Christmas at Hollybush Farm by Jo Thomas

Author:Jo Thomas [Thomas, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2025-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

21

There’s a knock at the back door and we all stare at it. There’s no time to dwell on the life I’ve left behind or the one I was going to. I’m not back in the office, overseeing the managers, their Christmas budgets and occupancy rates. I’m not packing to go to Seattle and check out the apartments I could choose from. I’m here, holed up in a café, watching my social-media following rise by the minute and hoping to keep the new owners of this place at bay.

‘I’ll go,’ I say, standing up.

‘I’ll come with you,’ says Owen, close behind me.

I put my ear to the door. ‘Hello?’

There’s another knock.

‘Who’s there?’ I ask.

‘We’ve come for Mae’s jacket potatoes!’

I glance at Owen, then turn back to the door.

‘What’s the password?’ asks Owen.

’Twenty-four days until Christmas.’

Owen and I look at each other, wide-eyed. Then, slowly, I open the back door just a tiny gap and stare at the faces outside. I shut the door. ‘There’s a queue,’ I say excitedly to the group in the café.

‘A queue?’ says Mae, in disbelief.

‘They want jacket potatoes,’ I say. ‘Your jacket potatoes!’

‘How?’

Owen opens the door, wider this time.

‘And there’s people asking if there’s any cawl left. Like the one they saw on the post this morning,’ he calls back.

‘Who? What people?’ asks Evie.

‘People who’ve seen the post! The one I just put up. The live feed. It’s like building a community, but online.’

‘But we can’t just serve food from the back door,’ Mae says.

‘Can’t we?’ I say. ‘We’ve come this far. It shows that people are talking. Voting with their feet! Maybe now the new bosses will listen. We can serve them from here, earn you some of the money you’re missing out on.’

Evie puts down her knitting. ‘I’ve got a break until my next appointment. I can help.’

‘It’s just a few jacket potatoes and cawl,’ I say. ‘Why not? They’ll make a donation for it.’

‘Shows the owners what they’re missing out on. This is the food people want, not plastic burgers and microwave chips. Might change their minds,’ Dad joins in.

‘Let’s get serving then!’ Mae says, excited. We open the back door to a line of people and begin to take orders.

We move a table in front of the door and Owen sets up the generator.

We’re busy loading jacket potatoes. ‘Another beans and cheese!’ I call to Mae. Evie is pulling them out of the oven and Dad is cutting them and creating the well. Mae is doing the toppings, I’m taking the orders, and Owen is on lookout for the return of Josh, the corporate guy.

‘Last few jackets now,’ calls Evie. ‘Then we’re sold out.’

I look up. Everything inside me leaps like lambs in the field come spring. ‘Oh hello. What can I get you?’ I say, looking at Llew Griffiths.

‘Someone told me about the cawl here. Said it was the best around.’

I take a deep breath and try to calm the lambs in my stomach. ‘As long as that’s all you want,’ I say tersely.

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