Once Upon a Winter

by Tilly Tennant

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Hannah loves festive surprises. But the arrival of a handsome stranger on Christmas Day is much more than she bargained for...Snow is falling heavily on Holly Way. Inside her cottage, Hannah is trying to fake some holiday cheer. Freshly dumped, just in time for Christmas, her sister and niece have come to share the day with her and she owes it to them to put a brave face on things.But as they sit down to open their presents, they are interrupted by a knock at the door.On their doorstep is a handsome man with a nasty cut on his forehead, no coat, and no memory of who he is or how he came to be there.Once their unexpected guest is safe by the fire Hannah starts asking him questions to jog his memory. But although she learns nothing about his identity, Hannah can't ignore the warm feeling she gets when he smiles at her. And it has nothing to do with the mulled wine.When the snow finally melts and spring flowers bloom, will the man who arrived at her door be just a funny story for Hannah to tell next Christmas? Or will he be the key to mending her broken heart?Filled with festive cheer, laughter and heart-warming scenes, immerse yourself in this enchanting story by Tilly Tennant. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Josie Silver.Top 20 Amazon CA and top 30 Amazon UK author. Tilly has sold over 290,000 copies-

Release date: November 17, 2020

Publisher: Bookouture

Print pages: 350

Sample

The milkmaid had a bucket missing from her yoke, part of her little nose chipped off and dirt ground into a dress that could have once been blue but was now so filthy it was anyone’s guess. It made a pretty dismal sight. Hannah put it on the coffee table and stared at it.

‘Well,’ Gina said, ‘she’s given us some corkers over the years but this one really takes the biscuit.’

‘This one takes the whole tin,’ Hannah said.

‘It takes the McVities factory,’ Jess put in. She started to giggle, and seconds later, all three were in fits of laughter.

‘Good old Aunt Dot,’ Hannah said, wiping tears away. ‘It’s good to know she’s still as nutty as ever.’

‘Tight as a fish’s arse. I think she only pretends to be nutty so she can get away with giving everyone shit.’ Jess rattled the box containing her own gift from the great-aunt in question doubtfully. ‘It’d be better if she just came clean and stopped giving us stuff. We’ll only have to get rid of this crap on Boxing Day.’

‘Awww, where’s your Christmas spirit, niece of mine?’ Hannah picked up the little ornament and grinned at it. There was a faint ping from the kitchen. ‘Well, the unpredictable thrill of opening Aunt Dot’s presents will have to wait for the time being while I go and pull the turkey out of the oven.’ She got up from her knees and brushed her trousers down. ‘Bloody pine needles. They get everywhere.’

‘I told you to get a Scot’s pine, they’re far better,’ Gina said.

‘I told you to get a Scot’s pine,’ Hannah mouthed, pulling her face into a parody of her sister’s.

‘Cheeky cow,’ Gina laughed. ‘Just remember who’s peeling your sprouts for you.’

‘Won’t you be eating the sprouts?’

‘Yeah. But that’s not the point. Besides, I’m only eating them because you said I had to.’

‘Maybe I like pine needles all over my floor,’ Hannah said.

‘I don’t,’ Jess said as she pulled one from the sole of her woolly sock.

‘Come on…’ Hannah said, ‘off your bums, you two. I’m not slaving in that kitchen on my own.’

Gina gave an exaggerated pout. ‘When you invited us to dinner, I didn’t expect to have to cook it as well as eat it.’

‘Are you saying that eating my Christmas dinner will be a chore?’

‘Depends what you do with it. I still have flashbacks from Christmas 2010.’

‘Watch it,’ Hannah laughed. ‘You’ll be down the Spar getting yourself a frozen dinner for one if you don’t stop with the insults.’

Gina threw her daughter a huge grin as they followed Hannah into the kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it had been given an extreme Christmas makeover so that red candles, wax fruit, tinsel and fairy lights adorned every surface not already occupied by food.

‘You haven’t eaten the Christmas Day chocolate,’ Jess said, opening the last door of the advent calendar and popping the contents into her mouth with a smirk.

Hannah plopped her hands on her hips. ‘How lucky I have my niece to help me out, eh? Whatever would I do without you?’

‘I seem to recall that’s a trick you would have played when we were kids.’ Gina gave Hannah a pointed look.

‘Mum would never buy us advent calendars when we were kids,’ Hannah fired back, ‘because of the year you opened all the windows on the first of December and ate the lot.’

‘That was you!’ Gina squeaked.

‘I think you’ll find it was you,’ Hannah replied, folding her arms with a defiant look.

Jess giggled. ‘Now I know where I get the chocoholic gene from. It’s totally your fault and when I get an arse the size of Greater Manchester I’ll know where to point the finger of blame.’

‘That day’s a long way off,’ Hannah said, smiling at Jess. ‘God, what I wouldn’t give to be seventeen again with your figure.’

‘I don’t think you look so bad,’ Jess said. ‘In fact, all my mates say you’re dead pretty.’

‘Thanks.’ Hannah beamed, smoothing an unconscious hand over her chestnut hair. ‘That’s so lovely.’

‘For an old lady,’ Jess added with a cheeky grin.

‘Oi!’ Gina cut in. ‘If she’s old what does that make me?’

‘I don’t know but there’s some archaeologist applying for funding right now to excavate the wrinkles around your eyes.’

‘Cheek!’ Gina grabbed the nearest tea towel and hurled it at Jess, who was now laughing raucously. ‘You’re not too old for a smacked bottom!’

Jess pulled the tea towel from her face. ‘I’m not too old to call Childline either.’

Hannah took the towel from Jess and put it to one side. ‘Come on, we’ll never get any dinner at this rate.’

‘You’re not seriously putting us to work now?’ Gina asked.

‘Of course. You want to eat, don’t you?’

‘What about my snowball? You can’t cook Christmas dinner without a snowball on the go.’

‘Ugh!’ Jess grimaced. ‘You two are the only people in the world who still drink those. The first time I mentioned that drink to my mates they thought I was mental; they’d never heard of a snowball, only the ones you chuck at each other; they had to google it! In fact, people should chuck these rather than drink them… the bin is the best place for them.’

‘Yes, but it’s tradition,’ Gina replied in a slightly offended tone. ‘We always cook Christmas dinner with a snowball… at least we used to before your dad.’

‘I’d forgotten about that.’ Hannah smiled. ‘It’s actually been years since we did dinner together like this. It’s nice, isn’t it, to get a chance to do it again.’

‘Yeah…’ Jess sneered. ‘It’s just a shame we had to find out my dad was a wanker before we got the excuse to relive it.’

Gina pulled her daughter into a brief hug and kissed her forehead. ‘I don’t want to dwell on bad stuff like that today. I want us to have fun and forget all the awful things that have happened this year, just for one day. So let’s talk about something else, eh?’

‘Or how about we don’t talk at all?’ Hannah skipped over to a CD player perched on a shelf and pressed play. The kitchen was suddenly filled with Abba’s Does Your Mother Know? Hannah whacked up the volume and began to sing along at the top of her voice. Dancing her way to the fridge, she pulled out a net full of sprouts and tossed them to Gina, who caught them neatly as she joined in the song. Hannah found some carrots next, and threw the bag to Jess, who simply rolled her eyes and pulled a paring knife from the drawer. Then Hannah sashayed to the oven. As she opened the door, the glorious aroma of cooked turkey rose into the air. She smiled to herself as she gave it one last baste and put it back in. Who needs men, she thought as she looked around at the two best companions she could wish for on Christmas Day.

‘You surely don’t want me to peel all these sprouts?’ Gina asked, frowning at the net. ‘I’ll be here until New Year.’

‘Not to mention the pong in here if we eat them all,’ Jess said. ‘Mum farts for England when she eats green stuff.’

‘Oi!’ Gina squeaked.

Hannah laughed. ‘I’d better keep some back then.’

‘Let’s not bother at all,’ Jess suggested.

‘No,’ Hannah insisted. ‘It’s Christmas and we have to have sprouts.’

Gina shook her head wryly as she tipped the net and emptied it onto the worktop.

‘Looks like the snow has started again,’ Hannah added as her gaze was drawn to the window, where flakes floated like goose down from a white sky, collecting in the cracks and crevices of the frame. ‘It’s nice to have a bit, but if this carries on we’ll be snowed in.’

‘Fine by me,’ Gina said. ‘I can’t think of a better place to be stuck.’

‘It’s a good thing you decided to stay,’ Hannah said with a knowing smile. ‘Though I’d have made up the spare room even if you said you weren’t.’

‘You know me so well.’

‘I know what you’ll be like when we open the Christmas champagne. Lightweight.’

‘I am not! It’s all those bubbles. Everyone knows bubbly booze makes you drunk quicker.’

‘I’d better make your snowball non-alcoholic then, or we’ll never get any dinner cooked.’

‘I think you’ll find the stuff that makes it a snowball is alcoholic, and if you leave that out I’m just drinking pop.’

Hannah reached into a cupboard. Producing a bottle of radioactive looking yellow liquid, she blew the dust from the lid and opened it, sniffing at the contents. ‘How many years can you keep advocaat before it goes off?’

‘I don’t know,’ Gina said, eyeing the bottle doubtfully. ‘Are you actually going to drink that?’

‘It’ll be fine…’ Hannah held up two fingers and crossed them with a grin. ‘I think A&E is keeping usual hours today, and I’ll keep my phone close as we drink it.’

‘Ugh!’ Jess screwed up her nose. ‘Don’t think for a minute that I’m having one.’

‘Don’t be such a girl,’ Hannah said.

‘It might have escaped your notice but I am a girl,’ Jess said.

Hannah got three tall glasses out of the cupboard and poured a measure of advocaat into each one. Jess leaned against the kitchen counter mock-pouting at them, but then suddenly stood tall, her face serious.

‘What was that?’

Hannah licked a stray drop of advocaat from her finger. ‘What?

‘Turn the music down a sec,’ Jess said.

Hannah went over to the CD player and did as Jess asked. They paused for a moment. ‘There… nothing. Happy now?’

‘I heard a knock, I’m sure I did. ’

‘I didn’t hear anything.’ Hannah looked at Gina.

‘Me neither,’ Gina said.

‘There it is again!’ Jess said. There was no mistaking it this time, though it was less of a knock this time and more of a dull thud that echoed through the house. All three stood in silence.

‘You’re not expecting anyone, are you, Han?’ Gina asked after a moment.

Hannah shook her head. ‘Brian and Cynthia from the next house are away in Greece for Christmas, so it can’t be them.’

‘Brian and Cynthia… aren’t they the old duffers who are always coming to check on you because they think you’re a brothel madam?’ Jess asked, grinning at Hannah.

Hannah’s mouth fell open. ‘I’ve never said that!’

‘You’d be surprised what I hear you tell my mum when you think I’m not listening.’

‘Well, I’m sure they’re actually just concerned about a woman living alone, which is quite sweet really. I suppose we are quite cut off from town here.’

‘I know, I don’t know how you live here; it’s creepy,’ Jess said.

‘Never mind that,’ Gina cut in, ‘I think we might have forgotten that there seems to be someone at the door.’

‘It was probably a pigeon on the roof or something,’ Hannah said, though she didn’t look very convinced. Even as she spoke, another knock sounded through the house.

‘Okay, that was the front door,’ Jess said.

Gina frowned. ‘Who on earth would turn up unannounced on Christmas Day?’

‘Carol singers?’ suggested Jess helpfully.

‘They wouldn’t make much money out here,’ Hannah replied, ‘there’s only a handful of houses along this stretch and then nothing for miles.’

‘Better hope it’s not an axe-wielding maniac then,’ Jess said. ‘Bags I don’t open the front door.’

‘Bags none of us opens the door,’ said Gina, who, despite being much older, often slipped easily into her daughter’s mode of speech, much to Jess’s chagrin.

Hannah looked towards the window. ‘We can’t leave them out there in the snow.’

‘Why not? They’re either scrounging or up to no good. Either way they can try their luck with some other mug.’

‘Have you seen the snow?’ Hannah gestured to the window.

‘All the more reason not to answer the door. Nobody with good intent would be out there. Let’s stay quiet in here and they’ll bugger off in a minute.’

Hannah rolled her eyes. ‘You’re all heart, you.’

‘I’m sensible. One of us has to be.’

‘I’m not the one who married a complete dick.’

‘Ouch! Below the belt, Han.’

’You’re right, sorry. Look, I’m going to see who it is. They might need some help.’

‘Hannah, no…’ Gina put a hand on her arm. ‘Please…’

Hannah paused. And then she let out a sigh of defeat. ‘Okay. But I’m not happy about it.’

‘Seriously, you can’t be too careful.’

They waited. A few moments passed and all was quiet.

‘Do you think they’ve gone?’ Gina whispered.

‘Why are you whispering?’ Jess asked. ‘It’s not like they can hear you through the walls.’

‘You never know,’ Gina began, but then a muffled voice called through the letterbox.

‘Is anyone home? Please…’

‘That’s it!’ Hannah grabbed a tea towel and wiped her hands. ‘I’m going to see who it is.’

‘It’s a man!’ Gina squeaked.

‘And he sounds pretty desperate,’ Hannah replied. ‘What if he’s in real trouble? Where’s your milk of human kindness?’

‘Gone off.’ Jess arched an eyebrow at her mum.

‘You’ll be sorry if you open that door…’ Gina said, ignoring Jess’s jibe.

‘Too bad.’ Hannah marched out of the kitchen. Gina gave chase, with Jess bringing up the rear.

‘This is crazy!’ Gina hissed.

‘Yup!’ Hannah replied.

As they reached the front door, Gina reached to cover the lock with her hand. Hannah moved it firmly but gently away. ‘I won’t let him in,’ she whispered. ‘I just want to see if he’s okay.’

‘What if he comes in whether you let him in or not?’ Gina whispered back. ‘What if he forces his way past you? What if there’re about twenty men with him?’

Hannah raised her eyebrows. ‘You’ve been watching too many films. We’re on the outskirts of Millrise, not Washington DC.’

‘I’ll sort him if he tries anything,’ Jess interrupted. Hannah turned to see that, on the way through to the front door, she’d picked up one of the soapstone elephants Hannah had brought back from Goa and was wielding it with surprising menace for a teenage girl.

‘Did you swipe that from my mantelpiece?’ Hannah frowned.

‘It’ll knock him clean out if he tries anything.’

‘The weight of that, you’ll kill him! Please be careful with it.’

Jess went to the window and looked out. ‘Not that I can see all of the porch from here, but he doesn’t look as if he has evil henchmen with him.’

‘Does he look dangerous?’ Gina asked.

‘If you think slumped against the porch wall looking as if he’s going to pass out is dangerous, then yeah.’

‘This is ridiculous!’ Hannah turned the key and yanked the front door open. There was an involuntary gasp at the sight that greeted her. The man had a supporting hand clamped on the frame of the porch door, and he did look distressed. Blood ran from a nasty looking gash that stretched from beneath the thick black hair at his temple and down his forehead, and it was steadily soaking into his powder blue shirt. He was shivering and soaked through, dressed completely inappropriately for the desperate winter weather in well-cut jeans and moccasins that looked like slippers. One thing was for sure, they weren’t suited to the four or five inches of snow that lay on the ground. There was no sign that he had a coat with him and no sign of a car that might belong to him parked anywhere nearby. In fact, he didn’t appear to have anything with him but the clothes on his back. He looked up and gave a pained smile.

‘I’m so sorry to disturb you, but I seem to be in a spot of bother.’

‘Oh my God!’ Hannah cried. ‘Come in out of the snow! What happened?’ She opened the door wider and gestured him inside. He stumbled, and she rushed to offer a supporting arm. Gina frowned at her and Hannah shot back a warning look as she led him to a chair.

‘Thank you so much,’ the man said, lowering his weight onto the seat and instantly looking better, as if the very act of standing up had been an incredible burden. ‘I wonder if I could use your phone.’

‘Where’s yours?’ Gina asked, eyeing him warily.

‘Gina!’ Hannah hissed.

Gina shrugged. ‘Everyone’s got one.’

‘I don’t know,’ the man said. ‘I suppose I must have had one but I don’t have it now.’

‘Have you been mugged?’ Hannah asked him gently. ‘Jess, run and put the kettle on, will you?’ She turned to the man again as Jess handed her mother the stone elephant with a pointed look and a little mime to indicate that she should clobber him at the first sign of trouble. ‘I bet you’d like a drink to warm you up, you look frozen to the bone,’ Hannah continued.

‘I… I don’t know. I think it would be good, yeah.’

‘How did you injure your head?’ Hannah bent to take a closer look. ‘It might need stitches.’

‘I don’t know,’ the man said. It seemed as if the idea pained him more than just the physical injury. Hannah had the sudden, inexplicable feeling that he wasn’t even trying to recall the event, like he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

‘We should call you an ambulance.’ Gina looked to Hannah for agreement.

‘They won’t come out in this weather on Christmas Day for a cut on the head,’ Hannah replied.

‘Yes they will. Head injuries can be fatal.’ Gina glanced at the man. ‘Sorry… I didn’t mean to freak you out.’

Hannah turned to the man again. ‘Is there someone we can call for you? Anyone who can come and get you?’

He screwed up his eyes, as if reaching for a thought that wouldn’t quite stick.

They were interrupted by Jess coming back with her mobile phone. She handed it to the man. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘You can use mine.’

He took it from her, and then stared at it.

‘Can’t you remember the number?’ Jess asked.

‘I can’t even remember who I’m supposed to be ringing,’ he said in a dull voice.

‘But you must have someone,’ Hannah said gently. She gave him another swift appraisal. Apart from his injury, and the fact that he was massively ill-equipped to be wandering around in the snow, he definitely looked as if he had someone. If he didn’t, then tramps were a lot more upmarket these days than they used to be. His clothes looked well made – the shirt sporting the little Ralph Lauren logo – his hair was expensively cut and he was well-built, like he was no stranger to the gym. Under different circumstances, he had dark eyes that would have sucked Hannah in like quicksand, the sort of eyes that had often been her undoing over the years. There was no way this man was some directionless hobo. He had a family, or at the very least a partner and a comfortable home somewhere – she was sure of it. ‘Where do you live?’ she added in an attempt to prompt him.

‘I’m not sure.’

‘You’re not sure?’ Gina asked, curiosity now getting the better of her fear and suspicion. The stone elephant that she had been holding in a defensive pose was now hanging at her side. ‘Your accent is local.’

‘Is it?’ he asked, frowning.

Hannah threw a worried glance at her sister. ‘Perhaps we’d better call that ambulance.’

‘Could I trouble you for some cotton wool or tissue or something?’ the man asked. ‘I seem to be bleeding all over your sitting room.’

‘That’s alright, I don’t use it very often,’ Hannah said cheerfully. ‘I’m usually in the little back room or in the kitchen; far cosier in this weather.’ She turned to Jess. ‘There’s a first-aid kit in the bathroom cupboard. Not a lot of first aid in it, to be honest, but there will be some bandages and plasters. Would you pop and get it?’

Jess nodded and ran off.

‘I’ll call that ambulance,’ Gina said, making her way towards the sitting room door. She seemed to have decided that the man was harmless after all, gesturing to Hannah as she did. ‘Can I have a quiet word?’

‘I’ll be back in a second,’ Hannah told the man. ‘What’s up?’ she asked her sister as they left him.

‘Do you think we ought to call the police too?’

‘You’re not still convinced he’s dodgy are you?’

‘No… not that. I think he’s lost his memory and there might be a family out there going out of their mind with worry. At least if the police know he’s here there’s more of a chance they can reunite them.’

Hannah was thoughtful for a second. ‘You’re right. Ambulance first, police after. I’ll go and talk to him some more first, make sure he has actually lost his memory. He could just be confused right now from his clunk on the head, but with a cup of tea and a warm up he might remember it all.’

‘And that’s another thing… why on earth would he be out in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm on Christmas Day in just his slippers and a shirt? It’s all very weird if you ask me. And he hasn’t got a phone. Who goes out without their phone these days?’

‘Me.’ Hannah smiled.

‘Apart from you and we all know you’re a bit cuckoo,’ Gina said.

‘I think you’ll find lots of people do. We don’t all want to be contactable all the time.’

‘Ask him if he has a wallet on him. He may have some ID in there.’

‘Good idea,’ Hannah agreed. ‘You get the ambulance and I’ll go and see what I can find out.’

Jess arrived with a green plastic box. ‘This gets a lot of use,’ she said wryly as she indicated the thick layer of dust.

‘As there’s just me living here, I try not to get injured if I can help it,’ Hannah said. ‘It’s a bit awkward trying to tourniquet yourself.’

Jess thrust the box at her. ‘Go to it, Florence. Go and patch up our random guest who you obviously fancy.’

‘How on earth do you come to that conclusion?’ Hannah asked, taking the box from her.

‘Firstly, you haven’t kicked the weirdo back out into the snow where he obviously belongs and secondly, you’ve been gooey-eyed ever since he arrived.’

‘If gooey-eyed means I’ve been showing concern, then guilty as charged. He clearly has someone out there who’s missing him. I only want to help him get back to them.’

‘What about our dinner?’ Jess said.

Hannah clapped a hand to her head. ‘Shit! I forgot about that!’

Jess rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll go and get the turkey out and I’ll turn the veggies off for a while.’

‘Be careful!’ Gina called after her.

‘I’m not ten!’ Jess shouted behind her.

‘No, but you act like it sometimes,’ Gina muttered.

‘We’d better get back to our mystery man,’ Hannah said. Wiping the dust from the first-aid box with the hem of her apron, she made her way back to the sitting room with Gina following. Hannah turned to her. ‘I thought you were going to call the ambulance?’

‘I am, just as soon as I check that he’s not putting all this on and lying in wait for us with a huge axe.’

‘I really don’t think so. He’s a bloody good actor if he is.’

The man hadn’t moved. He looked as if he had spent the whole time staring into space, and he glanced up vaguely at the entrance of the two women.

‘Are you feeling sick?’ Hannah asked as she opened the box and produced a roll of bandage.

‘No,’ he replied.

‘Dizzy? Like you want to go to sleep?’

‘Not really.’

‘How many fingers am I holding up?’ Hannah asked.

‘Three.’

‘Why do people do that?’ Gina asked.

‘What?’

‘The finger question.’

Hannah shrugged. ‘I have no idea. I just know that you’re supposed to ask.’

‘Cortical blindness,’ the man said.

Hannah and Gina both turned sharply to him.

‘What did you say?’ Hannah asked.

‘Cortical blindness,’ he repeated.

‘What’s that?’ Hannah asked.

‘The fingers…it’s a rudimentary diagnostic test to assess whether someone is suffering from it.’

‘How do you know that? Are you a doctor?’

He shrugged.

‘You’re not a doctor?’ Gina asked.

He shrugged again. ‘I don’t know.’

‘What’s your name?’ Hannah gave him a gauze pad and indicated that he should press it against his head wound.

‘I don’t know,’ he replied simply. He didn’t seem distressed about this, just vaguely irritated, as if he had left his umbrella on the bus.

‘You don’t have any ideas at all?’

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘Do you have a wallet or something in your pocket?’ Gina asked. ‘Anything that might have some ID in it?’

While Hannah wrapped a bandage around his head to hold the pad in place, the man felt in his trouser pockets. ‘I don’t seem to have,’ he said apologetically.

‘Not even a set of keys?’ Gina pressed.

‘Sorry…’ he said. ‘Nothing in my pockets at all.’

‘Did you drive here?’

‘I don’t think so. I feel as if I’ve been walking for ages.’

Hannah tied a knot in the bandage and studied him thoughtfully. In different circumstances she would have burst out laughing at her nursing handiwork. The man now looked like a war casualty from a black and white film. She was quite sure the professionals would have far more sophisticated methods of treating his wound but hers would have to do for now. ‘So you’re out in the snow in quite a cut off area – at least, a good hour’s walk from the nearest town – and you have no coat, no sensible shoes, no keys, no phone and no wallet. Don’t you think that’s odd to begin with, even if you didn’t have this head injury?’

‘I suppose it is,’ he said.

‘Oh!’ Gina squeaked. ‘Perhaps you were mugged and dumped out here to die!’

‘He was mugged?’ Hannah asked with a wry smile. ‘So that means he must have been out in the snow in his slippers in the first place for a mugger to find him.’

‘Maybe they broke into his house and dragged him out. Maybe they’re holding the rest of the family hostage!’

At this, the man looked properly alarmed for the first time.

‘I don’t think you need to worry,’ Hannah said, doing her best to reassure him and shooting her sister a warning look. ‘It might happen to Liam Neeson or Tom Cruise, but those sorts of things usually only happen in films. I’ve never heard of it on Holly Way.’

‘Holly Way?’ the man asked. ‘Is that where I am?’

‘Yes. Does it ring a bell with you?’ Hannah asked.

‘I’m not sure… yes, maybe.’

‘It could be because it’s Christmas,’ Gina said. ‘Holly and mistletoe and all that.’

‘Oh… probably,’ the man said, the hope wiped from his expression again. ‘It’s Christmas, then?’

‘Christmas Day. We did just say that,’ Gina replied.

‘So you did,’ the man said quietly. ‘Sorry.’

‘Stop being sorry,’ Hannah said. ‘You’re sure you don’t have a clue about your name?’

‘Tom!’ Everyone turned to see that Jess had returned.

‘Tom?’ Gina asked. ‘How do you know that?’

‘I don’t,’ Jess said. ‘But he looks like a Tom to me and we have to call him something.’

‘He is here, you know,’ Hannah said, frowning.

‘Sorry, Tom,’ Jess said with a sheepish grin.

The man smiled. It was a lot brighter than it had been. ‘That’s alright. I don’t mind if you call me Tom.’

Hannah began to pack away the first-aid kit. ‘I’ll make you something to drink and my sister is going to call an ambulance to have a look at that head injury. I have some dry clothes you can borrow. I can’t promise they’ll be to your taste and they might not fit brilliantly but at least you’ll be drier and warmer in them.’

Gina raised her eyebrows. ‘You have men’s clothes?’

‘Jason left them behind.’

‘And you didn’t have a sacrificial bonfire with them?’

Hannah clicked the lid of the first-aid box back into place. ‘He wasn’t that bad.’

‘Why did you kick him out then?’

Hannah glanced at the newly-christened Tom, and then back at her sister. ‘I don’t think this is the time,’ she said. ‘How about you go and see to that ambulance before…’ Her sentence trailed off. They had no idea how bad this man’s head injury was but it was bad enough to cause amnesia. The last thing she wanted was for him to start being seriously ill, fall into a coma, or worse. The sooner they got help the better.

‘Okay.’ Gina disappeared to make the call.

‘You’re cooking,’ Tom said. ‘I can smell turkey.’

‘Christmas dinner,’ Hannah replied.

‘I’ve ruined it. I’m sorry about that.’

‘No you haven’t. We can make it Christmas tea, so it doesn’t really matter. Unless you’re hungry, of course, in which case we can eat now and you could join us.’

‘I don’t think I am hungry,’ he said. ‘But thank you for the offer.’

‘Right… I’ll get you that drink then. What would you like? I can do tea, hot chocolate, coffee? I even have green tea if you’re that way inclined.’

‘She means she has green tea if you’re a crazy hippy lady,’ Jess put in with a grin.

‘Thank you,’ Hannah said briskly.

‘Green tea actually sounds good,’ Tom said.

‘Hmmmm,’ Hannah said. ‘So you remember that you like green tea?’

‘I don’t know. It just sounds good.’

‘Jess…’ Hannah asked, ‘do you think you can look after Tom for a moment while I get those dry clothes and a cup of green tea?’

‘No problem.’ Jess reclaimed the stone elephant that her mum had discarded on the windowsill. Hannah was about to tell her she didn’t need it but checked herself. She had a strong feeling that this man was genuine, but none of them really knew for sure. Perhaps it was a good idea not to let their guard down completely.

‘I won’t be a minute,’ Hannah called as she hurried off.

After flicking the kettle on and being informed by Gina that the ambulance servi