Page 74 of A Merry Little Christmas

Cole’s arm tightened around Merry. ‘Yes, well, we probably didn’t need to bring that up, but thank you, Freya.’

‘I’d be sad if you died, Dad,’ she said innocently. ‘I’m only saying.’

‘It’s very sweet of you and has definitely cheered me up.’ Merry hugged Harley and Freya and reached up to kiss Cole’s cheek.

‘We haven’t finished yet,’ said Harley, wiping his cheek, even though Merry had kissed his father not him. ‘This is only the first part.’

‘Yes, there’s s’mores. Get it?’ Cole nudged Harley. ‘Get it? There’s more, except I said there’s s’mores.’

‘That’s such a dad joke,’ Harley groaned, trying not to laugh.

‘We’re lucky to have a dad,’ Freya piped up. ‘Merry—’

‘Why don’t you get the marshmallows, Freya?’ Cole interrupted, sending a look of apology to Merry.

‘I don’t mind us talking about my dad,’ said Merry. ‘In a weird way, it helps to get used to it. When I was talking to Woody earlier, the words got stuck in my throat. I don’t think I even got around to telling him in the end. And you’re right, Freya, you are lucky to have your dad.’ She smiled at Cole, who gave her a squeeze. ‘And so am I.’

For the next few minutes, Cole organised his children into finding long sticks in the garden and preparing the marshmallows for roasting. Merry was given strict instructions to do nothing at all.

Cole had turned up with the kids to collect her from Merry and Bright, promising her a nice surprise. When they’d pulled up outside Meadow View, for one happy moment, she did think that he’d worked miracles and the house was ready for them to move into. But even she had to admit that there was still so much to be done before it was habitable, and now that there was Ray’s funeral to arrange, her priorities had changed.

‘This was one of your better ideas, darling,’ Merry sighed as Cole tucked a blanket around her knees.

‘It was forecast to be a clear night and I thought it would be romantic to sit under the stars beside the warmth of a fire,’ he said, brushing his cold lips against hers. ‘You’ve had a tough few days, I wanted to do something special to show you I care.’

Her heart swelled with love for him. ‘I love you.’

‘Er, this hot chocolate smells of sick,’ said Harley, pouring some into a cup. ‘I’m going to have Coke instead.’

Merry and Cole exchanged smiles.

‘OK, maybe not that romantic,’ he added.

She caught hold of his hand. ‘It’s family time, and it’s just what I need to distract me.’

For so many years, she hadn’t had any family. Astrid had been as close to a mother figure as she’d had, and Nell, her gorgeous, funny, kind-hearted Nell, had been like a sister. The rift between them was huge and hurtful and she wasn’t quite sure how to heal it. But they would soon enough, she was sure: as soon as Olek told her that her dad had passed away, she’d turn up with hugs and flowers and they’d make up and it would all go back to normal.

And, in the meantime, thanks to Cole, she did have family. She had a wonderful husband, a whole bunch of in-laws, two stepchildren and a baby on the way. And courtesy of Emily’s detective work, she had a half-sister and a father too. Or, rather, had had a father.

Her mind went back to last night at the home and the trauma of watching him fade out of this life and onto the next, whatever and wherever that might be. She looked up at the velvet of the night sky and gazed into the stars, thinking once again of the first night Emily had introduced them, and how they’d danced around his room to Fleetwood Mac. Merry didn’t have many memories of him, but the ones she did have were all the more precious for that.

‘OK?’ Cole looked at her, concerned.

She nodded. ‘More than OK.’

The night air was bitingly cold and the garden at Meadow View was unmistakably still a building site. But by the time Merry had been handed a mug of hot chocolate and fed a toasted marshmallow squished between two biscuits, she was perfectly able to see past the piles of bricks and the cement mixer and churned-up lawn and imagine how lovely this place would look next summer.

‘I love it here,’ said Freya, wriggling her bottom onto the chair beside Merry, as if reading her thoughts. She had a paper plate with two s’mores on it in one hand, her hot chocolate in the other, and a wide smile adorning her little face. ‘You picked a cool house, Merry and Dad.’

‘Thank you.’ Merry felt her eyes prick with tears and tried to blink them away quickly. This time last year, she remembered feeling daunted about the prospect of becoming a stepmother to these kids. It had been a steep learning curve, with some bumps on the way, like the time Freya had told Santa that what she wanted for Christmas was for her parents to get back together. But a year on, with her stepdaughter beside her paying her compliments and her stepson proving to be a reliable member of staff at weekends, i.e. choosing to spend his Saturdays with her, she reckoned she hadn’t done such a bad job.

‘Let’s have s’mores on Christmas Day,’ said Harley, through a mouthful of marshmallow. ‘This is way better than Christmas pudding.’

‘Can we?’ Freya joined in. ‘I hate Christmas pudding.’

‘Fine by me,’ said Merry. ‘Your dad is cooking Christmas dinner this year.’

‘That’s right.’ Cole puffed his chest out. ‘Soggy sprouts and lumpy gravy all right for everyone?’