Page 36 of The Merry Christmas Project

Cole watched as a little girl on a bike appeared, head to toe in a green camouflage outfit, two red plaits hanging from underneath her bicycle helmet. Her face creased with concentration as she pedalled furiously. Their dad, Fred, was jogging alongside her with his hand on the back of the seat, steadying the little bike.

‘Mummy, look, I’m doing it !’ she cried as she wobbled past their mum who must have been holding the camera.

‘Well done, darling !’ Mum cheered.

In the background Cole cycled by with his arms folded casually, a big smirk on his face. Seconds later there was a crash and a howl of pain.

Hester grinned at him and pressed pause. ‘Remember that ?’

Cole hooted with laughter. ‘Very clearly. I was so busy showing off, I hit a tree stump straight after I went past Mum. I’ve still got the scar to prove it.’

‘Served you right for stealing my moment in the spotlight,’ Hester said with a snort.

‘And now look at you,’ Cole said proudly. ‘A star of silver screen and always in the spotlight. Dad is going to love this film, you old bag, I’m going to have to go big to top this present.’

‘Yes you are,’ she said triumphantly. ‘I got one of the guys at work to help me edit it all together. There are hours of footage. We could make an entire box set out of them, but I’ve just stuck to our growing-up years for now. Want to see more ?’

He nodded and she pressed play again.

The film showed him happy memory after happy memory: birthdays, camping holidays in Wales, a plethora of ill-judged teenage haircuts (Cole) and outfits (Hester). Then the first Christmas video popped up and Cole felt his heart begin to ache.

The Robinson family Christmases hadn’t been particularly lavish, just a happy family enjoying the day, but the house had been full of love and laughter and togetherness. All the things that this Christmas was going to lack. It had been at this point that Cole had opened the wine.

A decision that this morning, as he got out of bed, one hand pressed to his temple, he was now regretting. His mouth felt furry and his brain felt too big for his head. He stumbled into the bathroom, avoiding the mirror and after he’d been to the loo, dragged himself towards the coffee machine. He blinked twice at the time on the microwave. That couldn’t be right ? It was after seven. He was normally at work by now. He grabbed his phone. Shit. How the hell had he slept through his alarm for a whole hour ?

Coffee, extra strong, was required before he could even think about having a shower. He turned on the machine and then winced – why did making coffee have to be so loud ? He clapped his hands over his ears to drown out the noise and almost missed his phone ringing.

He picked up and answered the call. It was Josh.

‘Everything OK, boss ?’ His foreman was obviously outdoors ; the noise of the wind made his voice sound distorted.

‘Um.’ Cole’s mouth felt even worse when he started to talk. He attempted a laugh. ‘I overslept, which never happens.’

‘You must have needed it, as my mum always says.’

‘Yeah, mine did too.’ He tucked the phone under his chin and stretched both arms up. ‘I’ll grab a quick shower and I’ll be with you as soon as I can. Thanks for checking on me, I appreciate it.’

He realised as he said it there were very few who’d wonder where he was. Paul and Hester would be getting on with their own working days ; he didn’t usually see them until the evening. He hoped his sister felt better than he did. She was filming in Manchester later today.

‘Actually,’ Josh cut in as Cole was about to end the call. ‘I was calling to let you know that it’s a bit of a mess down here. The storm created quite a lot of damage.’

‘You’re joking ?’ Cole strode to the window and pulled up the blinds. The wind was still strong and it had clearly been raining heavily in the night. ‘What sort of damage ?’

He walked back to get his coffee and gulped it down, grateful for the hit of caffeine.

‘I wish I was, but I’m afraid we’re flooded. I don’t think we’ll be getting any work done on site today.’

‘What ? According to the surveys I paid for, there’s never been any problem from the river.’ Cole swore under his breath. He didn’t need this. Not when the build schedule was already ambitious. The two sisters were due back any day, this time bringing their husbands. He couldn’t afford for them to lose interest because of delays.

Josh sucked in air. ‘Looks like those trees that got cleared yesterday have caused it.’

Cole frowned. If he hadn’t had a headache before, he certainly had now. ‘I told the contractor to get rid of it all.’

‘They did.’ There was a pause. ‘It looks like they dumped all the debris in the river.’

Cole massaged his forehead. ‘The bloody idiots. What were they thinking ? It’s so irresponsible, not to mention illegal.’

‘I rang them straight away and left a voicemail. No reply as yet.’