Underneath the Christmas Tree
: Chapter 22

Having offered to step into the breach for Wren and Theo, I didn’t have endless hours to make a detailed dissection of what Ned might have meant about having had his fill of Christmases kisses, however I did manage to replace a few seconds in which to obsess.

I knew he could have been referring to having had enough intimate moments with either Maya or me, and in spite of my guilt over betraying my friend, and the fact that I would soon be leaving for good, there was still a part of me jumping up and down and shouting, ‘pick me, pick me!’ whenever Ned glanced in my direction. I didn’t like that version of myself in the slightest, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake her off.

Wednesday was the first day I was in charge of running Wren and Theo’s hut and, as it wasn’t too busy, I had the opportunity to settle into the routine of serving and selling without any stress inducing queues or impatient customers. There was a steady trickle of people arriving and leaving, rather than the rush I had been dreading and, aside from running low on bubble wrap, the day went without a hitch.

I checked, checked and checked again whenever I keyed a payment into the card reader and I made use of the quieter moments to tidy, rearrange and write down exactly what had been sold. My desire to keep track of everything in such minute detail might have been a little over the top, but once bitten and all that and I did feel better for doing it.

Thursday however, turned out to be a totally different day and my nerves were set jangling from the off.

‘Hey, Liza,’ said Maya, the second I opened the beach hut door. ‘How’s it going?’

Our paths hadn’t crossed at all the day before, but I had known my luck was bound to run out at some point. The sight of her fresh-faced and ready to spend another day working beside her beau made me feel more like a traitor than ever. Which, of course, was no less than I deserved.

‘Good,’ I told her, and doing my utmost to sound as if there was absolutely nothing the matter at all. ‘Really good. Yesterday was great. I’m just hoping now that I’ve got the stamina to get through today and tonight.’

Wynter’s was hosting another late-night opening event, much the same as the night the huts were launched, and everyone was bracing themselves for a brisk few hours of trading.

‘I’m sure you’ll be fine,’ Maya kindly said, making me feel even worse. ‘Although you do look a bit flushed. You’re not coming down with a cold or something, are you?’

‘No, no,’ I said, waving her caring concern away. ‘I’m fine.’

‘That’s all right then.’

‘How’s it all going over there?’ I asked, with a nod to the barn.

I didn’t particularly want to prolong the conversation, but my paranoia had me thinking that she might get a bit suspicious if the chat was all one way.

‘Great.’ She grinned. ‘Did you see Ned’s happy dance yesterday?’

‘Is that what that was?’ I couldn’t help but smile. ‘I did wonder.’

I had surreptitiously watched as he arrived back late in the afternoon, then leapt out of the truck and treated everyone to an unguarded and very public kitchen disco moment. It wasn’t the kind of abandoned demonstration I would have had him down for displaying, but then I still didn’t know him all that well, did I?

‘He was so relieved to have finally finished delivering the trees,’ Maya explained. ‘And that all of the customers were happy, of course.’

That, I had discovered, was the most important thing here at Wynter’s Trees. Customer satisfaction came above all else, with Dad’s original eco-business credentials coming a very close second.

‘He certainly looked happy,’ I smiled. ‘It must be a weight off his mind.’

‘It is,’ she agreed, ‘but I know there’s still something bothering him.’

Was it perhaps the disloyal kisses, or concerns about raising the money to buy me out, that was weighing heavy on his mind? Or even a combination of both?

‘Maya…’ I began, but she cut me off.

‘Anyway,’ she briskly said, ‘I mustn’t stand here gossiping. I only really came over to give you this.’

She stepped aside to reveal a large roll of bubble wrap.

‘I popped round to see Wren last night and Theo asked me to give you it.’

‘That’s great,’ I said, nudging away the other words I had been about to say. ‘Just what I need. How did you replace Wren?’

‘She was really good,’ Maya told me. ‘She’s hoping to be back here next week.’

As Maya didn’t mention what had been the cause of Wren’s recent stay in hospital, I didn’t either. However, I did wonder if our mutual friend’s proposed return date to the hut matched Theo’s. I couldn’t imagine he would be willing for her to come back so soon.

‘Theo said he had thought there was enough wrap here to cover all the stock,’ Maya added, looking about. ‘But luckily he had this at the studio.’

‘I think I probably overdid the packaging on his pots yesterday,’ I admitted, lifting the roll of wrap over the desk so it wasn’t in the way.

‘Better to be safe than sorry,’ Maya laughed.

‘My thoughts exactly,’ I agreed.

Mending a broken pot wouldn’t have been anywhere near as simple as swapping two trees had turned out to be.

‘Right,’ she said, ‘I’ll see you later. It’s not going to be quite so busy on the tree front now because pretty much everyone has got their decs up, but there’s still plenty to do.’

I didn’t have time to admire Maya’s work ethic and commitment to Wynter’s Trees or feel worse about my bad friend credentials, because the car park was fast filling up as customers arrived in their droves. With schools breaking up the next day, I guessed lots of parents were making the most of the last opportunity to shop without their children.

As the morning slipped by, I realised I had listened to practically every customer telling me a tale about why they loved Wynter’s Trees so much, as well as how they had been coming to the plantation for years. Everyone loved the inclusion of the huts and Sophie and Hope’s menu was proving to be a popular draw too.

‘Ned delivered our tree yesterday,’ one woman told me, as she held up and admired a pair of Wren’s sea-glass earrings. ‘We’ve had the same one for six years and it’s too big to fit in the car now. It was Mr Wynter who set us up with it originally. He greeted us like old friends, right from our very first visit.’

‘That’s really lovely,’ I said, remembering the pride Dad had always taken in knowing the names of all his customers. A trait I’d now seen and appreciated in Ned.

It broke my heart a little though when I worked out that Dad had only given this woman’s family their tree for a couple of years.

‘That personal service and attention to detail is one of the things I love about this place,’ she carried on. ‘And it just keeps getting better and better. The kids still love visiting Santa and my other half is a huge fan of the truck. He had his photo taken next to it the night you first opened.’

‘It’s certainly proving to be a popular feature,’ I agreed.

There hadn’t been a day go by when we were open that I hadn’t seen someone being snapped next to it and I felt pleased that Ned had found such a clever use for it after it had served its time on the road. I’d also noticed that if beautiful Bandit was in the vicinity, he was encouraged to pose too.

‘And now we can shop here and have something to eat, it’s totally worth the journey to get here.’ The woman gushed. ‘I hope you’ll be doing it again next year?’

‘I don’t see why we wouldn’t be,’ I told her.

I couldn’t imagine a single reason why Ned wouldn’t want to carry on with the venture, but as it wasn’t going to be anything to do with me, I didn’t want to sound presumptuous.

‘I’ll take these,’ she said, passing me the smooth green glass earrings. ‘You know, I’d come and shop here throughout the year if the huts were open,’ she carried on. ‘Easter would be a great time to visit. You could have an egg hunt through the plantation!’

‘That’s an excellent idea,’ I told her. ‘I’ll mention it to Ned.’

Once she’d gone and I had a moment to think about it, I realised there were far more opportunities to open up the place than were currently being used. Easter could potentially be as busy as Christmas with the right marketing and stargazing events would be great too. I knew Ned had been on the ball about Halloween and probably had all this in his head already, but it might be worth mentioning just in case.

I could already imagine the advertising headline – Wynter’s – not just for Christmas – displayed on the website homepage and perhaps even in the press again. The plantation might be of interest to the local Brownies and Cubs groups too, assuming they were still running.

I sat and took a minute to assimilate just how much my opinion about the place, and what it should be used for, had changed over the last few weeks. I had initially been rather reluctant to embrace the beach huts the week I arrived, but Ned had been right about both opening the place up for longer and what Dad would have made of it all.

In an unexpected twist of fate, I found myself beginning to wonder if there was anything I’d missed about Wynter’s Trees that could suit me and what I wanted. Was there some opportunity here that could somehow work in my favour too?

Once the minute was up, I set the thoughts aside. It was far too late to be daydreaming about anything like that. I’d told Ned and David I wanted to sell my stake twice now, and I’d set Maya and Ned on the path towards a happy ever after. The Wynter’s Trees ship had, at last, well and truly sailed and that, I purposefully reminded myself, was exactly what I had wanted it to do.

As the afternoon rushed by and the customers kept coming, I had begun to worry that I wouldn’t have enough stock to see me through the evening. Theo had messaged earlier to let me know he would drop more things in the next day, but I was keen to make the most of every opportunity to sell on his and Wren’s behalf and had quickly devised a plan.

‘Special delivery!’ shouted Liam, when he and Chelsea arrived at the hut weighed down with boxes.

‘Well, well, well,’ I laughed, when I spotted Chelsea. ‘Who’s the elf now?’

She was sportingly wearing a striped green and red elf hat, complete with bells, and her face was lit by a minxy smile.

‘I thought it was too good an opportunity to miss,’ she laughed. ‘And I know now more than ever that I should have had more sympathy for you, Liza,’ she added, carefully putting down her stack of boxes. ‘It’s hard work being Santa’s little helper.’

Liam rolled his eyes.

‘Right?’ I giggled. ‘Seriously though, thank you for ferrying these. I really appreciate it and I’m sure Theo was grateful too.’

I had known Liam and Chelsea were going to be coming to Wynter’s Trees for the evening because Liam had offered to help in the grotto, and as they didn’t live too far from Wren and Theo, I had capitalised on the opportunity to ask them to collect more stock.

‘He was,’ said Liam, looking pointedly at Chelsea. ‘But not for long.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, ripping into one of the boxes and starting to unpack it before the hut filled with customers again. ‘What happened?’

‘She happened,’ Liam tutted.

Chelsea pulled another hat out of her bag, plonked it on my head and quickly set about artfully filling the shelves with the mugs and jugs I was unpacking.

‘Who’s she?’ she frowned. ‘The cat’s mother?’

‘No,’ Liam laughed. ‘Mine, apparently.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked, narrowing my eyes at my old adversary.

‘I just told him a few home truths,’ she said with a shrug as she jutted out her chin. ‘I told him he can’t keep cosseting Wren. There’s nothing wrong with her now, but if he doesn’t stop fussing, he’ll make her paranoid when what he should be doing is helping her to ease back into things and letting her get on.’

‘I see,’ I said.

I was glad I hadn’t been around to witness how that had been received. Chelsea obviously knew about the baby but had no qualms when it came to making her feelings and opinions known, even though the subject was a delicate one.

‘I wasn’t being harsh,’ she said, shooting Liam a look.

I guessed he’d said different.

‘He just needed telling.’

‘You were right,’ I was surprised to hear Liam say as he stepped aside to let a customer in, ‘but you could have put it better.’

‘Subtlety was never Chelsea’s strong point,’ I said in a mock whisper.

She gave me a look.

‘Anyway, it worked.’ she sniffed. ‘Theo will be popping in tomorrow and then he’ll be here all day Saturday and Sunday and Wren will be in for a while from Monday.’

‘Crikey,’ I gasped. ‘Your words really did hit home, didn’t they?’

Chelsea looked well pleased. I had been more than prepared to carry on selling, but I knew she was right about it all. It wouldn’t do Wren any good to be fretting at home and it wasn’t as if manning the huts meant she had to be on her feet all day. Everyone would keep an eye on her and I could still help out if it got really busy.

‘Right,’ said Liam, ‘I better get to the grotto. The queue is out the door already!’

‘Now you have an elf of your own,’ I nudged, as Chelsea watched him go.

‘He’s a changed lad,’ she wistfully said. ‘Coming here has given him a real focus. Thank you for taking him under your wing, Liza.’

‘I’m just pleased it’s worked out,’ I told her. ‘And you are most welcome, but I haven’t really done anything. He’s just got on with things himself. He’s very intuitive and has picked things up so quickly.’

‘He’s always been independent,’ she said. ‘I used to think he was naughty when he was little, but I can see now that’s not what it was. He was just strong-willed.’

‘I wonder where he gets that from?’

Chelsea gave the question a very dramatic eye-roll.

‘And he’s never been a fan of school,’ she further said, ‘but knowing he’s got his job here on a weekend has kept him on track. His form teacher rang to tell me he’s been turning in homework and there’s been no disruption in class.’

‘That’s fantastic,’ I said, feeling proud on both her and Liam’s behalf. ‘School is very much a one size fits all and if you don’t fit…’

‘You’re fucked.’

‘I wouldn’t have put it quite like that,’ I laughed, ‘but yeah, you’re right. That’s why I loved my job using art as therapy so much. It gave the students who didn’t fit an alternative for a little while every day.’

‘I bet you were good at it too.’

‘Thanks, Chelsea.’

I wondered if there might be the possibility of a job for Liam at Wynter’s Trees beyond Christmas, maybe even full-time when he left school. Perhaps I could plant the idea in Ned’s head before I left.

‘Are you going to stay for the evening?’ I asked. ‘Or do you need to go? I can run Liam home later if that would help.’

‘I had planned to go,’ she said, turning to face me and in the process, making the bells on her hat jingle, ‘but I think I’m going to stay. I can give you a hand if you like?’

The evening got busier and busier and I was grateful for Chelsea’s help. David had bustled in at some point with refreshments in the form of mugs of hot chocolate and a couple of thick slices of spiced and fruity stollen.

He looked completely taken aback as he watched the two of us working so companionably together. I had to laugh at his dumbfounded expression. Had I been able to see into the future even just a few weeks ago, I knew I would have been wearing the same look of shock myself.

The carol singers were in fine voice and with a few snowflakes fluttering prettily down, the scene beyond the hut door couldn’t have been more perfect. It wasn’t that many days ago that I had reminded myself not to fall in love with Wynter’s Trees because it wasn’t like this for many weeks of the year, but with those potential ideas on how to extend the plantation opening times now bubbling away in my head, I realised that scenes like this had the possibility to become the norm, rather than the exception.

‘Penny for them,’ said Chelsea, making me jump.

We were leaning either side of the hut doorway as the visitors finally began to head back to their cars.

‘Oh,’ I said, pushing myself upright then rubbing my hands together and blowing on the ends of my fingers which weren’t covered by my gloves. ‘I was just wondering if I might have made a mistake about something, that’s all.’

I hadn’t expected to be so forthright and felt my temperature spike as a result.

‘Not another muddle over some trees, is it?’ Chelsea teased.

Clearly news of my mistake had reached Liam’s ears.

‘No,’ I laughed. ‘Nothing like that.’

‘Want to talk about it?’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I really appreciate the offer, but I think I need to figure this one out for myself.’

‘Well,’ she said, leaning over and rubbing my arm, ‘let me know if you change your mind.’

‘I will,’ I told her.

‘Hey,’ called Liam, as he jogged over from the grotto. ‘You’re here. I haven’t even messaged you yet.’

Rather than just opting for a hat, he was dressed in a complete elf outfit, including shoes with bells on, and looked nowhere near as self-conscious as I would have. In fact, he didn’t seem bothered at all. He really was one in a million.

‘I haven’t been home,’ Chelsea told him, holding back the comment that I knew must have been brewing. ‘Liza begged me to stay and give her a hand.’

Liam looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

‘I couldn’t have managed without her actually,’ I grinned.

Chelsea pulled off her hat and ruffled her hair.

‘And I’ve had a great time,’ she said. ‘I’d love to work somewhere like this. Although, somewhere with a bit of heat might be a bit more comfortable. I’ve got used to the temperature in the care home now. Shifts in there are stifling.’

Now we’d stopped moving, I could feel the chill reaching further than the ends of my fingers.

‘You should give that some serious thought,’ I told her. ‘You’re a great saleswoman.’

‘I’ll lend you this if you like,’ said Liam, pointing at his costume. ‘It’s kept me warm tonight.’

‘And drawn some comments, I would imagine,’ Chelsea chuckled.

Liam shifted from one foot to the other and stared at the ground.

‘What?’ she frowned.

‘Nothing,’ he shrugged. ‘Let’s get home, shall we?’

Perhaps I’d been wrong to assume he hadn’t minded wearing it.

‘Nothing, my foot,’ said Chelsea, eyeing him beadily. ‘I know that look. What happened, Liam Chalmers?’

Liam looked at me and then to his mum.

‘Bradley and Kyle turned up,’ he eventually said.

‘What, here?’ Chelsea frowned.

Liam nodded, his shoulders slumped and all his former perkiness deserted him.

‘What did they want with Wynter’s Trees?’ Chelsea demanded.

‘Who are they, Liam?’ I asked.

His tone inferred they weren’t friends.

‘Lads from school who I used to hang about with,’ he sniffed.

‘Troublemakers,’ Chelsea added. ‘Did they see you in that get-up?’

‘Yep,’ said Liam, ‘but I don’t care about that.’

‘What do you care about?’ I asked, wanting to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering him. ‘What happened, Liam?’

‘They went to Ned,’ he said, and for a moment I thought he was going to break down, but then he carried on. ‘They went and told him that I was one of their gang and that if it wasn’t nailed down, I’d pinch it and sell it.’

‘Oh, Liam,’ I gasped.

‘And what did Ned say to that?’ asked Chelsea, looking across the yard to see if she could spot him. ‘Because if he’s thinking…’

‘He’s not,’ said Liam, cutting her off. ‘He told them… well, let’s just say he told them to leave.’

‘I should think so too,’ I was quick to say. ‘We know you’re not like that, Liam. We know we can trust you with everything.’

He looked happier when I said that, but only a little.

‘We really appreciate that, Liza,’ said Chelsea. ‘Don’t we, Liam?’

He nodded and gave me a small smile.

‘Right,’ she carried on. ‘Come on, Liam the lanky elf. Let’s get you home. It’s the last day of school tomorrow and at this rate, you’ll be too tired to go in.’

‘I don’t see why I have to,’ he said, sounding more like himself. ‘We never do any work in the last week.’

He had a point.

‘Tough,’ Chelsea firmly said, winking at me, ‘you’re going in.’

‘You won’t be there much longer,’ I consoled him. ‘And you don’t want to give those lads any ammunition or ruin this great new track record your mum’s been telling me about, do you?’

‘Suppose not,’ he said, ‘but I’ve no idea what I’m going to do when I leave next year.’

‘There’s plenty of time to work that out,’ I told him.

Chelsea turned to look at me. ‘You know where I am if you fancy a chat,’ she smiled. ‘You weren’t by any chance thinking about that forest thingy when you zoned out earlier, were you?’

‘Hey!’ Liam cut in.

‘What?’ she gasped, flinching at the sudden escalation in volume. ‘What are you shouting like that for?’

He shot her a very stern and thin-lipped look. ‘That doesn’t matter now,’ he gruffly said, his gaze momentarily flicking to me. ‘Ned said it’s not important.’

‘What’s not important?’ I asked.

‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘She’s just got the wrong end of the stick about something, that’s all.’

‘She,’ said Chelsea. ‘Again!’

‘Come on,’ said Liam.

‘But I thought…’ Chelsea began, but he cut her off again.

‘Just come on,’ he said, striding away. ‘I thought you wanted to go.’

‘Boys,’ she said, throwing up her hands. ‘They’re still a mystery to me.’

‘Mmm,’ I said, watching Liam march off. ‘Me too.’