Page 55 of Not Just for Christmas

‘Glad you came to Devon then?’ I asked.

‘Oh yeah.’ He grinned at me. ‘This is the wholesome detox I need after being on tour for six months. Thanks again for the invitation.’

‘It was my idea,’ Sam blurted out.

‘Hey, thanks, dude,’ said Dylan, looking up at his godson. ‘You made me very happy.’

‘See, Mum,’ Sam said triumphantly. ‘Mummy said—’

‘Thank you, Sam.’ I silenced him with a stern look. Dylan was here now and so far it was going OK. The least said about the circumstances around his invitation, the better.

In the pocket of my jeans, I felt my phone buzz with a notification. I let go of Dylan’s hand to retrieve it. I read the update and frowned.

‘It’s an alert from the farm’s automated system.’

‘Problem?’ Dylan asked.

‘Maybe. I’ve got a heifer expecting twins.’ I said, tapping the screen to access the camera in her shed. ‘It could be any time now. She might need a little help when she goes into labour.’

‘Remind me, a heifer is …?’ Dylan raised an eyebrow.

‘She hasn’t had babies before,’ Sam told him, his sweet voice brimming with pride at being able to teach something to a grown-up.

‘And twins means double the potential problems, for calves and for mum,’ I said, trying not to show my fear.

‘Do you wanna go home?’ Dylan asked.

‘Nooo, not yet!’ Sam drummed his heels against Dylan’s chest.

I showed him my phone. ‘She’s moved away from the other mums-to-be and she’s lying down. She’s OK for now. I’ll check on her when I get back.’

‘Santa’s getting off the boat!’ Sam yelled. ‘Mummy, watch!’

I slipped my phone away and tried to be present as Santa and his entourage disembarked and clambered aboard a carnival-style float which would take him around the whole of Craggy Bay. But I couldn’t help feeling nervous. Over the last two years, I’d tackled most jobs on the farm including helping with calving, but cows having twins was rare and I’d never even watched twin calves being born, let alone been in charge.

Dylan took my hand and squeezed it again. ‘If you change your mind, just say – your chauffeur awaits.’

I felt someone grab my arm and turned to see Caroline behind me, out of breath and holding on tightly to Tilly.

‘We’ve had to run all the way! The pub was so busy that Ed and I couldn’t get away,’ she wheezed.

She caught me releasing Dylan’s hand to let her into the gap between us and raised a suggestive eyebrow at me. ‘But looks like we made it in time to see all the exciting stuff.’

‘I can’t see anything!’ said a little voice. ‘And we’ve lost Daddy.’

‘Come through here, poppet.’ Caroline pushed Tilly into the space in front of us, where she had a marginally better view. ‘Daddy will catch us up, he’s talking to someone as usual.’

Santa’s float was beginning to make its way along the jetty, followed by the crowd.

‘Speak of the devil,’ she said, pointing out Ed, fighting against the direction of the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream.

‘Hello chums,’ said Ed, kissing my cheek and shaking hands with Dylan. ‘Got talking to Nigel from the campsite. He says it’s fully booked – in December! Who’d have believed it?’

‘Craggy Bay is crazy busy.’ Dylan shouted to make himself heard over the noise. ‘Where is everyone coming from?’

‘All over. Everyone turns out for this,’ I yelled to him. ‘The Christmas lights are switched on at the beginning of December, but this has always felt like the true start of Christmas for me.’

‘And a ton of others, by the look of it,’ Dylan replied.