An Unexpected Christmas (11 page)

'You
okay?' I could feel him looking at me so I shook the anxious feeling from me
and sent him a smile.

 'Yeah,
just shopping stress,' I lied. He nodded and smiled in return then turned his
attention away and started the car and pulled out into the traffic.

Nate

April seemed quiet on the drive
back to the house but the closer we got the more she seemed to relax. I parked
the car on the driveway and switched off the engine then looked over at her. I
still couldn't get over how attracted I was to her and how much time I wanted
to spend with her, to get to know her, and hear her opinions on things. 'Do you
have any other plans for today?'

She turned to me and smiled. 'No,
nothing set in stone. Why?'

I shrugged. 'I thought we could
have some lunch then take the dogs along the beach. If you wanted to?'

Her smile broadened and I reached
over and stroked her cheek. 'I'd like that.'

I smiled back at her then reached
over and took her hand threading my fingers through hers. I lifted our hands
then placed a kiss to the back of hers. I didn't know if Mum was back and from
April's body language I didn't think she was ready for anyone to know so
pulling her into my lap was probably not a good idea no matter how much I
wanted to do it. I lowered our hands, slipped mine from hers then opened my
door and climbed out of my seat. I walked around the car then opened the door
for her.

She smiled up at me and I
wondered how many other guys she had given that smile too, the thought stirred
something in me that I pushed back down. I didn't need to know about her past,
I only cared about her future. I closed the door and then went around the back
to retrieve her shopping then carried it into the house.

'I'll take them upstairs.' April
held her hand out to me and I passed her the bags then watched as she climbed
the stairs. I got a great view and threw a quick thank you to Levi Strauss.
Turning away I walked through the living room then into the kitchen. I had
noticed that Ella's car wasn't in the drive and it seemed that Mum was also
still out which meant April and I had the house to ourselves.

When April stepped into the
kitchen I was already halfway through making us something to eat. She walked
over to me and hoisted herself up onto the counter next to me. 'What are you
making?'

I chopped an apple into wedges
then handed her one. 'Just sandwiches and some fruit, is that okay?'

She took the apple and I watched
as she took a bite then nodded. 'Sounds good.' I moved over to the kettle and
poured boiling water into the mug I had waiting then handed it to her. She
smiled when she took it but didn't take a sip.

I looked at her. 'What?'

'Nothing.' She kept watching me
and then after a moment, 'you made me coffee.'

I grinned at her then set about
finishing making us sandwiches. 'You love coffee. It's one of the many things I
have learnt about you.'

'And what else have you learnt
about me?' I was glad that her mood seemed to have lifted again and I was also
thankful for our solitude.

I put down the knife I had just
cut our sandwiches with and moved so I stood between her knees. I took her mug
from her and placed it by her hip then ran my hands up her thighs and to her
waist. We were about eye level so I leaned forward and just before our lips
touched I whispered. 'You love to read.' I kissed her fleetingly then lifted my
head. 'You are smart.' Kiss. 'You're funny.' Kiss. 'And.' Kiss. 'You.' Kiss.
'Are' Kiss. 'An amazing.' Kiss. 'Person.' This time I deepened the kiss and
felt her wrap her arms around my neck.

After a couple of minutes she
pulled back and grinned at me. 'Well now that we have thoroughly established
that you have been paying attention, I'm hungry.'

I chuckled and stepped from
between her legs and moved to grab a large plate. I piled on the sandwiches and
sliced apple and a handful of grapes then once April had jumped off the counter
and picked up her mug I took her hand and lead her into the living room pulling
her down onto the sofa next to me. She scooted into the corner and sat with her
legs crossed and her back against the arm. I lifted the plate towards her and
she selected a sandwich and took a huge bite. I placed the plate on the table
and chose a sandwich of my own.

I wanted to know if the weather
forecast had changed or if we were still likely to get snow later today so I
switched on the TV and waited for the news to finish. April finished her
sandwich and took another then stretched her legs out and rested her feet in my
lap. I looked over at her but her attention was on the screen. I smiled at the
familiarity of it and wondered if we would stay like this when we got back to
town and had been together for a while. I was looking forward to taking her out
and introducing her to my friends who I knew would like her as much as I did;
she was such an easy person to be with and I hadn't been this excited about a
relationship in a very long time.

The weather man reported that,
yes, we would be seeing snow later tonight and quite a lot of it. I switched
the TV off and leaned back into the sofa and looked over at April. She was
smiling back at me and then she swung her legs off my lap and stood. I followed
and thought she was going to head into the kitchen but she didn't move. I
placed my hand on her shoulder and she turned to me.

A slow smile spread across her
face then she stepped onto the sofa and grabbed the front of my jumper, pulling
me towards her. Our kiss was heated and passionate and hurried and I wanted to
strip her there and show her how much she affected me. My hands roamed over her
body and eventually settled one on her back and one lower on her bottom,
pulling her into me. She was making little murmuring noises and clutching on to
me like her life depended on it.

She slowly pulled away and smiled
down at me 'Hi.'

'Hi.' I tucked her hair behind
her ear and returned her smile. 'Do you fancy going for that walk? Or we could
stay here and keep doing this.' I leaned in and kissed her again.

'I think I need the fresh air to
cool me down.' She chuckled then gave me a quick kiss. I placed my hands on her
waist then lifted her off the sofa. When I placed her on the ground she looked
up at me and bit her lip. 'What?'

'You're surprisingly strong, it's
hot.'

'Yeah? What else is hot?' I pulled
her towards me.

'I can't disclose that
information, don't want you getting a big head now do we?'

I kissed her again, softly and
slowly, and I didn't want to stop but then something nudged my leg and breaking
the kiss I looked down. Toby was looking up at me waiting. 'I better feed the
dogs.'

The dogs fed, and with April and
I both in our coats, we made our way along the beach. I had held my hand out to
her to help her over the dunes and hadn't let go. It seemed so easy to be with
her. She was cheeky in the most endearing way and smart and I think stronger
then she realised. She told me about how she had been offered the job in London
and even though it was far away from any of her family and friends it was the
right decision and she hadn't regretted it for a second.

There was one thing we hadn't
talked about and that was us. I had mentioned that I had a role in a movie
shooting in Miami starting in a few days but I wanted us to continue whatever
it was we had started and I didn't know how she felt. I had the feeling she
still didn't want Mum or Ella to know and I was curious for her reason why.

'Do you think Ella and your Mum
suspect anything?' She didn't look at me when she asked just kept her gaze to
the sand in front of her.

'You make it sound like we are
doing something wrong.'

She lifted her head but instead
of looking up at me she looked out across the sea. 'I'm sorry, I just... I like
it being just the two of us.'

I tugged on her hand and pulled
her to a stop. 'Me too. I'm going to miss you when I go to Miami.' Her small
smile faded, 'but we still have a couple of days and Christmas.'

She nodded then and we continued
our walk along the sand. 'So do you have plans for tomorrow?'

Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and I
wondered if Ella had forgotten to tell her about the party. 'We have a
Christmas Eve party at the house every year, didn't Ella mention it?'

April snuggled herself up to my
side and I looped my arm around her. 'A party? No she must have forgotten. What
sort of party?'

'Pretty much everyone in the
village piles in, Mum makes some food, there's music and drinking. It's usually
a good night.'

'It sounds it. So does that mean
I get to see your dance moves?' She laughed.

'I have brilliant moves I'll have
you know.' She just laughed harder and I couldn't stop smiling at the sound of
it. I liked to see her happy and laughing and I really liked being the one to
do it.

When we headed back I spotted
Mum's car in the drive so knew she was home. I stopped April and pulled her
gently behind a hedge. I looked down at her smiling face then kissed her deeply
and passionately, trying to memorise as much of the moment as possible. I
reluctantly lifted my head and let out a long shaky breath. 'I don't think I am
going to get to do that for a few hours and needed something to tide me over.'

April grinned up at me then
grabbed the front of my coat and dragged my lips to hers. This kiss was slower
and more intimate and I couldn't stop the groan that escaped me; I wanted her
desperately but, I suppose the secrecy was exciting too.

Eventually I lifted my head, and
she was grinning up at me a little out of breath. 'I might have needed a little
more to get me through.' She was adorable and I pressed a quick kiss to her
slightly swollen lips.

'Come on, we should head back inside,
I don't want you catching a cold.' She nodded then wandered around the hedge
and up the path and I followed behind her.

I held the door open for her and
heard her mutter, 'such a gentleman.' It made me chuckle.

Mum was sitting at the kitchen
table with a cup of tea in front of her and lifted her head as we walked in.
'Hello darlings, did you have a nice walk?'

'We did thank you.' I dropped a
quick kiss to her cheek then made my way over to the kettle to make April a mug
of coffee as I knew she would be gasping for one by now. April had slipped out
of her coat and sat in the chair opposite Mum. 'How about you? What was it, a
meeting with the W.I?'

'Don't be cheeky and no, I was
helping to set up for the carol service later.'

I finished making April her drink
then moved to place it in front of her.

'Are you not having one?' She
looked up at me with a little worry and with those hazel eyes and I wanted to
drop a reassuring kiss to her lips.

'No, actually I need to pop out
for a couple of things. I will be back later.' I moved over to the door and
sent April a quick wink before I went.

I wanted to get her a Christmas
present that meant something and I had been wracking my brains as to what to
get. I had already picked up a little something but I wanted something a little
more meaningful, and maybe a little romantic, to show her that she meant
something to me even after such a short time. I had made a quick call this
morning to a local jeweller and now needed to pick up my order. I just hoped
she liked it.

April

Ella arrived back about an hour
after my walk with Nate and plonked herself on the sofa opposite me and let out
a heavy sigh. I closed my book and wondered where it was she had been for most
of the day. 'Are you alright? You seem a little down?

She looked over at me, let out
another sigh, and then smiled. 'Yeah I'm fine, ignore me. I'm sorry if I
abandoned you today. What did you get up to?'

I looked at her for a second and
wondered what it was that was going on with her but if she didn't want to talk
about it I wouldn't be able to get it out of her. 'You didn't abandon me I
wouldn't expect you to keep me entertained all the time. I went shopping then
Nate and I took the dogs for a walk.'

'Shopping? That was brave of
you.' She leaned back into the sofa and relaxed a little.

'Yeah it was pretty hectic but I
think I did okay.' I looked at my watch. 'What time is the carol service? And
what are we doing about dinner?'

'It's at seven thirty and we are
meeting for a drink at seven. Not sure what's for dinner might just be just a
snack.' It was half five and I wanted a shower and to change for the service
before then.

I placed my book on the table
next to me and stood. 'Well I'm going to go and get ready then.' I looked down
at her. 'Are you sure you're okay, you know you can talk to me about anything
don't you.'

Ella stood and moved around the
table to my side then pulled me into a hug. 'I'm okay, don't worry.' She pulled
away and smiled at me. 'You go and get ready and I will whip us up something to
eat.'

As she walked away, and
disappeared into the kitchen, I decided that I would keep my eye on her. There
was something going on even if she wasn't going to admit it, and what sort of a
friend would I be if I didn't try and help.

After my shower Ella had appeared
with cheese on toast and glasses of wine and we settled on my bed. I grabbed a
slice of toast then looked at her for a moment. 'Are you sure you're okay, you
seem to be a little distracted.'

Ella took a sip of her wine and
let out a sight. 'I am, I'm just trying to sort some things out, but I don't
really want to go into that now, is that okay?' She took a bite of toast and
smiled at me.

'Of course, but could I just ask,
is it something to do with this friend you went to see?'

She nodded and looked away and
smiled. 'I'm sure it will be alright.' She turned back and moved the tray out
of the way. 'But right now will you let me do your makeup? You never know who
is going to be out tonight.' She winked at me and disappeared to grab her makeup
bag. I wanted to tell her that the only person I had any interest in was her
brother but I didn't know how to breach the subject. It had only been a few
days and I had fallen hard but there was that voice in the back of my mind
telling me that it wouldn't go anywhere so there wasn't really a reason to tell
her. She appeared again with the biggest makeup bag I had ever seen and we
spent a good hour just chatting and getting ready.

I didn't see Nate until Ella and
I were ready to go. He strode out of the office and I noticed that he too had
changed out of his jeans and jumper and now wore suit trousers and a crisp pale
blue shirt. It looked as though both were custom made and thinking about it
they probably were. They fit him perfectly accentuating his broad shoulders and
strong arms and then tapering in at the waist. I couldn't stop staring - it was
no wonder that half the population was in love with him. I didn't want to think
about that right now, I just wanted to enjoy my time with him as much as possible.

'Are we ready to go?' He asked as
he pulled on his coat and wound a scarf around his neck.

'I am.' Ella answered; she seemed
in a better mood than before.

'Me too,' I smiled at him. I was
a little nervous if I was being honest. I knew I had met everyone the day
before but so much had happened since, Nate being a huge part of that. He
smiled back at us then opened the door and waited as we filed through. We were
walking up to the village because no one wanted to dig the cars out of the snow
that was due. I was starting to wonder if it would even fall, being from the
North I was so used to the weather report being wrong but as I pushed my hands
into my coat pocket I spotted the first few snowflakes drift gently to the
ground.

I looked over to Nate who was
looking up at the sky with the hugest grin on his face. He glanced over at me
then and I took in a deep lungful of crisp cold air at the sight of him. It was
this sort of reaction I was going to have to try and control around people and
I was lucky that Ella was storming ahead of us and couldn't see me glancing at
him every other second.

'You look beautiful by the way.'
His voice was low and it made my heart speed up.

'It's Ella's handy work.'

'I don't think it is.' His smile
broadened and he winked at me. I wanted to link my fingers with his and snuggle
into his side but settled on simply walking by his side.

By the time we got to the village
the snow was falling heavily and I was glad that I had decided to wear my boots
with my dark jeans. When we got to the door of the pub Nate sent me a sweet
smile. Ella had already disappeared through the door and Nate held it open for
me; I had never met a man who insisted on holding doors open and gesturing for
me to go first as much as he did.

The small pub was crowded but we
soon found the group of people I met for lunch yesterday. Daniel moved to my
side and insisted on helping me with my coat and when I chanced a quick look at
Nate I couldn't quite read his expression. A little part of me hoped he was
jealous but I knew I couldn't expect that. I had only known him for three days.
Was it really only three days? It felt like so much longer.

Nate ordered a round of drinks
and I noticed that Sally had moved and positioned herself next to him. There
was a tiny part of me that didn't want to like her but she seemed nice and
sweet and I couldn't blame her if she had a crush on Nate, I wasn't exactly one
to talk. I watched them laugh about something and I felt a little jealous
myself. I thought the best thing to do was to just ignore it and change my
focus to something else.

I wondered if Ella was still
acting odd and when I moved my attention to her I saw that she was standing
next to Roddy. He was chatting happily to James about how he should be thinking
about schools for his unborn child and Ella was nodding in agreement. When she
had asked me about Daniel she never mentioned Roddy and I wondered why. I
watched them for a moment and something seemed to click. Perhaps Ella had a
thing for Roddy? I knew she had known him for some time and I was curious to
know why she hadn't done anything about it. Usually she would have mentioned
something to me then flirted until he asked her out but there was something
different about the whole thing.

'What do you think? April?' I
turned to Daniel who had been chatting to me.

'Sorry, I was in another world,
what did you say?' I sent him an apologetic look and he smiled back at me.

'I wondered if you thought the
snow would get so deep that we would be stranded for weeks?'

'Oh I don't think it is supposed
to get that bad is it?'

'What isn't supposed to get bad?'
Nate had turned towards us and stood closer than was perhaps necessary,

'We were just talking about the
snow. Daniel is worried we might get snowed in.'

'Wouldn't that be fun?' Nate replied
and smiled down at me then lifted his eyes back to Daniel. 'But the weather
report said it was only supposed to be a couple of inches.'

'Well that's lucky.' Sally had
joined us, a small smile on her face, 'I was worried I wouldn't be able to get
over to see my Nan tomorrow.'

'How far away does she live?' I
never liked the thought of elderly people alone when the weather was bad.

'Oh just in the next village but
if it was heavy snow it would be a nightmare to get there as the roads don't
get ploughed this far.' I noticed that James had waved to Nate and he mumbled
an apology and headed in his direction leaving me with Sally and Daniel. 'She
lives on her own and I do worry.'

'Well that's understandable.' I
took a sip of my drink then Daniel excused himself also.

'Can I ask you something?' Sally
had moved a little closer to me and lowered her voice.

'Sure.' I had no idea what she
would want to ask me.

'You don't know if Nate is seeing
anyone do you? I mean as your staying with his Mum I just wondered if you had
heard anything.'

She was looking at me anxiously
and I wanted to say that yes he was but firstly it wasn't my place to say
anything about his relationship status and second, I wasn't going to be seeing
him after Boxing Day so why would it matter. 'Umm, no. I don't think he is.'

She nodded and smiled at me. 'Oh
okay. That's good.' She must have seen the questioning look on my face because
she placed a hand on my arm. 'Oh I don't mean it's good that he hasn't got
anyone it's just I saw how he was with his last girlfriend and it all just got
on top of him. He works too hard and tries to do everything and it all just
fell apart.'

I didn't want to hear about
Nate's past girlfriends. It was selfish and immature of me and I knew it but I
liked my secret Christmas bubble and I didn't want anything to pop it. 'Like I
said, I haven't heard anything.'

She smiled at me. 'I worry is
all. Well that seems to be the only thing I do at the moment, worry.'

Maybe Sally didn't want Nate for
herself; maybe she just cared about him as a friend? It wasn't really any of my
business either way and I needed to stop thinking that it might be. I looked
down at my watch and saw that it was twenty past. 'I think we should get
going.'

Sally looked at her own watch and
nodded then downed the rest of her drink. She tapped Roddy on the shoulder.
'Drink up we need to head over to the church.'

There was a scramble to finish
drinks and I spotted Roddy helping Ella with her coat out of the corner of my
eye and I couldn't help but smile. If Roddy was the man Ella was taking her
time to think about I was glad that he seemed to be such a gentleman.  It
didn't take long before we were all bundled up and heading across the snow
covered road and up the path to the church. In the twenty minutes we had been
in the pub the snow had covered everything in a thin blanket. The cottages and
the church looked magical in the glow of the streetlights and I wanted to
cuddle up to Nate. He had moved so he was by my side and when I looked up at
him he smiled and winked at me. It felt right being with him and I decided that
I was going to savour every moment, every look and when we were alone, every
touch.

The church was packed and it
seemed like everyone in the village had turned up for the carol service. We filed
into a pew near the back and I sat at the end next to Nate. There was a program
and a list of the songs we would be singing and I had a rush of nostalgia. I
took a moment to take it all in.

I looked around me and smiled.
The church was so similar to the one I used to go to as a child. Tall stone
columns held up the vast wooden roof. The rows and rows of dark wooden pews and
the slight chill that churches seemed to have even though you knew the heating
was on full pelt. The floral decorations that sat below each tall stained glass
window which depicted a scene from the bible, and two large arrangements that
stood either side of the alter, were made up of holly and ivy and rich red
roses.

I felt a wave of homesickness hit
me and I let out a shaky breath. Nate looked down at me and took my hand in
his. 'Are you all right?' I could hear the genuine concern in his lowered voice
and my heart swelled.

I nodded and gave his hand a
squeeze. 'Just remembering.'

Nate didn't let go of my hand but
tucked it down between us and his coat fell open to cover it. The secrecy was
rather exiting and I liked that it was just between us.

The vicar and the choir filed in
from the vestry and everyone stood while they took their places. I slipped my
hand from Nate's and picked up the hymn book in front of me. They had a
relatively young vicar and if I hadn't been sitting in a row with three very
attractive men I would think that he was actually kind of hot. I wanted to
point it out to Ella but she had chosen to sit a couple of rows in front and
thinking about how to get her attention, perhaps by throwing a hymn book at her
or the use of Jedi powers, made me giggle a little too loudly which made Roddy
turn around from his seat next to Ella and for Nate to dig me in the ribs, which
just made me giggle more.

The first hymn was 'Oh Little
Town of Bethlehem' and it seemed like it was a go big or go home situation
between the men. They all sang out loud and in Daniel's case quite out of tune.
Nate had a rich and warm singing voice which didn't surprise me but I knew I
could hold my own having once been in a church choir many years ago and it
seemed I hadn't forgotten the words, he snuggled in close to my side as we
shared the hymn book.

The service continued and it
seemed like all the traditional favourites had been chosen and the vicar did a
fantastic job it seemed that he was hot and funny. The service ended with 'Once
in Royal David's City' and once we where through everyone was smiling and
wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Roddy announced that he was getting the
first round in at the pub and so we began to file out of the pew and head out
of the church.

The vicar, whose name Ella had
informed me on passing was Martin, stood in the doorway. He shook everyone's
hand as they passed. When I got to him he smiled. 'Hello there, you must me
April, Maggie had told me all about you.' I shook his hand and returned his
smile.