Page 53 of Escape for Christmas
‘Well, we do have a guest lounge and dining room, but the guests are in there now and we’re actually expecting a flamenco troupe to turn up.’
‘Flamenco?’ Pete echoed. ‘That’s random for Christmas Eve.’
‘Yes, we’re having an alternative Christmas here. All of the guests have come here to escape from the traditional arrangements.’
Pete exchanged a glance with his wife. ‘Oh.’
‘I know it sounds weird, but you’d be surprised how many people want to avoid the traditional festive season, for all kinds of reasons. Now would you like to come through to my flat? I have to warn you that I do have two cats, but I’ll move them into the office. I’ll need to change the bed too, but get yourselves warm.’
‘We can do that, if you can give us some linen,’ Pete said. ‘I won’t hear of you doing it. We don’t mind cats.’
‘OK,’ Sophie replied, not being in a position to refuse help, with the paying guests to look after. ‘I’ll show you my kitchen too, so you can make yourselves a hot drink. There’s toast and hot chocolate, or you can join the other guests.’
‘This is incredibly kind of you and we’ll pay the going rate,’ Anna said, wincing. ‘I’m ready to have a lie-down myself. My bump has been kicking off like Lionel Messi.’
Sophie walked through the office into her sitting room, where Jingle and Belle had taken up residence on the window seat.
‘Cats!’ Maria cried. ‘What are they called?’
Sophie prepared herself. ‘The black-and-white boywith the tuxedo is Jingle and the little tortie is Belle,’ she said softly.
‘Jingle Bells! I sang that in the play at school,’ Baxter said proudly.
‘You did, and beautifully,’ Anna agreed.
‘Can I play with the cats?’
‘They’re quite shy,’ Sophie said, always nervous when strangers – especially children – wanted to stroke her cats. ‘We’ll meet them tomorrow. You can help me give them treats.’
‘Thank you,’ Anna mouthed over the children’s heads.
‘Let’s have a hot drink and you two can go to bed,’ Pete added.
‘There’s only a double,’ Sophie said. ‘I’ll take the sofa in my sitting room. Look, I haven’t tidied up at all. It’s a real mess, I’m afraid. All the effort goes into the guest areas.’
‘Please don’t worry. We’re just incredibly grateful to be safe and warm,’ Anna replied as Sophie cringed at the state of her room. Her bed hadn’t been made, there were clothes piled all over the place, and a bra and some knickers were drying on the radiator.
‘It’s so generous of you,’ Pete said. ‘I’ll sleep on the floor and the kids can share with Anna, though I still feel bad about you sleeping on a sofa.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Sophie commented. ‘So I’ll fetch the linen and some towels. You’ll find a little shower room off the bedroom.’
Anna held out her arms. ‘I’d hug you, if my bump wouldn’t get in the way,’ she said, adding in a whisper, ‘Ididn’t tell the kids of course, but I seriously thought we might be stuck in the car all night and found frozen in the morning.’
‘I’m glad you knocked on the door!’ Sophie replied, horrified at the very idea of the family spending a night in their car. ‘I’ll fetch the spare linen and let you settle in.’
Jingle and Belle stayed on the window seat, keeping a wary distance from the strange and noisy visitors. As long as the bedroom door was kept closed, they wouldn’t be able to get inside and lie on her bed, as they sometimes did in cold weather. Sophie didn’t want any of the Nowaks to wake up with a mog on their faces.
After delivering the linen, she went back to the kitchen and started to heat up a fresh batch of tapas. Now she didn’t even have a private haven to retreat to in her own home. She returned her attention to whipping the mascarpone and cream for the pavlova. Midway to dolloping it on the meringue base, a call came through on her phone.
Of courseit was the flamenco troupe. They’d tried their very best to make it, but it had taken an hour to get two miles from their base near Kendal. The snow wasn’t abating and so, reluctantly, they’d had to return. They’d tried to call earlier, but the signal had been poor because of the weather and the hills.
Sophie wasn’t surprised and didn’t want anyone to risk themselves in this weather. Plus, on a practical level, if they had turned up and – very likely – became stuck, she was running out of room and didn’t have a stable in which to put up any more unexpected guests.
She only hoped her paying guests would be understanding, and not too disappointed. She couldn’t help but feel she’d been a bad host tonight and had let everyone down. Hopefully Nico had carried on making the extra-strength cocktails for everyone to share. And after the way her evening had panned out, she wished she could have one too.
She returned to the guest lounge with a large platter of spinach tortilla and Padrón peppers. Suzanne was sitting in the window seat and the cat blanket had slipped down the side of the chair, so this was Sophie’s chance to move it discreetly out of the way.
‘Hello, everyone!’ she said in her cheeriest voice. ‘I’m afraid you won’t be surprised to hear that the flamenco group can’t make it. Hardly a surprise, given the weather, but still, I’m sorry to disappoint.’
