Grace woke on Christmas Eve to find something soft and warm nestled against her cheek.
‘Hello you.’
The cat rolled onto its back and purred as she rubbed its head.
‘Where are your babies?’
As if suddenly remembering them, the cat jumped off the bed and disappeared into the hallway.
‘I guess Mum and Dad will need to give you and your babies a name soon. We can’t keep calling you Cat. Although ultimately, it’s up to Amy to name you.’
Grace sat up and pushed her hair from her face. Christmas Eve always felt special, even though she was an adult now. It was part of the festive build up and she’d always enjoyed it, probably even more than Christmas Day.
She picked up her mobile off the bedside table and noticed that she had two messages, both from Oli. She opened the first one:
Hi Grace, hope you’re okay. Just wondering if your offer of help is still open? I haven’t wrapped a thing! Oli X
The message had come through half an hour ago.
She opened the second one:
Hi, me again, look no pressure at all and I’m sure you have plenty to do. However, if you would like to come over this afternoon I have some good wine in and the children would love to see you. Oli X
Grace smiled and hugged her knees to her chest. So Oli did want her to go round to help him. The idea of spending Christmas Eve with him and the children lifted her heart and the sense of the day being special grew.
She sent a reply asking what time he needed her, then got up and pulled on her fluffy red dressing gown and stuffed her feet into her slippers. Her bedroom was chilly and when she opened the curtains, frost flowers decorated the edges of the windowpane as if someone had created a deliberate festive display.
Beyond the garden, the sea sparkled in the early morning light and everything outside was white with snow and frost. It was a perfect Christmassy morning. Hopefully, today would work out after all and perhaps her life would work out too.
She padded down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found her father frying bacon and eggs on the Aga, and her mother sitting on a cushion in front of the cardboard box with two kittens climbing over her lap.
The mother cat was twirling around Simon’s legs, evidently asking for some bacon.
‘Has she been fed?’ Grace asked.
‘Yes, your father bought her some of that top quality cat food from Oli’s surgery and he’s got the brand that the kittens need too for weaning.’
‘She’s just after this bacon,’ Simon said as he placed the meat onto a plate then took it to the table. ‘Not good for her though.’
‘A bit of what you fancy doesn’t hurt, Simon, and she has just had babies.’ Louise put the kittens back in the box, then got up and took a seat at the table.
‘What are your plans today, Grace?’
Grace poured tea from the pot into three mugs.
‘I thought I’d visit Hope then… uh… Oli has asked if I’d like to help him with his Christmas wrapping.’ At Louise’s raised eyebrows, she added, ‘He sent me a text this morning.’
‘This morning, eh?’ Simon said then looked at the clock on the wall. ‘It’s only seven-thirty now. Seems like someone has been thinking about Grace all night.’
‘Stop it, Dad.’
‘Just saying.’
‘Well don’t.’ Grace grinned, as she helped herself to bacon and eggs.
After they’d finished eating and cleared the dishes away, Grace spent some time playing with the kittens. The tortoiseshell one came to her readily and she lifted it and pressed her face into its soft fur.
‘What shall we call her?’ Louise asked.
‘I was thinking about something cute because she is so fluffy.’
‘We’ll call her Fluffy then?’ Louise suggested.
‘You should.’
‘That’s settled,’ Simon said as he carried a fresh pot of tea to the table. ‘Now you’ve named Fluffy you’ll have to stick around to see plenty of her.’
Grace gazed down at the kitten that had curled up in her lap and was struggling to keep her eyes open. And she knew that she would have to see her regularly.
‘What’re you calling the boy?’ she asked.
‘We’ve been unable to agree on names yet.’ Louise refilled their mugs.
‘But I like Frank for the boy and Tilly for the girl with the white socks on.’
Grace placed her mug of tea on the floor beside her then stroked the kitten in her lap. At least the kittens would have good homes, and she knew her parents had wanted to have pets for years. With Sam’s condition, they’d worried about allergies and hygiene so they resisted their urges to get a cat or dog. Opinion had been divided about the pros and cons of pets for someone with Sam’s condition, but Louise and Simon had been terrified of taking any risks at all.
‘We’ll just have to introduce you and Hope gradually, so she doesn’t frighten you. Or the other way round I suppose.’
Fluffy snuggled her face into her tail, her tiny chest went up and down as she breathed and Grace caressed her ears gently. Animals deserved to be treated well, just as humans did too.
Oli closed the surgery door then locked it. Christmas Eve had been busy as residents panicked about the fact that he’d be closed for two days; however, the single locum had agreed to be on call should anything arise over the Christmas period. Oli had offered to pay the locum extra for the inconvenience, but the young man had told him he was glad of the experience and that he didn’t really like Christmas very much anyway. Oli could understand that – after Linda had died he had thought Christmas would never be something to enjoy again – but he had children to think of, as well as the very welcome idea of spending more time with Grace.
His stomach flipped. She’d replied to his early morning texts and agreed to come over this evening. Once the children were asleep, they could open a bottle of wine and wrap the presents then get everything ready for Christmas Day. He’d been worried that his texts would upset her, or that she’d find him a bit forward after he’d declined the offer of help the other day, but her replies had been warm and friendly.
After visiting the cemetery, Oli had thought he might feel guilty about Grace and their burgeoning friendship, but visiting Linda had had the opposite effect. Instead of feeling bad, he felt that Linda approved, that somehow she had given him a sign that he should go on with his life. Oli would always hold Linda in his heart and love her for the time they’d shared and for the beautiful children she had given him, but he also knew that he could never get her back. So he would keep her memory alive for the children and for the life they’d shared together, but he would also try to live as full a life as he could, as he knew Linda would have wanted him to.
‘You all right there, Oli?’ Pamela asked, as she pulled on her coat. ‘You looked a million miles away.’
‘I am, thank you. Just working out what I need to get done first.’
‘I bet the children are excited today.’
‘My father said he’d take them out, because otherwise they’d be climbing the walls at his.’
‘Good plan.’
‘Well, have a lovely Christmas.’
Pamela came and hugged him, her floral perfume as familiar as the fabric softener he used, then planted a kiss on his cheek.
‘You’re a young man, Oli, and you need to get yourself a woman now.’
‘What?’
‘Just think about it. Linda was an angel, but you’re still alive and you deserve to be happy.’
She patted his arm. ‘I’m older than you and have known you a long time, so I can say things like that. I knew Linda very well too, remember, and she’d hate the thought of you being alone for the rest of your life.’
Oli nodded. ‘Well, we’ll see.’
‘We will. Merry Christmas, lovely.’
Oli walked Pamela to the door then let her out and closed it behind her. It felt like everyone he knew was trying to tell him the same thing. Was it because it had been two years and they thought that was long enough to spend grieving, or was it because Grace Phillips had arrived in Conwenna Cove and they saw that there was a spark between them?
He walked into the recovery room and found Hope standing up in her crate wagging her tail.
‘Well, hello, girl. You want to come out?’
She lowered into a bow, a sign that she was keen to spend some time with him.
‘How about you come home with me today?’ Maxine had taken their other patient home with her for the evening and Simon and Louise had taken the cat and kittens, so Oli didn’t have to come into the surgery on Christmas Day.
He let her out of the crate then held out his hand. She approached him cautiously then allowed him to stroke her chin.
‘You’re a beautiful girl and I think that at some point, someone loved you, but then it all went wrong. Let’s take you through to the house and you can have a nice spot in front of the fire. As long as you promise not to eat any of the presents.’
Hope bowed again.
‘I have your word on that then? Come on, sweetheart.’
He gently slipped a greyhound fleece onto her then put a harness on over it and led her from the recovery room and through the surgery to the door, then switched off the lights and went out into the cold.
‘Come on through. There’s someone here who wants to see you.’ Oli led Grace through to his lounge. She gasped when she found Hope lying on a folded-up quilt near the fireplace.
‘What’s she doing here?’
‘I didn’t want to leave her in the surgery alone overnight, and thought it would give me a chance to observe her in a home environment. She might well need rehabilitation at the sanctuary, but I have a feeling from how she’s been since I brought her in, that she’s lived in a house before.’
‘So she was someone’s pet and they treated her like that?’
‘Could be that she was stolen or passed on. Perhaps her owner couldn’t keep her any longer.’
‘There could be someone out there looking for her?’
‘She’s not chipped, I’ve already checked. We sent out emails to all other local vets and police but no one has come forward to claim her.’
‘Just like the cat.’
‘It’s annoying how irresponsible some people are.’ He frowned.
‘Amy’s excited about having the cat though isn’t she?’
He nodded. ‘They want every animal that comes in, but up to this point I’ve said no. We’d have no room for us if we homed every waif and stray. But if you do go ahead and home Hope, then we’ll be able to see plenty of her.’
Grace smiled. ‘You certainly will.’
‘Amy and Tom aren’t here yet. My father’s dropping them off when they get back from their outing.’
‘Where did they go?’
He shrugged. ‘Knowing my father, here, there and everywhere. He’ll have tried to wear them out today, knowing they’ll be overexcited all night.’
Grace was suddenly and acutely aware, that they were, in fact, alone.
She stood up and Oli came towards her.
‘Grace.’
She held up a hand and shook her head.
‘Just kiss me.’
He took her hands and gently pulled her towards him then cupped her face before lowering his head. As their lips met, Grace’s heart beat faster and she slid her arms around his neck.
Then there was nothing other than them. Kissing. Touching. Tasting each other as if they had waited their whole lives just to be together.
When Oli pulled away, Grace almost collapsed but he held her up, pressing her body against his.
‘Grace… I want you so much.’
She stroked his cheek.
‘I want you too.’
‘But not just here, like this. I want you in my life. I never thought I’d love again but you… you’re different. You’ve been through so much and you understand me. You carry your own pain. But it’s also more than that. The first moment I saw you, I wanted to hold you and to make you mine.’
She gazed into his blue-green eyes, watched his pupils dilating as he roamed his gaze over every inch of her, and she felt as if she could float away.
‘I’ve never felt like this before, Oli. This is so new to me.’
He nodded. ‘I did love Linda. I really did. But this is different too. I’m not the young man I was when I met her and I’ve been through a lot. It changes you, shapes you and who you become. Grace, I think… in fact I know… I’m falling in love with you.’
Grace gasped.
‘I don’t expect you to say you feel the same. All I want is to spend Christmas with you and to enjoy your company and for Amy and Tom to spend time with you too. They think a lot of you. Give us a chance to show you how life could be if you stayed in Conwenna.’
‘Of course. I mean… yes please.’
She reached up and slid her hand behind his head then pulled him towards her, keen to taste him again and to enjoy the heat that he sent flooding through her body. He lifted her into his arms as easily as if she weighed nothing more than Fluffy the kitten, and carried her to the sofa and knelt beside her.
‘What now?’ she asked.
‘Now…’ There was a knock at the door and he winced. ‘Now the children are home.’
Grace quickly sat up and straightened her black dress.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Oli shook his head.
‘It’s fine.’ She gave him a quick kiss then he went out into the hallway, leaving Grace smiling to herself.
Oli came as part of a package and she knew that. So the children arriving at that moment wasn’t a bad thing; it was probably how life would be. And she knew that she didn’t just want Oli, she wanted his children too and anything else that came with him. She would happily take on his grief, accept the life he lived before her arrival, love and care for his children and respect his memories, because no one came through life completely unscathed. And being with someone was about loving them and everything that made them who they were.
Grace realized as she sat on the sofa, gazing at Hope where she lay on her comfy quilt in front of the fire, that she really did want to give this a chance with Oli, Amy and Tom. And she was prepared, finally, to take a chance on loving them all.