After a couple of hours of games, I realise I don’t have enough bread defrosted to make sandwiches for everyone this evening.
‘Hey, anyone up for a Christmas pizza?’ I call out, and heads nod.
Valerie, Sarah and Gray follow me across to the kitchen as I turn on the oven.
‘We’re going to need to use Tollie’s oven as well, or this will take forever. We can cut up the turkey legs for a festive topping. Gray and I will pop out to the freezer in the outhouse. Then we can figure out how we’re going to carry the hot pizzas across once they’re cooked.’
‘I’ll give you a few minutes, then I’ll hang around by the front door.’ Sarah looks at Valerie, who is already pulling out plates and piling them on the island.
‘We’ll get everything set up,’ Valerie adds. ‘Just be careful, you two. The last thing we want in this weather is for anyone to twist an ankle, or worse.’
Gray and I head into the utility room, which is now the temporary cloakroom. With a bobble hat pulled down to my eyebrows, the padded hood on my jacket pulled over the top, and my trusty snow boots, it’s not exactly glamorous, but my fiancé still leans forward to kiss the end of my nose.
‘You look so cute,’ he murmurs.
‘Cute? Seriously? Come on, fingers crossed Tollie’s winter freezer delivery includes enough pizzas to feed everyone. We’ll use up the last of that monster of a turkey, but at least there’s still some leftover pork for tomorrow.’
Stepping outside, we quickly discover that the snow is several inches higher than our boots. Snow is supposed to be fun, but this is just cold and wet. It’s difficult to see without constantly blinking, as the wind blows the hard, crystal flakes straight into our faces. It stings and it’s relentless. The brick-built outhouse is only fifty yards away, but it’s in the opposite direction to the cottage.
We trudge along in silence and it’s slow going. Gray fumbles a little as he unlocks the hefty wooden door and when it finally releases, he stands back, encouraging me inside.
‘Flip, that wind is cold,’ I moan, glad at least of the shelter.
Scanning the shelf-lined walls, I take a mental inventory. If this weather doesn’t break, at least we have lots of tinned soup and baked beans. All we are likely to run out of is milk, and maybe bread, after a few days.
Gray has already lifted the lid of the big chest freezer and is moving things around to get to the pizzas.
‘How many do we need? They’re pretty big. You could almost set up a shop with the stuff you have in here. I guess it’s an advantage at times like this that you have to bulk buy to get a delivery,’ he calls out over his shoulder.
‘At least six. Yes. The delivery van driver has to trolley it down from The Bullrush Inn car park, so Tollie orders three months’ worth of food at a time.’
After a little more foraging he begins handing out boxes to me.
‘Might as well have them all as there are seven here, but two are pepperoni. How many loaves of bread?’
‘Two. I know Tollie still has bread in the cottage. Can you grab a couple of packs of butter, while you’re there?’
It’s quite a pile and I sort around for two large cool bags and begin dividing up the goods. When we make our way back outside, the wet is beginning to soak up the legs of my jeans and my skin smarts a little as the seams rub as I walk.
‘Give me the key for Tollie’s and I’ll see you in a bit,’ I shout across to Gray. The wind does its best to drown out the sound of my words. He nods, throwing the keys up into the air. Miraculously, I manage to catch them, giving him a thumbs-up before we head off in different directions.
This isn’t quite the romantic evening I’ve envisaged. I’d hoped that Gray and I would get a chance to have some alone time together, enjoying a long, carefree Christmas walk. I imagined us talking excitedly about the plans for the cottage as we basked in the joy of our special day. But here we are, worrying about having enough slices of pizza to fill everyone up.
By the time Gray returns, I’m unboxing pizzas and he hands me a parcel wrapped in silver foil.
‘You’re missing the festive bit.’ He grins. ‘Courtesy of Valerie.’
‘She’s been wonderful, hasn’t she? I was so stressed about everything, but she sorted me out and calmed me down. We’re coping and everyone seems to be in a fine festive mood.’
‘We will need a bigger kitchen,’ he reflects as I throw open the oven door to pop in the first pizza.
‘Ah, well, yes. On that very subject, and don’t get cross, but your mum has given us five thousand pounds as an engagement present.’
He stops, turning to look at me and shaking his head.
‘It’s her savings – that’s utterly ridiculous. We have no idea whether she’ll be left with enough equity to buy a place when the house is sold. I don’t trust my father to do the honourable thing. And until I know what’s happening with my own work situation, I might need to dip into my nest egg to help her out, anyway.’ There’s a tenseness in his voice that is hard to hear.
‘Hey, it’s just a quiet period. You know that. The work will pick up again and we’ll manage. When Rona took me aside to give me the envelope my first reaction was to say no, too. But it means a lot to her, Gray, and you will offend her if you refuse. And before you say anything, put yourself in her position. She wants to do this for us, and it makes her feel good. We don’t have to spend it – we could set it aside to help her out when she moves to Aysbury, but we don’t need to tell her that.’
He begins to peel off his coat and we stand, looking at each other’s soggy jeans. The water lines have now soaked up above our knees.
‘Are your legs cold?’ I ask.
‘Frozen,’ he declares, rather grimly.
‘Slip off your jeans. I’ll turn up the heating and we’ll dry them off on the radiators. It’s hardly likely anyone is going to interrupt us, is it?’
It turns out to be a task that is easier said than done, involving a lot of hopping around on one leg and pulling, then coaxing, but the relief is incredible.
‘My teeth are literally chattering, and I can’t seem to stop them,’ I admit.
‘Mine, too. Give those to me and I’ll spread them out over the heat.’
‘Do you fancy a glass of wine?’
Gray nods. ‘Perfect. I’m enjoying this little spell of peace and quiet. Is that an awful thing to admit when everyone has been so generous? I would have bought you Bert as a present myself, but his price tag was a little on the hefty side.’
‘I didn’t actually want people to buy us presents. This was supposed to be low-key. Like our wedding.’
As we sit down, bare-legged, at the small Formica-covered table, we clink glasses.
‘Here’s to us, sitting together in what will be our new home! And grateful thanks for the people we have around us. And the fact that even in the middle of a blizzard we are blessed with the means to keep everyone fed. Let’s not worry about money right now, Gray. Let’s just be thankful for what we do have, beginning with each other.’
‘Oh, Immi – the love of my life. You make my heart sing with notes my mind could never compose.’
And with that he begins humming, and nothing else matters, because everything is right in my little world as Gray leans in to kiss me.
‘It might be my imagination, but is Fisher avoiding Valerie for some reason?’ As Ethel helps me stack the dishwasher, she casts an eye in their direction.
‘I think he’s being careful, given that Liam arrived on her doorstep without warning.’ She gives me a meaningful glance and I raise my eyebrows, as she realises what I’m referring to. Fisher is doing the right thing in giving Valerie some space. A strained relationship with an estranged son has to be managed carefully and now is not the time to introduce a third party.
‘Of course! Well, thank goodness for that. It’s all gone well, though, hasn’t it?’ Ethel gives me a little nod and a big smile. ‘You’ve done us all proud, Immi. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun at Christmas. I don’t think you’re going to get away with a quiet little wedding, though, as today has been all about you doing the running around. Folk will want to make sure it’s all about you two guys on the big day.’
I shrug it off. ‘It’s been the best Christmas I’ve had in a long time. I like the buzz, the chaos, and the fun. It makes me feel as if I’m finally living my life and reminds me that everything is about to change.’
‘It’s going to be a wonderful start to the new year. Are you keeping Bert inside permanently?’
I half turn to stare across at him.
‘Of course. He’s a member of the family now. He’ll be moving into the cottage once the sitting room has been spruced up. Bert is going to stand in the corner, next to the fireplace.’
‘Ah, lovely, Immi. You so deserve your happiness with Gray. What else can I do to help? Have you thought through tonight’s sleeping arrangements?’
Suddenly there’s a loud click and the lights go off, plunging the room into total darkness.
‘Don’t worry, everyone. Stay where you are. It’s probably just a blip on the consumer panel and one of the circuit breakers has tripped.’ Gray’s voice rises up in the gloom.
One by one, out come the phones, acting like little torches to check everyone is okay. Tollie and Gray make their way out to the utility room. I run upstairs to glance out of the side window and there isn’t a light to be seen. There’s little doubt that this is a power cut.
‘Everything is in darkness. It’s not just us,’ I call down over the bannister rail.
A flood of light appears at the bottom of the stairs and the outline of Gray’s face peers up at me out of the shadows.
‘Yep. Tollie, Fisher and I will head over to the outhouse to fire up the generator and see what we can power. Tollie is just digging out some storm lanterns.’
I groan, inwardly. ‘I notice the heating’s gone off, but we’re on Calor gas, so we’re good, aren’t we?’
Gray screws up his face. ‘Only if we can keep the pump running and that requires electricity.’
Oh no! Not to mention the fridge and the freezers. What next?
It’s cold. And when I say cold, I mean the bone-chilling, teeth-chattering version. Before the power cut, Fisher said that, according to the news, fourteen inches of snow had fallen in our area and temperatures were due to plummet to minus seventeen degrees Celsius overnight.
By eight o’clock we’ve raided both attics for sleeping bags that haven’t been used in a few years but, thankfully, proved to be a good investment. Together with three blow-up mattresses, which were Tollie’s pride and joy in his camping days, every find is a treasure. It reminds me of summers sleeping in the back garden, with Grandma inside the cottage refusing to swap a sprung mattress for something filled with air. Tollie, Dad and I loved it on the occasions we were able to pack up the trailer and head off for a little trip.
In those days, the folding camper van was considered to be the best of both worlds, with two bedrooms and a living space. But more often than not, we’d put up his old tent in the garden and pretend we were camping somewhere, equally happy to pop back indoors to grab a snack and use the facilities.
Now we are cut off and who knows when the weather is going to improve? With no other options left, Fisher begins to inflate the mattresses with a hairdryer, and I take Kurt aside.
‘We’re out of space, I’m afraid. There’s nowhere other than in here to fit the blow-up mattresses. I’m going to give Bernie and Yvonne mine and Gray’s room and we’ll take one of the doubles in here. Abe and Ethel will have to take the other double blow-up and we’ll jiggle the furniture around in Tollie’s sitting room for them. It’s not ideal, but at least it’s a little more private. Fisher will have to use the single in here, too. So, there’ll be seven of us sleeping in this open-plan area tonight. Is that all right?’
‘Listen, we’re just grateful to be here. You do whatever you have to do to fit everyone in, Immi. This is no time to be making a drama out of a crisis.’
‘Did you hear that?’
I tilt my head, calling out, ‘Shush!’
The chatter quickly dies down.
‘That was the pump, I’m sure of it.’ I race over to place my fingers on the radiator by the door. It’s stone cold and I shake my head but refuse to remove my hand. ‘I heard it kick in, I swear.’
Everyone is swaddled in jumpers, duvets, or blankets, except for Jude and Jade, who grabbed two of the sleeping bags and are curled up on the floor playing snap.
‘It’s getting warm!’ I yell, probably sounding more enthusiastic than if I’d just been told I’ve won the lottery. ‘We will soon have some heat.’
The sound of heavy feet landing in the hallway sees me running towards the door to fling it open. Three very bedraggled and half-frozen men stare back at me.
‘Well,’ Tollie confirms, ‘there’s not enough power for the lighting. But the central-heating pump is up and running, and we can probably power the hob, oven, fridges and freezers without it tripping out.’
There’s a hearty round of applause.
‘I’ll boil a pan of water and make some hot drinks.’ Valerie jumps up. She’s wearing two very thick winter jumpers. The top one is Gray’s, the navy-blue, cable-knit sleeves falling well below her hands, but she looks toasty.
As I scan around, the battery-powered hurricane lamps cast a very pleasant glow. There isn’t one miserable face among us. As Kurt asks the girls if they can help him make some room on the floor for the inflatable mattresses, they are both eager to help.
‘It’s like a village sleepover!’ Jude yells at Jade, excitedly. They wriggle out of their sleeping bags to help Kurt and Sarah move the dining chairs and the table back against the wall.
The lights might not be illuminating our beautiful Christmas tree, but it still looks pretty, as the silver and gold tinsel reflects the light radiating out from the lanterns. The fact that the presents lying beneath it haven’t yet been opened seems irrelevant.
Gray jumps up and begins singing ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day’, made immortal by Roy Wood’s iconic rock band, Wizzard. I seem to be the only one who finds this extremely funny, as I make my way upstairs to raid the airing cupboard for more pillows or cushions. But with each tread I mount, the sound behind me grows louder and it’s amazing that everyone seems to know the words – even if it ends up sounding just a teeny bit out of tune.
I don’t think I have ever laughed as much as I did this evening. Even in the darkness, wrapped in Gray’s arms, as we share our sleeping quarters with three other adults and two thirteen-year-old girls, it’s a hoot.
Jude and Jade have spent over an hour giggling and whispering and running back and forth to the window to check whether it has stopped snowing.
‘Girls, that’s enough now. We’re trying to sleep,’ Kurt keeps calling out with monotonous regularity, until eventually – despite the noise – he drifts off and promptly begins snoring.
The girls finally quieten down, and Fisher and I are the last ones awake. Gray has rolled over onto his side and is breathing heavily.
‘You know who your friends truly are when you find yourselves sleeping together.’ Fisher’s voice rises up in a whisper from the other side of the kitchen island. ‘I always wondered what this sleepover thing was all about. Aren’t we supposed to eat lots of midnight snacks, or something?’
‘Mum won’t let us when our friends stay over,’ Jude bemoans in a hushed tone. ‘She says we get hyped up enough and we don’t need the added sugar to fuel us.’
I’m grinning in the darkness, my hands linked together behind my head to raise it up a little. Neither Gray nor I have pillows, but the mattress is more comfortable than it looks.
‘Is everyone warm enough?’ I ask, wondering what on earth it would be like if we didn’t have the heating on.
‘I’m good,’ the three of them chorus.
Outside the glass doors everything is beginning to glisten as the snow finally stops falling. But it’s glistening because the temperature has dropped, and the soft snow is beginning to harden.