Page 75 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

‘Because we’re getting plenty of bookings,’ Ethan told him.

Ryan looked confused. ‘Yeah, I’m still not with you, bro,’ he replied. ‘Don’t you need passengers to make it a success?’

‘Yes, but it just adds to the pressure for it to be perfect,’ Ethan told him. ‘Let’s not forget the disaster of the Halloween train.’

Ryan blew out a sigh. ‘Not sure any of us will ever forget that train. Talk about giving us nightmares.’ He looked at Ethan. ‘Listen, don’t put yourself under too much pressure.’

‘Too late for that,’ said Ethan, still looking at the steam engine website. The bookings were clocking up by the hour, it felt.

Not only was the website showing off the train to its best advantage, his dad had gone to the Cranbridge News office and all the local news and radio was flooded with excitement regarding the Christmas train. There was no going back now.

Ryan was still watching him with concern. ‘What’s going on inside that tiny brain of yours?’ he asked.

Ethan blew out a sigh. ‘I just don’t want to let anyone down,’ he told him.

‘Grandad’s home and on the mend,’ replied Ryan. ‘I think the thought of the Christmas train is getting him through each day, to be honest.’

That didn’t help Ethan’s nerves. But it wasn’t just his grandad that concerned him. ‘I don’t want to let dad down again either,’ he finally blurted out.

‘Again?’ asked Ryan, looking non-plussed.

Ethan hesitated. They never spoke about things like this. Anything serious, certainly not their parents’ fake marriage. But being at home in Cranfield for all this time had brought everything to the forefront of his mind.

‘I’ve just always felt like I let him down by not telling him about Mum,’ muttered Ethan.

Ryan switched off the hob and wiped his hands on a nearby dishcloth. ‘Yeah. I know,’ he finally said, blowing out a long sigh.

‘So what if I stuff up another train run?’ carried on Ethan. ‘I can’t break his heart all over again.’

‘You won’t!’ said Ryan, running a hand through his hair. ‘After all, you’re the one who’s keeping his dream alive. Me?’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I just spruced up the station a bit.’

‘You did more than that,’ Ethan told him. ‘It’s a great business and means that the station didn’t have to be sold. It’s a family home forever now.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Ryan sighed again. ‘But the trains? That was always your thing with Dad and Grandad.’

‘Only because I’m rubbish at cooking.’

They both exchanged a small smile.

‘Listen,’ began Ryan. ‘We both felt as if we needed to make amends for what happened in our childhood. We were young and stupid back then. We didn’t know better.’

‘You were more stupid,’ said Ethan, with a small smile before he saw the look in his brother’s eyes. ‘Sorry. Serious tone. Got it.’

‘You’re punishing yourself for something that wasn’t our fault,’ carried on Ryan. ‘You’re being too hard on yourself. You need to forgive yourself and move on. They were the grown-ups, not us. But all the guilt somehow fell on our shoulders and that wasn’t right.’ He hesitated before carrying on. ‘I’ve talked to Katy a lot about this.’

For a moment, Ethan wished that he too had someone that he could share that kind of thing with and realised that he did with Libby.

Ryan carried on. ‘But Mum and Dad are both happy now. Be thankful for that. And maybe you’ll start to be happy too. If I can move on, and Mum, and Dad too, then surely you can as well?’

Ethan knew that his brother was right.

‘I’ll try my best.’ Ethan took a moment before carrying on. ‘And in that spirit, I’m going to need some kind of snacks to serve on the train or beforehand. And I was thinking of course that you would be the perfect person. Superb chef. Gifted. Flavours of food like you wouldn’t believe…’

‘Listen, I’d love to help you out, bro, for Dad and Grandad as well as you,’ said Ryan. ‘But I’m swamped here. You know, with my full-time coffee shop and pizzeria. Now Katy’s got a grand new idea for Christmas dinners too.’

‘I know, but we need this to make it the best Christmas train ever,’ Ethan told him, before pulling out the ultimate guilt card. ‘And Grandad needs this.’

‘That’s pure bribery,’ said Ryan, before his shoulders sagged. ‘Fine. I’ll see what I can do.’