Page 7 of Winter Wishes at Pennycress Inn

‘What do you think? It’s a little lopsided, isn’t it?’ Laura tilted her head as she stood in front of the large Christmas tree positioned in the bay window of Pennycress’s sitting room.

‘A little.’ Scarlett stifled a laugh as she continued to attempt to unravel the bundle of fairy lights on the floor in front of her. After her disastrous run-in with the coffee cart, she had popped back to the camper to give Thelma her fresh veggie treats before coming round to Pennycress to help Laura and Jackson with the decorating. Since arriving, though, all she’d been doing was failing to unravel these damn lights. ‘I think this might be impossible.’

‘No, you’re the queen of the fairy lights.’ Laura laughed as she pulled the tree towards her, straightening its trunk in the pot. ‘It was always your job to put the lights up, remember?’

‘Umm, I remember, but these might just be a tad too tangled to be rescued.’ Scarlett grinned. Laura was right; after the very first year she and her dad celebrated alone, Aunt Ruth would always make sure to invite Scarlett to stay at their house on the weekend the Christmas decorations went up. Of course, Scarlett had spent the special day with her dad at home, but she wouldn’t have had that any other way. There was no chance she’d have ever left her dad to face that day alone, the one day of the year that her mum had so loved and the day her absence coursed through their veins the most. But the run-up to Christmas? That had been different, and Aunt Ruth must have picked up on that, as it wasn’t uncommon for Scarlett to be invited down to theirs to go to the village’s light switch-on, to meet Santa or to feed reindeer at the local Christmas fair.

‘So, umm… can I ask you something?’ Laura glanced towards the door, possibly to check to see if Jackson was still busy making hot chocolate for their guests to take with them on their hike.

‘That sounds ominous.’ Scarlett grimaced. She knew exactly what was coming, and she too glanced towards the door, although she was hoping Jackson would make an appearance to save her from any interrogations.

‘It’s not.’ Laura smiled as she took the other end of the bundle of wires and began helping Scarlett unravel the lights. ‘I just wondered what brought you here?’

Keeping her eyes focused on a particular tricky knot, Scarlett desperately tried to keep all emotion from her face. She hadn’t told Laura or Jackson that she and Tyler had broken up. It had been their wedding day just days after she’d discovered the truth about Tyler’s secret life, and that would not have been a good time. Since then, though, Laura had been so happy on the phone that Scarlett hadn’t wanted to worry her or put a damper on their conversations. Plus, and she knew how silly it sounded, how could she admit she’d been the mistress? The other woman? Especially when Laura had voiced her concerns that Harry, her ex-husband, may have been seeing someone behind her back? ‘Like I said last night, I wanted to see you guys. I’ve not seen you since the wedding, and talking on the phone isn’t the same.’

Laura nodded. ‘How long will you be staying?’

‘For a few weeks, if you’ll have me.’ Scarlett grinned, making sure to avert her eyes. Laura had always been able to read her like an open book, but not today. Today was about all things nice, like dressing Christmas trees and reminiscing about their childhood antics.

‘Of course we’ll have you. You’ll be staying for Christmas then?’

‘Yes.’ Scarlett nodded. She knew Laura and Jackson would be away on their honeymoon until Christmas Eve, but she’d still be able to spend the big day with them. Besides, it wasn’t as though she had anywhere else to be. Anywhere else she’d rather be.

Looking down, Laura focused her gaze on the fairy lights as she pulled a long string of them free. ‘And Tyler will be joining us?’

A lump catching in her throat, Scarlett coughed. She should have known where Laura’s questioning would lead. She had known, she’d just been lulled into a false sense of security with the question about how long she was staying. ‘Um, no, we’re no longer together.’

‘Oh?’ Looking up, Laura raised her eyebrows knowingly.

She knew? Scarlett frowned. ‘How did you know?’

Laura shrugged and smiled kindly. ‘I had an inkling when you didn’t turn up to the wedding with him, but I was hoping you’d tell me in your own time…’

Lowering her arms, Scarlett let the fairy lights fall to the rug between them. ‘Sorry, I should have said, I just… I didn’t want to… I don’t know, I guess I just couldn’t find the right time.’

‘Hey, we’re cousins, any time is the right time.’ Laura placed her hand on Scarlett’s arm. ‘What happened?’

Now, this was something Scarlett had given a lot of thought to. She’d said the same to her dad, and she’d say the same to Laura. ‘When it came down to it, we just weren’t compatible.’

‘But you’d been with him, what? Like, three years?’ Laura frowned.

Scarlett should have guessed that Laura wouldn’t take the explanation at face value. ‘We wanted different things.’

‘Right…’ Laura bit down on her bottom lip.

Scarlett knew Laura was torn between wanting to ask more and not wanting to pry. It was true, though, what she’d told her. She and Tyler had wanted different things. He’d wanted to lead a double life, something he’d had the audacity to ask her to comply with, the night she’d found out about his wife and daughter. And they weren’t compatible. Tyler was a lowlife, lying adulterer, and Scarlett wasn’t. She felt awful for the part she’d played, but how could she have realised? He’d been clever; he’d jumped through hoops to keep her and Donna apart, to keep her away from his real life. ‘We just weren’t right for each other.’

‘Okay, well, if you ever want to talk about it, you know I’m here.’ Taking the hint that Scarlett was desperate to change the subject, Laura held up the half-untangled mound of lights. ‘See, we’re almost there.’

Grateful, Scarlett smiled as she felt her shoulders relax. ‘We are. Teamwork makes the dream work, hey?’

‘It sure does.’ Laura laughed as Jackson appeared in the doorway to the sitting room.

‘I’ve made enough hot chocolate to keep the whole of Meadowfield hydrated right up until Christmas Day if either of you two fancy some?’

‘Yes, please.’ Letting the lights fall back to the rug, Scarlett jumped up. Another distraction between her secret and Laura’s enquiring mind couldn’t be a bad thing, and besides, who didn’t love a mug of good old-fashioned hot chocolate?

As they passed the front door, the dainty tune of the doorbell rang.