Page 56 of Mistletoe and Mulled Wine at the Christmas Campervan

It was bitter out there as Lucy and Jack battened down the hatches on both the campervan and the horsebox for the night. The wind and snow was swirling around them in an icy blast. Even with gloves and hats on, it was freezing. Lucy’s toes were like ice blocks in her leather boots by the time they got back to the safety of the castle; weirdly numb yet tingling, her thick socks no match at all for this severe weather.

Derek then directed them to their accommodation for the night, which was out through a covered walkway in the quarter that was once the old stables.

‘So, this is you,’ he opened the door onto a double-bedroom suite.

‘Oh …’ mumbled Lucy.

‘Right,’ stammered Jack.

Derek picked up their hesitancy immediately, looking from one to the other. ‘I have got this right, haven’t I? You are a couple, aren’t you? It’s just that Emma said …’

‘Yes, it’s fine,’ replied Lucy.

‘Well then, I’ll leave you pair to it. The fire will get going in a minute. There’re plenty more logs and some coal there too. There are radiators, but well, they can be a bit quirky.’ He pulled a grimace, as if well used to the eccentricities of the castle. ‘Takes about a day to get them going properly, when they’ve been off for a while,’ he explained. ‘See you around eight for supper down in the tea rooms. Okay?’

‘Yes, thanks ever so much, Derek,’ Lucy responded politely.

‘Thank you.’

And that was it. Jack and Lucy were left to their own devices.

The air felt heavy, charged with tension.

‘Oh my God, bloody f-freezing out there, isn’t it?’ Lucy stammered, moving closer to the open log fire.

‘Yeah, Joe reckons it’s gone down to minus two. I don’t think anyone saw this coming.’

‘Jeez, and with that w-wind …’ Lucy was still shivering.

She stared into the fire, she could sense that Jack was close. She had to say something to break this icy atmosphere.

She turned around, forced herself to look him in the eye. ‘Jack, what’s going on? What’s wrong? You’ve been so distant all day …’

‘It’s nothing.’

‘Well, it doesn’t seem like nothing. You’re cutting me out. Look, I know how it might have looked at the Christmas tree light-up, with Liam …’

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ he bit, his tone stone-cold.

He was closing down on her, shutting off.

‘Jack … please. Talk to me… If we don’t communicate…’

He just shook his head sadly, this was too much, his mind suddenly felt so heavy. He couldn’t forget what he’d seen.

‘Please, Jack, come here.’

‘I’m going for a walk,’ he mumbled.

‘But it’s Baltic out there, you’ll freeze, come by the fire …’

‘I’ll be fine, I just … I need some space. Look, I’ll see you back at the castle for dinner, okay?’

And with that he turned on his heel, opened the door into the wintry evening, and left Lucy staring disbelievingly into the flickering flames of the fire.

An hour later, feeling a little more comfortable after a warm shower, Lucy made her way back over to the main castle building. Walking into the tea rooms, she caught her breath. Oh my goodness! From what she had seen earlier, the place had been transformed; Ellie, Joe, and the castle team must have gone all out. The long wooden table was laid with the festive table decorations that had been up in the hall, along with some gorgeous white-winter-scented candles that flickered gently, kindly donated by Karen and James. Wow, the whole group seemed intent on coming together to make this a special night. And, after taking a heart-panging glance at Jack who was stood – looking a little chilly – at the far end of the table, it all served to make the distance between the two of them more obvious.

Ellie came bustling out from the kitchen, apron on and wooden spoon to hand, announcing that dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes, and politely declining the several offers of help at this stage, saying there’d be too many cooks in the kitchen.