Page 90 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

Chapter 27

Daniel should have been buzzing as a result of the fantastic guided tour around the amazing gardens at Highfields House earlier today, but he wasn’t. He was sitting on his couch, staring at a TV he hadn’t bothered to switch on and feeling incredibly sorry for himself.

What was Seren doing now, he wondered? Was she at work? Out with her travelling shop? Or sitting at home and wondering whathewas doing?

He thought about her smiles, the love in her eyes when she looked at him, the kisses that sent him weak with longing, her soft sigh of pleasure when he—

Crossly, he blew out his cheeks and told himself to stop wallowing.

What was done, was done. There was no going back, even if he now recognised that he loved her and that her status as a mother didn’t matter. He’d made a complete hash of everything, and he was paying the price.

Unfortunately, so was she – no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t rid himself of the image of her sobbing in his truck and pleading with him to give their relationship a chance. Whenever he closed his eyes, it flashed in front of him. It broke his heart to think she was so upset, and that he was the one responsible for that.

A knock on the front door made him jump, and he leapt to his feet, hope threatening to rise up and wash over him; before common sense kicked in and he realised it wasn’t going to be Seren.

He considered ignoring it, but the knock came again, louder and more forceful, so he trailed into the hall, his feet dragging, intending to tell whichever political candidate it was to go away.

However, when he opened the door and saw his mum and grandad, he was flummoxed. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘That’s a fine way to greet your mother. We’re here to see you, if that’s OK? Can we come in?’

‘Sorry, um, yeah, of course.’ He opened the door wider and moved forward to help his grandad shuffle slowly up the single step, and held onto Edwin’s arm to steady him as he crossed the threshold.

‘Tea?’ he asked, wondering what on earth they were doing here. He’d brought his mum and grandad to see the house when he’d first moved in, to satisfy their curiosity, but neither of them had set foot inside since.

He showed them into the kitchen and lowered Edwin onto the hard wooden bench in the corner. His mum took her coat off and sat on the other side, scooting over to allow Daniel to sit down once he’d made the tea.

He filled the kettle and while he waited for it to boil, he said, ‘It’s lovely to see you, but if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here? You never come to me, I always come to you.’

‘We’re concerned about you,’ his mum replied.

‘Worried enough to drag Grandad halfway across town in the cold and the dark?’

‘Yes, actually.’

He didn’t miss the exchange of glances between them, and a worm of worry coiled in his stomach.

With the tea made, he sat down next to his mum and eyed her cautiously. ‘Well?’ he asked.

His mum didn’t answer. Instead she said, ‘How was your trip to Highfields? Did you get the job?’

‘I didn’t go for it.’

‘Why not, son?’ Edwin asked.

Daniel shrugged. ‘A number of reasons. I had a good look round and the gardens are stunning.’ He could hear how wistful he sounded, and he cleared his throat. ‘It would have been perfect if it wasn’t so far away and having a boss to report to. But you haven’t come here to ask me about the job. You could have done that over the phone. What is it? What’s wrong?’

His stomach knotted in fear. Was it his grandad? His mum? He couldn’t bear it if either of them was ill.He knew Edwin had Parkinson’s Disease, but he’d done enough reading up on it to know that his grandad was unlikely to suddenly deteriorate. Therefore it had to be something else, and for the pair of them to arrive on his doorstep unannounced meant it had to be seriously bad news.

His mum must have seen the worry on his face because she stroked the top of his arm and said, ‘Nothing’s wrong, but your grandad has some news – something he found out today – and he wanted to tell you before you did anything you might regret, such as giving notice on this place.’

‘What news, Grandad? What’s going on?’

‘It’s about Seren.’

Daniel got to his feet and headed to the door, his heart thumping wildly, praying nothing had happened to her. ‘Is she hurt? Has she been in an accident?’

‘Sit down, son, she’s fine,’ Edwin patted the seat beside him, and Daniel slowly sank onto it. ‘She came to visit Nelly earlier and she was a bit upset.’

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