Page 88 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

‘Now, stop looking like a cat that can’t find its kittens and sort yourself out. Moping about isn’t going to help. You need to have more get up and go.’ Nelly huffed. ‘You youngsters don’t know how good you’ve got it. When I was a girl I was never lucky enough to have a van handed me on a plate. I had to work hard for every penny. I’d have jumped at the chance to have my very own business.’

Seren knew her aunt had a point, but her heart wasn’t in it. She felt too miserable and down to put the amount of energy into the van that she knew she’d have to in order to make a success of it.

Nelly was looking at her shrewdly. ‘Have a think about what I said about giving it six months and don’t make any hasty decisions. Isn’t that right Edwin?’

‘Eh?’ The old gent had made the mistake of poking his head into the day room, and Nelly pounced on him.

‘I was telling my niece that she shouldn’t make any hasty decisions. She wants to sell the travelling shop.’

‘After all the work you’ve put into it?’ Edwin said, walking into the room. ‘It would be a shame.’ He lowered himself carefully into a chair. ‘Sometimes you have to take a risk. Look at Daniel – he’s gone for an interview for a new job today.’ Scratching his chin, Edwin pressed his lips together. ‘It’s a pity about you two, though; I thought you made a lovely couple, but if it’s not to be, then it’s not to be.’

The last thing Seren wanted was to discuss her failed relationship with Daniel’s grandfather, so all she did was smile sadly and say, ‘These things happen.’

‘What things?’ Nelly snapped.

‘My Daniel and your Seren have split up,’ Edwin said.

‘Why?’ Nelly glared at her.

‘As I said, these things happen,’ Seren repeated. ‘Can we talk about something else, please?’

The three of them sat in silence, then Edwin asked, ‘How is your daughter, Seren? Nelly, you didn’t tell me you had a great-great-niece.’

‘That’s because I don’t,’ Nelly said.

‘Oh? I was under the impression Seren had a little girl.’ Edwin glanced from Nelly to Seren and back again.

Seren was shaking her head. ‘No kids. Not yet. I’ve got to find the right man first.’ She’d thought she’d already found him, but evidently he hadn’t felt the same.

Nelly looked baffled. ‘What made you think Seren had a daughter?’ she asked.

‘Daniel said Tobias told him.’ Edwin had a peculiar expression on his face.

Where on earth did Tobias get that idea from? She’d not given him the impression she had children, unless he thought she was so fuddy-duddy that she must be a mummy, which was an insult both to her and to mothers everywhere. Look at Nicole – she was as far from fuddy-duddy as a woman could get. She was funny and outgoing, gorgeous and sexy, and—

Seren slapped a hand to her forehead as she remembered who had been with her when she’d last met Tobias. ‘I bet it was when I took Freya to the pantomime. Freya is my best friend’s daughter. Nicole, her mum, was supposed to come with us, but she didn’t feel well, so I took Freya on my own.’ Seren smiled: it had been a fun evening. ‘I’m her godmother, and since Nicole explained to her what that meant, she’s taken to calling me God-Mummy. It’s so cute. I think she must have called me that, and Tobias jumped to the wrong conclusion.’

Edwin was staring at her so intently that it made Seren wonder if she had a huge spot on the end of her nose.

‘What did Daniel say when he ended it?’ Edwin asked, and Seren blanched.

What a personal thing to ask someone you hardly knew. She felt rude not answering though, and it was hardly a secret, so she replied, ‘He told me it was because of this new job.’

‘I thought as much,’ Edwin said. ‘And I know why. A few months ago, Daniel was living with a woman called Gina. Did he tell you about her?’

Seren inclined her head. ‘He did mention her, but he didn’t go into any details.’

‘Did he tell you she has a child, a seven-year-old daughter named Amelia?’

‘No.’ Where was Edwin going with this, she wondered.

He scratched at his whiskers again and his expression was pained. ‘It’s not my place to say anything – Daniel should be telling you this – but he hasn’t told you the full story, and it does have a bearing on why he ended things with you.’

She felt a little awkward, but her curiosity got the better of her. ‘Go on…’

‘He and Gina lived together for two years; he was virtually a father to that child. She called him Daddy, and he thought the world of her. But… I’m not sure he felt the same way about her mother, and I’m damned sure Gina didn’t feel the same way about him. She cheated on him with Amelia’s biological father. When Daniel found out, he ended it. It hurt him to walk away from Amelia, but he said he couldn’t stay in the relationship any longer. If Amelia had been his or if he’d adopted her, it would have been a different matter, but to all intents and purposes he thought Gina and Amelia’s real dad were getting back together, and it would have been wrong of him to stand in the way.’

Seren’s heart squeezed as she imagined what Daniel must have gone through.

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