Calling Mrs Christmas Read online

  ‘That’s tough,’ I agree.

  ‘These few days are so important for me, for us.’ He smiles at me and his chocolate-brown eyes look mellow in the firelight. ‘We’ll have some fun.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘How does your partner feel about you coming away with me?’

  ‘Jim?’ I shrug. ‘He’s fine.’

  Carter doesn’t need to know that he’s not fine about it at all or about his somewhat pointed across the miles Christmas card or that we’ve fallen out over the amount of time I’ve dedicated to doing Carter’s bidding.

  ‘It’s work for me, after all.’

  He laughs out loud. ‘Work. Of course it is.’

  ‘I know,’ I agree with a grin. ‘I wish all of my jobs were like this. Thank you for asking me to come along. It was very kind of you.’

  ‘You’re easy company to be with, Cassie Christmas,’ he says and there’s a wistful note in his voice. ‘The kids have fallen in love with you already.’

  My face flushes hot and it’s not just the fire.

  ‘Now I’m embarrassing you.’ He reaches for the champagne and refills my glass. ‘Don’t be bashful.’ He smiles at my discomfiture. ‘Let’s talk about work instead. I always find that’s much safer ground. How’s the business going?’

  ‘Good,’ I offer. ‘I couldn’t have hoped for a better start. Though you are my best client by far and I’m really grateful for that. It means a lot to me.’

  ‘Now we’re back onto mutual flattery and not talking about business at all. Perhaps it’s this magical place.’ He makes a sweeping gesture with his arm. ‘Perhaps it won’t let us talk about anything too boring.’

  ‘This is my first attempt at it, but I think I enjoy being in business.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘I’m hardly on the same scale as you.’

  ‘I started out with very little,’ Carter tells me. ‘I had quite a privileged upbringing, but when I started my company, I was a penniless student. It was a happy accident, if I’m honest. A friend and I had decided to set up a stall at a local music festival to make a bit of cash and we didn’t know what to sell. I hit on the idea of making smoothies laced with booze. I nicked my mother’s ancient food processor from the kitchen and we set up a stall with a pile of cheap fruit and some supermarket own-label alcohol. We made a small fortune. I had to rope in extra friends to help go and buy fruit and more booze as we kept selling out. We’d burned out the motor on the food processor by the Sunday evening. It took off from there.’

  Carter stands up to stoke the log burner. He opens the door, puts on another hefty lump of wood and then sits down next to me again. A little closer this time, I think. I let my head lean on the back of the sofa while he picks up the story of how he started out in business.

  ‘My friend quickly lost interest. I think he fell in love with a woman from Poland or somewhere and disappeared with her for the summer. I carried on. I took my boozy smoothies to every festival I could. By the end of the summer, I’d decided not to continue with my degree.’

  ‘A brave move.’

  ‘My parents were disappointed. But I was reading history and politics only because I didn’t know what else to do. It was never going to enthral me. I found that I loved the cut and thrust of business, Cassie. Making money was more fun than learning about ancient civilisations. I begged a loan from the bank, did a bit of branding and started making Pure Pleasure on a serious basis. Within two years it was a runaway success. I’ve never looked back. It’s taken years of hard work but now I supply clubs and bars all over the world with my drinks.’

  ‘That’s amazing. I don’t think that Calling Mrs Christmas! will ever reach those dizzy heights.’

  ‘From small acorns,’ Carter says. ‘In some ways, starting out is the most exciting time. My organisation is vast now. My memory might be deceiving me, but I think I liked it better when it was just me and my mother’s food processor.’ He laughs. ‘I like to think I’m indispensable – don’t we all – but I’m sure the company could manage very well without me and not just for a few days while I’m on walkabout in the wilderness.’

  ‘When we’re back home, perhaps you could give me some tips on how I can take my business forward.’

  ‘Just trust your instincts, Cassie, and you won’t go far wrong.’ He smiles at me. ‘You already seem to be doing a lot of it right.’

  ‘I think I just got very lucky in meeting you at the beginning,’ I confess.

  ‘Throwing a drink over me, if I remember rightly.’

  I put my face in my hands, embarrassed at the memory. ‘I’m sorry about that. I’m only glad that you don’t hold grudges.’

  ‘That’s what you do call a happy accident,’ he jokes. ‘For both of us.’

  I sip my champagne. My glass is nearly empty again and I’m feeling drowsy. It’s probably about time that we both called it a day too. I don’t know about Carter but I need my beauty sleep. I want to be fully alert to co-ordinate tomorrow’s activities.

  ‘So, tell me, what does Jim do?’

  ‘He’s a prison officer.’ My heart twists with love for him. ‘He works in the Young Offenders’ Unit at Bovingdale.’

  ‘Doing a fantastic job for terrible pay?’

  ‘You’ve got it in one.’ My thoughts turn to home. ‘I don’t know what I would have done without him. I was made redundant earlier in the year and found it really hard to get a job. Jim has been my rock. If I’m honest, Calling Mrs Christmas! was started out of necessity. As no one else would employ me, I thought I’d try to make my own work. This is my dream job. I’ve always loved organising my own Christmas, though obviously it’s very different when you’re doing it for clients. Jim has been right behind me. He’s even had a couple of his boys from the unit helping me too.’

  ‘Offenders?’

  ‘Yes. Though the boys who’ve been helping me are getting out very soon.’ I don’t want him to think that I’m employing hardened criminals. ‘They’re just about at the end of their sentence.’

  ‘Very noble,’ Carter notes.

  ‘Jim’s a really great bloke. We’ve been together for years.’ I think of the nights recently that we’ve spent together just trying to keep up with the rush of orders. I want to call him so much, just hear his voice. ‘I’m so lucky to have him.’

  Carter meets my eyes and says, ‘Actually, Cassie Christmas, I think he’s very lucky to have you.’

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  I lie in bed with my door open during the night, content to watch the flames of the fire until I doze off. Once or twice I hear Carter get up during the night, put another log on the wood burner and tiptoe in to check on the children before going back to bed. Perhaps he doesn’t sleep too well.

  You wouldn’t be able to tell from the way he is this morning, though. I can hear him moving about the lodge. It’s clear that he’s bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and raring to go. He’s singing softly to himself as he gets up. Unlike Carter, I’m struggling to get out of my bed. I’m quite comfortable under the thick duvet and feel as if I could quite happily lie here until noon. But, of course, I’ve got my clients to attend to.

  I close my door and then pull on my clothes. Hair and make-up will have to wait.

  ‘Sleep well?’ Carter asks as I emerge.

  ‘Yes. You?’

  He nods.

  ‘I heard you get up and check on the children a couple of times.’

  ‘Oh. I’m not the world’s best sleeper. Busy brain. Sorry to disturb you.’

  ‘It’s not a problem. Are Max and Eve all right?’

  ‘Fine. I’ve told them both to have a shower.’

  ‘I’ll put breakfast on, then.’

  There’s a cook coming in to prepare lunch and dinner for us, but I’m on breakfast duty. I didn’t look too closely last night, but there’s a larder with a plentiful stock of bacon, eggs and a fresh loaf. That ought to keep us going until lunchtime. I set about cooking and, just as I’m about to dish up,
the children appear, freshly washed and already in their warm jumpers and ski pants. Along with Carter, they sit on the benches at the long table.

  ‘Cassie, will you tell us now what we’re doing today?’ Eve asks as she pinches a piece of crispy bacon from the platter I’ve just put down on the table. ‘Please, please! Pretty please!’

  ‘We’re going to take out our own dog sleds,’ I tell her.

  ‘Cool,’ Max says, clearly thrilled by the itinerary. ‘Huskies are wicked.’

  ‘Can we help to put the doggies back on their leads?’ Eve wants to know.

  ‘Yes, if you want to. Jan should be here very soon.’ I’m sure the dogs will let us know when he arrives. ‘Then Daddy and I will drive the sleds while you and Max are passengers. Does that sound like fun?’

  ‘I want to drive too,’ Max says.

  ‘You can help me,’ Carter suggests. ‘We can drive together.’

  ‘Double cool!’ Max looks as if he wants to bolt his breakfast down and get out there.

  I put a dish of buttery scrambled eggs next to the bacon. ‘Tuck in, guys.’

  While I’m waiting for the toast to brown, I watch Carter helping his children to their food. He strokes Eve’s long blonde hair and it’s obvious that he adores them both. It must be really hard if he doesn’t get to see that much of his kids.

  He catches me watching them and smiles up at me. I rescue the toast before I burn it.

  ‘Great breakfast, Cassie,’ he says. ‘I might have known that you’d be a good cook too.’

  ‘I have a limited repertoire,’ I admit. ‘But I enjoy it.’

  As I suspected, as soon as they hear Jan arrive, the dogs start to bark like mad things. The children, eager to get outside, wolf down the rest of their breakfast. I help them to put on their multiple layers of outdoor clothing and they dash outside into the snow. When I’ve watched them go, I wash up the breakfast dishes. Moments later, Carter comes to stand next to me and picks up a tea towel.

  ‘You don’t need to do that,’ I tell him. ‘This is your holiday. I’m only making it tidy so that the cook doesn’t walk into a complete mess.’ I might be able to knock out a nice breakfast but I don’t do it in the neatest of fashions.

  ‘This is nice for me,’ he insists. ‘A pleasant change.’

  So we stand and chat, while I wash and Carter wipes. When we’ve finished and the dishes are stacked, together we gear up and Carter helps me to wriggle into my suit.

  I try to take a hands-off approach to helping Carter dress, but it’s not that easy. It’s virtually impossible to put one of these suits on by yourself and, as the mercury has been steadily dropping since our arrival, you can’t risk going outside without one. You’d get hypothermia within minutes. We’ll have to watch the children closely.

  ‘All this dressing and undressing is hard work,’ I say when it’s my turn to wriggle into my suit.

  ‘Here, let me.’ Carter grins as slowly, slowly, he slides up the zip of my Arctic suit and I suddenly feel very hot having him this close to me.

  ‘These suits make you very warm, don’t they?’ I stammer.

  ‘Couldn’t agree more,’ he teases.

  We’re both as still as statues. Even the air around us seems to be suspended. His hands are on my arms and it seems as if neither of us can move. Our eyes are locked; both of us are breathing unevenly. And we’re close. So close.

  Then Eve bursts through the door. ‘Daddy!’ she says, exasperated. ‘Where are you? We’re waiting!’

  Carter breaks away from me. His hands fall from my arms and I feel almost unsteady on my feet. He smiles at me uncertainly. ‘We’re summoned.’

  I think it’s probably a good thing. I’m not sure what happened there, but we definitely shared A Moment.

  So, without further ado, we go to join the children outside. Jan, with the help of Eve and Max, has already harnessed the huskies for us. They’re barking like crazy, keen to be on the move. There are three sleds today. Carter and Max will take one. I’ll take the other one with Eve, and Jan will have his own with all the equipment we need. It seemed like a good idea when I planned it, but now I’m quite nervous of driving my own dogs.

  Jan gives us a quick course in sled handling and it all sounds very complicated. The sleds have two brakes and an anchor, but no steering. The only way you can get it to go where you want is to lean your weight over to the left or right to guide the huskies. These dogs, I have to say, look as if they have minds of their own and no amount of leaning is going to influence them. I think I’m just going to hold on tightly for the ride.

  ‘Whatever you do,’ Jan says, ‘don’t let go of the sled if you fall off. The last time that happened I had to chase the dogs for forty kilometres across the snow before I caught up with them.’

  I’m not sure who’s the most giddy with excitement, the children or the huskies. But soon we’re ready for the off. Max climbs into the seat in front of Carter’s sled and I settle Eve in with me. Jan leads the way. Hesitantly, I take in my anchor and let off the brake. The dogs shoot forward in the same exuberant way they did last night.

  ‘Hold on tight,’ I shout to Eve.

  ‘Wheeeee!’ she cries back. Clearly only one of us has any anxiety about this.

  We whip through the trees at breakneck speed, being showered with snow as we go. Eve is shrieking with delight and adrenaline is pumping through my veins. Never in a million years did I envisage myself doing something like this. I was content until the beginning of the year to sit in an office day in, day out, never having much ambition beyond that. Now look what I’m doing. If this business can bring me such incredible rushes, then I know in my heart I’m doing the right thing.

  It’s ten o’clock now and the sun is only just up, peeping tentatively over the fir trees, tingeing the snow on them with a pink blush that makes them look stunning, as if they’re dripping with strawberry ice cream.

  ‘The sky’s all glittery,’ Eve says, holding out her hands to catch it as we whizz along.

  The air is so crisp and dry that there are ice crystals in it, sparkling in the sun. It’s just amazing. All around us the snow seems to be studded with diamonds.

  The huskies trot along happily and, once they’ve run off their pent-up exuberance, soon settle into their own rhythm. Which means, in turn, that I can ease back on the terror and start to enjoy myself. We follow ready-made tracks through the trees, so the dogs pretty much know what they’re doing without my help. Thank goodness.

  ‘Are you OK, Eve?’ I shout out, checking on my passenger.

  ‘Yes. It’s amazeballs! Go faster, Cassie. Go faster.’

  Carter and Max are ahead of us. Perhaps Carter is relaxing too as he turns to wave at us. Eve and I wave back.

  We both follow Jan’s sled through the trees. The landscape is flat so the terrain’s easy to manage for a beginner. The dogs scoop up snow with their mouths as they go to keep themselves cool.

  We’ve been going for a couple of hours when we come to an open clearing near the edge of a frozen river and beside it there’s a small log cabin. Taking Jan’s lead, we put on the brakes to slow down the dogs. Watching him carefully, I bring the team of huskies to a halt, throw down my anchor and secure the sled with my kick-brake too. The last thing on earth I want is to lose the dogs.

  I breathe a sigh of relief. We’ve arrived safely.

  Eve jumps off the sled and bounces in the snow for joy. ‘That was totally brilliant!’

  I can’t help but agree. Taking her hands, I join in with her celebration and we dance around. Perhaps I’ve got some primeval dog-mushing gene because that was more fun than I ever could have imagined. Every fibre of my body is zinging and, at this moment, I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite so alive.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Jim hadn’t heard anything from Cassie in hours. Her last text had come in just before he’d finished his shift. It was only then that he’d seen the string of messages and texts that she’d left. His day had been complet
ely manic – a dozen different fights had kicked off, which had kept him busy, and he hadn’t even had time to go out to his locker at lunchtime to check his phone as usual.

  He was desperately hoping that he’d be home in time to see Cassie before she left for Lapland, but he’d been delayed at work, filling in a report about Smudge’s attempted suicide that had to be done. The paperwork was handed in, but the result was that he had missed her.