Page 60 of Winter Magic at Hollybrae Castle

Ollie laughs like Dand is joking, but it’s yet another hint that people would pay to spend this kind of unpressured, uninterrupted time with their families at this time of year.

‘You’d all be welcome anytime,’ I say only half-jokingly, because honestly, if we had to pull this off again next year, I’d be very on board with that.

Ollie lets out a happy-sounding sigh when they walk away and his arms tighten around me. ‘This is exactly how Christmas should be.’

‘Crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs with your arms around someone who’s not your wife?’ I tilt my head until I can whisper next to his ear.

‘Exactly.’ He plants a kiss on my cheek with a loud ‘mwah’. ‘You were right about the slinkys and the elf socks. I should never have doubted you.’

‘What if I’m right about other things too?’

Before he has a chance to answer, Rory appears in our topsy-turvy line of sight. ‘You old folks need help getting up?’

‘Old!’ Ollie laughs. ‘We’re gonna stay here a minute.’

‘Ol, you’re upside down, legs akimbo, head crushed into the wall with me on top of you!’

‘Exactly. I’ve got you in my arms, so I’m comfortable.’ His arms tighten around me again, and if I wasn’t already lying on the floor, I’d have melted onto it by now.

Maisie lets out a squeal. ‘Group hug!’

We both let out an ‘oof’ as Maisie and Rory hurl themselves on top of us, and Ollie opens his arms to both of them and embraces all of us.

‘Pile on!’ one of the twins yells and before we know it, both the boys and Rocco are hurling themselves at us too, and Ollie laughs and tries to scramble out of the way, but it’s too late and he’s soon lying at the bottom of a pile of elated children.

Dand and Halston are watching on and I see the look that passes between them. Ollie’s got this job. He’s exactly the kind of family man they want. My heart sinks. It should make me feel good, but it does the opposite. After all, that was the one and only goal of this whole pretence. If we’ve achieved that, why does it feel so bloody bad?

21

Boxing Day passes in a blur of toasting marshmallows over the fires, eating too much, and being blown around on a walk along the coastal path. This is the real joy of Christmas – the hard part is over, there’s plenty of food in, no work is expected of anyone, and everyone’s just hanging out at the castle, spending time with their families or in the guest lounge with others.

In the evening, Nancy is reading a bedtime story with Maisie and I unlock the private living-room door to find Ollie and Rory, sitting on the rug in front of the multi-coloured Christmas tree with an instruction booklet and piles of plastic bricks spread out between them as they put together the Lego Lamborghini set that Ollie got for Rory.

They both look like they’ve had enough of plastic bricks for one night, and Rory gets up when I come in.

‘I’m going to bed.’ He hugs Ollie and then me. ‘Night, Dad. Night, Mum. Best Christmas ever.’

‘Don’t let your real parents catch you saying that!’

‘They’ve got some competition. It’s good to keep them on their toes. When they get home, they’ve got to out-do this, and we don’t intend to let them forget it!’

I’m unsure where he gets his evil genius tendencies from, but I can’t help laughing as he locks the door behind him, giving us privacy.

I sit down on the rug beside Ollie and move the partially built car aside. ‘You look like you need a hug.’

He bites his lip and nods, so I scooch over and wrap my arms around him.

He curls into me, wrapping me up in his long arms too. ‘This is everything I wanted Christmas to be. My parents would have loved the past few days. The castle so full, happy, alive. Making a Lego kit with my “son” like I did with my father… I wish it could always be like this.’

‘They’d want you to be happy, Ol,’ I say gently, because although his words sound happy, his demeanour is the opposite. ‘They’d understand that your job isn’t making you happy.’

‘And they’d understand that the castle can’t pay for itself, and I’ve spent the past fifteen years studying and watching and learning and training – desperately trying to make myself better at this job so I’d be ready when this promotion came up. Earning enough to keep the castle will make me happy.’

‘No, it won’t, not in this way. You and I both know that. Not one of those people out there are happy.’

‘They’re really, really rich. They can afford to be unhappy.’ He pulls out of my arms and his fingers fiddle with a thread of the rug.

‘Can they? Do they know how miserable their wives are? Do they know that money doesn’t make up for time and affection? They extol family values, but they prioritise work over everything. That’s not love – that’s accepting that money makes it easier to tolerate someone.’ I sigh, but I trust Ollie completely and I decide to share some of the things I’ve learned over the past few days. ‘Michelle prefers it when Halston doesn’t “waste time” in coming home from the office at night. Gisela is on the brink of leaving Clint. One of them is on her eighth affair and her husband hasn’t got a clue.’