Page 47 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

‘I don’t mind,’ he replied, thinking back to the empty, quiet schoolhouse.

Ethan looked over at his dad who was sitting on the opposite table, He gave a start as he realised that Maggie was holding his hand and talking softly in his ear. He liked Maggie and knew that she had his dad had become close friends over the past year. But when had it blossomed into something more, he wondered, and how had he missed something of such significance in her dad’s life?

He was amazed that his dad was able to trust and become close to anyone ever again, after the way that his wife had treated him. And yet, there he was, nodding and looking back at Maggie with fondness.

As Katy passed Ethan a large mug of coffee, he stared blankly around, focusing on the station memorabilia from a time when the station had been open. From the old ticket station to the posters and even the stationmaster’s hat up on the wall, it felt warm and cosy.

‘Here you go,’ said Ryan, placing a large basket of muffins and pastries on the table for everyone to help themselves.

Ethan automatically took one of the still-warm breakfast muffins but found he had no appetite and put it down in front of him.

‘It’s one of my best recipes,’ Ryan told him in a pointed tone, standing over him.

Ethan looked up at his brother but couldn’t find the words. Luckily, they knew each other so well that they didn’t need to speak. Ryan just placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze before moving away to sit next to their dad.

‘Eat,’ ordered Libby, giving Ethan a nudge with her elbow. ‘You’ll feel better for it.’

However, Ethan wasn’t sure that anything would make him feel better. He had let his grandad down at the worst possibletime. The Halloween train had been a complete disaster and being back in the station only merely reminded him how terrible it had been.

‘People were very kind about the fallen tree on the line,’ he heard Katy tell Joe and Harriet.

‘You know, some of the people absolutely loved the really scary decorations,’ said Harriet, trying to put her usual positive spin on the situation.

‘And you really can’t blame the weather, can you?’ added Nico to Bob. ‘The problem with the fallen down tree could hardly lay at your door.’

‘No, the main problem was letting your nephew get involved,’ Ryan said to his dad, rolling his eyes.

‘You didn’t see the worst of it,’ said Katy with a grimace. ‘When the lights went out when the power failed, all the decorations had Die! and Kill! written on them. I screamed along with everyone else. Talk about a nightmare!’

‘Everything Del does gives us nightmares,’ muttered Libby. ‘Honestly!’

Ethan had listened to them all in silence, but he couldn’t bear it any longer.

‘Well, it’s too late now,’ he said, running a hand through his hair. ‘It was my lack of care that made the whole thing a disaster.’

‘You couldn’t have stopped the tree falling on the tracks,’ said Joe with a frown. ‘That was just bad luck.’

‘But I could have ensured that the train was decorated properly,’ said Ethan, shaking his head. ‘It’s not like I don’t have skills with lighting, is it?’ He took a shaky breath. ‘I let Grandad down.’

‘He won’t think that,’ said Bob softly. ‘Nobody does, son.’

‘Exactly,’ added Ryan, frowning with concern at his brother. ‘All’s not lost, bro.’

‘So why does it feel like it is?’ said Ethan, before gulping back the emotion caught in his throat. ‘It was Grandad’s dream and now…’ He sighed heavily.

There was a short silence in which he jumped slightly at the feel of a warm hand slipping into his. He looked up into Libby’s concerned face and she squeezed his hand.

She didn’t need to say anything, just like when they had been growing up she could read his mind. She knew the pain he was in and, just like in the early days, his pain was less because she shared it with him.

Ethan glanced around the room, where everyone was trying to avoid looking at him and concentrating on their breakfast. Ethan glanced at the wall next to him and realised there were a couple of newer photographs that he didn’t remember.

‘They’re new,’ he murmured.

‘I found those when we were clearing out the loft in the apartment,’ Katy told him, following his gaze. ‘Thought they’d look great down here.’

He concentrated on the nearest one. It was an old black and white photograph, in the time of the steam trains. There was snow on the platform but he could see the lights twinkling on a large Christmas tree on the platform. Even back then, the steam train had run at Christmas, its engine decorated with a large holly wreath on the front.

The same steam train that his grandad had proposed to his grandmother on.