Page 58 of The Christmas Fayre on Holly Field

Did she love him? Maybe a little, and the more time she spent in his company, the harder she was falling for him, until very soon he would own her heart completely.

After pizza, the children wanted to watch TV. It had been a busy day and Harriet thought they could do with some downtime, so she and Owen left them in the sitting room while the adults retired to the kitchen with a bottle of wine.

‘You must be so proud of them,’ Owen said, his eyes jerking towards the sitting room door.

‘I am. They’re good kids.’ Her heart swelled with love and pride. Theyweregood kids, despite Sara continually pushing the boundaries. That was what kids did, it was part of growing up, and she fully expected Bobby to do the same when he got to Sara’s age.

The thought of her children becoming less and less dependent on her filled her with sadness. What would she do when they had grown and flown? Would she be on her own with just Etta for company? As loving and as cuddly as the dog was, Etta wouldn’t fill the hole in her heart.

But Owen might.

Then again, Owen mightn’t want to. Harriet came with children, and no matter how much he liked her or how good he was with them, it wouldn’t be an easy task to step into a ready-made family.

But she was getting ahead of herself. As she had said to Pen, they hadn’t even kissed yet, and here she was planning a future in her head with him very much in it.

Let’s see what Christmas brings, she said to herself. If Owen was still in Foxmore when the festive season was done and dusted, maybe she would believe that a proper relationship with him was possible. In the meantime, she would enjoy getting to know him better, and prayed that he would eventually snog her, because she didn’t know how much longer she could keep a lid on this desperate need to feel his lips on hers.

Chapter 13

Owen wasn’t a fan of Bonfire Night and hadn’t been for many years, so he usually stayed well clear, but seeing as a firework display had been organised on the very field he was camping in, unless he upped sticks and moved his van, he could hardly avoid it. Not only that, Aled had got him to shift a great quantity of rotten timber into the field and pile it up in the middle. Having never built a bonfire before, Owen hoped he had done it right and that it would burn properly.

But as darkness began to fall, he found he was looking forward to the event, although he suspected his enthusiasm had more to do with seeing Harriet than the prospect of waving a sparkler around.

The display was due to start at seven p.m., with the bonfire being lit at seven thirty, and as people started to arrive, Owen kept a lookout for Harriet and the children.

He soon spotted her, and his heart clenched with anticipation and nerves. She looked incredibly cute, bundled up in a scarf and knitted hat, her cheeks rosy from the chilly air. The temperature had dropped sharply over the past few days and winter was well and truly on its way. Owen was also dressed warmly, in a worn but still serviceable donkey jacket and a beanie on his head, and as he hurried over to her, he wished he had thought to wear his gloves.

‘Hi, guys.’ Owen addressed his greeting to the whole family, but it was Harriet he was looking at, and as their eyes met, a jolt shot through him.

He held her gaze for several seconds before Bobby distracted her by tugging on her sleeve.

‘Can I have a hot dog?’

‘You can’t be hungry already,’ Harriet objected. ‘You haven’t long had your tea. I swear to God this child has hollow legs.’

The aroma of frying onions wafted through the air, and even Owen’s mouth watered, despite him knowing that the hot dog stand would be unlikely to serve anything vegan. Along with the frying onions, he could also smell doughnuts, coffee and hot chocolate.

‘You can have a hot dog after the fireworks,’ Harriet promised her son, as the four of them strolled across the field towards a cordoned-off area behind which the display would take place.

‘I love fireworks, don’t you?’ Harriet said. ‘To me, Bonfire Night is the start of the Christmas season.’ The children skipped on ahead, and Harriet smiled indulgently. ‘To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to Christmas this year, but I’m starting to get into the spirit of it now. Last year was a bit grim.’

‘Oh?’ Owen gave her a sideways look.

‘Declan,’ she sighed. ‘It was our first Christmas since he left, and the divorce had only just come through.’

‘It can’t have been easy.’

‘It wasn’t.’ Her expression was sad for a second, then she brightened. ‘This year should be so much better, and some of it is partly due to you.’

‘Me?’ Owen felt a surge of hope. Did that mean Christmas would be better this year becausehewas around?

Harriet whispered, ‘Pre-loved,’ in his ear. ‘Buying presents was such a struggle last year, but I’ve already bought loads of stuff for a fraction of the cost of buying them new.’

‘Oh, that.’ Owen’s spirits sank.

‘What do you do for Christmas?’ she asked suddenly.

‘I usually spend it with my parents.’

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