The Cornish Cream Tea Christmas: Part Four – All I Want for Christmas is Cake!

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 fire 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.

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