Jules Wake - Notting Hill in the Snow

Two streets and my pace began to slow.

Blimey, this street was posh. No coloured houses here; everything was staid white and Regency rather than Victorian and protected by grand steps up to the houses and bounded by wrought iron railings. There were lots of extremely expensive cars parked in the permit-only bays. The houses were all proper houses, not broken down into flats like in my road. My flat was one of five in what had once been a house.

And look at that glossy, shiny front door with its lion’s head brass knocker and the perfectly manicured bay trees on either side. I stopped at the bottom of the imposing set of steps leading up to the door, my fingers crossing in my pockets. This was a proper grown-up, married person’s house.

I lifted the heavy knocker and let it drop, hearing the sound echo in the hall beyond. I could feel the beat of my heart thudding a little harder and faster than normal. Breathe , I told myself.

The door opened and Grace stood there looking very small next to its solid glossiness. She was dressed in a cute pink sweatshirt with a sparkly love heart, in which was written Loves to dance, lives to dance and a pair of slightly darker pink leggings. The co-ordinated look was completed by matching little pink sheepskin moccasin slippers. With her hair bundled up in a pineapple-style ponytail, she looked cute and savvy in a slightly terrifying way.

‘You’re late,’ she said.

‘Yes, I’m sorry.

‘Who is it, Grace?’ Nate came hurrying into view looking a little harassed and then his mouth drew in a taut, displeased line. ‘Oh, it’s you.’

‘Hi, sorry I’m late. My phone died. I couldn’t call because I left my charger at work.’ I pulled it out of my pocket and waved it in the air for want of something to do in the face of his gimlet stare.

‘I see,’ he said with a terse nod. Hard-face Nate was definitely intimidating; he did it rather well. Unfortunately for him, all I could think was that it added to his overall sexiness. At last he said, his mouth turning down in displeasure, ‘Grace, do you want to pop into the kitchen?’ It was said with calm nonchalance but I could see the anger bubbling beneath the surface.

‘No, Daddy,’ she said, looking up at him with an innocent expression.

I almost laughed but a quick glance at Nate’s stern expression made me pinch my lips together to suppress the quick burst of misplaced amusement. I could tell from the annoyed glint in his eye I was not helping my case.

‘I’d like you to go into the kitchen while I talk to Miss Smith.’

‘Are you going to tell her off? For being late. You could take a house point away.’

‘Grace, would you do as you’re told?’ Nate’s tone had changed and her mouth squashed into a mutinous line, making her look like a smaller, crosser version of her father.

‘OK,’ she said and then looked up at me. ‘Daddy’s very cross with you.’ Then she whispered to me, ‘But it’s OK if you admit you made a mistake and you tell the truth about it and then you apologise properly and say you’re sorry.’

‘That’s good advice, thank you,’ I said as gravely as I could manage.

‘Grace.’ Nate’s warning tone had her turning away but she gave me one last almost reassuring look over her shoulder, as if to say, Don’t worry you’ll be fine , before she disappeared through a door at the very end of the rather large entrance hall.

Nate came to stand in the doorway, keeping it half closed. A guard at the gate and I wasn’t getting through. I could see that I wasn’t about to be invited in, no matter how cold it was.

‘I’m sorry I’m so late but—’

‘I thought I’d made it quite clear. I’m not in a place where I can let Grace be messed around.’ He raised a single eyebrow that spoke volumes.

‘I know. You did. But I couldn’t phone because my phone’s dead and my charger is at work. And that’s why I had to come. To explain. I feel really bad about it.’ Although, of the two of them, Grace seemed the more forgiving. ‘I’ve come to apologise and explain.’

‘Well, thank you for coming and don’t worry, I don’t need your excuses. If it was important enough for you to come, you’d have been here. Clearly you’re a very busy person. Unlike you, I have responsibilities.’

‘My mother had an accident,’ I blurted out. ‘She’s in St Mary’s. I was there till five o’clock this morning. I slept through my alarm this morning.’

‘Oh,’ said Nate and I felt a flash of satisfaction at seeing the uptight, snotty front deflate almost immediately. ‘My goodness, is she OK? What happened? Has she been in an accident?’

‘She had a fall. She’s OK but it was a long night. Hence me oversleeping, for which I’m genuinely very sorry. Despite going to bed at five, I wasn’t going to let you down. I had every intention of coming but my phone died and I didn’t wake up until –’ I looked down at my watch ‘– thirty-five minutes ago.’

‘It should be me apologising for being such a dick. I’m sorry, you’ve had a rough night and you still came here. Have you had breakfast?’ he asked suddenly, his eyes running down my body.

‘I came straight here.’

‘Now you mention it, I can tell,’ he said with a twitch of his lips, looking at my coat and stepping back to open the door. ‘Come in. You look cold.’

‘Forgot my hat and my scarf. And my gloves. I was in a bit of a hurry.’

As soon as I stepped inside, I saw myself in the big gilt mirror. My coat was inside out and my hair was sticking up on one side where I hadn’t brushed it. I looked an absolute sight with my bed head hair, flushed cheeks and scarecrow wardrobe.

‘Oh, God, I look a sight.’

‘It’s an interesting look,’ he said. ‘Tell me what happened to your mother.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘She fell off a ladder.’

He raised an eyebrow.

‘She’s seventy-one.’

‘I’m surprised she’s climbing ladders at that age. What was she doing?’

‘You don’t know my mother. She’s an academic; my parents have a lot of books … a lot of bookshelves. Some you need a ladder to reach. And apparently some books you just have to have when there’s no one else around to help you.’

‘Ah, stubborn?’

‘You do know my mother.’

He smiled at me, his eyes kinder now and running over my face. ‘You look tired. Come on, I’ll make you some breakfast. You look like you could do with a nice fry-up.’

‘That sounds bliss, thank you. I didn’t get much sleep last night but –’ I looked at my watch ‘– I’m sorry I can’t stay too long. I’ve got to go back to the hospital to pick her up.’

‘Will you stop apologising?’

‘But I’m letting you down. The gingerbread house.’

‘The gingerbread house can wait. What time do you need to be at the hospital?’

‘She’s got an appointment at the fracture clinic at twelve and, dependent on how that goes, we’ll get a taxi back to her place.’ I frowned. ‘And then I’m not sure what. My dad’s away in the States at the moment, although I’m hoping he’s going to get a flight home later today.’

‘That is bad luck, especially when your dad’s not there.’

‘Yes, and of course I was at work, so uncontactable. Mum was not best pleased when I finally rocked up at the hospital at midnight.’

Nate led me through the corridor, down some steps to a big square basement kitchen as I surreptitiously took in the beautiful house. I thought Bella’s house was all World of Interiors ; this was even grander. ‘Shades of Pemberley,’ I murmured to myself. This house was gorgeous. The hall had an octagonal wooden table with an enormous glass vase, which I suspected when his wife was in residence would have always had a large arrangement of tall-stemmed, lush flowers. A rather grand staircase curled away from the hall with a rich chestnut banister that curved elegantly around to the next floor. Its white treads were punctuated by a striped carpet runner in shades of teal and beige which was held in place by shiny brass stair rods.