Underneath the Christmas Tree

It turned out my instincts, honed over years of working with troubled teens, were right. Liam really did have a whole heap of baggage. The biggest bit was Chelsea-not-so-charming-Chalmers. The mere sight of her made me momentarily regret that I’d been hospitable to Liam and spontaneously offered him some work.

‘Chelsea,’ I said, forcing myself not to turn back into the schoolgirl she had been so adept at intimidating, as she leapt out of her car and slammed the door shut. ‘Welcome to Wynter’s Trees.’

‘You have got to be frigging kidding me!’ she growled, shooting me a withering look.

‘Hey,’ said Liam, who I hadn’t noticed was in the passenger seat and was now climbing out. ‘I think you should just…’

Chelsea spun round.

‘Don’t you dare tell me to calm down,’ she fired at him, sounding livid. ‘Not again. So,’ she said, whipping back around as she strode through the gate, ‘what have you got to say for yourself? What the hell were you playing at inviting my lad in to your home for a hot chocolate and then into your car? I thought you were a teacher. Surely you know that sort of behaviour isn’t allowed?’

I took a moment to try and make sense of what was happening and thanked my lucky stars the place wasn’t particularly busy. I had wondered last night if I was doing the right thing, but what else could I have done? Sent the lad back over the wet fields, freezing cold and inadequately dressed when he wouldn’t let me call his family? And then another thought landed, why had Chelsea just called him, ‘my lad’?

‘Liam,’ said Ned, thankfully not taking the opportunity to add further weight to his argument that I shouldn’t have offered Liam a job, ‘why don’t you let me show you around properly? Liza’s been telling me your interview went really well and that you’ve got the right attitude to help us out here in the run up to Christmas.’

Chelsea looked dumbfounded and I could have kissed Ned, not that that was allowed. He hastily led Liam towards the plantation, leaving Chelsea and I facing each other. I opened my mouth to say something, but her shoulders slumped and I couldn’t be sure, but I thought her eyes were full of tears as she dropped her gaze to the ground. I had been going to suggest we talk in the office, but changed my mind.

‘Shall we go into the lodge?’ I said instead, keen not to draw further attention from anyone in earshot. ‘I was just about to make myself a coffee.’

Chelsea, although recovered, looked rather out of place in the lodge and when she recoiled from Bandit’s friendly advances, I ushered him into the utility room. Liam had readily made friends with my four-legged chum, but I didn’t think Chelsea was going to and didn’t want to aggravate her again.

‘Do you take milk and sugar?’ I asked.

‘Just milk,’ she said. ‘I’m sweet enough.’

Even though the remark was classic Chelsea, I could tell there was something more complicated behind the motivation for her visit than raking me over the coals for offering Liam a job and giving him a lift to Wynmouth.

‘There you go,’ I said, handing her a mug before sitting at the opposite end of the sofa.

She inhaled the strong aroma before placing it down on the side table.

‘There really was nothing untoward about last night,’ I began, keen to keep Liam out of further trouble, when she didn’t say anything. ‘I genuinely thought Ned might need some extra help what with the beach huts being here now and…’

Chelsea held up a hand, thankfully to stop me, rather than slap me.

‘I know that’s bullshit,’ she calmly said, ‘so don’t even say it.’

I tried to swallow away the lump in my throat. Was I going to survive this situation with my reputation intact?

‘Not the untoward bit,’ she amended, soothing some of my fears, ‘but the stuff about offering him a job. There was no job, was there? You caught him here, didn’t you? Prowling about the place?’

I didn’t know what to say for the best.

‘I know he comes here,’ she carried on, her tone softening. ‘The last time I tackled him about it, he promised me he’s never pinched or damaged anything.’

‘He wasn’t technically doing anything wrong when I found him last night,’ I quickly said. ‘He was just walking. He told me likes to walk here and that he used to come and visit with his nan.’

Chelsea nodded and laced her fingers together. Her eyes looked bright again.

‘Yeah,’ she said, her voice thick in her throat. ‘They always came together, every December. They never missed a year.’

‘You didn’t come with them?’

Chelsea tutted. ‘I think we both know the answer to that one, don’t we, Liza?’

I almost choked on my drink. She only ever called me Elf.

‘Yes,’ I said, recovering. ‘I suppose we do.’

‘We lost Mum at the beginning of the year,’ she continued.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said. ‘I know how hard that is.’

She turned to face me and I could see my own sadness reflected right back at me.

‘I know you do,’ she said, a sob catching, ‘and that’s been playing on my mind so much recently. I know I didn’t show it when you first arrived back, because… well… because I’m stupid sometimes, but I am sorry, you know. Now I know what you were going through when you moved here, I hate myself all the more for what I put you through too.’

I never thought I’d see the day when Chelsea Chalmers would apologise to me and as much as I treasured it, I hated the reason behind why she was doing it. I wouldn’t wish losing a mum on anyone, whatever their age.

‘I appreciate that you’ve thought that through,’ I told her, ‘but I don’t want you hating yourself for it, Chelsea. Grief is hard enough to cope with and if you throw guilt into the equation too, it’s nigh on unbearable.’

I knew that better than anyone given the circumstances surrounding how I’d lost Dad.

‘It hurts so much,’ she whispered, ‘and it’s even harder for Liam.’

‘From what he told me, I guessed they were close.’

‘Oh Liza,’ she murmured. ‘You don’t know the half of it.’

‘What do you mean?’

She turned away and picked up her mug. Her hands were shaking as she wrapped her fingers around it before taking a long sip.

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’

‘No,’ she said, putting the mug down again. ‘You’re all right. It’s just that I didn’t come here expecting to say all this today and especially not to you.’

‘A heart to heart wasn’t what I thought you had in mind when you leapt out of your car, I must admit,’ I told her, with a small smile.

I thought she might laugh at that, but instead she took a deep breath and turned to me again. Her expression was serious, her pencilled brows knitted together and her mouth a thin line. She pressed a cerise painted nail to her temple.

‘It’s harder for Liam,’ she quietly said, ‘because he thought my mum was his mum too.’

I took a moment to let that settle.

‘I’m not sure I understand.’

‘Forget it,’ she said, shaking it off.

I wasn’t sure I could.

‘Now,’ she carried on, ‘about this job.’

‘I know it’s weird,’ I told her, ignoring her pointed change of direction, ‘but you can talk to me, Chelsea. I’m not going to gossip to anyone about you behind your back, you know.’

I had never thought I’d be able to forgive her for what she’d put me through, but she’d lost her mum too and I realised now that she’d had to deal with more than that alone. If I could help her, and Liam, then I would.

‘God,’ she said, with a flash of her former anger. ‘You really are bloody perfect, aren’t you?’

‘Far from it,’ I said, imagining myself standing next to the wonder that was Maya, ‘but I am a good listener.’

She wilted again and a few seconds later the words began to flow.

‘I had Liam when I was fourteen years old,’ she told me. ‘Me, him and Mum moved to Wynmouth a year later. Mum raised him as her own and I retook a year at school which is why I’m older than you are.’

I hadn’t realised she was.

‘I had to repeat year ten and I made a point of picking on you from my very first day because I didn’t want anyone to mess with me. You, with your festive obsessed father, were the easiest target and that was why I singled you out.’

I looked at her and blinked, taking a moment to let it all sink in. That certainly explained her earlier actions, which had resembled those of a tigress protecting her cub.

‘So, you used me as a smokescreen.’ I stated rather than asked. ‘By getting our classmates to laugh at me and scrutinise my life, they didn’t bother to delve too deeply into yours?’

‘Yes,’ she said, lowering her eyes. ‘That’s the gist of it.’

Thinking back, I remembered that my first year at school, before she had arrived, hadn’t been all that bad. On a personal level, I’d been in bits, but the academic side of things had been okay. However, Wynter’s Trees had been fully operational by the time Chelsea arrived and that was when my school life had taken a nosedive. The few friends I’d made who thought Wynter’s Trees was cool, soon changed their minds when Chelsea rocked up.

‘Liam only found out the truth after Mum died,’ Chelsea said with a shudder. ‘For some stupid reason, I got it into my head that telling him would help but it didn’t and we’ve been struggling to make the switch from sibs to mum and son ever since.’

‘Bloody hell, Chelsea,’ I said, automatically reaching out and squeezing her hand.

She resisted for a moment, but then grasped mine back.

‘No one else knows,’ she said, before releasing my hand and rifling through her pockets for a tissue. ‘We haven’t told anyone yet and I think that’s why Liam comes here. It’s intense, just the two of us at home now and he needs a bit of peace and space.’

‘What’s going on?’

Our heads snapped up and there was Liam, her son, framed in the doorway.

‘Come in, Liam,’ I said, beckoning him over.

‘Is everything all right?’ asked Ned, following Liam inside.

‘Yes,’ I said, looking at my old adversary. ‘Fine. Chelsea and I have just had a catch up and now we’re working out the best way to get Liam to and from work, aren’t we?’

Liam looked relieved.

‘Yes,’ she sniffed. ‘I’m going to bring him in, in the mornings, and…’

‘One of us will take him home,’ I finished.

‘That would be great,’ she said, ‘because I’ll be at work by then.’

‘That wouldn’t be an issue, would it?’ I asked Ned.

‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘And Liam’s just told me he’s off school all day today because of an inset day.’

‘That’s right,’ said Chelsea. ‘Random timing, but that’s the headteacher for you.’

‘In that case, I was wondering,’ said Ned, ‘if I could borrow him for a bit? Maya isn’t in today and I could do with an extra pair of hands to help with a delivery I have to make in Norwich?’

He explained there were a few trees intended for destinations called Nightingale Square and Prosperous Place which were located in the city centre and as the trees were on the large side, they would take a bit of manoeuvring.

‘What do you think, Liam?’ Chelsea asked him.

He was practically bouncing up and down at the prospect of starting so soon and Ned threw him one of his waxed jackets to wear over his clothes.

‘See you later then,’ Liam beamed, as he followed Ned back out again.

‘I’ll drop him home later,’ Ned called over his shoulder before the door closed.

‘Crikey,’ said Chelsea. ‘I can’t remember the last time he looked so happy.’

She looked pretty pleased too and with the guys back to work, we talked a little longer and I reassured her that her secret was safe with me. I did, however, warn her that Liam had told me he’d lost his nan, rather than his mum this year.

‘Thanks for the heads up,’ she said. ‘I know it’s all going to come out sooner rather than later, but I appreciate that you won’t be talking about it. That really means a lot, especially given everything I put you through in the past.’

I looked around the decorated yard, and at the few customers still milling about, as we walked back to her car.

‘I can see why I was such an easy target,’ I smiled. ‘Christmas every day is hardly the norm, is it?’

I was surprised to find that knowing her motives for singling me out, had somehow made what she’d done a little more bearable. Not a lot, but a bit. Suddenly, it didn’t all feel quite so personal.

‘No,’ she agreed, ‘it’s not, but that’s not the only reason why I picked on you. I was jealous of you too.’

‘Jealous?’

‘Um,’ she said, looking back at the lodge. ‘Your life looked pretty perfect from where I was standing. Yes, you’d lost your mum, but you had a dad who loved you and the perfect Christmas every year. I would have loved that.’

I thought back to how surprised Maya had been when I said I considered her perfect and realised that my reaction to hearing Chelsea’s words about my own life was similar to Maya’s. Disbelieving. Sometimes it was hardest to see the things that were right in front of you for what they were.

‘Anyway,’ Chelsea said, ‘we’re not kids anymore, are we? We’ve moved on, right?’

‘Absolutely,’ I agreed.

Before long she’d find out exactly how far I was planning to go.

After the success of the trip to Norwich, Liam was a good ten minutes early the next day and raring to go, which was just as well as the gate was barely open before customers started flooding in. Everyone in the vicinity seemed to have Christmas on their minds and as the sky was clear and the sun was shining, it was the perfect weather for shopping outdoors.

With so many families arriving and popping their kids in the carts, I made the most of the opportunity to take some photos of the Wynter’s Trees sleighs in action, asking permission from parents first of course, and with Bandit thankfully on his best behaviour, he was more than happy to pose and be petted.

‘How’s your first day working onsite going?’ I asked Liam, who seemed to be everywhere.

‘It’s brilliant,’ he beamed, his cheeks glowing. ‘But I can’t stop. Ned needs me to help move some trees. I’ll see you later.’

He bounded off, resplendent in a Wynter’s Trees fleece that Ned had sent him home with the evening before. I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone other than Dad wear one with such pride.

‘He’s going to be worth his weight in gold,’ Maya told me, as she walked over and filled the space Liam had left. ‘He’s literally not stopped all morning.’

‘A bit like you then,’ I said, taking in her complexion, which was every bit as flushed as Liam’s, as she flicked through a file full of papers.

She gave me a wink and headed back to the office and I took a moment to look about me. Everything at Wynter’s Trees was running like a well-oiled machine and I felt like a bit of a spare part as I watched it all happening. I knew that should have made me happy. Safe in the knowledge that my future absence wouldn’t impact on the place at all, I should have felt satisfied that leaving for good wasn’t going to be the cause of any problems for anyone, but just for that moment, I unsettlingly didn’t.

After taking a brisk and bracing walk around the reserve, where I startled a handsome Chinese water deer and spotted plenty of pink-footed geese, I slipped back to the lodge, taking Bandit for company. I flicked through the notes I’d been making about my new business, along with the travel brochures, but the lure of the spectacular northern lights didn’t inspire me that morning any more than the serenity in the reserve had settled my thoughts.

‘Are you busy?’ Maya asked, popping her head in just after I’d finished lunch and was loading the dishwasher.

‘No,’ I said, ‘far from it. What’s up?’

‘Lilith’s got a family emergency and is going to have to close up because everyone’s too busy in their own huts to help out in hers.’

‘I can do it,’ I said, readily abandoning the dishes. ‘I’ll grab a coat.’

I felt it would be good to be doing something, rather than wandering aimlessly about. I had been thinking I’d head to the reserve again, with Dad’s binoculars this time, but chatting to customers and keeping busy would probably be better for my unexpected dip in mood. I hadn’t had all that much to do with Lilith, but I was certain I could sell at least a few of the stunning wreaths and glorious green garlands she made on her behalf.

‘Actually,’ said Maya, biting her lip, ‘she’s asked if I could man her hut, because I’ve got some experience in making wreaths and she’s got a couple of orders that need finishing off. I wondered if you could possibly take my place helping Ned and Liam?’

‘Oh,’ I said, ‘yes, of course. I’m happy to do anything and that sounds like a sensible switch.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You go over there now and I’ll go and find Ned.’

‘He’s in the plantation.’

‘Right.’

‘And you’ll need to wrap up,’ she advised, ‘because it’s freezing and you’ll need gloves too. We’re shifting a lot of trees.’

‘Already? It’s only November.’

‘I know,’ she said, backing out again. ‘Ned doesn’t really like letting cut trees go so early because they’ll be past their best by Christmas, but we can’t turn business away, can we?’

‘I suppose not,’ I said, as she disappeared again.

I got suitably togged up and made my way through the busy yard. I could hear a chainsaw at work in the distance and it triggered a plethora of memories. Dad had always insisted on decorating the lodge early, but the tree didn’t come inside until the second weekend of December, even though it was well hydrated and in a pot.

It had so much care lavished on it, it must have felt thoroughly spoilt and I hoped the trees I could see Liam feeding through the netting machine received the same level of attention now they were poised to fulfil their festive destiny.

‘This netting is completely biodegradable and therefore environmentally friendly,’ I listened to him explain to the family who were waiting for their tree. ‘Which is of course completely in line with Mr Wynter’s original vision for the plantation.’

He looked at me and grinned, before loading the tree back into the sleigh it had been pulled out of the plantation on and checking the receipt the eldest child held up and which confirmed that David, manning the till in the barn, had been paid.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Liam said, also remembering to hand over the Wynter’s Tree care sheet. ‘See you next year.’

‘You sound like a total pro,’ I told him as the family returned his kind words and wandered off. ‘I had no idea the netting was eco-friendly.’

‘Yep,’ he said, patting the machine. ‘Ned told me all about it this morning when he trained me on how to use it. Do you know where Maya’s got to? She was helping shift the trees and ferrying the left carts back from the car park.’

‘She’s working in one of the huts now,’ I explained. ‘So, I’m taking on her jobs.’

‘You’d better go and find Ned then,’ he said, ‘there’s probably loads more trees that need moving by now.’

‘Yes, sir,’ I grinned with a mock salute, before marching off.

More often than not, the people buying the trees liked to pull them out of the plantation themselves, but that wasn’t always the case and sure enough there were a couple of people waiting for assistance after I’d followed my ears and found Ned.

‘Where’s Maya?’ he frowned, once he’d turned off the chainsaw.

I told him the same thing I’d explained to Liam and then got to work. Each of the trees had a specific coloured ribbon, based on their variety and size, which the customers gave to David so he knew how much to charge them. The system was a good one and worked well. It didn’t take me long to get into my stride and the hours flew by with the tills everywhere ringing all afternoon.

I was making my way back from the car park at the end of the day with a sleigh in each hand and feeling tired and grubby when Liam called me over.

‘Are you still working, Liam?’ I frowned.

He’d been at it for hours but looked as keen as when he’d started.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Ned said I can legally do up to eight hours on a Saturday if I want to.’

I was pleased Ned had checked the legalities involved in hiring a teenager, because that was something I hadn’t taken into account at all.

‘That’s all right then,’ I said, breathing hard, ‘so what’s up? Do you need a comfort break?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m good, but someone has left this in one of the sleighs,’ he went on to explain, pulling a wallet, full of notes and cards out of his fleece pocket. ‘I didn’t see who it was so I haven’t been able to track them down.’

I had just taken it from him, noticing that it was an old and slightly battered but still very beautiful Chanel wallet, when a woman came out of the barn and rushed in my direction.

‘Oh, you’ve found it,’ she beamed, clasping her hands together.

A much younger man followed her out, weighed down with shopping bags and with a frown etched deep across his forehead.

‘It’s here, Jamie,’ the woman called over her shoulder, sounding relieved. ‘I must have left it in this little cart we used to ferry our bags about.’

‘For pity’s sake,’ said the man, identified as Jamie. ‘I think you’d better let me take care of it, Mum.’

I handed it to her and she willingly passed it to her son.

‘I didn’t find it,’ I said, keen to give Liam all the credit. ‘My young assistant here spotted it and handed it in.’

‘Well,’ smiled the woman, turning her attention to Liam. ‘That was most kind of you, young man.’

Liam nodded, but didn’t look particularly impressed by her praise.

‘What is it?’ she asked him.

‘Yes, Liam,’ I nudged. ‘What’s wrong. You did the right thing looking after it until I came along, didn’t you?’

‘I know that,’ he said, looking at Jamie and then down at his boots.

‘I know what it is,’ Jamie smiled. ‘You’re thinking your colleague shouldn’t have just handed it over, aren’t you?’

Liam’s eyes snapped up again, but he didn’t say anything.

‘Of course,’ gasped the woman. ‘I could be anyone, couldn’t I?’

‘Well,’ said Liam, turning as red as a beetroot. ‘It’s not very likely that two wallets could go missing in one day, but I think I would have asked you to somehow identify yourself before I handed it over.’

I felt my own cheeks flush.

‘You’re right, Liam.’ I grimaced. ‘I should have done that.’

The poor lad looked as though he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him, but he was completely right. This woman looked elegant and sophisticated but it didn’t automatically follow that she was the owner of the Chanel wallet.

‘Let’s start again,’ said Jamie, handing Liam the wallet.

‘Good idea,’ agreed the woman. ‘Open it up and pull out a card. You’ll see my name on any one of those. It’s Catherine Connelly.’

Liam looked reluctant, but acquiesced, pulling out a black Coutts card. He read the name then handed it to me.

‘Yes,’ I confirmed, ‘Catherine Connelly.’

‘Sorry,’ said Liam, handing me the wallet again.

‘Don’t you apologise,’ said Catherine Connelly. ‘You did the right thing.’

‘You did, Liam,’ I added. ‘I should be the one apologising.’

I handed the wallet back and Catherine Connelly immediately opened it and pulled out a crisp twenty-pound note which she thrust into Liam’s hand.

‘Consider that a finder’s fee,’ she smiled at him. ‘Thank you for keeping my wallet safe. My husband gave it to me many Christmases ago and I would have been devastated to lose it.’

Personally, I would have been pretty upset about the lost cash too.

‘Which is why I’m going to carry it,’ said Jamie, tucking it into a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

‘We’ve had a wonderful day,’ said Catherine Connelly as she and her son drifted away. ‘This place is charming. Utterly charming.’

Liam looked from his hand to me and back again.

‘Thank you!’ he called after them and they turned and waved.

‘Well done, Liam,’ I grinned. I still felt a bit of a fool, but praise where praise was due. ‘What an absolutely fabulous way to end your day.’