Page 46 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

‘A bit of your home cooking is medicine all by itself,’ said Nico, giving Grams a soft smile.

Grams’ cooking was excellent and she had rustled up a box of her home-made biscuits from somewhere. She held out the box towards Libby.

‘Sugar is always good for a shock,’ she said.

But Libby shook her head. ‘And absolutely no use for my skinny jeans unfortunately,’ she replied. But even she could tell her tone was too bright, too loud as it betrayed her shaky frame of mind.

‘Then take a couple home for your dad,’ said Grams gently. ‘You can both enjoy them later. They’ll keep for a few days.’

‘Thank you,’ said Libby.

She had updated her dad on Eddie’s condition before heading to Harriet’s cottage, and right now she just wanted to head home and give her dad a hug.

So, after quickly downing her sweet tea, she went home.

She thought her dad might have gone up to bed, but instead she found him waiting in his armchair, over an hour after his usual bedtime.

As they locked eyes, she realised that the evening’s events had triggered bad memories for them both. His soft blue eyes held tears as he looked at her.

There were so many things she could have said in that moment, but all she could think of was to tell him how much she loved him as she rushed across to kneel next to his armchair and wrap her arms around him.

She was grateful for his head on her shoulder, for the pat on her back with his good hand and for the murmured I love you in return.

As they held and comforted each other, Libby wondered how much the stroke would impact Eddie. Would it change his life completely as it had done for her father? She sincerely hopednot. After all, surely lightning couldn’t strike the same place twice, could it?

Then her thoughts turned to Ethan and her heart went out to him as she knew how upset he would be. She realised that it didn’t matter about their disastrous secret marriage, nor even the prom any more. It didn’t matter about her pride or even a broken heart. Nothing was more important than a loved one and she wished that she could take away the pain that he was surely in at that moment.

28

Ethan felt absolutely exhausted by the time he got home from the hospital in the early hours of the morning and fell asleep in the same clothes that he had been wearing when he had driven the train almost twelve hours previously.

Despite the late night, he still woke up early, his mind was whirring after the events of the previous day.

The first thing he did was text his brother to find out if there had been any updates on their grandad overnight. Ryan sent a swift reply that Eddie had apparently slept well and that they could visit him in hospital later in the afternoon. He then invited Ethan to a family brunch at Platform 1, telling him that their dad was already there. Ethan replied that he would be along in a while.

He sat up in bed for a moment, but the house was silent. The peace wasn’t helping to settle his mind and so he swiftly got up to take a long shower.

After getting dressed, Ethan faced up to the next problem. He had been due to leave for America the following day, however he needed to cancel the job contract in order to stay close to his family.

After calling his business contact, he was grateful that they accepted his apologies that he couldn’t give them any kind of start date, especially whilst his grandad was still in hospital. He hated to break a professional commitment but there was no way he could leave Cranfield now. Family had to come first in such an emergency.

With that piece of difficult business concluded, Ethan took a moment in the old school, but it was still too quiet, especially without Libby pottering about in the kitchen. The aroma of cocoa hung in the air and the worktops were still full of all her ingredients and equipment. But he found himself missing their everyday banter that he had got so accustomed to over the past couple of weeks. The house felt empty without her presence.

Ethan grabbed his coat and headed outside. He looked down the railway line briefly. At some point, the tree would need to be cleared from the railway line, but first he needed to see his family, so he turned in the other direction and walked along the platform towards the coffee shop.

There was a real chill in the air as he realised that it was the first of November. The temperatures had dropped, promising a cold winter ahead.

Pushing the door into the coffee shop, he realised that by referring to family, Ryan had meant their close friends as well.

After sharing a hug with his brother, Dad and Katy, Ethan then found himself embraced by all of their friends as well. Except one, he realised, as he sat down next to Libby.

He turned to look at her and found she was already watching him.

‘You okay?’ she murmured.

He nodded. ‘Sure,’ he lied. ‘Not working today?’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not important,’ she told him. ‘I didn’t think you would want to be bothered after last night.’