Grandpa retired early to his annex which was sensible given he had drunk far too much sherry with Tom.
Layla put Zac down and we both cleared away. She then went to bed, leaving me to prepare the food for Christmas Day. As I was peeling a mountain of potatoes, I noticed that it had started to snow again. Giant snowflakes were tapping the French windows and trying to get my attention. It was going to be a proper white Christmas. The wind started at about ten in the evening and raced around the manor house whistling and howling.
I finished the veg prep at eleven and as I cleared away the power went, plunging the house into darkness. ‘Bugger,’ I said, turning on my phone light. I had no idea whether Frank and Maddie had candles. After doing a grid-by-grid search of every cupboard, I found a box of candles and matches. If the power hadn’t come on by the morning, we still had candles.
With the aid of my phone light I took out a selection of meats from the freezers as they would need to defrost overnight. There was an old stone larder next to the fridges. It would be perfect for the dairy stuff if the power didn’t come back on in the night. After I went through all the freezers to see what could be salvaged and stored in the larder. Sadly, a lot of the frozen food was going to be wasted if the power didn’t return.
To my dismay the power had not come back when my alarm woke me at six.
I pulled on a sweatshirt and found my slippers. I crept downstairs using my phone light to guide the way. Humphrey leapt out of his basket and danced at my feet with excitement. This dog loves chaos. ‘Merry Christmas, Humphrey. If you trip me over, no one will eat today.’
I checked my phone. The wifi was down, and I had one lonely bar of phone signal. Maybe it was just the power to the Manor House that had gone down? I wondered whether anyone else was without power. In a cupboard I found a kettle which could be heated up on the gas hob. At least I could have a cuppa before everyone got up. I lit the Agas, made sure they had enough wood and checked my timings.
Layla appeared first. She shone her phone light at me huddled in the kitchen. ‘Happy Christmas, Rachel. What a day for the power to go!’
I got up and hugged her. ‘Merry Christmas, Layla. Cuppa?’
She nodded. ‘Zac’s still sleeping. I leant over to switch on my bedside lamp and there was nothing.’
‘I wonder whether it’s just the manor house. Anyway, we have candles and two wood burning Agas so we should be okay. I just hope they can get the power on soon.’
Layla checked her phone. ‘It’s still early, but give it an hour and I will walk into town to see whether anyone else is affected.’
‘Let me put the meat in first and I’ll join you.’
She turned to me. ‘I haven’t bought anyone presents.’
‘Layla, don’t worry. No one is expecting presents.’ I went to my bag in the corner. ‘I did get you a little something as I think you’ve had a hard year, and you deserved a little treat. Also, I still feel bad for the west wing situation.’
‘Rachel, you shouldn’t have,’ she gushed staring at the little wrapped box.
I placed my hand on her shoulder. ‘I’m going to make sure you will not be homeless again, Layla. We’re going to get you sorted.’
She threw her arms around me. ‘Thanks, Rachel.’
‘Don’t worry about anything today, Layla. Even though we don’t have any power, we are going to have a fabulous Christmas Day.’
She tore away the paper and opened the little black box. ‘Oh, Rachel.’
‘I hope you like them.’
She grinned. ‘They are gorgeous.’ Lifting the little dangly gold earrings she held them to her ear. ‘I am going to look so fancy… in the dark.’
We both laughed and I gave her a hug. ‘I am so glad we met this Christmas, Layla. I know we’re going to be friends.’
She nodded. ‘I have had such a lovely time. You and your grandpa are so funny and kind. I am glad you didn’t take any notice of me about the Denise and Ben thing. You and Ben make a great couple.’
‘I have put my trust into my best friend who tried to set us up initially.’
Layla smiled. ‘Good for you.’ She leaned in and whispered, ‘Beverly is a bit of a handful, though.’
‘You’re not alone with that thought,’ I quipped.
It was then Grandpa appeared in a bright red Santa outfit and a wonky stick-on beard. ‘Merry Christmas,’ he bellowed, making Layla and me laugh.
As he got closer, we could see he hadn’t done up his tunic or belt. ‘There’s no power so I had to do some guesswork in the dark,’ he explained.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
