Page 87 of The Cosy Christmas Chocolate Shop

It had certainly been some event.

All too soon Max had to leave. He explained that he’d promised to call on his parents in Morpeth on his way back.

‘Thank you so much for helping today. I hope it wasn’t too much of a bind. And now you’re giving up your time to do even more jobs.’

‘It’s fine. I enjoyed it. It was nice to cheer people up – I bet some of them are quite lonely back home.’

Emma certainly knew how that could feel.

‘Yes, I expect they are,’ she agreed.

‘I’ll catch up with you next week, if that’s okay. I’ve got loads on through the week.’

‘Yeah, me too. It’s a bit of a hectic time in the shop just now.’

‘So, would it be okay to come up next weekend again? Or shall we just leave it for now?’

‘Ah, yes, that’d be lovely.’

‘Okay, great. I’ll ring you.’

And with Max back at Hexham and at work through the week, Emma realised she was missing him a lot, missing that physicality, and looked forward to his daily texts so much. It was beginning to churn her up all over again. It felt like a dangerous rollercoaster of emotions that she’d just stepped back on to and the question was: would it all be worth it?

38

‘Emma, it’s Angela. How are you, darling?’ It was Luke’s Mum, her voice so warm and familiar.

‘Oh, it’s so lovely to hear from you. How are you getting on? How’s John?’

‘He’s not so bad. Still doing his cricket duties during the summer, more umpiring than actually playing nowadays. He’s finding all the running about a bit much, though he won’t admit it, of course.’

Luke’s family were big cricket fans. She remembered how they’d all gone to Durham County Cricket matches over at Chester-Le-Street when she and Luke had lived in Durham. They’d even seen England play a 20:20 there once. The fancy dress and atmosphere that day had been incredible and the source of much hilarity. She’d never before seen a Bassett’s Allsorts squaring up to Batman and the Flintstones, it was all done in good humour though. It had almost been as much entertainment as the game.

‘Anyhow, we’re fine, darling. How are you?’

‘Extremely busy. I’ve just opened a café as part of The Chocolate Shop.’

‘Oh, how fabulous. You are doing so well. Do you like it there and is it working out okay for you still?’

‘Yes, it’s fine, thank you, Angela. I have my friends and James is nearby with his family. It’s a lovely village.’

‘Yes, it is pretty. I remember coming to visit you there a couple of years ago.’

She wondered now if she should have invited them to the launch, but they lived outside Harrogate in Yorkshire and it would have been over a two-hour journey each way. She had meant to see them more, but gradually they had slipped a little from her life. She was still very fond of them and they tried to meet once a year. She remembered their birthdays and got in touch with them at Christmas. They always phoned her on Luke’s birthday too. They shared their loss, protectively.

‘And how’s the rest of the family? Nathan?’ asked Emma. That was Luke’s brother.

‘He’s been off travelling for some time. Australia, at the moment, been getting jobs all over, stays a while somewhere then moves on. He’s found it hard to settle since Luke …’ Angela let the words drift.

‘Yes.’

It had hit him so hard, his older brother dying like that. It had hit them all hard.

‘I know it’s a little while away yet,’ Angela explained the reason behind her call, ‘but we’ve booked a holiday cottage up in your area for a long weekend before Christmas and we wondered if you’d like to join us for lunch one day or something?’

‘Yes, that would be really lovely.’

‘It’s over near Kielder Water. We’ll be doing some hiking, that kind of thing. Well, lovely to chat, darling. I’m sure you’ll be busy. I’ll call again nearer the time to sort out the details. Take care, Emma.’