Page 88 of A Merry Little Christmas

Last night, she’d slept better than she had in almost two weeks. And now she was up early. She’d washed her hair and scrunch-dried it gently, so it was extra wavy. He’d never been able to resist her auburn curls. And she was wearing a bit of make-up. The truth was that she hadn’t loved herself enough recently to bother paying any attention to her appearance. Today, she wanted Olek to take one look at her and fall in love with her all over again. A scruffy bun and a blotchy face wouldn’t cut it.

Nell washed her hands, pulled out her phone and checked Olek’s text message from yesterday one more time.

Spa day booked for tomorrow at the Enchanted Spa, be ready to be picked up at 8:30. Make sure you take a swimsuit and a book, although you might not need that. This is a day for relaxation and chatting.

Relaxation and chatting; precisely what they needed.

Just reading the message again made her stomach do a loop-the-loop. It didn’t sound like the sort of thing he’d normally say, but perhaps he’d copied and pasted it from an email. She’d replied to thank him and that she couldn’t wait. He hadn’t messaged again, but she didn’t mind; the fact that he’d organised this for them both was more than enough.

She sighed happily and went through to their bedroom. She’d always wanted to go to the Enchanted Spa. She and Merry had talked about it, but as they worked together, it was difficult to both have time off. Now, though, she’d be able to enjoy it for the first time with the man she loved.

A whole day together in luxurious, beautiful surroundings. So much better than being at home. They’d be able to talk about everything that had gone wrong between them. She’d tell him why she hadn’t told him the truth about the test results and how much she loved him and that nothing else mattered other than for them to be together. And that from now on, she’d never keep anything from him.

She checked her bag: swimsuit, toiletries, outfit for an exercise class (unlikely she’d do any exercise, but if he fancied going to the gym, she might be tempted), and good bra and knickers. He might not get to see them while they were there, but he would when they got home. She looked up at the bunch of mistletoe above their bed and grinned. She’d nearly put her back out hanging that up. At least it looked like the effort had been worth it. He was going to love it. Despite being a big burly man, he was a softie at heart and very romantic. This bed hadn’t seen much romance recently; she’d been too sad about not being able to have a baby with him, too worried about harbouring secrets. Still, she thought, today was a fresh start. By the time they came back tonight, she was confident that things would be back to normal. And she couldn’t wait.

At exactly half past eight, she heard the rumble of an engine pull up onto the drive. She pressed a hand to her chest. It was just as fluttery as it had been on that first date.

He was here.

Of course he was. Olek was always punctual, always reliable. He’d never once let her down in all the years they’d been together. He was still the man she’d married: loving, handsome, caring. She’d bruised his heart these past few weeks, and now he was giving her the chance to repair the damage. She could almost weep with relief. She couldn’t wait to hold him, feel his arms around her, press her face against his.

With fluttering fingers, she put on her coat, picked up her bag and flung open the front door, a sob already bubbling up in her throat.

But what she saw completely threw her. Olek’s van wasn’t on the drive. Instead, there was a car parked there. And sitting at the wheel wasn’t the man she’d longed to see, but Emily, looking rosy-cheeked and nervous.

Nell’s first thought was for Merry. She blinked away her tears of disappointment and dashed to the car as Emily climbed out, wearing jeans and a hoodie with paint splatters on the front of it. It looked as if she’d got dressed in a hurry. ‘What’s happened? Is Merry all right?’

‘Merry is fine.’ Emily said calmly. ‘Don’t worry. I’m here to pick you up, that’s all.’

‘What for?’ Nell shook her head, confused.

‘For your spa day,’ said Emily, frowning. ‘Didn’t Olek tell you?’

‘Yes, but …’ Nell stared at her. But Olek had said … No, this couldn’t be right.

She fumbled for her phone and read the message to herself. She felt her face flame with embarrassment. He hadn’t actually said he was coming. She felt like such a fool. She’d been so looking forward to spending the day with him that she’d read what she wanted to read.

‘Come on, hop in. All will be revealed,’ said Emily brightly.

Bewildered, Nell did as she was told. What on earth was going on? Where was Olek? If this was someone’s idea of a joke, she wasn’t finding it very funny.

Chapter 36

Olek

Olek used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe condensation from the window of his uncle’s cabin and stared outside at the snow, his heart sinking. Bloody hell. The branches of the tree sagged under the weight of last night’s snowfall, and there must be at least a foot of fresh snow on the van roof. The plan had been to start the journey south last night. He’d cleared the snow away from the van and sprinkled salt around the wheels to keep it from freezing, but when he’d checked the traffic news, there’d been so many delays and road closures that he’d decided to wait until this morning.

Now he wasn’t sure if he’d made the right decision. His mum was going to kill him if he didn’t get home. He gave a bark of laughter; forty-seven years old and still worried about what his mother was going to say.

He checked his phone again: no signal. The mobile mast must still be down. Shit. The last message he’d had was from Nell yesterday, about the day out Cole and Emily had organised. It was obvious she’d got the wrong end of the stick and thought he would be going with her. It was his fault entirely; he should have been clearer. But it had felt awkward messaging her with frivolous details of a spa day after not speaking to her about the major issues they were going through. The trouble was that he didn’t know what Nell had told people about the state of their marriage, and didn’t want to create any problems for her. So when Emily had asked him to make sure Nell would be prepped and ready by eight-thirty, he hadn’t wanted to admit that two days before Christmas Eve he wasn’t even at home with his wife. Which was where he wanted to be. Very much.

God, he missed her. He missed the way she felt in his arms, her head fitting just so underneath his chin. He hated waking up without her, he missed the little noises she made as she came to in the morning. He even missed having to make her first coffee of the day, just the right strength in just the right mug. He missed being in his own home, his own bed, and very much wanted their old life back. The one before all this baby stuff came along and turned everything upside down. Nell was his best friend. Even after years of marriage, she was still the person he wanted to hang out with more than anyone else. People talked about wanting to grow old with someone, but he loved the way he felt like a teenager when he was with her. They had fun, they laughed all the time, he could count the times they’d argued on one hand, and they had shared everything. Or so he’d thought.

He didn’t understand why she hadn’t just come out with the truth on the day Dr Bajek gave her the results. What had she achieved by pretending that it was her with the fertility problem? And then there was her termination. That had come out of the blue. She had been pregnant before, and in all their time together, she had not once thought it would be a good idea to tell him. But both of these things paled in importance when compared to the bigger issue. And that was Max. He would have got over the other things by now if he hadn’t heard her tell Woody that she didn’t think Max could be his son.

Olek felt sick to his stomach every time he remembered hearing Nell’s voice as he’d climbed the stairs to the Airbnb above the shop.

He must never find out.