‘Well, Mrs Templeton did a lot of it …’
Sharon shook her head. ‘No. We’ve all been watching you, making sure she didn’t get carried away, bossing everyone about. You’re the one who made all this a success. You and that gorgeous fella of yours …’
‘I wouldn’t say Jack’s mine exactly,’ Holly said, hoping Sharon would put the pinkness of her cheeks down to the cold. ‘But really, I’ve never organised a party before. I’m sure I can manage the cake—’
‘And I’m sure we can manage everything, together. I’ll pay you, of course. And once it’s the huge success I know it will be, I’m sure all my friends will be lining up to hire you too!’
Holly considered it. The extra money would be super useful for paying the mortgage – and making headway towards paying Sebastian back his half of the deposit. If she could do a few parties, plus her craft stuff, and start saving, she could own that house free and clear eventually. It really would be hers. Her home.
She looked up and down Maple Drive, and saw Jack leading the McCawleys towards where Claude was sitting with Mrs Templeton. She saw Kathleen, regaling half the table with stories from her youth, her travels. And she realised, this was where she wanted to belong.
Maple Drive was home. And Sharon Welwood’s party was the first step towards making sure it could never be taken away from her again.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said.
Sharon clapped her hands together and grinned. ‘Brilliant! I’ll call you in the New Year and we’ll get planning, yeah?’
‘I’m looking forward to it already,’ Holly said, surprised to find that she really was.
‘Holly?’ Kathleen beckoned her over, and Holly went, obediently. ‘Rebecca here, from number 7, was just asking about your bunting, dear. She’s looking for some for the new nursery. Do you take commissions at all?’
Holly looked at Rebecca, her pregnant stomach pressing up against the table, then glanced up at the string of Christmas bunting hung between the bamboo canes on the table. They were fun and quick to make, looked impressive, and she could do it in front of a telly in the evenings, when she was feeling lonely.
‘I absolutely do,’ she said. ‘We’ll sit down soon and talk about exactly what you want,’ she added, talking directly to Rebecca. She hadn’t met her before, but if she lived in Maple Drive then Holly was already predisposed to like her.
Rebecca beamed. ‘Oh, that would be lovely! I haven’t had much of a chance to get to know people on the street since we moved in, and it seems like you and Jack are the heart of Maple Drive! You two must come over for dinner sometime.’
‘Brilliant,’ Holly said, but something about the woman’s words tugged at her heart. You and Jack. Except there wasn’t a Holly and Jack, really, was there? They hadn’t even kissed. She’d thought he might kiss her the night before, but he’d just smiled at her and waved from the doorway.
And there was still a very strong chance that he’d be leaving, and soon.
Would Maple Drive still accept her as one of their own if Jack left? She hoped so.
No, wait. That was wrong.
She would make it so.
This was her home, her place, with or without Jack. And the people here admired her talents, wanted to get to know her better. They liked her, just as she was. Soon, she’d be able to use her hobbies to pay back Sebastian and earn her home back. And she would make the community she’d always been looking for here in Maple Drive, even if Jack did leave.
It was just … she really hoped he’d decide to stay.
I stared across the table at Daisy and Oliver, Bella and Jay, Granny pushing the twins in their double buggy and Grandad following with Petal on her lead. All walking towards me.
I didn’t know what to do. My heart pounded too hard and too fast in my chest, and I felt like I might throw up the gingerbread I’d just eaten. A huge part of me just wanted to jump down and run to them, but another, even bigger part was too scared.
Scared that they weren’t back to stay. Scared that they hadn’t missed me like I’d missed them. Scared that they’d forget me again, the next time something interesting came along.
I knew I could survive without them now. I had other people, people who stayed, who fed me, who cared about me.
But I knew in my heart, the McCawleys would always be my real family.
I just wished I could believe that I was family to them.
‘So, you made it home, then,’ Mrs Templeton said, her hand still resting on my back as the others approached.
Daisy smiled, but she looked tired – more tired than I’d seen her since the twins were new, even. ‘Finally, yes. We’ve been trying to get back to our Claude ever since we left!’
Was that true? My heart started to rise, until I could almost feel it in my throat.
Then Jay yelled, ‘Claude!’ and dashed towards me and, without even realising I had done it, I jumped down from Mrs Templeton’s lap and raced to meet him half way.
The little boy’s arms linked around my neck as he held me close, my front paws on his shoulders, pressing myself as close as I could. I was trembling, I realised – and so was Jay. Tears landed on my fur as he whispered, ‘I missed you so much, Claude. We never meant to leave you, you know. We’ve been trying to get home to you ever since. It wasn’t Christmas without you there with us.’
Suddenly, the last of my fears faded away, floating off into the frosty air as Bella and Oliver and Daisy all knelt down to pat me and pet me and tell me they loved me, too.
We were a family once more. And I knew in my heart that they’d never leave me behind again.
As evening crept in on Maple Drive, Daisy sat back in the chair Jack had found for her, Jay curled up in her lap while the twins snoozed in their buggy beside her. On the floor, Claude was keeping her feet nice and toasty. Over by the Christmas tree, she could see Bella sitting with Zach Templeton, dipping her head and tucking her hair behind her ear, and she thought Boys, already? But that was a problem for another day. Another, less perfect day than this one.
Oliver dropped a kiss onto her hair, resting his hands on her shoulders as they listened to a collection of neighbours singing Christmas carols while Dr Roberts played along on someone’s keyboard that had been dragged outside.
‘Well. If we’d known Christmas in Maple Drive would be like this, we never would have insisted on you coming out to the chateau!’ Daisy’s mother dropped into an empty chair beside her. ‘Your father’s on his third plate of food, and I just had the most interesting conversation with one of your neighbours. Why didn’t you tell us what we were missing out on?’
‘Because we didn’t know,’ Daisy admitted. ‘Maple Drive … it’s never been like this before.’
‘I honestly thought we had the wrong road when we arrived,’ Oliver said. ‘I can’t imagine what changed here this week to make this happen.’
‘I think you can blame it all on Claude.’ They all turned as a woman in a bright red coat spoke, smi
ling gently as she bent down to rub between Claude’s ears. Claude perked up for a minute, then settled back down again. ‘Sorry, I don’t think we’ve really met yet. I’m Holly. I live across from you at number 12.’
‘Lovely to meet you,’ Daisy said, frowning. ‘But how could Claude have made all this happen?’
Holly laughed. ‘Oh, he’s had quite the adventure while you’ve been away!’
Bella approached, Zach following behind looking besotted. ‘It’s true, Mum. Look! Jessica from number 3 videoed this from earlier and put it up on the Find Claude page.’ She held up her phone so they could both see Jack the postman, talking about Claude and presenting him with a gingerbread house.
Oliver shook his head. ‘I still don’t understand. He’s just one little dog!’
‘Tell us about it?’ Daisy asked. ‘Please? Only … we’ve missed him dreadfully. It would be nice to know what he’s been up to without us.’
With a nod, Holly took a seat beside them. ‘I heard you were trying to get back to him, the whole time?’
‘We were,’ Daisy said. ‘I can’t believe we managed to leave him behind in the first place! We think he must have jumped out of his cage in the boot to chase a cat or something.’
‘Probably my Perdita,’ Holly admitted. ‘But, you’ll be amazed to hear, they’re friends now!’
Oliver reached for his wine glass. ‘Clearly, this is quite some story.’
‘It is,’ Holly agreed. ‘And it all started when Claude squeezed his way through Perdita’s cat flap and into my kitchen …’
Daisy settled back in her chair, ready to listen. The sky was starting to darken, but the garden heaters that had been brought out were keeping everyone warm. She was with her family, with her community, and Claude was safe.
It was the perfect Christmas, after all.
It had been an almost perfect day.
Jack had heard from just about everyone there how much they’d enjoyed themselves, how they’d always wanted to get to know their neighbours better but hadn’t known where to start. There was a feeling of hope filling Maple Drive that Christmas Day, and Jack liked to think he’d played a small part in helping that hope grow. They’d even had a smattering of snowflakes earlier – not enough to drive everyone indoors, but enough to add a frosty white coating to the hedges and shrubs of the front gardens of Maple Drive.