Page 81 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

As Ethan stepped back, he said, ‘No, Grandad. We did it.’

Eddie smiled. ‘It’s everything I dreamt of and more. Well done, lad. Bloody well done.’

Finally, Ethan could join in with everyone’s else’s smiles. ‘Bring on the passengers!’ he announced to another hearty cheer.

48

After the successful trial run of the Christmas train, there was nothing more for Libby to do. Which left her free to finally return to her chocolate making and, in truth, she was not only excited about that but also about being back in Ethan’s company once more.

‘I hope this still is okay,’ she said to him, turning up at the old school the following morning with a large box in her hands and a car full of her equipment. ‘I know you’re busy getting ready for the grand opening tonight.’

‘It’s fine,’ replied Ethan, taking the box from her.

‘Thank goodness for that,’ she told him. ‘Can I start bringing the rest of my stuff in now because we can barely move in our place?’

‘Sure,’ he told her.

Once everything was back inside, it took her the rest of the morning to set everything up so that it was ready to use. She glanced around the clean and tidy kitchen and tried not to grimace with guilt over how she had filled it with heavy smoke the last time she had prepared her chocolate in there.

It was almost lunchtime when she was finally finished.

Ethan was sitting at the new breakfast bar, studying what looked like an extremely technical plan on his laptop.

‘Hey,’ she said, peering over his shoulder. ‘What’s that?’

‘It’s the plan of the circuit breakers and timer switches for the lighting,’ he told her. ‘Fingers crossed it all works.’

‘It worked fine last night,’ she reminded him.

He blew out a sigh. ‘Yeah, I know.’

‘What’s the matter?’ she asked.

‘It just means so much to Grandad,’ Ethan told her. ‘He’s got this other big dream about seeing the train on Christmas Eve in the snow! How am I going to manage that?’

‘Well, if Dodgy Del can’t, then nobody can,’ she joked, before getting serious once more. ‘Eddie loved the train. He told me so last night. You’ve done it. You’ve achieved his dream.’

‘Yeah. I guess.’ He looked up at her suddenly with clear blue eyes. ‘And what’s your dream?’

She gave a start. ‘Me?’ Libby shrugged her shoulders. ‘I guess to have my own chocolate shop. A place of my own to sell whatever I like. Talking of which, I’ve got something to show you.’

Feeling rather proud, she led him over to reveal her newest idea. She had seen the chocolate moulds online and hadn’t been able to stop herself from buying them. She had tested them out at home the previous evening.

‘Ta da!’ she said, with a flourish as she brought out the box of ready-made shapes.

‘It’s a chocolate train!’ exclaimed Ethan, picking it up. ‘Wow.’

He turned the chocolate over in his hands, looking down at in wonder.

‘Isn’t it great?’ she said. ‘I’ve got little carriages too,’ she carried on, reaching over to show him the empty moulds.

‘This is amazing, Libs,’ he told her. ‘You’re going to sell loads.’

‘I hope so,’ she replied. ‘I mean, there isn’t that much room in Platform 1, but even if I just sell one train, I’ll be happy.’

Ethan frowned. ‘So how are you going to make a profit or sell as many chocolates as you need to?’ he asked.

‘I’ll be fine,’ she told him briskly, even though it had been a worry at the back of her mind. ‘Anyway, I’m making chocolate again. That’s all that matters.’