Chapter 48: Cora - The Foster Child

Lori soon brightens up as we walk around the village, which is what I was banking on. She loves Christmas as much as I do so I was sure that seeing all the sparkling lights, the Christmas trees in the windows of the houses, and the huge, decorated fir in the village square would cheer her up.

‘You’re so lucky to live here, Mum, it’s idyllic,’ she says, her eyes sparkling.

‘That’s exactly what I thought when I first visited Elliot,’ I tell her. ‘It’s like something you see in a film on the TV, isn’t it?’

She nods. ‘And you work here too? Lucky you! Can I see the school where you work? Is it far away?’

‘Of course you can. It’s just a ten-minute walk,’ I tell her.

We walk down the hill to the school, which is locked, of course, but she peers through the railings. ‘I would have been over the moon to go to a school like this when I was a kid.’

We lived in the city and the school Lori went to was massive, she struggled sometimes and I wished that she could have gone to a school like this.

‘I’ve lived here for eight years but Cora is the one who’s opened my eyes to the village,’ Elliot tells her. ‘I didn’t even go into the pub until Cora coaxed me.’

‘Wow! You like to keep to yourself then? If so, my mum is the wrong person for you. She makes friends wherever she goes.’

‘So I’ve learnt.’ Elliot smiles at me. ‘It’s good to be with someone so outgoing.’

‘Can we pop into the pub again for a drink?’ Lori asks.

‘We can. I did suggest to your mum that we could have a bite to eat there if you fancy it?’ Elliot says. We did wonder if she would want to, as the last time we came Jacob was with us too.

Lori nods eagerly though. ‘Yes, please!’

So we head for the pub.

* * *

The warmth of the log fire hits us as soon as we step inside, and Lori heads for an empty table at the side of it. ‘That’s it, I’m not moving all night!’ she says.

We all order steak pie, mash and peas and tuck in hungrily, swilling it down with a glass of red wine each. We’ve just finished when Gabby and Scott come in.

Gabby waves and heads over to us. I haven’t had time to tell her Lori was coming to stay yet.

‘Hello, Lori, are you down for Christmas?’ She looks around. ‘No Jacob?’

‘He’s working,’ I say smoothly. ‘Pull up a pew and join us.’

I see Gabby’s eyes rest on the bruise on Lori’s cheek, it’s still visible even under the makeup, but she doesn’t say anything. I’m grateful. I’m hoping Lori will take me into her confidence over the next few days and I’m going to do my best to ensure she doesn’t make up with Jacob again if he does contact her.

Gabby can talk for England, but she has so many amusing anecdotes that no one minds. We’re soon all laughing away, Lori too, and it’s a very lively evening.

Elliot and Scott both get on well, as always. Then a couple of other parents from the school come in, wave and shout ‘Merry Christmas’. It seems as if the business with Tilly is definitely over and I’m finally accepted in the village. I’m really looking forward to the Christmas holidays, and New Year.

‘Are you all coming to the carol service Wednesday night?’ Gabby asks as we get up to leave. ‘There’s free mince pies and mulled wine or hot drinks in the church hall afterwards.’

‘Would you like to?’ I ask Lori and she nods.

‘Count me in. You know how I love mince pies.’

I’m pleased to see that she’s cheered up now, although I defy anyone to be miserable in Gabby’s company. She’s such a ray of sunshine.

‘Are you coming too?’ I ask Elliot. I wonder if he’s ever been to a carol service, he said he’s never really celebrated Christmas.

He nods. ‘I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on but I can do that while you’re out seeing your parents tomorrow.’

I’m not sure if he really does have paperwork to do or is using it as an excuse to give us time alone with my parents. Which is really thoughtful of him, but I do feel a bit guilty that this is our first Christmas together and now Lori is here too, but he genuinely doesn’t seem to mind. Then I remember that we still haven’t delivered the presents we bought for Christy, Joe and Leo. I remind Elliot of that but he tells me that they’re away at Christy’s parents until after Christmas so we’ll deliver them in the new year.

It’s much later when we get back to the cottage, stopping at Gabby and Scott’s gate to chat to them a bit more before continuing up the hill to our home.

Elliot opens the gate and Lori goes in first. I see her stumble so grab her arm quickly to prevent her falling over. Elliot does the same.

‘Ouch!’ she cries, rubbing her leg. ‘I tripped over something on the ground by the gate.’

‘Keep back and I’ll check it out.’ Elliot gets his phone out of his pocket and puts on the torch light then hovers it over the ground. We all gasp in unison as the beam rests on a huge boulder. What’s it doing there?

Elliot raises his hand and shines the beam of light on the wall, revealing that one of the boulders has broken off.

‘How has that happened? Lori could have fallen awkward and broken a leg,’ I say.

Elliot scratches his head. ‘The concrete holding it must have cracked, causing it to roll off the wall. Wear and tear I guess. Let me just move it out of the way and then you can come through.’

‘How long has the cottage been here?’ Lori asks.

‘Hundreds of years, and that’s the original wall although I did replace the gate,’ Elliot tells her.

I’m grateful to him for playing it down, I don’t want to alarm Lori but as we walk down the path towards the house I glance anxiously at the doorbell app. There’s no alerts. I look over at Elliot, who is checking his phone too. He shakes his head. The wi-fi might have gone down again though.

Was it an accident? Or was I wrong and it isn’t over after all. And is Violet responsible?