The Christmas Stocking and Other Stories Read online

  Contents

  About the Book

  About the Author

  Also by Katie Fforde

  Title Page

  Letter from the Author

  Dedication

  The Christmas Stocking

  A Dream Christmas

  Candlelight at Christmas

  Dogs Are for Christmas

  A Christmas in Disguise

  The Christmas Fairy

  A sneak peek of Katie’s new novel

  Copyright

  About the Book

  Delve inside this Christmas stocking …

  It’s Christmas morning.

  The tree is decorated, the presents wrapped and the turkey’s in the oven.

  Outside, the first flakes of snow are beginning to fall.

  And here it is …

  Your Christmas stocking, choc-full of perfectly themed short stories perfect for anyone who loves romance, humour and happy-ever-after endings.

  Guaranteed to make this your happiest Christmas ever.

  About the Author

  Katie Fforde lives in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with her family, and is a true country girl at heart. Each of her books explores a different profession or background and her research has helped her bring these to life. She’s been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and she’s even been on a Ray Mears survival course. She loves being a writer; to her there isn’t a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. She particularly enjoys writing love stories. She believes falling in love is the best thing in the world, and she wants all her characters to experience it, and her readers to share their stories.

  To find out more about Katie Fforde step into her world at www.katiefforde.com, visit her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @KatieFforde.

  Also by Katie Fforde

  Living Dangerously

  The Rose Revived

  Wild Designs

  Stately Pursuits

  Life Skills

  Thyme Out

  Artistic Licence

  Highland Fling

  Paradise Fields

  Restoring Grace

  Flora’s Lot

  Practically Perfect

  Going Dutch

  Wedding Season

  Love Letters

  A Perfect Proposal

  Summer of Love

  Recipe for Love

  A French Affair

  The Perfect Match

  A Vintage Wedding

  A Summer at Sea

  A Secret Garden

  Dear Reader,

  Who would have thought there were so many different ways of experiencing Christmas? Although of course there are as many Christmases as there are people, I’m only used to having the one. I had great fun writing these stories; in fact I think I slightly prefer my Christmas to be in story form. I have a bit more control over events that way!

  So here is a book of Christmas short stories for you. I did one a couple of years ago – A Christmas Feast – and that was such a great experience I decided to do another. Last time, all except one of the stories had been featured in magazines over the years. That little volume used up all my existing supply, however, so this time only two of the stories – ‘A Christmas Candle’ and ‘A Christmas in Disguise’ – have appeared before and that was in digital form only. All the others are brand new!

  One of them was inspired by my grand-dogs, so called because although they belong to my daughter, I helped hand rear them when their mother died tragically a year ago. They are a joy to us all, even though they covered my house in mud regularly until finally we fenced off the pond. They also love to embarrass me in front of my daughter and her husband, by clambering on my furniture and generally doing things that they know they aren’t allowed to do at home! Which proves I’m not a fit grand-dog mother at all!

  I do hope you enjoy these stories, and that they may offer you a little light relief when real-life Christmas is getting a bit frantic!

  With love and Happy Christmas

  Katie xxx

  To Annie and Wilson, my much loved grand-dogs.

  It was Saturday morning, the day before Christmas Eve, and the mild, damp Christmas weather had suddenly bucked its ideas up and turned cold. Romy was suddenly freezing.

  She’d been selling Christmas decorations in an old station building at a bustling Cotswold Christmas market and she’d done well in the first two hours. But now, in spite of wearing masses of layers under her leather jacket (including her not-very-cool thermal vest), two pairs of socks under long-haired sheepskin boots, a pair of stripy leg warmers over her jeans (a later addition, courtesy of one of the other stalls), and a furry trapper hat, the cold was beginning to penetrate.

  She looked longingly at the refreshments stall that was doing great business. She’d been up at the crack of dawn and she’d only managed to grab a banana and muesli bar on her way out. Also, her boiler had just broken down so the shower had been tepid and the flat freezing. A cup of something hot, and maybe a bacon butty, would give her stamina for the day ahead. But if she ran over to buy a cup of tea she might miss valuable sales from the group of people, mostly men, who’d just entered the building.

  Although it was only about twelve o’clock they’d obviously just come from the pub. They probably thought they were getting their Christmas shopping done early, with Christmas Eve still to go, perhaps safe in the knowledge that they only had one present to buy. Adoring wives and girlfriends no doubt would be buying presents for mothers, sisters, ‘Auntie Flo’s and anyone else necessary.

  She noticed a man come in behind the group and at first she couldn’t tell if he was with them, or on his own. He was wearing motorbike leathers and had a sort of swagger about him. He had slightly long, dark blond hair and walked with determination. As he didn’t appear to be drunk and wasn’t wearing a crumpled suit, she decided he was on his own.

  Romy reckoned he was here to buy a present for his girlfriend or his wife, and so she gave herself a minute to stop finding him rather attractive and think about her own boyfriend. Gus was waiting for her in France, with his parents, getting ready for a big family Christmas. She looked around her stall, wondering, for the seven-thousandth time, if his family would appreciate her presents, samples of which she was now selling. There was a difference between ‘home-made’ and ‘handmade’ and she was going for the ‘handmade, personalised look’.

  She’d met Gus’s expat parents, who lived in France but didn’t seem to speak a lot of French or have many French friends. His two sisters she had checked out thoroughly on Facebook. They were nice-looking, sensibly dressed and looked like advertisements for Boden with their shiny blond children, whose white teeth were evidence of regular trips to the dentist and limited access to fizzy drinks.

  For the elder sister’s three children, Romy had done a set of frosted-glass jam jars with silhouettes of Mummy and Daddy, all three children, and the dog (a Labrador). She had been aiming for a generic child but actually she felt she had achieved a likeness. It wasn’t an ideal present to be carrying on a budget airline – she hadn’t wanted to spend extra money on hold luggage – but she thought they were nice. For the younger sister’s two little boys she had painted plain white lantern fairy lights with figures from Minecraft. Finally both women, and their mother, were getting silk scarves, hand-painted by Romy. Perfect for carry-on luggage. She would buy presents for the husbands at the duty-free shop. Alcohol was always acceptable.

  As she ran through the checklist in her head whilst surveying her stall, Romy felt a swell of pride at her handiwork. She’d been working so hard this
season, doing all the local markets and Christmas fairs, selling her Christmas decorations. It wasn’t a major earner but, apart from the rent for the stall, it was almost all profit. And it topped up what she earned from her part-time job while she was doing a master’s. She was proud of the decorations and only hoped Gus’s parents would appreciate them when they opened their presents.

  Thinking about them as a family she reflected that while they were all kind enough, they were very hearty and, going by the parents, had loud voices. She didn’t really object to the volume, it was the backslapping and teasing that was only just the right side of cruel that bothered her. And they all thought that anything not entirely practical, like art, was a complete waste of time. To make matters worse Romy knew she had only been invited to France because Gus had told his family her own parents were going to New Zealand for Christmas. Really she would have preferred to spend Christmas with friends, but she would have felt ungrateful turning down the invitation.

  Gus was lovely, of course, and Romy had been mad about him when they’d first got together. But a year in she sometimes wondered if she’d only been attracted to him because he was so different from her previous boyfriend. He’d once admitted to her that his friends were all a bit shocked that he’d chosen such an arty, indie type while at the same time envying him for having such a gorgeous girlfriend. When they first met he had asked her rather anxiously if she had any tattoos. She hadn’t, but his question made her think of getting one, a bat perhaps, on her wrist. This trip to France would be a bit of test – if their relationship survived they were probably meant to be together. She wished she didn’t feel so ambivalent about it all: the Christmas and the relationship.

  ‘Here,’ said a voice. ‘I thought you could use this. You look cold.’

  It was the man in leathers, handing her a mug of spicy hot chocolate.

  She took it with a grateful smile. ‘Thank you so much,’ she said. ‘I certainly could use it. I hardly had time for a cup of instant coffee this morning and my boiler has broken.’ She took a heart-warming sip. ‘Please, take a look round the stall and have something free. For your girlfriend, maybe?’

  She hated herself for what must look like a blatant bit of digging but it was too late.

  ‘I have actually got her present,’ said the man. Judging by his expression, he seemed fairly confident that his girlfriend would like it. Romy knew it was silly to be disappointed – it wasn’t as if she was free herself – but somehow she was.

  ‘Well, that’s good! Most men don’t even start thinking about it until Christmas Eve so you’re well ahead.’

  ‘I do need some Christmas decorations though; my house is a bit of a shell at the moment. My girlfriend’s been having an early Christmas with her family in Connecticut. I want the place to look amazing when she comes back. Make her really fall in love with it.’

  ‘Well,’ said Romy, having now sipped enough hot chocolate to warm her up. ‘Christmas decs are what I specialise in. All made by me. And there are these, in case you missed them.’ She gestured to a jar on the floor that contained white-painted branches. On the branches were decorations made to look like hot-air balloons. Every one had a single battery light so from a distance the branches looked as if they were dotted with stars. Close up you could see the individually painted egg-like shapes.

  He inclined his head. He had a slightly unkempt look that seemed genuine and not deliberate. If it was deliberate, it was extremely effective. ‘I have to say, I was drawn to them when I first came in.’

  ‘But you stopped at the coffee stall first?’

  ‘I saw you stamping up and down and flapping your arms. I guessed you were cold.’ He was very twinkly, and impossible not to respond to.

  Romy laughed. ‘Was I that obvious? I am sorry. I think this stall is in a bit of a draught or something. Everyone else seems fine.’ In spite of his ‘bad-boy’ good looks, he had a very kind smile. She experienced a pang of jealousy for the girl who had parents in Connecticut. ‘So!’ she said briskly. ‘What would you like?’

  ‘I think I’d like all of them,’ he said after some thought.

  ‘I can – happily – give you one, but not all of them.’

  ‘And I – happily – will pay for all of them. I’ll have my one free one too, of course. And everything else you have left. I want to make a big impression.’

  He grinned. Romy coughed and looked down at her decorations. He was far too attractive for her own good, she decided, but as a customer he was pretty much perfect.

  ‘Well, the hot-air balloons are five pounds each,’ she said. This had put people off, although the work and effort that had gone into them had been enormous. ‘The bats are four pounds fifty and the jam jars with the tea lights – although they are extremely pretty – are only a pound.’

  ‘In which case, I won’t have a free balloon. A hot chocolate isn’t worth a fiver.’

  ‘Have one of these then,’ suggested Romy. She held out a model bat made out of wire and black tights. She’d made several but they hadn’t sold well. Bats were rather niche, she discovered.

  ‘Oh, a bat!’ he said, sounding excited. ‘I like bats!’

  ‘You do? Then have a couple of them. No one else seems to like them. I suppose they’re more Halloween than Christmas. I think they’re rather sweet.’

  ‘I like them because they got me my house and music studio cheap.’

  ‘Clever bats! How did they learn that trick? It’s one I’d like to learn myself.’

  He laughed. ‘Sadly they didn’t do it by being clever, only by nesting in the roof of the buildings, and as they’re protected they can’t be removed. And not everyone likes bats.’

  ‘So what sort of a house is it? If bats want to live there? It’s not an old church or anything, is it?’ She had a vision of bats streaming from a narrow arched window at dusk, with Dracula following – from a larger window, obviously.

  ‘It’s an old mill but it was empty for years and years and the woods have grown up around it. It’s going to be amazing when it’s finished.’

  ‘Sounds wonderful! I’ve always wanted to live in the woods, to wake up with the sound of the birds singing, to see the dappled sunlight filtering through the branches.’ She stopped. ‘Not in winter, maybe!’ She laughed and pulled off her hat. ‘It comes of having been nicknamed Goldilocks,’ she said as her blonde curls revealed themselves.

  ‘All is now clear!’ he said, joining in her laughter. ‘You were destined to live in the woods!’

  ‘I have thought of dyeing my hair black so I could pretend to be a bat. Then finding myself a home in the woods might be easier.’

  ‘Don’t do that!’ He sounded horrified.

  ‘No, it’s all right. A friend did it once and it took ages and hundreds of pounds for her to realise that, actually, blondes do have more fun. But now, your decorations? How many did you say you wanted?’

  ‘I want them all.’

  ‘Really? There are ten balloons, which is fifty quid straight off. I’d give you a discount of course.’

  ‘No need for that. Just add up how much it all costs.’

  Romy did the calculation. ‘Let’s call it eighty quid.’

  He had done the sum a bit quicker than she had. ‘I make it ninety-five.’

  ‘No, with the discount for quantity, it’s eighty quid.’

  ‘Ninety!’

  She shook her head. ‘Eighty is my final offer.’

  ‘Ninety! I want the branches as well.’

  ‘The branches are free. You could find your own branches – especially if you live in a wood!’

  ‘I suppose, but then I’d have to find white paint and a brush. I’d rather have yours.’

  ‘Go on then.’ This man had bought her entire stock, which meant she could knock off early and pack. Her flight was horrendously early in the morning and she had to catch a coach to the airport even earlier.

  He frowned. ‘I’ve just thought. I came on my bike. How would I get the branches
home?’

  ‘Well, how are you going to get the hot-air balloons and all the other decorations home?’

  ‘In my top box but I couldn’t manage the branches.’

  ‘Then man up and make new ones! You wouldn’t have to paint them white. Stick them in a bucket or something, like I’ve used. Fill it with sand, or earth or stones, and add the hot air balloons. That’s your Christmas tree done. Just add presents and chocolate.’

  He didn’t respond but spent several seconds looking at her speculatively. ‘Actually, I wonder if I could ask you a huge favour?’

  ‘Ask away. I can say no.’ But realised she probably wouldn’t.

  ‘I need to get some groceries – more than I can fit in the top box really. I was going to try and get the shopping delivered or hope I found a friend to get it back for me.’ He paused. ‘But would you take the groceries and the decorations?’

  Romy didn’t think for long. Apart from anything else – and there were a lot of things – he had bought her entire stock. Delivering it wasn’t too much of an ask.

  ‘OK, I’ll do it. In exchange for a tour of your house.’

  He gave a shout of laughter. ‘Done! But don’t expect anything too much. It’s a work in progress. And now, let me pay you …?’

  ‘Romy,’ she supplied.

  ‘Felix. It’s been great doing business with you,’ he said, passing over some cash.

  She accepted the notes he put into her hand and slipped them into her bag. Now she would have some spending money in France. ‘You go and do your shopping.’

  As Romy followed Felix in her car she felt skittish and excited. Because of Felix, she’d have extra time to pack for her trip to France tomorrow. She needed extra time. None of her clothes seemed suitable and her presents were bulky. And as Gus’s parents had been kind enough to invite her for Christmas, she didn’t want to shock them by wearing clothes they thought too outlandish. Her natural style was a bit Goth-like. It was going to be hard for her to fit in with the turned-up collars, Liberty prints and cashmere cardigans.