The Cornish Cream Tea Christmas Read online

  ‘There isn’t much more to tell,’ Audrey said. ‘I’m delighted to have found out what we have.’

  Hannah sighed. ‘So what happens now?’

  ‘Now I document it all. The love affair, the repercussions, the hauntings. The fact that the investigation here ended with your and Noah’s discovery ties the whole thing up brilliantly. I couldn’t have asked for a better, more rounded story for Richard’s book.’

  ‘Your book too,’ Hannah said. ‘You’re writing it now.’

  Audrey nodded, her eyes bright behind her glasses. ‘I need to collect my thoughts and write it up for Daniel. I need him to know what I’m planning to say about his hotel.’

  ‘I think he’ll be OK,’ Hannah said. ‘Perhaps he’s come around to the idea that his hotel is haunted?’

  She and Audrey exchanged a smile. Hannah was pleased that at least one of them had found answers while they were here.

  ‘Thank you, Audrey, I appreciate you telling us.’ Daniel rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. Hannah was surprised he didn’t look more relieved. Audrey had everything she needed: she could go away and write her chapter now.

  Lila and Sam exchanged a glance. Sam looked anxious, but Lila was obviously trying to hide her excitement at being thrust into a drama so soon after arriving. Audrey had asked to speak to Daniel now she’d tied up the loose ends of the story, and he had suggested the hotel’s private dining room. Hannah didn’t know how Sam and Lila had got wind of it, but having had an introduction to Charlie’s cousin, she wasn’t massively surprised that she was there.

  It was a beautiful room, windows on two sides giving an almost panoramic view of the sea and sky, the violet hues of one of Cornwall’s subtler sunsets. Darkness wasn’t far off, and it wasn’t even four o’clock.

  ‘Why aren’t you jumping for joy about all this ghost stuff?’ Lila asked. ‘Don’t you think it’s amazing to have such interesting history connected to your hotel? It’s tragic, for sure, but life sometimes is. You put this story about – is it Anna and Henry? –’ Audrey nodded her confirmation – ‘on the website and mention the ghosts, it won’t stop people coming here. It’ll have them flocking like zombies.’

  Daniel gave her a sceptical look. ‘I’m not sure zombies flock, Lila.’

  ‘Delilah’s right,’ Reenie said. ‘Most haunted hotels are creepy. Sometimes cleanliness and comfort are sacrificed to enhance the spooky atmosphere. But if you offer hauntings and back massages, all in beautiful surroundings, you’ll have your hand bitten off – just to keep to the zombie theme.’ She grinned. ‘You need to stop being so precious about your reputation and move with the times.’

  ‘It wasn’t ever how I imagined marketing my hotel,’ Daniel said.

  ‘So adapt,’ Reenie countered. ‘You’re a smart man, Daniel. You can get into the spirit of it, as it were. As Lila says, once this book is published you’ll likely get a whole new influx of visitors.’

  ‘You could sell copies in reception,’ Lila added. ‘Along with DVDs of Estelle, once that’s come out. There are endless opportunities here.’

  ‘And the staff are bound to be reassured when you tell them the story,’ Audrey continued. ‘It’s so often fear of the unknown that causes the most upset, and once they know about Anna and Henry, everything will fall into place.’

  ‘I’m not sure Kevin will feel that way,’ Daniel said. ‘But I can talk to him about it, explain that there’s nothing threatening here, even if—’

  ‘Even if the ghosts really exist?’ Audrey asked. ‘Don’t worry, Daniel, I’ve come across more sceptics than you can imagine, and everyone is entitled to their opinion.’

  ‘So that’s it then?’ His shoulders dropped. ‘We can get back to focusing on Christmas?’

  There were nods and murmurs of assent, and then Lila spoke up. ‘But shouldn’t we do something? For Anna and Henry?’

  ‘Do something for them?’ Reenie said. ‘They’re dead, Delilah. I think they’re rather beyond helping.’

  She wrinkled her nose. ‘Couldn’t we help them be at peace? What happened to them was so heartbreaking, and now they’re roaming around here, tormented. Isn’t there something we can do?’

  ‘If we get rid of them, then the hotel won’t be haunted any more,’ Sam said. ‘And Daniel will lose his new marketing angle.’

  ‘I don’t think that would matter,’ Charlie replied. ‘Ghosts are never guaranteed, after all. It’s the idea of a place being haunted that’s most appealing. But can you really do that? Help spirits be at peace?’ She shrugged, and all eyes turned to Audrey.

  ‘There is one thing,’ Audrey said softly. ‘I know a few of Richard’s contacts in the field, and I am sure one of them could help me with a cleansing spell. I could perform it down by the swimming pool, where Henry’s message to Anna has ended up. I have no idea how successful it would be, but it would be a way for us to say goodbye to Anna and Henry, at least.’

  ‘A cleansing spell,’ Reenie repeated. ‘Did you ever hear such nons—’

  ‘That sounds perfect!’ Lila said.

  ‘You weren’t even part of the investigation, Lila.’ Daniel shook his head, but he was smiling. ‘OK then, if everyone’s up for it?’ He glanced around the room and got nods in return, including from Hannah, who agreed with Lila that it would be good to do something to acknowledge the people she’d come to learn about, even if they were only notes on a page or footsteps on a recording. ‘Let’s finish this thing properly,’ he said decisively. ‘And then we can put all our efforts into Christmas. I have plans, and I don’t want them to be derailed.’

  Back in her room, Hannah took out her phone. She still hadn’t booked her train ticket, but she had already decided that she wanted to be there for Audrey’s cleansing spell. She thought Noah would want to be there, too.

  She scrolled to his number, wondering if she could speak to him without giving away what his mum had told her. She didn’t want to have that conversation over the phone. With her pulse beating wildly, she hit call.

  He picked up on the second ring. ‘Hannah, how are you? Is everything OK?’

  ‘Everything’s good!’ She took a deep breath. ‘Except Henry Medlin committed suicide after Anna died, by jumping off the same rocks. Audrey’s going to help them find peace with a cleansing spell.’

  It was a moment before he replied. ‘Shit. He killed himself?’

  ‘Isn’t it awful? I want to be there when Audrey says goodbye to them.’

  ‘You’re not going home yet?’ She might have been imagining it, but she thought he sounded hopeful. ‘You’re running out of time, Hannah.’

  ‘I’ve got a few days.’

  ‘Any luck with Hugh or your brother?’

  ‘I spoke to them both,’ she said, pulling her legs up under her on the bed. ‘Hugh didn’t recognize us from the photos. Mike said of course we’d been to Porthgolow – he remembers it much better than I do – but that there wasn’t anything strange about it. I think I created a story because I wanted to have some significance here, some connection with the village.’

  ‘You wanted to belong,’ Noah said, and she could almost hear the shrug in his voice. ‘It’s completely understandable. You know how I feel about Cornwall.’

  ‘Yes, and you’ve infected me,’ she replied, trying to lighten the tone. ‘Perhaps this is all your fault, Noah Rosewall.’

  ‘I didn’t make you fall in love with Cornwall. If I did, then I can’t claim any real credit, because it requires no effort at all.’

  Maybe it was the combination of you and Cornwall, Hannah thought. ‘I’d like to see you before I go,’ she said. At the very least, she wanted to explain why she had backed out of their kiss. She didn’t want him to think that she hadn’t been interested.

  ‘Monday?’ Noah suggested. ‘I’m tied up this weekend.’

  ‘Moving back home?’

  Hannah heard noises in the background, and imagined him sitting at the table in his parents’ beautiful back room, with the f
ire crackling and the dogs at his feet. ‘Yeah,’ he said, after a moment.

  ‘Monday’s good.’ Hannah pictured her train journey sliding further and further into the future, until it disappeared over the horizon just like she should be doing.

  ‘Great,’ he said. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

  Once they’d ended the call, Hannah walked to the window and pressed her fingers against the glass, the darkness beyond almost complete. Maybe Noah was right, that all her interest in Cornwall – the ghosts and her old photos, hanging on to see Noah one last time – were excuses. Perhaps she was delaying her return yet again because her life in Edinburgh wasn’t the one she wanted any more.

  Chapter Two

  The soothing wafts of Michael Bublé’s Christmas album filled the bus, his voice crooning out ‘Santa Baby’. Hannah sat opposite Charlie, Lila was alongside her, and Marmite and Spirit lay flat out on the benches at another table. The multiple strings of fairy lights twinkled around them, while Porthgolow beach, with its muted winter shades and blustery, frothing waves, provided a chilly-looking backdrop.

  ‘Tell me more about the meal you cook for your friends,’ Lila said, cradling her coffee. She’d made them all cappuccinos with gingerbread syrup that were Christmas in a cup.

  Hannah couldn’t quite believe that she was here, chatting to a bona-fide celebrity – one who had just made her a coffee. And it wasn’t as if Lila acted like a diva: she was just simply, effortlessly shimmering.

  ‘Do you really go to town on the menu?’ she continued, when Hannah didn’t answer immediately. ‘Sam and I spent most of our evenings in LA with a group of friends – people he got to know on set who he introduced me to – but the cooking was pretty basic.’

  ‘You mean you got chips from the local takeaway?’ Charlie asked.

  Lila looked aghast. ‘Chips? In LA? Eaten by actors appearing on screen? It was all nutritionally balanced salads and hideous concoctions from the juice bar down the block. Ugh.’ She shuddered dramatically. ‘Even Sam was careful about what he ate, though he wasn’t as paranoid as some of them. Imagine being paranoid about what you eat? Thinking that people are deliberately shoving extra calories into your food so you lose out on a role that they then get? It’s nuts!’ She shook her head and tore a large chunk off her chocolate twist. Charlie had just taken them out of the oven, the chocolate gooey and thick inside.

  Hannah laughed and took a big bite of her own pastry, the bitter-sweet flavours infusing on her tongue.

  ‘How many of you are there?’ Charlie asked.

  Hannah counted them off on her fingers. ‘There’s usually between eight and ten of us, depending on who’s able to make it. We tend to swap venues, though I prefer cooking in my own kitchen.’

  ‘Is your flat massive then?’ Lila asked. ‘One of those beautiful old houses with views across the park to Edinburgh castle?’

  ‘God no,’ Hannah said, laughing. ‘If only! But that’s part of the fun. I have to move all my furniture around, then scrounge additional chairs off neighbours. Some of my friends bring deckchairs. It’s so much fun, always completely mad, and it’s often the best part of Christmas.’

  ‘And now you’re going to miss it,’ Charlie said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  Hannah shrugged. After Audrey’s revelation yesterday, the enticing promise of the cleansing spell, she hadn’t booked her tickets home. It felt like the one task on her to-do list that would never get done. Somehow, December had slipped away from her. It was the twentieth, five days from Christmas, and she was hundreds of miles from home. It scared her how little she was bothered.

  She had sent a message to her friends’ WhatsApp group that morning, when she had realized that, even if she got a train home the following day, there was no way she could get everything ready for their dinner on the twenty-third. She used being stranded as her excuse – the trains weren’t working, the storm had delayed her finishing her report on the hotel, it had all gone to hell in a handcart. Everyone had been sympathetic, saying they would get together at the pub instead and would raise a glass to her or, if by some miracle she made it back in time, would buy her dinner.

  Saskia had messaged her separately.

  It sounds like you’re having a tough time. Is there really no way you can get back? Miss you. S. Xx

  She had replied, feeling guilty about sending half-truths to her friend, promising herself she would tell her everything once they were sitting opposite each other in a familiar pub. It’s lovely here, just frustrating the trains are so bad. Hope to get back this week and will see you before Xmas! Say hi to Seth for me. :) Xx

  Seth had replied to her group message, saying he would be really sorry not to see her, but that they could have a New Year get-together. Usually, that sort of response from him would make Hannah giddy, but she hadn’t been able to muster more than a brief pang of regret that she wouldn’t get to see him. In a short space of time, her feelings had changed completely.

  ‘Do you know what?’ she said now, ‘I’m not that sorry. My friends will still be there when I get back, and I wouldn’t have changed my time in Porthgolow for anything. I’m happy to give up my dinner this year to come with you on your Cornish Cream Tea Bus Secret Santa Tour.’

  ‘There’s a tongue-twister if ever I heard one,’ Lila said, grinning.

  ‘I think it has a poetic ring to it,’ Charlie countered. ‘And I’m thrilled to have an extra elf to help me out. I have a feeling it’s going to be a busy day.’

  ‘We don’t actually have to wear elf outfits, do we?’ Lila asked.

  ‘Says the actress.’ Charlie rolled her eyes. ‘No, just aprons. I mean, God, not just aprons – it’s not that kind of tour – but you can wear your own clothes, then aprons on top. A pair of reindeer ears or deely boppers if you’re feeling adventurous.’

  ‘And how will it work, exactly?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘I’ve planned a route along the coast.’ Charlie spread out a map on the table, moving mugs and plates out of the way. ‘We’ve got an hour in each destination and I’ve already sold all the tickets, so we won’t end up with a massive scrum.’

  ‘Customers come on board,’ Lila continued, ‘each parent and child can have a hot or cold drink and choose a snack – a cookie or mince pie, gingerbread biscuit or sausage roll – then they go upstairs, one family at a time, and meet Santa.’

  ‘Santa will do the “ho-ho-ho, have you been a good child?” bit, and give them a present.’ Charlie gestured to the bags piled up on the tables behind them. There were also rolls of festive wrapping paper, spools of brightly coloured ribbon and packets of Sellotape. ‘And they go off happy with their gift and a twenty-per-cent-off voucher for the Cornish Cream Tea Bus. Then, in the New Year, they come back – for a cream tea here, or on one of my tours, or anything else that I plan.’

  ‘Charlie’s got a booking for a wedding next spring,’ Lila said. Hannah could hear the pride in her voice. ‘Gertie will be at the venue for an older couple who are getting married, serving cream teas to the guests. She catered Juliette and Lawrence’s wedding in the summer. Have you met them?’

  Hannah frowned. ‘I don’t think so. I don’t think they’ve been up to the hotel.’

  ‘It was a lovely wedding,’ Lila said. ‘On this very beach.’ She sighed, a dreamy look on her face.

  ‘It was a wonderful wedding,’ Charlie agreed, tapping Lila’s hand. ‘But today is not about weddings, today is about Christmas. And our first, and least entertaining job – depending on how you feel about present wrapping – is to get this lot ready for tomorrow.’

  ‘Is Santa too busy to wrap his own presents, then?’ Hannah asked. ‘Where are all his elves?’

  ‘We’re his elves,’ Charlie said, ‘and Santa’s probably getting ready to open the Seven Stars, so it’s all down to us.’

  ‘Oh yes.’ Hannah bit her lip. ‘Hugh’s going to be Santa, isn’t he?’

  Charlie paused in the act of rummaging through one of the bags. ‘Is that OK? Did you
speak to him about—?’ she glanced at her cousin, who was as quick as a bloodhound.

  ‘About what?’ Lila asked.

  ‘We used to come on holiday here when I was young,’ Hannah explained. ‘My mum, brother and me. I’ve got a photo that I’ve carried around with me for years, and it turns out Reenie’s house is in the background. There was another one, in Myrtle’s photo album, of the three of us in Hugh’s pub. I asked him about it, but of course he doesn’t remember us. I thought there might be some story about why we ended up here. It seems like such a coincidence.’

  ‘Of all the Cornish villages in all the world,’ Lila said, doing an excellent impression of Humphrey Bogart, ‘you had to come back to this one.’

  ‘Exactly!’ Hannah laughed. ‘But I was trying to create a story when there isn’t one.’

  ‘It doesn’t mean that Porthgolow isn’t special to you, though,’ Lila said. ‘I knew it was, the moment I rocked up here. It has its own brand of charm.’

  Hannah sighed. ‘I just didn’t expect my trip here to be so much fun. To be so …’ She searched for the right word, one that would encompass meeting Noah, Audrey and the ghosts, being taken under Charlie and Daniel’s wings, finding Spirit.

  ‘Long?’ Lila suggested, grinning. ‘I think it’s because you don’t really want to leave.’

  Hannah shrugged and returned Lila’s smile. She almost admitted that it was true – that she was torn about going back home, which was why she kept returning to, but never completing, her Trainline booking.

  ‘Do you want to do some stargazing from the bus later?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘I’m not sure the sky’s going to be clear,’ Lila said, frowning. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because if we don’t get started on wrapping these presents, then we’re still going to be here at midnight. Chop-chop.’ She tapped Lila on the head with her roll of wrapping paper, then shot her a grin when Lila glared at her.