Page 65 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

Libby was left standing in the kitchen feeling breathless. She could deny it no longer to herself. She had wanted him to kiss her. And she had wanted to kiss him right back. She found herself hoping that they might just have the second chance that Ethan was talking about after all.

39

After they had all enjoyed one of Ryan’s delicious dinners in the apartment above the station, Ethan called everyone to gather on the sofas and chairs around the fireplace. Paddington the dog settled down in front of the hearth whilst everyone made themselves comfortable.

Ethan had been somewhat surprised when Bob had brought Maggie with him that evening. She too was included as part of the family, showing just how close they had become over the past few months. He was pleased for his dad that he appeared to have found happiness at last.

‘Thank you for a lovely dinner, son,’ said Bob, with a smile, rubbing his full stomach.

‘Remind me to bill my brother for the cost later,’ said Ryan, shooting him a grin. ‘People pay a lot of money for my food.’

‘Only people who don’t share our surname,’ replied Ethan.

‘Well, I enjoyed it too,’ said Libby.

‘It would make it more believable if you didn’t get mates’ rates,’ Ryan told her.

Libby smiled and, for a second, all Ethan could think about was how he had been so close to kissing her in the kitchen before his dad had texted him.

‘So how about we start this meeting,’ said Ryan.

‘Hang on,’ Ethan told them. ‘I’m just about to bring in our star guest.’ He dialled on his phone and, a short while later, Eddie was waving at them all from his hospital bed.

After a few minutes of greetings and blown kisses, Ethan wrangled the meeting back under control.

‘Right,’ he began. ‘We’ve got less than a month to get the Christmas train up and running and I’m going to need all your help and input to get it ready.’

‘When’s the first run?’ asked Katy.

‘The first of December,’ replied Ethan. ‘As it falls on a Saturday.’

‘And what’s the theme?’ asked Ryan. ‘Father Christmas?’

Ethan hesitated. ‘I’m not so sure about that,’ he said. ‘I mean, I know the children will love it, but we want to appeal to everyone.’ He leant back in his chair. ‘So what other Christmassy themes can we think of?’

There was a long silence as everyone thought hard.

‘Any ideas, Grandad?’ asked Ethan, but Eddie merely shook his head in reply.

After another long pause, it was Libby who spoke in a dreamy voice. ‘I always enjoyedThe Nutcrackerat Christmastime.’

Katy turned to look at her. ‘Isn’t that a ballet?’ she asked.

‘It’s wonderful,’ said Maggie. ‘Really enchanting.’

Libby nodded. ‘Mum took me every Christmas to the theatre in Aldwych.’

‘I never saw it,’ said Katy.

‘It’s Tchaikovsky,’ said Bob in a knowing voice. ‘But I don’t really know the story.’

‘Oh, it’s lovely,’ said Libby, smiling. ‘It’s about Clara whose favourite toy, a nutcracker, comes to life on Christmas Eve.’

‘Thanks to her magician godfather,’ added Maggie. ‘Clara and the nutcracker head off to where there’s a battle against the evil Mouse King. Which they win, of course.’

‘And then they go through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets, where there’s lots of celebrations,’ continued Libby. ‘It’s very Christmassy there, with an enormous tree and lots of sparkle and sweets.’

‘Then she wakes up back at home and it was all a dream,’ said Maggie with a dreamy sigh.