Page 29 of Christmas Ever After
‘It doesn’t work like that, Grandma,’ Raff protests.
She narrows her eyes at him for using the G word again, and then explains to me. ‘My Claude’s powers didn’t come until he met me. He couldn’t have matched fish with chips before then, but he always said I was his lucky charm. Cupid himself must’ve been searching for a predecessor and our love was so powerful that his powers transferred to Claude in a puff of smoke – poof!’She does the sound effect. ‘And that’s Raff’s problem – trying to find love for others when he’s never experienced it.’
‘Oh, good, it’s “let’s talk about Raff’s love life” time again,’ Raff says good-naturedly. ‘And we’veonlyhad this conversation three times so far this week, but God forbid we let Franca leave without the full Dardenne experience.’
Are they really talking about magical powers? I keep expecting them to start laughing or imply they’re keeping up the pretence for Sofia’s benefit, but they all seem serious. Theyallreally believe this.
‘Grandpa had magic powers,’ Sofia tells me in a serious little voice. ‘He was going to teach me one day, but now Uncle Raff will. He’s got a workshop where he keeps all the magic he inherited from Grandpa. Absolutelyno oneis allowed in, but I will be when I’m old enough. I’m going to learn how to make snow globes and run the shop just like he does and make people go all gooey in love, like Mummy and Daddy are.’
Erin and Quentin smile at each other. A few days ago, I’d probably have called it sickeningly sweet, but tonight, it seems genuinely sweet. ‘Don’t tell me Claude matched you two as well?’
‘Of course he did.’ Erin doesn’t realise my question was intended as a joke and Ireallydidn’t expect that he actually had matched them. ‘He phoned and told me to come to his shop one day because there was an emergency, and when I got there, everything was fine, but there was this snow globe lying on the floor. I went to pick it up and at the same moment, he shoved Quentin forwards and he crashed into me, I dropped it again, and then we both picked it up and we saw magic.’
‘Soooooo romantic!’ Sofia sighs. ‘They should be in a Disney movie!’
‘He deliberately tried to recreate the moment he and Granny Biddy met, and it worked. Four years later, we got married, anda few years after that, this one came along.’ Erin ruffles Sofia’s blonde hair.
I glance at Raff beside me. He’s got a… cynical look on his face, but he doesn’t say anything.
‘This is not a family business then?’ I ask as I realise what she’s implying. I always thought Dardenne Snow Globes included the whole clan. ‘The rest of you… you’re not involved?’
“I work full-time, and the good-at-crafts gene skipped me completely,” Erin says.
‘We’re so lucky to have Raff continuing the legacy,’ Trisha says. ‘The business would die without him. Our family name and what my father worked towards his whole life would be wiped out. Thankfully Raff was there to step in when we needed him most.’
I glance at Raff, who is evocatively quiet. What did Mrs Bloom say about him not wanting to take over the shop but not having a choice because there was no one else? He looks uncomfortable and I can’t help thinking that his silence says what words can’t.
‘And one day, the magic will be passed down to the next generation in our grandchildren,’ Trisha continues, before glancing at Sofia and then at Raff. ‘Ifweever have any.’
‘You’ve got one and another one on the way,’ he replies. ‘That’s more than enough grandchildren to be going on with!’
‘Hear, hear.’ Biddy raises her martini glass. ‘I cannot abide anyone else making a great-grandmother out of me, I’m far too young!’
I laugh at their cheerful banter as time goes by. Trisha brings out homemade chocolate cake piled high with fresh cream for dessert. After dinner, we all crowd onto the sofas in the living room and Sofia sings some of her choir songs for us, and I feel so peaceful and relaxed here. And absolutely stuffed. That was the best meal I’ve had for ages, and theonlymeal that hasn’tbeen a grab-and-go sandwich or cooked in a plastic tray in the microwave for alongtime. Raff is sitting next to me with his feet up on the coffee table, and I’m so comfortable on this huge squashy sofa that I even forget about my hand for a few minutes. For just a little while, everything is right with the world.
‘Will you come again, Franca?’ Sofia asks me when she finishes a rendition of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, complete with actions for each of the characters.
‘Yes, shewill,’ Trisha answers for me and reaches over to pat my leg. ‘If we haven’t scared her off tonight, we’ll have plenty more opportunities to do so.’
‘Yay!’ Sofia squeals. ‘Will you come and see me in my school nativity? It’s the week after next!’
‘I’d love to.’ I’m so surprised that she’s invited me that it’s the only possible response. Even after only meeting them tonight, the Dardennes have stolen my heart and made me feel at home here. This is exactly what I always wished Christmas would be like, and they’re a perfect family. Flawed, loving, teasing, welcoming, supportive, and apparently, sharing a combined belief in magical powers. And it’s had the uncomfortable side effect of making me question everything I’ve ever thought about them. Being in this house, being welcomed into such a lovely family… the snow globe magic that I’ve always hated doesn’t seem like such a bad thing here. It seems… kind of good? Claude Dardenne obviously had secrets, and so does Raff, but the fact the whole family believes in this legacy…
It kind of makes me wish I did too.
9
‘Sorry you had to witness that,’ Raff says from the driver’s seat as he starts up the car to take me home. ‘I should have known it would be the perfect opportunity to bring up the “why aren’t you in love, why don’t you give me more grandbabies” thing. The existence of a pulse makes you the perfect candidate for my family to embarrass me in front of.’
‘Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m not in love or interested in giving anyone grandbabies either. The only difference is that my parents are so wrapped up in hating each other that they don’t notice.’
‘Thanks for not telling them that.’ He glances over at me and pulls out onto the road. ‘About my granddad, I mean. They’d be devastated if they knew he ever got it wrong.’
‘That’s okay.’ I struggle for the right words. I had no intention of telling them. Claude obviously meant the world to them and it wouldn’t have been right to rain on their parade like that. ‘They don’t know, do they?’
‘Know what?’
‘They’re not part of it?’ The rest of the Dardenne clan believing in the magic behind the snow globes has really thrownme and I’m determined to get to the bottom of this in one way or another.
