Page 40 of Christmas All the Way

That certainly seemed to fit with what he’d said to Ivy, Grace thought as Hettie glowered in disgust, although she had no idea what most of it actually meant. ‘Wow.’

‘Right?’ Hettie exclaimed. ‘So what if we’re a bit old-fashioned? That’s what our customers like. No one goes to a garden centre for clicks and likes. They go to buy chrysanthemums and compost and maybe have a nice cream tea.’

Grace couldn’t argue. ‘You do serve a very nice cream tea.’

‘Thank you,’ Hettie said, and lowered her voice as another customer approached, clutching a sandwich. ‘Anyway, I’d best get on. Thanks for listening to me moan.’

‘No problem,’ Grace said, smiling. ‘Any time.’

As she made her way out, she glanced across at Mr Bairstow again. He was still moving between the tables, nodding politely at some and pausing to greet others as if they were old friends. Which Grace supposed they might well be; Ruggles had been open for many years and undoubtedly had many regular, long-standing customers. For a moment, she considered going across to introduce herself but quickly thought better of it. What could she say, anyway? ‘Your son is a despicable bully?’ It was unlikely to go down well.

Even so, she was deep in thought as she passed through the door and made for Santa’s Secret. If Hettie was to be believed, it seemed Jesse was not endearing himself to his employees. Perhaps his plans for the expansion of the garden centre would meet with resistance and he might change his mind about forcing Ivy and her business out. She could only cross her fingers and hope.

Her heart simultaneously leapt and sank when she saw Raff in the car park as she made her way back to work. He was leaning against his car, a navy waxed jacket open across his chest and his phone pressed to his ear, but his eyes were fixed upon her as she approached the barn. Determined to be polite, she nodded in greeting and was about to pass him by when she heard him call out. ‘Grace, wait!’

Reluctantly, she stopped, wondering if he was going to tell her off for being two minutes late or some other breach of the rules, and then decided she was being unfair. He’d only told her off once, with some justification, and afterwards he’d seemed to regret being so strident. She waited as he ended his call and crunched across the short distance to meet her. ‘Hello,’ she said, as he came to a halt. ‘Can I help you with something?’

‘No,’ he said, and hesitated. ‘I mean, yes. Or rather, you’ve already helped me with something, in a manner of speaking.’

Grace eyed him in confusion, trying her hardest not to let her gaze linger on the adorable pair of lines that appeared between his eyebrows when he frowned. ‘I have?’

Raff took a breath and made a visible effort to pull his thoughts together. ‘Yes. My mother told me how you comforted her after her visit from Jesse a few weeks ago. I wanted to thank you for that.’

‘Oh,’ Grace said, blushing a little. ‘You don’t need to thank me. Anyone would have done the same.’

‘Perhaps,’ Raff said, and his frown softened. ‘She said you were very kind. I’m also grateful for your discretion. I’m aware you haven’t worked here very long, so you don’t owe us any loyalty, but I appreciate the fact that you didn’t spread the news among your colleagues.’

Now it was Grace’s turn to frown. ‘Of course not. I realise you don’t have the highest opinion of my intelligence but that doesn’t make me a gossip.’

Twin spots of colour appeared in his cheeks. ‘I do have a high opinion of your intelligence. What makes you think I don’t?’

‘The fact that you called me a fool,’ Grace said, and instantly wished she hadn’t. Why was she reminding him of her own stupidity when he was simply trying to thank her? She shook her head. ‘But it doesn’t matter now. I’m glad I was there when Ivy needed me. She’s a wonderful employer and I’m sorry Jesse is doing this to her.’

For a moment, she thought she’d overstepped the mark. Raff’s expression darkened still further as he considered her. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Thanks. I don’t really know what we’re going to do.’

Grace stuffed the hand that was not holding her lunch into her pocket, in case it decided to act on sudden impulse to straighten the lock of hair he had displaced. ‘From what she tells me, there’s not much you can do until Jesse makes his next move. He seems quite ambitious so I don’t suppose he’ll wait long.’

His jaw tightened. ‘Ambitious is certainly a word. Ruthless and conniving are others.’ He took in her raised eyebrows. ‘We were at school together. Let’s just say he didn’t mind trampling over everyone else to get what he wanted back then, and he hasn’t changed a bit.’

Grace recalled Hettie’s assertion that no one liked Jesse much. ‘Bullies always get their comeuppance eventually.’

Raff grunted. ‘If that’s true then I’d like it to happen before he drives my mother into an early grave.’ Seeming to remember who he was talking to, he looked away. ‘Sorry. That was unnecessarily overdramatic. I’m just worried for her, that’s all.’

He looked it too, Grace thought, and she had to quell an impulse to lay a comforting hand on his arm. ‘That’s understandable,’ she said. ‘I’d feel exactly the same.’

Straightening his shoulders, he met her gaze once more. ‘She tells me you have big plans for the Freezy Tye Christmas display.’

‘I do,’ she answered. ‘And I don’t mind telling you that one of the reasons I volunteered for the committee is because Jesse is so convinced Flaxwood is going to win. It seems to me he’s had things his own way for far too long and I want to wipe that look of self-satisfaction right off his face.’

Raff stared at her, his mouth slightly open. ‘You’re doing this to teach him a lesson?’

She felt her cheeks growing warm again. ‘Not just because of that. I also happen to love Christmas and I didn’t like going back to an empty house.’ His eyebrows rose and she hurried to explain. ‘My son is spending a year in Australia and, well, I’m missing him. That’s why I applied for the job here.’

Stop talking, Grace, she admonished herself as understanding dawned in Raff’s eyes. ‘I see.’ His gaze flicked to her left hand, which was still in her pocket, then returned to her face. ‘No partner to make things easier – a husband or – or—’

He stopped talking, embarrassed. ‘No,’ she said, and something swirled in the pit of her stomach. ‘No one at all.’

She wanted to groan the moment the words were out. Could she have made herself sound any more pathetic? But Raff wasn’t eyeing her with pity. Instead, he seemed to have become very still. ‘Right,’ he said, after a silence that threatened to make things even more awkward. ‘I mean, I’m sorry to hear that. I imagine you miss your son very much.’