Page 36 of Christmas at Hollybush Farm
He frowns. ‘Her what?’
Mae gives me a look.
‘Nothing,’ I say quickly, but suddenly I love Maeand her rebellious streak. The man goes to step around her: she’s standing in front of the door.
‘Wait!’ Mae doesn’t move, but puts an arm across the door. ‘What am I supposed to do? How will I afford Christmas for my kids now?’
‘Please, I’m sorry. I’m just doing my job. Move out of the way of the door. I need to get to it to lock up. Let’s not make this any more of a fuss than it needs to be.’ He stretches out a hand in front of me.
Suddenly Mae explodes. ‘There needs to be a fuss!’ she shouts, and shoots a look at me. I glance at Evie. I have a feeling that things are about to escalate and I’m here for Mae, as are Evie and Owen.
‘You’re not shutting down the café! We need it! I need it! These people need it!’ shouts Mae. She lunges forward and grabs the keys from the man’s hand.
‘Hey!’ he yells.
Mae tosses them to Evie. The young man turns towards her, completely at a loss, and puts out his hand. ‘Come on now,’ he says, as if he’s in charge of herding a pack of cats and has no idea where to start. ‘Let’s not make this into a bigger drama than it needs to be.’ He sounds like he’s trying to stay in charge but there’s a wobble in his voice.
Mae dodges round him and opens the café door. The young man walks towards Evie. The schoolgirls cheer.
‘To me, to me!’ they shout, as they would in a school netball team.
Evie tosses the keys to me and runs forward towards the door. The man makes a strange lunge while I run the other way around him to dart in through the open door. It’s just ajar with Mae behind it. I squeeze through and thrust the keys into her hands. She grapples with them, and he goes to pull the door handle. She drops the keys with a clatter. The young man looks down as does Mae.
‘Quick!’ Evie and I squeal.
She scoops them up from the floor and I feel like one of the girls outside. I was never really in trouble, but I do remember the thrill of risk-taking, riding the horses with no bridles around the field, hoping not to be the first to fall, being young and alive and willing to take risks. Not a management professional about to embark on her fortieth year on the planet. Somehow, it feels thrilling and exhilarating as the keys tumble into her hands just as the new owner’s representative is pulling open the door. Suddenly it slams shut and I hear a familiar voice say, ‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to do that. Thought I was helping, that the door opened the other way.’
I look at Llew Griffiths in complete surprise. We hold each other’s gaze just for a moment, while I hear the clunk of the lock as Mae secures the door from the inside. The thrill I feel as I stare at Llew Griffiths leaves me a little breathless.
‘Bolts,’ Mae commands, and I’m catapulted out ofthe bubble from which I’m staring at a man I find attractive but want nothing to do with. Or do I?
I reach for the top bolt. Evie bobs down and pulls across the bottom one.
We straighten. The door is bolted and locked, with us inside.
‘You’re not closing this building today!’ shouts Mae, at the shocked young man.
Llew puts a hand on his shoulder and pats it. ‘Sorry, mate. Like I say, I thought I was helping there.’
‘Thanks anyway,’ he says, baffled and beaten. For a moment, I feel sorry for him. Like the rest of us, he’s just trying to make a living. He produces his phone. ‘Looks like I’m going to have to tell the office what’s going on,’ he says to Llew, then, into the phone, ‘Hi, it’s Josh. Can you put me through to Acquisitions?’ He waits. ‘Hi, yeah, about the new place, Beti’s Café. We’ve got a problem. We’re going to have to come back another day.’
Llew is walking away, but turns suddenly and looks back at me. I feel myself shiver as he gives the slightest nod and a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. I want to thank him, but don’t, before he walks away. Did he do that on purpose or was it a genuine mistake?
Josh, the management man, walks back to his car, which opens up with a blink-blink of lights. He slides into the driver’s seat, starts the engine and drives off.The crowd outside starts to chatter, laugh and move off in different directions. A strange quiet falls over the place but I swear I can hear the adrenaline thundering around my veins as I watch Llew Griffiths go. My world has turned upside down since he arrived in it and I’m not sure if I like or hate it.
Mae, Evie and I turn to each other and say at the same time: ‘Now what?’
17
‘Well, we’ll just camp out here until they agree to keep it open,’ says Mae.
Evie and I stare at quiet, shy Mae, who has most definitely come out of her shell.
She looks at us. ‘I had to do something! These people don’t realize how their decisions affect us. We’re trying to get by, day by day. Feed our kids and families. Coming to work when we should be in bed because we’re ill but we can’t afford to take time off. Trying to encourage our kids to have dreams when we lost ours a long time ago.’
We stare at her and nod.
‘I need to phone the rugby club,’ Mae says. ‘Get someone to have the boys.’
