Cliffehaven 20.Love Will Find a Way by Ellie Dean

Author:Ellie Dean [Ellie Dean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781804942581
Publisher: Cornerstone
Published: 2024-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

14

It was almost eight o’clock on Christmas Eve morning and Peggy was in the dining room, helping Daisy put the last bits of tinsel and the few remaining baubles on the large Christmas tree that Jim had set up in the bay window. She watched the radiant little girl drape the tinsel round the lower branches, and marvelled once again how the magic of Christmas brought so much pleasure at that age.

Peggy gazed around the room, satisfied with her preparations. The floor had been waxed, a fire laid in the hearth, and the mantelpiece laden with gold tinsel from which hung Daisy’s red cloth stocking awaiting Santa’s visit tonight. She’d almost finished dressing the table and it looked lovely with her mother’s white damask cloth, and her own handmade red napkins.

There were shop-bought crackers this year, and although the cutlery was as mismatched as the numerous chairs, it really didn’t matter. She’d placed her mother’s silver candlesticks down the middle and had almost finished making the centrepiece of holly, ivy and mistletoe. Jim and Ron had checked that the old gramophone still worked, and Charlie had insisted upon stringing paper chains across the ceiling, so it all looked very festive.

‘Can we open the presents now?’ Daisy asked hopefully, her gaze fixed to the collection of mysterious packages piled by her mother’s feet.

‘Not until tomorrow, darling. You know that. But let’s put these under the tree for now, and then you can help me finish off the table centrepiece with that lovely red ribbon I bought yesterday.’

Daisy took the brightly wrapped parcels and stuffed them higgledy-piggledy with the others. ‘Santa won’t forget to come, will he?’ she asked with an anxious frown.

‘Santa never forgets, Daisy. Of course he’ll come.’ Peggy heard the sound of a car drawing up outside. ‘That must be Daddy. I hope he’s remembered to pick up everything on my list, because the shops will be shutting at noon.’

Daisy squeezed past the tree to look out of the window. ‘It’s not Daddy,’ she said. ‘But the man looks like Charlie, and he has a lady with him. A very pretty lady in a red coat, and with long golden hair like a princess.’

Intrigued, Peggy went to the window. ‘Oh, my goodness,’ she breathed, catching sight of the tall, slender girl climbing the front steps beside her very grown-up son. ‘It’s your big brother Bob, and that must be Pippa.’

‘Who’s Pippa?’

‘She’s Bob’s friend, Daisy,’ she replied in panic, quickly whipping off her apron and checking her appearance in the mirror above the mantelpiece as the sound of the front door knocker resounded through the house. ‘Come on, we can’t leave them out on the doorstep.’

Hurrying into the hall, she threw open the door. ‘Bob,’ she exclaimed, flinging her arms about him and giving him a huge hug. ‘Oh, Bob, it’s so wonderful to see you.’

He grinned back at her, unable to return her embrace as he was loaded down with bags. ‘Mum, this is Pippa,’ he said, standing to one side so she could meet the girl who was shyly lurking on the step behind him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.