Page 89 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

‘Thank you so much. I think you’ll be the most popular stall!’

He laughed, and eyed Marnie’s hot chocolate stand next to him. ‘I’m not sure about that.’

Pat was busy organising a band of volunteers in the kitchen who were going to be providing tea, coffee and squash. Jen had given up on the bar, but she had warned Gillian that there might be an influx when the fair ended. She’d just laughed. ‘There’s always an influx after a village event – the nativity service, the Easter bonnet parade, the village fête, the carol singing – you name it, it ends up at The Plough.’

Jen laughed. It seemed that Gillian was well prepared for the sudden demand for mulled wine and beer that would inevitably take place that evening.

‘Wow,’ Ted said, appearing at her shoulder and gazing round the hall. ‘This is – something!’

Jen smiled. ‘Not quite the sophisticated soirée I had in mind, but I think the village WhatsApp did us proud in the end.’

He was staring up at the decorations. ‘Yeah, Babblebrook doesn’t really do sophisticated, if I’m honest. This is perfect.’ He looked at her, full of warmth and admiration. Her heart gave a little skip. She was just pleased that she’d proved herself to him, that was all. ‘You’ve really pulled this off,’ he said.

She smiled, looking into his soft brown eyes and feeling, as she always did in his presence, safe and solid and happy.

When everything was ready, Alan Wood approached her, wearing wellies and a Santa hat.

‘The uh – reindeer are here,’ he said, jerking his head to indicate the cows that were standing patiently in the playground. The snow had at last stopped falling, and the day had turned sunny and clear.

Jen hurried out, retrieving the makeshift antlers she’d made from branches and attaching them to the patient animals’ heads. They stared at her with their doe eyes, calmly chewing the hay Alan had brought. He’d set up a little fenced-off area for them, while Barbara was all set to manage the queue of children who would no doubt soon gather.

‘What’s this?’ Ted had come to see what the commotion was about. His shoulders were shaking with laughter.

Jen grinned. ‘Reindeer! Obviously, Mr Piper.’

‘Obviously,’ he said. His gaze on her was full of affection, his smile wide and gentle. Her heart swelled. ‘You really have thought of everything, haven’t you?’ he said. ‘You know, I really . . .’

‘Ho, ho, ho,’ a voice boomed, and they turned to see Andrew, dressed in a Santa outfit, his stomach plumped out with a cushion and his blue eyes sparkling.

‘Oh great! The guest of honour’s here,’ Ted said. He glanced over to the crowds that were starting to gather outside the school gate. ‘Time to get this party started!’

She watched as he greeted everyone, giving a short and funny speech. ‘And, if you can indulge me for one moment longer, before you go on to enjoy the food, crafts, Santa’s grotto, real reindeer –’ he wiggled his eyebrows at this point and the parents, who had all seen the ‘reindeer’ on the way in, laughed – ‘and then the disco, please could we all take a moment to thank my great friend, Jen Ward, who has organised this whole thing, despite being sabotaged by the weather, and without whom Babblebrook Primary would not be hosting its first Christmas fair!’

He beckoned to her, and Jen joined him at the front of the hall, laughing and nodding at the round of applause and loud whoops that came from the direction of Julia and Dan. There was extra cheering from the corner, and she glanced over to see Lou and her husband, each holding one of the twins, and Rich and his family. Lou smiled as Jen waved enthusiastically; of course they were here. The school that Lou worked in and the school Rich’s children went to were local. They’d probably hosted the Christmas fair in previous years.

‘That’s my auntie Jen, that is,’ Amy said.

‘And my Train Lady,’ added Lottie.

The hall filled with happy, noisy children and parents, and Jen spent the next hour busily supervising the craft table. Lou and Rich brought their children over, and they were soon having a happy, messy time creating handprint reindeer decorations.

‘This is amazing,’ Lou said. She hugged Jen across the table, squeezing her extra tight; Jen had filled her in on Anthony’s betrayal. ‘I can’t believe you’ve done this, Ted told us that you saved the day.’ She looked genuinely impressed.

Jen gently fished a soggy pompom out of a toddler’s mouth. ‘Oh, I don’t know about that!’

‘No, really,’ Rich said. ‘The roads were a nightmare, they only started clearing in the past hour or so, I can’t imagine how you pulled all this together. We didn’t even know if we were going to make it.’ He eyed his children, now perfectly content as they worked. ‘Big drama.’ He rolled his eyes.

‘I’m glad you did,’ Jen said. ‘It’s great to see you both.’

‘You too.’ Lou smiled. ‘Although I’m sure you’re horrified at being stuck in Babblebrook for so long!’ She pulled a sympathetic face.

Jen smiled. ‘You know what? I’ve realised that Babblebrook isn’t so bad.’

The time passed in a cheerful blur, and Jen could feel that she was in her element, encouraging and patiently helping the children as they worked on their creations. The familiar polish-and-wood smell of the school, and the boards on the wall that displayed the pupils’ work, felt like home. And she knew that this was where she was meant to be.

She could no longer run from her calling. She loved this, she was good at this, and it was what she wanted to do. She needed to go back to teaching.

And she realised, with a sudden clarity, that there was only one person she wanted to share this with. One person who would understand, one person whose opinion mattered.