Freya pulled her coat on and took the roses from Lola before hurrying back to cottage.
‘Can I open it now?’ Alf asked as he started to fiddle with the box.
Lola nodded and watched as he carefully lifted the lid and set it aside. Scruff sat up on his back legs as if trying to get a look. Lola gave him a scratch behind the ears. A smile, bright as a summer’s dawn, spread across Alf’s face as he took in the decoration on top of the cake.
‘Lola.’ He shook his head, almost speechless. ‘Well I never. Is that . . .’
‘Yes, it’s you and Scruff.’ Tears sprang into Lola’s eyes as she took in Alf’s amazed reaction to the little figures she’d crafted in sugar paste. An old man dressed like Santa and a dog in matching red jumpers sat in a boat, little icing presents strewn all around them. Tristan gave Lola a round of applause at her skills, before pulling her in to perch on his knee. Lola curled herself around him and watched Alf’s reaction.
‘Well, that is just grand!’ Alf announced. ‘I will not be eating that.’ He reached out and squeezed Lola’s hand and she passed him the present. ‘What’s this?’
‘Open it.’
Alf carefully undid the present, mumbling something about taking care to savour the moment. Lola watched as Alf pulled out the Christmas jumper.
‘A Christmas jumper! Did you make this?’ Amazement shone on Alf’s face.
Lola nodded and wiped a tear away. ‘There’s one for Scruff too, so you can match.’
Alf whooped with laughter. ‘Lola, this is wonderful, probably one of my best Christmases. You see, no matter how old you are, there’s always something left to surprise you.’ He pulled the jumper on. ‘How does it look?’
‘Smashing.’ Lola stood up and turning to Tristan declared, ‘Your turn now.’
Tristan reached for the present, then the box. ‘Which one should I do first?’
‘Like Alf, the cake, then the present,’ Lola suggested as Freya opened the door and began to unwind her scarf.
Tristan glanced at Lola as if seeking reassurance before gently lifting the lid of the box. He froze midway as he saw what Lola had created, looking from the cake to Lola and back again. ‘Lola, you made this?’ He put the lid down. ‘It’s exquisite.’
His reaction brought happy tears to her eyes, so Lola could only nod as Alf stood up to peer into the box, their expressions equally as impressed.
‘Will it come off? I really don’t want to eat it. Or break it,’ Tristan said. ‘You’ve even got the tiny shells around the door. How on earth did you do that?’
Lola couldn’t resist. ‘Magic,’ she quipped, making them all laugh. ‘Now, enough of the cake, on to the present.’
Tristan made a big show of squeezing the package, pretending to give it a shake even though he knew it wouldn’t give its secrets away like that. He tried, but failed, to unpick the generous amount of tape Lola had secured the gift with, and in the end he had to accept defeat and rip through the paper. Out spilled a blue and white jumper with a snowflake motif on the front. He held it up.
‘I’m sorry it’s not hand knitted, I ran out of time, but I know how much you like a Christmas jumper and I couldn’t resist this one.’
‘That’s marvellous, Lola, thank you. I don’t have one as tasteful as this.’ Standing up, he pulled it on before modelling it to his audience.
Tristan pulled her in for a kiss. ‘Happy birthday, my love. And Happy Christmas.’
‘Happy birthday, Lola,’ Alf said as he gave his tea a satisfied slurp. ‘If you could have any wish you wanted, it being Christmas and your birthday, what would you have?’
Lola glanced at all her friends and snuggled into Tristan. ‘For everything to always be like this. Happy and easy. Now, it might still be a bit warm to stick together but I’m going to rebel and do it anyway, so who’s for chocolate cake second breakfast? I think with it being Christmas and a birthday all rules are officially out the window for the next forty-eight hours. Don’t you agree?’
Scruff was the first to bark his agreement.
Chapter Forty-One
Lola hadn’t planned to stay open until four but a flurry of customers and the general uplifting cheer of Christmas had kept the café busy well into the afternoon. For the final hour and a half Lola had been serving by herself, insisting Freya enjoy some time with her family before the party kicked off. Lola was getting more and more excited. It had been a long time since anyone had organised anything specifically for her birthday. There was usually just a balloon or an extra cake amongst all the Christmas Eve bits and bobs.
When closing time rolled round the gingerbread syrup was all used up and Lola didn’t want to see another mince pie until the following year. Flicking the door sign to ‘Closed’, Lola turned the latch and dimmed the lights. Leaning back against the door, she took in the café, the chairs all a bit out of place, a few cups still left on table-tops, the Christmas tree twinkling cosily in the corner, ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ coming out of the CD player adding to the festive feel. Joy rushed through her as she took it all in, her café, her achievement. Her first year had been more of a success than she could have dreamed of. Yes, there was still a lot to learn, but she was very pleased with how it had turned out and liked knowing she still had space to grow.
A quick sweep of the floor, followed by sticking the dirty crockery in the dishwasher and Lola was ready to leave. After Christmas she planned to give the café a deep clean and refresh. She checked everything in the kitchen had been turned off and made her way through the café, unplugging the Christmas tree and straightening the chairs before letting herself out. The darkness draped like luxurious velvet across the bay. Lola breathed in the fresh sea air and checked her watch. She had half an hour to freshen up before the party started. That was the trouble with a Christmas birthday, trying to squeeze everything in. Still, after the previous lonesome year, she couldn’t find it in her to complain. Maybe from now on she’d have a second birthday in the summer. Double the celebrations sounded like double the fun.
Letting herself into the cottage, Lola picked the post up off the mat. A couple of cards and a charity circular. She carried them through into the living room. Flopping onto the sofa, she kicked off her shoes and sank back amongst the cushions. With a yawn she closed her eyes, figuring taking a few minutes out of the hectic schedule wouldn’t do any harm.
