Page 6 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

‘Board games,’ Ted announced as their plan for the first afternoon.

‘Board games?’ Jen failed to hide her disgust. She’d been expecting more in the way of bars and less in the way of retiree pastimes from a reunion with her college pals.

He smiled widely, apparently oblivious to her horror. ‘Yep, at The Village Café, and honestly, the food there is just amazing. Come on Jen, get on board with the plan.’

They all groaned, and Jen couldn’t help softening. He looked so pleased with himself, and they used to play board games at college sometimes, sitting up late into the night, drinking cheap vodka mixed with cheap cola and getting more and more animated as the games became more and more shambolic.

She sighed as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. She doubted that somewhere called The Village Café in a quaint little place like Babblebrook would stretch to anything as exciting as vodka and Coke, and she’d been hoping that they would avoid the village itself altogether.

‘You and your dad jokes,’ she grumbled as they all piled out of the house.

‘I have a Monopoly on them,’ he said.

They all laughed despite themselves, complaining as Ted just grinned and shrugged.

‘Shocking,’ Rich said. ‘I don’t know how Sarah puts up with you.’

‘Oh, she hates my dad jokes,’ Ted said cheerfully. ‘That’s why they’re all coming out now, I’ve been saving them up for you lot.’

‘Lucky us.’ Lou rolled her eyes, smiling at him.

Jen pulled her coat tighter around herself – the sky had turned grey, the warmth of the sun almost entirely gone, and their breath clouded as they walked. She momentarily missed her hat, as her ears began to feel the chill, but the image of little Lottie cradling it filled her with enough warmth to keep her going.

There were footsteps behind the group as they turned onto the main village street and began walking past a row of cottages that were all sporting colourful lights on their porches. Jen glanced back, convinced for a moment that Julia was walking behind them, but it was just a girl of about fourteen, walking a little dog and waiting patiently as it sniffed the hedge that lined the village green.

‘Come on, Holly, let’s get home,’ she said.

Holly. How festive, Jen thought in disgust, as she tried to focus on what her friends were talking about. In fact, it looked like the whole of Babblebrook was going big when it came to Christmas; every house twinkled with colourful lights, every window seemed to display a tree sparkling with decorations. The village didn’t appear to have got the memo about tasteful candles and muted white lights. It was enough to turn Jen’s stomach.

‘I feel like I’ve stepped into Narnia,’ she grumbled.

‘Oh, here we go! You big old Scrooge,’ Lou said.

‘Well, everything’s gone Christmas crazy here! It’s only the beginning of December.’

Jen eyed the huge inflatable Santa that currently wavered in the chilly breeze as it sat on the Babblebrook Primary School sign.

‘Well, yeah,’ Ted said. ‘I’m learning that we like to do Christmas properly in Babblebrook.’

‘We? You don’t even live here!’

He shrugged. ‘I work at the school, that makes me an honorary resident.’

Jen was liking his apparent attachment to the village, and inevitable proximity to her sister, less and less.

‘Anyway, you’ve got your books wrong,’ Rich said.

They all looked at him questioningly. ‘Narnia – it’s always winter and never Christmas.’

By the time he’d protested against the good-natured accusations of pedantry, they were at the café.

It was a pretty place of golden Cotswolds stone, nestled alongside the sweet shop and post office. It had a gleaming, red-painted wooden sign. Like everywhere else in the village, Christmas had arrived in style; colourful fairy lights twinkled through the steamed-up big bay window and iced biscuits in the shape of snowflakes dangled there. Inside, the warm air smelled of gingerbread and coffee, and a Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated with robin-shaped baubles and plenty of chocolate treats.

Rich glanced around. ‘This is great, I must bring the kids, they’d love it.’ He looked at the tables filled with people – couples, families, friends. ‘You know, Jen, I wonder if we’ll see your—’

‘There’s a free table,’ Jen said quickly, marching over to the corner where there were spaces. She caught a glimpse of the others exchanging a glance as they followed.

‘Apparently, last year Marnie – she owns the café – she made a gingerbread version of Babblebrook, and everyone took a house to decorate and then it was displayed in the window,’ Ted said, as proudly as if he’d made the gingerbread village himself.