you’d know to look at them. They didn’t seem any different from
himself. Or maybe they were widowers, too. That went a long way to explaining
why a man wasn’t as well turned out as he could be, particularly if his wife
had done everything for him whilst she was alive.

Lunch had been quite tasty again: broccoli soup, chicken pie
with potatoes and peas, and rhubarb crumble to finish. He certainly couldn’t
make that himself, so he was delighted to have a good, square meal at least
once a day. Thinking back to Edie’s cooking always made him smile - she had
been a wonderful cook, plain food, but she enjoyed making it and it shone
through in the end result. Lucky wasn’t the word for how he considered himself
- all those wonderful years together. He’d always assumed he would go first.
Life had a way of teaching you, he thought, that not everything could be
planned as you expected.

Stanley had worked out that on Mondays people had a little
bit less verve. They preferred a more leisurely day at the club, reading or
doing the crossword. The domino tournaments and debates were more likely to
happen midweek onwards. So he had followed suit that morning and read his book
quietly, occasionally talking to one of the other members.

Although traditionally after lunch they were all a bit
sleepy, today was an exception. Cathy had told them earlier that she had some
news to share with them, so the members were all trying to work out what it
could be. Some guessed they were moving the club, others that they were changing
the hours, or the transport, but no-one guessed the real reason.

‘Right, everyone,’ Cathy’s voice boomed around the room.
‘I’m going to draw the raffle for the fundraiser we did for you, and I need a
few volunteers to pick out the tickets.’

A few hands shot up and as Cathy walked around, hands delved
into the depths of the bucket to pull out winning tickets. The top prize was a
Christmas hamper, donated by the local butcher. It went to a Mrs P Dean from
Aberfoyle. None of the members won anything and there was a great deal of
grumbling about that until Cathy said, ‘I also have an announcement to make. We
managed to raise the grand total of six hundred and seventy five pounds, and
Crilly’s Hotel down the road had a last minute cancellation, so you’ll be having
a Christmas party. Get your Sunday best looked out!’

At this, applause broke out and then the members gave three
cheers for Cathy who had masterminded the fundraiser.

Blushing, she said, ‘You deserve it. Just behave yourselves.
I don’t want you all getting blitzed and me having to carry you home.’

Laughter rang out and the mood within the room brightened,
eclipsing the gloomy weather outside.

As Cathy told them all the date and time of the party,
Stanley had a little inner monologue with Edie. She approved of the club and
was glad to see him getting out and about, enjoying himself. It would be
something to look forward to.

Across town, Rebecca smoothed down her new skirt and removed
a piece of imaginary lint from her matching jacket. It had taken her and Hannah
only three hours on Saturday to find the perfect outfit for the interview.
Navy, as opposed to dreary black, bias cut.

She had arrived for her interview fifteen minutes early,
only to find another two candidates waiting. ‘Mr Melbourne’s running a little
late,’ the receptionist advised her when she stated who she was. ‘Please take a
seat.’

Rebecca ran over and over in her head what she wanted to
convey to Dominic Melbourne, so he knew she was the right person for the role.
What would it take to persuade him she ought to be his new assistant manager?

As it turned out the interviews didn’t last long, as each
candidate before her was in and out in less than twenty minutes. Finally
Rebecca’s name was called, and she rapped on the door to Mr Melbourne’s office
and was invited to come in.

As soon as she shook his hand, she immediately liked
Dominic. She knew she would do a great job for him, and he quickly put her at
ease. She thought she had given intelligent answers to all of his questions and
when he asked her if she had any of her own, she came up with pertinent,
well-researched ones, which demonstrated her knowledge of the art world.

Dominic’s comments were encouraging, so she was a little
subdued when he said only that he would be in touch.

What did I expect, that he would offer me
the job on the spot?
Rebecca scolded herself as she opened her car door
and slumped onto the driver’s seat. She felt as if someone had just pricked a
hole in her balloon. But this was the first opportunity of any merit which had
presented itself in such a long time - this was her job, it had to be. So why
didn’t it feel as if was going to happen? Both the telephone interview and the
face-to-face one had gone really well, but there was a lack of commitment on
Dominic’s side which worried her, unless he just had a good poker face.
Chastising herself for her negativity and trying to convince herself that
Dominic was just being a professional and interviewing the rest of the
candidates first before making any decisions, she headed home.

As Rebecca made dinner that night, it occurred to her that
her interview had lasted an hour and a half, more than an hour longer than the
two previous candidates’. Surely that boded well?

17th December

A baby. He was going to be an uncle. And Tabitha wanted them
both to stay with him! Had he imagined that part? But no, Tabitha had been very
clear. She thought they would rub along well together and quite frankly she
needed him. How was she supposed to take care of a baby on her own? She could
hire a nanny, but she had said she preferred to keep it in the family. Working
part-time from home and having Jacob for support in the evenings and weekends
would allow her to do that. Given that their parents hadn’t been around for
them, she didn’t want to repeat that mistake with her child, she’d told him.

Initially Jacob had been gobsmacked, but now he’d had time
to get used to the idea and was warming to it. He loved children and hoped to
have some of his own someday - obviously after finding a partner with whom to
have them. He didn’t need to worry about girls right now, he wasn’t on their
radar, but if Tabitha and the baby did move in, he’d have even less chance of
getting a girlfriend. He could hardly take a girl back to his, when they might
be disturbed in the throes of passion by
Wah wah!
Throes of passion, he could barely remember what they were. He’d be as well in
a monastery for all the action he was getting, and his latest rejection by
Rebecca, no matter what the reason, hadn’t helped his self-esteem.

Reflection was a great thing and after having slept on it,
Jacob had decided that it would be a brilliant idea to have his sister and
niece or nephew live with him. He’d always wanted that sense of family which
his parents had been unable to give him and Tabitha. He wanted the next
generation to be surrounded by love and their relatives.

‘So how does that thing work?’ Meredith asked Edward. So,
seven-year-old Edward showed his usually staid, unwelcoming, snooty,
forty-something aunt how to play
Super Mario
on his
tablet computer.

Within forty minutes Meredith was entering new worlds,
capturing keys and arguing with Edward good-naturedly about whose turn it was.
An hour later, laying down the device, she said, ‘That was fun. Amelia, OK if I
use the phone?’

Amelia nodded and when asked if she had a Yellow Pages
replied that it lived in the rack of the phone table. Meredith smiled; Amelia
must be one of the few people who still possessed a phone table. Those had gone
out of fashion aeons ago with the advent of cordless phones. Long gone was the
banishment to the hall to sit in the freezing cold to make or take a call.

Meredith sat on the chair beside the phone table, looked up
Sugar and Spice in the Yellow Pages and rang the number. After four rings, a
voice she recognised answered. ‘Sugar and Spice, Natalie speaking.’

‘Hello, Natalie, this is Meredith Storm.’

‘Oh hello, Meredith. How are you feeling?’

‘Much better, thank you, although I’ve been told to take it
easy for a while.’

‘Quite right, too. You’ve got to treat these illnesses with
respect.’

‘Yes. Anyway, I was just phoning to thank you for your quick
thinking last week. I really appreciate it.’

‘You’re most welcome. We hope to see you in here when you’re
better.’

‘Well, I might come myself occasionally and allow Sophie to
get on with some work,’ Meredith thought out loud. ‘Oh, and can you tell the
young man who works with you...’

‘Jacob,’ Natalie broke in.

‘Yes, Jacob. Can you thank him from me, too, for calling the
ambulance?’

‘I will do.’

‘Well, I’ll let you go. I know you must be busy. It really
is a great little bakery and those Christmas specials you’ve been making are
delicious.’

‘Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed them.’

‘Well, take care,’ Meredith finished awkwardly.

‘You too, goodbye, Meredith.’

Natalie replaced the receiver.

Well, well, well,
she thought.

Meredith had another task she needed to address and she was
running out of time. She usually spent weeks or months selecting gifts for her
family. It was the one family-centric activity to which she gave her full
attention. She dialled her office number, and the receptionist, after asking
how she was, put her straight through to Sophie.

Sophie was taken aback to hear from Meredith. She knew Amelia
had given her strict instructions not to work. So she was pleasantly surprised
when she ascertained what Meredith wanted and agreed immediately to help.
Meredith asked her to call around to Amelia’s under the pretext of seeing how
she was and she would provide her with the list then.

Meredith began to makes notes in her indecipherable, loopy
scrawl.

Jasper - an e-reader
. He’d
mentioned that he’d broken the screen on his and that was why he was reading a
paperback. Although personally Meredith preferred to read paper books, she
could see the attraction, particularly for the younger generation, and if it
got them reading, that could only be a good thing.

Edward - Nintendo 2DS and some games
.

Alannah
- had expressed an
interest in listening to music like they did ‘in the olden days’, so Meredith
chose a turntable and indicated she wanted a selection of albums of hit artists
through the decades.

Max
- since she had arrived at
Amelia’s, she had noticed that Max was absolutely nuts about Peppa Pig, so much
so that his parents acted out the parts of Mummy and Daddy Pig, much to
Meredith’s amusement and Alannah and Jasper’s horror. Edward was still young
enough to find it funny. So for Max, something Peppa Pig related. Sophie would
know better than her what to get - difficult to choose without being able to
physically see the toys on offer.

Amelia
- Amelia had everything she
could ever want, but Meredith thought perhaps a weekend at Gleneagles for her
and Gareth, as well as a dress for her sister, similar to one worn by a model
on a TV show they’d watched together the other night and which Amelia had said
was gorgeous.

Gareth
- a ‘swimming with sharks’
experience. He’d always said he’d fancied it. Now he’d have to man up and prove
if he’d been kidding them on all along. Personally Meredith thought he was
serious about it. Now was his chance.

Even Sheba the golden retriever would get a present, a spa
day for dogs. Jasper would probably thank her for that most, since he seemed to
take care of her almost exclusively.

Meredith knew that Amelia had twenty-one people coming for
Christmas dinner, including their parents, her in-laws, and cousins on Gareth’s
side, so she added a few little presents to the list: Belgian chocolates, a
couple of bottles of champagne, two silk ties, as well as a Barbie doll and a
wooden train set. Well before Sophie arrived to take charge of the list,
Meredith was able to sit back and admire it as a job well done.

‘Which garden centre did you buy the tree at?’ Jacob asked
Natalie just before closing that day.

‘Oh, it was the one on Loch Road,’ said Natalie. ‘Not got
your tree up yet?’

‘No,’ Jacob started to explain, then changed what he was
going to say to, ‘You know, with Tabitha arriving and her news, I haven’t had
time yet.’

‘Well, you don’t want to wait much longer, or you won’t get
the best out of it.’

‘I know, I’m going to call in on the way home, see if they
can deliver it tonight or tomorrow night.’

Once Jacob and she had parted ways, heading for opposite
ends of town, Natalie smiled. She knew why Jacob hadn’t seen fit to put his
tree up yet, but was glad to see he now felt the time had arrived.