‘Good afternoon,’ the man said.
‘Hi,’ Nell replied with professional friendliness. ‘You’re here for Mr Scrooge, aren’t you?’ She kept the tears from her eyes by plastering on a detached smile.
‘Mr Scrooge?’
‘Oh, sorry, that’s what I’ve been calling him. The black stray.’
‘Ah, yes. We called him Charcoal.’
‘Right.’ It was a nice name but somehow Mr Scrooge seemed to suit him better. ‘He’s in the lounge.’ Nell had kept him next to the fire, tempted by another large bowl of food. She loved seeing him there, curled up and purring. The man followed her, but Nell could scarcely breathe. He knelt down by Mr Scrooge who worryingly didn’t hiss or flinch as he had with almost everyone else. Did that mean he recognised the man and this was the moment he was taken away from her?
‘Hello, there,’ the man said stroking Mr Scrooge’s head. He gently caressed the cat’s ears and Mr Scrooge pushed himself into the man’s hand. After petting him he stood, a sad look on his face. ‘He’s lovely, but he’s not Charcoal.’
Relief flooded through Nell, then guilt because the poor man still hadn’t found his cat. ‘Have you tried looking on the Swallowtail Bay Facebook group for lost pets? There was another black cat on there when I checked to see if anyone had lost Mr Scrooge.’
‘No, I haven’t. I’ll do that,’ he replied, a little cheered. ‘Charcoal does like to disappear for days at a time. It’s just never been this long before.’
‘I’ll keep my eyes and ears open and if I hear anything, I’ll give you a call. I’ve got your number.’
‘Thanks, I’d appreciate it.’
The man left and Nell sat down next to Mr Scrooge, stroking him in relief, listening to his serene slow purr. She was going to keep him. Brenda might have suggested she give him to the RSPCA but there was no doing that now. She loved the little thing and wasn’t going to let him go. When Mr Scrooge had first entered her life, she’d imagined a tall, handsome stranger coming to claim him and falling instantly in love, but when the man had called, her imagination hadn’t fired once. She was changing and for the better, she was sure.
An image of Tom’s face came to her, and with it a determination to tell him how she felt filled her once more with hope.
Chapter 23
The day of the wedding finally arrived but Nell hadn’t yet changed into her bridesmaid’s dress. She’d been around the hotel three times making sure everything was perfect. This was her final pass through before she spent time with Cat who was using her flat to get ready. Holly Lodge was booked out with wedding guests and the whole place was wonderfully busy. If only she could get at least a couple of weddings a year it would make such a difference to her future. Another bad review had come in and it had ramped up in intensity compared to the others. This time, some of the descriptions could only have been of her hotel but she still couldn’t place the guests or their concerns.
As she checked everything one last time, she saw Tom’s wreath on the front door. He’d been absent all week, and Nell still hadn’t had the chance to tell him that she loved him. That she felt the same way about him as he supposedly did her. They’d never spent this much time apart and absence was certainly making the heart grow fonder in her case. She’d texted and though his messages had been friendly enough, he’d claimed being busy with work which she could understand given the time of year, but there’d been an emptiness to his words that she hadn’t read before.
Shaking off the worry because she’d see him later, Nell concentrated on the matter in hand. She had a wedding to host today as well as bridesmaid duties to fulfil and she wanted to make sure everything was perfect, especially as only a week ago the wedding didn’t look like it was going to happen at all. It had been made slightly easier by Cat cancelling the bridesmaid dress Brenda had chosen for Nell and telling her to wear whatever she liked. She’d gone for another maxi dress, plain dusky-pink this time with a pretty sequin pattern on the top half.
The ceremony was to be held in the lounge. The comfy armchairs had been cleared out and normal chairs lined up for the small number of guests. Cat and Kieran were going to be married next to the twinkling Christmas tree, in front of a roaring log fire with Tom’s beautiful willow garland decorating the mantelpiece. Despite Brenda’s protests, Mr Scrooge had been allowed to stay and was asleep on the hearth. As the cat was now officially hers, Nell had popped a collar on him with a giant red bow tie. He looked smashing, getting fatter and healthier with every meal and his fur was becoming soft and fluffy.
In the dining room, the tables were put together in two small rows and covered in bright white cloths. A whole team of waiters and waitresses hired by Niall, were laying them up with sparkling glasses and gleaming cutlery. All the chairs had thick silver-blue ribbons tied around them, fastened into bows at the back. That was the original colour Cat had chosen then changed her mind. In the centre of each table stood a small Christmas wreath made from fir, holly with red berries, and a single cream pillar candle in the middle, ready to be lit. Around the edge of the room, strings of fairy lights sparkled and silver and blue balloons bobbed in the air. In the evening, when everyone had been ushered into the conservatory, tempted with mulled wine and mini mince pies, or relaxing in the lounge, the dining-room tables would be cleared so everyone could
