27 The End of One Chapter, the Beginning of Another …

It’s Christmas Day and, as usual, it’s accompanied by the sort of chaos that ensues whenever a group of people get together.

‘Charlotte, have you seen the large casserole dishes? I’m sure we unpacked them.’ Elizabeth is opening and closing kitchen cupboard doors as she works her way around her wonderful new farmhouse kitchen.

‘They’re here somewhere but where exactly is the question. Shall I pop back to mine, as I know where I can put my hands on two sizeable dishes.’

Grandma is busy scooping balls of chestnut, apricot and sage stuffing onto a baking tray, while Mum is whisking up a large bowl of Yorkshire pudding mix.

‘If you tell me where to look, I’ll fetch them, Grandma,’ I offer.

Elizabeth shuts the last door and turns to look at me, smiling. ‘I give up! And we seem to be missing some gravy boats, as well.’

‘Some?’ Grandma quizzes.

‘Oh,’ Elizabeth chuckles, ‘what am I thinking? Another one will suffice.’

I untie my apron and grab my coat to pop next door. I didn’t realise I’d left my phone in my pocket, and when it begins to buzz I fumble around for it.

‘Hello?’

‘Sienna! Merry Christmas! How’s it going at your end?’ Daniela raises her voice to compete with the cacophony of sound in the background.

My little chat with Nigel at last year’s Christmas Eve party made him stop and think about why Daniela was suddenly trying to reinvent herself. Then it dawned on him that it wasn’t for Oliver’s benefit and he had no reason at all to be jealous. It had been a while since he’d told Daniela that she was still the love of his life. She wasn’t simply a wife and a mother, but she was still the only woman in the world he wanted to be with. And supporting her dream to reawaken her creative side was the way in which he could demonstrate his love for her.

She’s still totally in the dark about being Oliver’s first love, but that doesn’t matter anymore. He’s with Ruby now and she’s about to join him permanently in London.

‘Merry Christmas to you and the family. It’s all good here. We’re still finding our way around Elizabeth’s kitchen, but another hour and we’ll be sitting down to christen the handmade stripped pine table. How about you? I bet the kids had you up early.’

‘Just before five o’clock, but Clara didn’t even fall asleep until gone eleven last night because she was so excited. They’ll both conk out early and will probably have a nap once we’ve eaten. I have a film for us all to watch after dinner, and they’re bound to drift off. Hopefully for an hour, so Nigel and I can have a break. Aside from that, it’s all change at Silverberry Hall, but then we knew that was coming, didn’t we?’

I swing open the gate to Grandma’s cottage and make my way up the stepping stone path. There’s snow in the air and I stand under the canopy above the front door while I slip off my glove and fumble in my pocket for the key. ‘I had heard on the grapevine. Ruby rang to tell me her news about moving to London and she mentioned that Stephen has started a new tradition. No more fund-raisers at the Hall.’

‘No, instead he’s having a family party on New Year’s Eve. It’s the end of an era. How’s Elizabeth doing?’

Stephen is no Freddie. Oh, he’ll entertain to show off his new home, but he certainly doesn’t have a charitable side to his nature – especially when it comes to money – unless it benefits him personally, in one way or another.

‘Good, really good. You wouldn’t believe the change in her. The move to Cornwall really was the turning point in letting go of the burdens of the past. She told me it was freeing and instead of carrying around a multitude of worries, life here is simpler.’

‘Oh, that’s so good to hear.’

‘Word is that there have been a lot of staff changes at the Hall.’

‘Sadly, most of them have moved on – only Veronica and two of the gardeners remain, mainly because they live in the village and it’s convenient. Stephen isn’t an easy man to work for, is he?’ Daniela points out. ‘So, this year it’s just Elizabeth, Charlotte, your mum, Greg and, uh … you and Ash!’

‘Yes,’ I sigh, contentedly. ‘Elizabeth keeps forgetting that we’re not catering for a huge party of people and we’re going to have way too much food. But she’s in her element.’ I turn the key in the lock and swing open the front door to Cherry Tree Cottage.

‘That’s so good to hear, my lovely friend, even though I miss being able to pop in and see you more than you can imagine. I can’t wait to catch up with you all in January. Will you and Ash be in your new place by then?’

I wander through to the kitchen, leaning against the wooden countertop and gazing out over Grandma’s pretty little garden and the fields beyond. The snowflakes are falling much faster now and it’s starting to look really pretty.

‘No. There’s still a fair bit of work to be done and the builders shut down for two weeks over Christmas and New Year. Still, it’s starting to take shape and is already looking less like two little holiday cottages and more like a family home.’

Daniela chuckles. ‘Honestly, buying up a cluster of holiday rentals and turning them back into permanent homes is no mean feat. You do know that you’re all living the dream, don’t you?’

‘What, looking out onto rolling countryside, or being a stone’s throw from a beautiful beach?’ I muse.

‘Both!’

‘It’s not so very different from Darlingham. We’ve swapped a river walk for a stroll along the beach, but we still get woken by sheep bleating away in the fields. No cockerels though, I’m glad to say.’

‘And no regrets?’

‘None whatsoever. Grandma loves her cosy, two-bed cottage and it only took a lick of paint, some new furniture and a few soft furnishings to make it hers.’

‘And Elizabeth is adjusting to downsizing?’

‘Yes and her new life really suits her. For starters, everything is a lot more manageable and aside from her cleaner, Alice, she and Grandma spend a lot of time cooking and stocking up the freezer. In the spring I suspect most of their time will be spent pottering in the garden. They’re having fun.’

‘It sounds idyllic,’ Daniela sighs, dreamily.

‘Meadow Farmhouse is so pretty, with its thatched roof and traditional cottage garden. Once Ash and I are living on the doorstep, if Elizabeth or Grandma need anything, life is going to be so much easier for us all. Ash is a real handyman, but in the meantime we’re only a fifteen-minute drive away, and Mum and Greg are just two miles down the road.’

‘How’s Bartie coping?’

Elizabeth got her puppy; Harry took the last one of the litter down to Silverberry Hall, knowing full well he’d find him a new home.

‘He’s grown beyond belief! And he, together with Grandma’s little Westie, keep them both on the go. Honestly, there’s never a dull moment when Bartie and Archie are around!’

‘It’s funny how things have turned out, isn’t it?’ Daniela muses. ‘If your mum hadn’t moved to Cornwall, you might never have met Ash. Anyway, have a fabulous day and we’ll speak soon. We’re all sending our love!’

As the line disconnects, a flutter in my chest is tinged with guilt. No one, other than myself and Grandma, is aware that Ash is Elizabeth’s grandson and they’re both adamant that’s the way it should stay.

To say that Daniela was shocked when at the start of the year I took a trip down to Cornwall and returned to Darlingham smitten , as she referred to my emotional state at the time, is an understatement. Daniela knows me so well, but having fallen in love with Nigel at first sight, she never questioned how quickly, or how hard, I fell in love with Ash. She was simply thrilled to see how happy I was.

It didn’t happen quite as quickly as she assumed, of course. The first time I saw Ash at Driftwood, I thought it was the resemblance to Freddie that threatened to overwhelm me. Those mesmerising eyes, the way he carried himself … it was a shock. But when you start dreaming of someone you hardly know, it’s a sign that deep down inside there’s something else going on, even if you can’t explain it.

If I hadn’t dreamt of Ash, I wouldn’t have ended up calling him to let him know that Elizabeth was struggling. The fact that he came to her rescue demonstrated what sort of man he is. Kind, selfless and loving. The sort of man who puts other people first. And it was then that I knew he was special. Very special, because he turned out to be the one for me.

And now, here we are, a year later, and the seemingly impossible has truly happened. It’s been a whirlwind, but what I’ve discovered is that change isn’t unsettling if you simply view it differently. It’s all about perspective. We were two lost souls, thrown together under difficult circumstances, who gravitated towards each other as if it were always meant to be.

I grab a shopping bag from the drawer for the two large serving plates that have graced many a festive table over the years and go in search of the gravy boat. Little vignettes of the past year flash through my mind and a sense of wonderment floods through me.

‘Hello?’ a voice calls out and seconds later Ash walks into the room. ‘There you are! You’ve been gone for ages. Everyone was getting worried. Have you seen how thick that snow is getting?’

‘Yes, isn’t it lovely? Daniela called and we had a bit of a chat.’

‘Ah …’ He sidles up to me, leaning in to kiss my cheek and I recoil a little as his nose is cold. ‘Sorry. The temperature is dropping and it’s going to freeze by the look of it. We might end up getting snowed in if it continues.’

‘Elizabeth would love that,’ I reply, my eyes gleaming because she would.

‘I know.’ He stares at me for a few seconds as if savouring the moment, before leaning forward to kiss me softly on the lips. It’s as if everything around us starts to spin and a little shiver of excitement begins to creep down my spine.

‘I can’t wait until you open your present tomorrow morning,’ he whispers, slightly breathlessly. ‘It took me a long time to make it.’ His face is aglow with excitement.

‘All I ever wanted for Christmas,’ I breathe, shakily, ‘is the man of my dreams! And here you are …’

‘Here we are! Every morning when I open my eyes and see you lying next to me, I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have found you, Sienna. When I lost Mum it felt like a part of me had died, too. I thought that she was the only person who would every really understand me because of everything that had happened. Well, the me I couldn’t acknowledge and the things I kept hidden deep down inside.’

My heart constricts in my chest. ‘I think I sensed that the first time we met,’ I admit.

‘I didn’t dare to believe that you’d leave Darlingham to come and live with me and I couldn’t believe it when you said yes.’

‘Ash! I moved to Charlestown because I wanted to be with you. I realised that it’s not where you live that matters, it’s who you’re with. If you’re happy, then your loved ones will support you no matter what.’

The truth is that I didn’t even have to stop and think about it. Moving into Ash’s tiny two-up, two-down old fisherman’s cottage, with its bijou bathroom extension at the rear, instinctively felt like the right thing to do. Suddenly, nothing else mattered. Of course, Mum and Greg were delighted, knowing I’d be living close by, but it was Grandma and Elizabeth who, a couple of weeks later, shocked us all.

Ash leans back against the countertop as I place the crockery in the plastic bag.

‘It’s certainly been an unusual journey, hasn’t it?’ He smirks, as we make our way out into the hallway.

‘You can say that again! When Mum and Greg insisted on throwing a little engagement party for us, none of us were expecting what was about to happen.’

He gives a throaty laugh. ‘When you told me that Elizabeth and Charlotte were a formidable team, I had no idea how true that was.’

We stop for a second to glance at each other, as our smiles grow exponentially. ‘When they said they were considering a little project of their own, moving to Cornwall was the last thing that sprang to mind.’

‘Coming here with the estate agent to look around Meadowfield Farm the following day, blew my mind,’ Ash admits.

‘Mine, too. Given that the holiday business had gone bust, I thought Elizabeth was about to make a huge mistake and the look I gave Grandma that day when she was backing her up … well, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.’

Ash nods his head. ‘I remember the shocked hush that descended over everyone that day. Even Greg couldn’t muster a joke to break the silence.’

That memory makes me chuckle. ‘It was awkward, until we got back to Mum and Greg’s place and we all sat around the table to discuss it. It wasn’t some half-cobbled-together plan, but a way of realising all of our dreams in one fell swoop.’

‘You were hesitant about selling your grandma’s cottage in Darlingham, though, weren’t you?’ He opens the front door and I turn to look at him as we draw level.

‘Yes. When I came to live with you, Grandma and I had agreed to rent it out, as I still saw it as her safety net. But finding a buyer meant that Grandma could buy Cherry Tree Cottage from Elizabeth—’

Ash cuts in. ‘And when Elizabeth told us that the two semi-detached holiday lets, and the barn, would be our wedding present it all seemed too good to be true!’

The smile we exchange says it all. If you’re going to dream, dream big.

As Ash pulls the door shut behind us, I remain under cover sheltering from what is now turning into a blizzard. ‘How ironic that it was my father who brought us together, Sienna,’ he states, his words tinged with sadness.

‘He did, didn’t he?’ I agree, grinning back at him. To my delight, what I see reflected on my fiancé’s face is a sense of well-being. Accepting that destiny had a hand in everything that has happened, as painful as the respective paths we travelled to get here have been, is mind-blowing. The various twists and turns were sometimes hard to bear.

‘And now it’s down to us to live our best lives, together, working side by side to make it happen.’

Once our new home is ready, the barn alongside it, which was once a farm shop, will soon complete the first stage of the dream. We still don’t have a name for the new business, but I’ll be spending my days upcycling furniture, while Ash continues to create wonderful new pieces out of nature’s cast-offs. Jasmine will be joining us, too, as after making what I swear is the most perfect engagement ring for me, we couldn’t leave her behind.

And, at some point in the not-too-distant future, hopefully we’ll be blessed with a family.

‘Life doesn’t get any better than this, does it?’ I ask, my heart skipping a beat.

Ash takes the shopping bag from me and we clasp hands as we start to trudge along the path, which now has several inches of snow covering it. I look up to see the curls of smoke from the two chimneys in Meadow Farmhouse hanging like silver-grey ribbons in the sky. With the festive lights peeking out through the windows this is just a taste of what’s to come as we all work to bring the former farm back to life.

‘Our first real Christmas together!’ Ash declares, sounding ridiculously happy. ‘And this time next year we’ll be married and living here, too.’

He’s buzzing with excitement and when I compare it to just twelve months ago, with everything that has happened, it truly is a miracle. It just goes to prove that life can be full of surprises and that’s why giving up is never an option.

In order to find a silver lining, there has to be a cloud. Inside my cloud, was Ash and now it truly is a case of the best is yet to come!

If you loved spending Christmas at Silverberry Hall , head to the white mountains of New Hampshire next with Christmas at the Snow Covered Inn !

Ria’s Christmas wish list: A secluded inn, beautiful decorations, lots of snow and a man who could change her life forever …

Pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate and settle down in front of the fire with another absolutely charming, cosy Christmas romance by Lucy Coleman.