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‘It feels so right with Honor. In a way it doesn’t feel as if I’m rushing things at all. I really think,’ he corrected himself, ‘Ithought, it was perfect. It felt exciting and I’m really attracted to her but it’s more than that. I could actually see myself building a good life with Honor, here, in Lullbury Bay.’
‘But?’
‘What if it ends up just like me and Rose?’
‘Oh, Jago.’ Verity stood up. ‘You are a deeply lovely man. Hugely sensitive and, dare I say it, prone to over-analysing things. Go and find Honor and say all these things to her. She can react one of two ways. She’ll either accept your explanation and you can stay friends. Or–’
‘Or?’ He gazed up at her, trying to conceal the desperate hope he felt.
‘She’ll leap into your arms!’
CHAPTER23
‘IT DOESN’T OFTEN SNOW AT CHRISTMAS’ – PET SHOP BOYS
Jago walked back down the steep hill towards the promenade and strolled along it, taking his time. He needed to clear his head and he needed to do some thinking. A lot of thinking. To his amusement he saw the Ninja Knitters had attacked the prom too. Great swathes of knitted garlands, red and sparkly, had been wound round the railings which ran the length of it. Hung from them were baubles, tiny robins, trees and miniature Father Christmases – all knitted of course. He stopped and admired them and saw tiny fairy lights had been tucked through too. At night it would sparkle. Merryn would love it. Stopping to take a photo on his phone he couldn’t help but grin. It seemed to sum up the town; hard-working, creative, community-minded and completely eccentric.
An older man with an equally aged German Shepherd paused beside him. ‘Gladdens the heart, doesn’t it? Silly bit of nonsense but cheerful. You walking to the harbour? Mind if we walk along with you?’
Jago did mind, it interrupted his thinking time, but he didn’t want to seem rude. ‘Not at all,’ he answered, putting Ivy on his left side as a precaution. ‘But would you mind if we kept the dogs well apart. Ivy here is a rescue and nervous.’ Even as he said it, it sounded ridiculous. The old dog didn’t look as if it would bother anything.
As they walked the man introduced himself as Austin and the dog as Gretel. ‘On her last legs now, poor old girl.’ He chortled. ‘Bit like me, but we soldier on.’ He tapped his nose. ‘Secret to a long life, gentle exercise, a bit of what you fancy and the love of a good woman.’
Jago laughed and introduced himself.
‘Ah yes,’ Austin said. ‘The new folk who have moved into Christmas Tree Cottage. On God-Almighty Hill.’
‘God-Almighty Hill?’ Jago shook his head. ‘No, it’s on Harbour Hill. The road that leads up the cliff out of the harbour.’
Austin chuckled. ‘Harbour Hill is what’s written on the map, young man, and maybe on the road sign, but we locals know it as God-Almighty Hill. On account of it being so steep, you’re so puffed out by the time you’ve walked to the top, all you can do is wheeze out,“God Almighty!”’
Jago decided he loved this town.
‘Lovely name for a house I’ve always thought. Christmas Tree Cottage. Not so much a cottage though since the last owners extended it.’
‘Do you know why it’s named that? From its position, I thought it would be called something like Harbour View or Sea Vista.’
‘No idea,’ Austin replied cheerfully. ‘Perhaps the first folk who lived there loved Christmas so much they wanted to be reminded of it all year long.’
Jago remained silent. He was trying hard to fall back in love with Christmas. Maybe he would at some point in the future, but he wasn’t sure he’d manage it this year. Not completely. He looked up at the sky. The day was fading fast, he must have stayed at Verity’s longer than he’d thought. It was growing even colder, with a penetrating wind slicing off a grey sea. ‘Do you think it’ll snow?’
Austin sucked his teeth. ‘Doesn’t often snow in Lullbury Bay but when it does it can come down with a vengeance. Last time we had it was a couple of years ago. And then we had a bucketful. Even covered the beach, and that only happens once in a lifetime.’ He chortled. ‘Everyone was snowed in as the roads were so bad. Steep hills in this part of Dorset, see.’ They’d reached the open space outside the yacht club by now and the wind gusted through the gap between the building and the café next to it. Austin stopped and pointed over the low wall and out to a stone-grey sea. ‘You can’t imagine the beach covered in white, can you? Doesn’t seem right somehow. Looked all odd, I can tell you, but magical it was. I’m fond of a bit of snow, as it’s rare down here. Snowed the day I married my first wife in the chapelandwhen I married my Aggie. What are the chances, eh?’ Austin smiled, his face creasing into well-worn lines, lost in his reminiscence. ‘But we got married in the registrar’s office on account of Aggie being pagan. She don’t hold no truck with church folk.’
Neither had Jago until recently. Snow on one wedding day sounded romantic, let alone on two. No wonder the old man was so fond of it. ‘Sounds perfect. Snow on your wedding day, that is. Although I suppose it depends if the guests can get to it. When was this?’ Jago asked, expecting Austin to tell him it was back in the sixties.
‘Only a couple of years ago. Aggie and I got married and it was the happiest day of my life, even with everything folk said. Gossiped about us something rotten, they did. Said she was after my money. They don’t know the half of it; she’s got more stashed away than the whole town put together! Ah yes, happy day, that was.’ He reached down to ruffle his dog’s feathery ears. ‘I waited a long time for my second wife to come along and our courtship wasn’t without its problems, I can tell you, but that day was one I’ll never forget. I can heartily recommend married life. You have to compromise, of course, and I’ve done more than my fair share with my Ag but it’s all been worth it. She’s a little cracker is my Aggie.’ He straightened. ‘You married, young Jago?’
‘I’m not.’ Jago didn’t know what to make of the old man. It felt surreal talking relationships standing in the dark and cold, with sea foam flecking in off the sea with the wind. But then, there had been something surreal about the whole day.
‘Then, take my advice, find yourself a good woman.’ Austin shivered. ‘If nothing else, she’ll keep you warm.’
‘Well, I’ve someone in mind,’ Jago answered, liking the man more and more. There was something about him which reminded him of his father. ‘Sort of.’
Austin pointed a finger. ‘Then get a shifty on. You never know what’s round the corner in this life, or how long you’ve got. Doesn’t pay to fiddle-faddle about, as my Aggie would say. Grab any opportunity which comes your way, and I don’t just mean with women. We’re only here the once and we don’t know for how long.’
‘You don’t know how true that is,’ Jago replied feelingly, a resolve beginning to form.
‘Granddad?’ A slight figure ran out of the café, her long apron flapping in the breeze. ‘What are you doing standing around in this cold? Come on into the café. We’re not too busy, just the Knit and Natter Group. I’ll make you a Hot Chocolate Special and get you some of Tracy’s Christmas shortbread, fresh batch just out of the oven.’ She bent down and ruffled Gretel’s ears. ‘A doggie biscuit for you, too.’ Straightening, she smiled at Jago.
