We broke up last Christmas
A hasty knee jerk reaction
To a silly misunderstanding
Which I regretted so much
And I was still hoping
For some kind of miracle
That we might make amends
When we met by chance
And there was a spark
I was looking closely
For some kind of sign
That we might go back
To how things were
But it was soon apparent
That it was too late now
To salvage our relationship
That was born and died
You’re just a name in an address book
But thoughts of you pop into my head
Some distant half-forgotten memories
Of when we shared a home and a bed,
In quiet moments I wish us back there
Where I had a special place in your heart
But it would take a Christmas miracle
For us to go back in time to the start
It was a very special Christmas love, but
Too much time has passed since then
And it’s too late now to have regrets
For love that died by the seasons end
She was in
halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls from Beaumont
Island, curvy redhead Poppy Nunthorpe, Paige Chapman, a skinny flat chested girl, who was beautiful but painfully shy and
Nicole Wilson a quiet busty brunette.
All four of the
girls were studying different subjects, but their strong friendship resulted
from their shared history as islanders, and as they got on so well the four of
them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and
third years.
Stacey was five
foot nine, tall, beautiful and kindly with bobbed brunette hair, and hazel eyes, a lovely smile and a slender
figure and she lived at Crag Edge Farm
which is the smallest of the five farms on the island, on the west of the
island bordered in the east by Roman Road and Halfway Lane to the south.
Sunday
was a filthy wet day as Stacey drove through Saxvirdan and she spotted Dennis
Simmons at the bus stop, he was tucked into one corner, and she wouldn’t have
recognised him, had she not already known he was there.
She
sounded the horn and stopped in the bus bay before lowering the window.
“Happy
Birthday!” she called
“Oh!”
he exclaimed “Thank you”
“Do
you want a lift?” he asked
“No
thanks I’m waiting for Tyler” he replied
“Well
how about getting in and keeping dry” she suggested
“Yes
please” he said smiling broadly and quickly got in the car.
“Where
are you going?” Stacey asked “on such a miserable day”
“I
don’t know” he replied, “It’s a surprise, Tyler’s organised something and said
to meet him at the bus stop”
“I
see, well how about I keep you company until you get your surprise” she offered
“Cool”
he said and smiled
They
sat in the car for about twenty minutes chatting and laughing before he said
“Where
has he got to?”
“He’s
at the Cherry Blossom” she replied
“What’s
he doing there?” he asked
“He’s
on a date with Poppy” she replied enigmatically “Well I suppose you might say
it’s a double date”
“A
date?” Dennis exclaimed
“He’s
on a date with Poppy? Why?”
And
then he added
“Who
are the other couple?”
“I
was hoping you’d ask me that” Stacey said and then waited
“Well
tell me who it is then” he said with as much interest as he could muster
“Us”
she said and then there was silence for a full minute as he processed the
information, and he replied
“Say
that again”
“Us”
she repeated “We are the other couple”
“We
are?”
“Yes,
does that meet with your approval?” Stacey asked
“Oh
yes” he replied with a chuckle
“Good”
she said as she put her arm around him “Do you want your Birthday present now?”
“Is
it a kiss?” he asked hopefully
“It
is” she replied, “Happy Birthday” and put her lips to his and after a long
five-minute embrace they came up for air and she said
“We’d
better get going, they’ll be wondering where we’ve got to”
“No
not yet” he said with alarm “I’d like another one of those Birthday presents
first”
After
fulfilling his Birthday request, and several subsequent ones, they arrived at
the Cherry Blossom half an hour later.
On a rainy Monday morning
Natasha Baker was paying a visit to Kingham’s Saddle and Tack makers, on Roman
Road, or more specifically, she was paying a visit to Oliver Kingham.
There had long been something
simmering between them but following Howard Nelson and Carolyn Livingston’s
engagement party she had decided to be more proactive.
In her role as Horse Breeder
on Woodside Farm she was accustomed to wearing a baggy sweater, jodhpurs and
boots, but at the party she managed to turn a few heads wearing a dress and
high heels, and she was sure that Oliver’s eye, was turned on her also.
So she visited Kingham’s
wearing figure hugging jeans and a snug fitting top to make sure his eyes were
on her again.
Her pretence for being there
was a saddle in need of repair, they weren’t desperate for another saddle, and
the one in question had been in need of attention for some time, but it gave
her an excuse to go and see Oliver.
Unfortunately for both of
them, he was not alone as his two apprentices, Jacqueline Craig and Matt
Stearnes were present, so Natasha wasn’t able to use her womanly wiles on him.
So after a brief chat she
said goodbye and went back out into the gloomy weather and resolved to get him
on another day.
It was a grey damp Tuesday
morning and when the early morning mist turned to heavy drizzle, Molly and
Danny adjourned their writing session and took a coffee break.
As Molly poured the coffee
Danny said
“It’s St Andrews Day next
week”
“Yes, I know”
“But do you know what that
means?” he asked
“Erm no” she replied
doubtfully
“I’ll give you a clue” he
said “Emmaline’s Christmas Emporium”
“We’re going to Emmaline’s?” she
asked excitedly
“Yes” he replied
“Oh goodie, I like
Sharpington” Molly said excitedly.
“When can we go?”
“After the weekend” he
replied
The following day the drizzle had given way to strong
winds and persistent rain which kept everyone indoors for the rest of the week,
at least all of those who didn’t need to venture out.
Natasha Baker was one of the islanders who felt
compelled to brave the weather as she still had unfinished business with Oliver
Kingham.
However
fabricated her ploy sounded she was going to run with it and take her chances,
but when she got inside Jacqueline told her that Oliver wasn’t in as he’d gone
to the mainland.
“Oh botheration” she muttered as she got back in the
Landrover.
It had been almost a month
since the storm deposited part of a tree through Deborah’s window and having
her in the house with him, with her amiable manner, wicked sense of humour,
joyous infectious laughter and the divine smell of her scent in his nostrils
was both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing for all of the
above and a curse, because living with her and wanting her so badly was
absolute torture.
The last weekend in November
they were both off duty, and ordinarily they would get out on one of their
walks but with the weather being so bad they were confined to the house.
It was a busy night in Philips Folly on Friday night, but as the evening wore on and the crowd thinned out Michelle got to spend some time with Mark one on one, and they were getting on very well, and when the bell rang for “chucking out time” she very much fancied her chances, especially when he invited her to his place for a nightcap, and when she gauged his level of disappointment when she declined, Michelle knew she was in.
Michelle was still living with her parents and had arranged for her dad
to pick her up from the bus stop.
About halfway between the pub and the bus stop it started to rain so
they made a run for it and ducked into the bus shelter, and the moment they
were undercover she pinned him in the corner and kissed him, and when she
stopped, still pinning him in the corner she said
“Well, that was ok.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back for that nightcap?” he asked.
“I can’t” she said with real disappointment “next time though for sure.”
Then Michelle kissed him again and when she had finished the rain eased
off and about a minute later there was the sound of a car horn and when she
looked over her shoulder it was her dad.
He thanked Mark for looking after her, Michelle thanked him for the
company and as she got in the car she said.
“Next time for sure”
Now considering it was only a song in a bus shelter the effect on them
both after that kiss meant they couldn’t wait until the next time.
April Portnall who was also one of the popular girls,
but she started with them in nursery as well and she had no affectation either,
her cousin Matt Stearnes who was 22,
Phil Wilson and Eden Hills.
The party was at a Chinese restaurant called the
Cherry Blossom which was Emma Jane’s favourite.
As you would expect from such a great restaurant it
was a really excellent meal and a quantity of wine was consumed with the meal
so as they reminisced about their shared history they laughed until they cried.
As they left the Cherry
Blossom and got down to street level, they had the usual hugs and kisses on the
pavement and then Phil went across the road to
where his Dads car was parked.
Then as April, Matt and Eden
all lived in the same neck of the woods they went off to get a Taxi and as Emma
Jane and Blake lived close by, they walked home.
As they walked away from the
town square he said
“I had a really great time”
“Yeh me too” she agreed
“Wasn’t it great to get the
six of us together again?”
“We should do it more often”
Blake suggested
““We” should get together
more often” Emma Jane said
“What just the two of us?” he
asked
“Yeh” she said coyly
“Just you and the geek?” he
asked with surprise
“You’re not a geek” she said
defensively “And anyway if you were that wouldn’t stop me fancying you,”
“You fancy me?” he asked pointing at himself
“Didn't you know?” she asked, and he shook his head
“What about you?” she asked shyly
“Do you fancy me?
“I don’t know about fancying
you” he said, and she was clearly crestfallen for a second
“But I’ve been in love with
you since we were 7 if that counts”
“Pig” she said and laughed
before she kissed him softy on the lips which led to the most wonderful
spine-tingling embrace that seemed to last forever.
When it ended, she looked at
him with her soulful eyes and smiled the most loving smile.
Blake returned her smile and
wanted to say something fitting for the moment, but he was lost for words.
“Wow” she said beating him to
the punch then she giggled and ran off up the road and shouted over her
shoulder
“You’ll have to marry me now”
Thursday was Dr Deborah Woodward’s 39th birthday so Stuart Cameron took her out for dinner to celebrate at the Orangery at the Beaumont Manor which was where he gave Deborah her present.
“I thought I said no present”
she said
“I know but I already had
this by then” he said, so under protest she opened it, and it took her breath
away.
Back in June on one of their
walks when they were crossing a stream, he caught sight of something glistening
in the water, so he knelt on the bank and reached down and picked it up an
irregular shaped piece of aviation Perspex about the size of a cigarette
packet.
He assumed it originated from
a German World War Two aircraft, a Messerschmitt probably, and likely fell to
earth as a result of cannon fire or flak.
Following the find Stuart
began fashioning it into two items, one of which he had given her and the other
one he was keeping for Christmas.
“It’s beautiful” she exclaimed
as she took the perfectly crafted Dolphin from the box.
“What is it made of?” she
asked
“The Aviation Perspex I
found” he replied, and she gasped
“You made it?” she asked in
disbelief as she studied the Dolphin.
“I needed help with the
mounting” he replied
He had done everything he
could do himself, but he needed help from one of his patients, Daniel White, at
Longlake Farm, who made jewellery as a hobby, so one Sunday he drove out to his
farm so that he could finish off the pieces with gold mountings so they could
be worn on a chain.
“I’ve never received such a
special present” she said and kissed him “Thank you”
She would have liked to give
him a more special “thank you” but they hadn’t got past the friend’s stage, but
she still had hopes.
When Emma Jane Ratcliffe was approaching her twenty first birthday Blake Ramsey wasn’t at all surprised-on Monday to get an invitation, they had after all been friends since nursery school.
It had clearly been
established that Emma Jane was one of the popular group, Blake was in no
uncertain terms, not.
He was not athletic,
artistic, or sexy but they did have intelligence in common and his forte was
science, in particular Physics.
So under normal
circumstances, friendship and intelligence aside, why would one of the popular
girls invite a Science geek to her 21st birthday party?
Anyone not close to her could
be forgiven if they were surprised but Blake was not.
They would have been further
surprised when it turned out he was only one of six guests at the party, one of
those being Emma Jane herself.
Though for Blake it certainly
wasn’t a surprise knowing her as he did, she was never a flashy person, so she
didn’t want a big flashy party with lots of superficial friends.
In the days following the
engagement party at the Beaumont, Dale Power couldn’t get Eden Hills out of his
head, and by the Tuesday he was totally smitten.
His Dad was a massive Star
Trek fan and when he was a child he watched the films with his Dad, and when he
first saw Eden, he was taken back to his childhood when he watched the first Star Trek
movie.
In the movie there was an alien
character, Lieutenant Ilia, onboard the Enterprise, played by Persis Khambatta, and
she was completely bald, and in his adolescent sexual awakening the sexy bald alien featured heavily in his fantasies.
Since meeting Eden at the party his youthful yearning had been rekindled
and he looked forward to seeing her again, and as she worked with the horses at
Woodside Farm, and he worked for the only Blacksmith’s on the island the
chances of them meeting again were very high.
While Dale was fantasizing
about Eden, Michelle Kendal was doing the same about his older brother.
She was approaching
twenty-four, was five feet two with brunette hair and an olive complexion and
she had it bad for Mark Power.
He was a couple of years
older than her, and they had known each other for a few years because she
worked with horses and he shooed their horses, but she hadn’t been able to make
that count.
Even when they both attended
the same engagement party, she couldn’t get close enough to him, for long
enough to seal the deal.
However, on Wednesday she found out that he had also been invited to a
mutual friend’s birthday drinks in Spaniards Creek that Friday, and that
offered her an opportunity that she wasn’t going to waste.
