One Perfect Christmas and Other Stories Read online

  For Helen Brookes,

  my beautiful, amazing, inspirational friend.

  I love you to bits.

  Contents

  Introduction

  One Perfect Christmas

  Sequel to One Perfect Summer

  Johnny’s Girl

  Sequel to Johnny Be Good and Baby Be Mine, and prequel to The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson

  Johnny’s Girl extra scene

  Scene told from Johnny’s point of view

  Daisy Says Goodbye

  Sequel to Chasing Daisy

  When Lily Met Alice

  Pictures of Lily meets One Perfect Summer/Christmas

  Rose’s Big Night Out

  Extra chapter from The One We Fell in Love With

  Bridget’s Beach Proposal

  Extra chapter from The Last Piece of My Heart

  A Christmas Wedding

  Sequel to Thirteen Weddings

  Laura’s Longest Day

  Sequel to The Longest Holiday

  Author’s note

  Q&A with Paige Toon

  If You Could Go Anywhere Ad

  Introduction

  Ever since writing One Perfect Christmas back in 2012, I’ve been asked repeatedly why my ebook short stories – which now include Johnny’s Girl and A Christmas Wedding – haven’t also been released in paperback. As they’re only around a third of the length of my usual novels, it just hasn’t been feasible. And even though I’ve explained to people who don’t own e-readers that ebooks can be downloaded onto any device (smartphones, laptops, etc.), many of you just don’t fancy reading anything that isn’t printed on actual, tactile, smells-like-heaven paper.

  Back in 2014 I launched The Hidden Paige, a club designed to give my readers exclusive extra content featuring characters from my novels – DVD extras but for books, if you like. In the last few years, I’ve delivered mini sequels, bonus scenes, extra chapters and standalone short stories direct to your inboxes.

  I’ve shown you what happened when Rose from The One We Fell In Love With went on a night out with Lucy and Nathan from Lucy in the Sky; what was going through the mind of Johnny Be Good’s Johnny when he discovered that he had a teenage daughter and had to break it to Meg; how Lily from Pictures of Lily felt when she met One Perfect Summer’s Joseph Strike and his fiancée Alice; and you’ve also heard what happened next for Daisy and Bridget from Chasing Daisy and The Last Piece of my Heart.

  Now, with so many stories under my belt, including a mini sequel to The Longest Holiday, which I’ve penned especially for this collection, I am thrilled to be able to finally give you what you’ve been asking for: all of my ebook sequels, together with the extra content from The Hidden Paige, in one full-length, physical edition. (Note: we’re also releasing this as an ebook for anyone who wants the full collection at their fingertips – hello, ebook readers! No discrimination here!)

  In case you’ve forgotten what happened and when, or you would like a little more insight as to why I decided to revisit certain characters, I’ve written an introduction to each story featured.

  Although existing readers of my books will get the most out of this collection, I hope those who are new to my work will still enjoy these stories as standalone pieces. If you choose to read my novels afterwards, you’ll still find plenty of twists and turns, but I’m sure you understand it’s impossible to avoid certain spoilers here.

  If you’re not a member of The Hidden Paige and would like to be, you can sign up at paigetoon.com – it’s completely free and there will no doubt be a brand-new mini story winging its way to your inbox in the near future.

  Until then, I hope you enjoy catching up with some old friends and making some new ones – I certainly did.

  Lots of love,

  Paige x

  Twitter/Facebook/Instagram @PaigeToonAuthor

  #TheHiddenPaige

  www.paigetoon.com

  One Perfect Christmas

  After One Perfect Summer came out in May, 2012, so many readers wrote to me demanding a sequel that I feared I might have to put aside my plans for The Longest Holiday to give them what they wanted. My editor has always encouraged me to write the book that’s in my heart, and at that moment in time, I couldn’t wait to get stuck into Laura and Leo’s story.

  However, when it was suggested that I write an ebook short-story sequel to One Perfect Summer to come out in time for Christmas, it felt like the perfect solution. I could give my readers what they were asking for – more to the story – without having to delay my next book.

  Although the ending of One Perfect Summer felt right to me at the time, when I’ve read this book in subsequent years, I’ll admit, it hasn’t felt very satisfying. I’m so glad my readers pushed me to write this sequel because I loved being able to give Alice, Joe and Lukas the resolution that they needed.

  Over to you, Alice…

  I have a spring in my step as my boots crunch through the freshly fallen snow. It’s eight o’clock in the morning and I’m almost too excited to breathe. The anticipation of the last few weeks – no, months – has been killing me. How I will sleep tonight… Who am I kidding? I won’t sleep.

  But first I have to get through today. The smile grows wider on my face and I actually giggle. Out loud. Like a proper nutcase.

  ‘Morning!’ I chirp to a lone passer-by.

  ‘Morning,’ he replies with a slightly wary look in his eye.

  The streets are almost deserted at this hour on a freezing Saturday morning in the middle of December.

  I practically skip over Magdalene Bridge, glancing fondly at the punts moored down to my right. There’s a thin layer of ice on the river and the buildings and streets are coated with fluffy white icing, all shimmering under a perfect blue winter sky. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cambridge look more beautiful.

  Today is the day that two of my favourite people in the whole world – Jessie and Emily – get married to each other. I met Jessie when I was a student at Anglia Ruskin University, here in Cambridge. He worked as a punter on the River Cam – he taught me how to punt – but that wasn’t the only way he brought joy back into my life. When I met him I was a mess. But enough of that.

  Emily was our housemate in my second year. She was as meek as a mouse when we first met, and Jessie and I hardly ever saw her. But, eventually, she came out of her shell and we became good friends. Then she and Jessie became much more than that. They’ve been together for nine years and now, today, they’re finally tying the knot.

  When Jessie revealed he’d proposed to Emily, I thought they’d get married in Scotland, where she’s from. But they delighted me by deciding on Cambridge. After all, this is where they met, and I’m about to arrive at the house Jessie grew up in.

  Jessie’s parents, Judy and Andrew, live in one of the gothic terraces on Mount Pleasant, at the top of the hill. They spent some time in America while we were at university, permitting Jessie to rent out the two spare rooms to students – namely, Emily and me.

  I open the gate, walk up to the heavy, intricately carved wooden front door and knock. The door swings open almost immediately, and then I’m beaming up at Jessie. His red hair looks wilder than usual, and his face a little paler. I realise with building hysteria that he has a slightly manic look about him.

  I burst out laughing. ‘You’re freaking out!’ I exclaim, unable to offer him the calm, sympathetic shoulder that I probably should, given the circumstances.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, alright,’ he snaps good-naturedly, pulling me into the house and closing the door.

  Then I throw my arms around him and he lifts me off my feet, squeezing the air out of me before starting to laugh too
. He puts me down and I look up at him.

  ‘Today’s the day, Weasley,’ I say gently, using the nickname that I came up with for him when we first met a decade ago, because he reminded me of Rupert Grint, AKA Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.

  ‘Sure is, China,’ he replies with a grin.

  My name is Alice, but he calls me China because my grandmother was Chinese. I have her long, dead-straight black hair and her almond-shaped eyes, although mine are green like my mother’s.

  We only started using our nicknames again about eight months ago. We hadn’t used them for years. We grew apart when… No. I’m trying not to think about that too much today.

  Jessie brings me back to the present. ‘Am I glad to see you. How’s Emily?’

  ‘Cool as a cucumber,’ I reply. I left her in her hotel room on the other side of Cambridge. It’s only a small city, so it didn’t take long to walk.

  I’m one of her three bridesmaids, and I arrived at her hotel this morning to find her calmly checking through the contents of her small suitcase before realising that she must have left her tiara at Jessie’s place. I offered to walk here to collect it, seeing as I know Cambridge better than bridesmaids number one and two: Amy from Scotland and Ruth from London. I should do. I’ve lived here for over ten years now.

  ‘Really?’ Jessie asks with surprise.

  ‘Yep. So you’d better get yourself together.’ I notice the tiara sitting on the hallway table. ‘Ah, good. You found it.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  I realise with surprise that I can’t smell the pancakes and bacon that I would expect to be able to on a Saturday morning after a night at the Pickerel Inn, the local pub where we used to hang out. We went there for a few drinks last night for old times’ sake with a few of our punter buddies from the past.

  ‘Have you eaten?’ I ask Jessie with a frown.

  ‘No, I’m not hungry.’

  I gape up at him. ‘What?’

  He shrugs. ‘I’m nervous.’

  ‘You? Too nervous to eat?’ I manage to splutter. ‘Never, never, ever did I think I’d hear that. Where are your parents?’

  ‘Mum’s in the shower, Dad’s still in bed.’

  I check my watch. I have time – Emily won’t mind if I don’t rush back. ‘Right,’ I say with determination. ‘I’m making you breakfast.’

  He follows me reluctantly down the hallway to the kitchen. I pull out a chair for him and then set about getting the ingredients for Scotch pancakes out of the fridge and larder.

  ‘What time are Chris, Jacob and Tom arriving?’ They’re his groomsmen. Chris is one of our old punter pals, and Jacob and Tom are friends of Jessie’s from London, where he and Emily now live. Emily is a social worker and Jessie is a manager at a gastropub.

  ‘Nine-ish.’

  Good. They’ll be able to take his mind off things, but for now that responsibility falls to me.

  ‘How’s the house?’ Jessie asks.

  My smile threatens to break my face. I only moved in a week ago.

  ‘That good, huh?’ He gives me a weak smile. He must be feeling faint.

  ‘When are we allowed to see it?’

  ‘Any chance you’ll have time on Monday before you set off?’ I ask hopefully. They leave for their honeymoon on Monday afternoon.

  He frowns. ‘Aren’t you at work?’

  ‘Oh yeah.’ Trust me to forget about that.

  He smirks. ‘Bet you wish you weren’t. When does he arrive?’

  I catch my breath. ‘Tomorrow night.’

  ‘Excited?’ he asks with a wry grin.

  I nod quickly and can’t stop my feet from jumping with delight on the kitchen floor.

  Jessie laughs affectionately. ‘I love seeing you this happy.’

  I smile and decant some flour into a measuring cup. ‘What about you, Weasley? How are you feeling? This is supposed to be the happiest day of your life.’

  ‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’

  We hear quick footsteps on the wooden floorboards overhead and both glance upwards. His mum must be out of the shower. She sounds like she’s racing around like a rocket, and then we hear her squawking at Jessie’s dad to wake up.

  ‘She sounds even more stressed than you,’ I comment.

  Jessie is an only child so this, effectively, is her big day.

  ‘That’d be right.’ He rolls his eyes and I turn back to the job at hand. ‘What are you doing?’ he suddenly snaps.

  ‘I’m spooning sugar into a bowl,’ I reply slowly, as though he’s a bit thick.

  ‘You haven’t sifted the flour!’ He sounds outraged. ‘Budge over,’ he snaps with a loud, overdramatic sigh as he gets up from the table. He pushes me down into his empty chair and I grin. Weasley making breakfast – order has been restored to the world. And, I think with amusement, I’ve managed to take his mind off things. Double result.

  By the time his groomsmen arrive, Jessie’s mum and dad are downstairs; the former fussing around, while the latter reads the paper as though this is an ordinary day.

  Jessie sees me to the front door. ‘Don’t forget to give her these,’ he says, handing me a paper bag containing three Scotch pancakes wrapped in aluminium foil.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Emily was ordering a champagne continental breakfast as I was leaving.

  ‘Oh, and I’d better remember this!’ I grab the tiara from the hall table.

  ‘Give her my love,’ he says, touching me on the arm.

  ‘I will.’ I smile warmly up at him. ‘Good luck.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘See you on the other side,’ I add.

  He snorts with derision and shoves me out of the house.

  The morning passes by in a blur of hair, make-up and beautiful dresses, and when we finally go downstairs where the cars are waiting to take us to St Mary’s church in the city centre, Emily looks absolutely gorgeous. She’s wearing a long, cream-coloured velvet gown with a matching coat to protect her against the winter weather. We wouldn’t normally expect snow this early, but no one is complaining – it’s magical. Her dark hair has been piled up on top of her head, underneath the glittering tiara. A few loose tendrils hang down. Her make-up is pretty and neutral – she looks very, very different from the goth chick who moved into Jessie’s house all those years ago, with her heavy make-up, black clothes and nose ring. She stopped dressing that way when she got her job in London.

  As for us bridesmaids, we’re wearing floor-length smoky-grey velvet gowns and high heels. But even with our matching jackets, it’s hard to keep our teeth from chattering as we pose for a few photographs. And then the show is on the road.

  I’m nervous as the doors to the church are opened, so I can’t imagine how Emily feels. Jessie is standing up at the altar with his friends and we exchange shaky smiles. As Emily’s third bridesmaid, I have to lead the way in. Ruth is behind me, Amy, the Chief Bridesmaid, follows her and then it’s Emily and her dad. The music starts up and my feet take me on autopilot up the long aisle.

  Concentrating on walking slowly and not rushing, I reach the altar and stand off to the left. Breathing a small sigh of relief, I turn around to watch Emily. The church is quite full, and it’s hardly surprising – Jessie has always been enormously popular, and Emily is a far cry from the shy girl she used to be at university. Jessie is standing sombrely as he watches his wife-to-be approach. It’s the look on his face that does it. My eyes well up and with blurry vision I see Emily smile back at Jessie as she reaches him. Mercifully, a tissue appears out of nowhere. I smile gratefully at Ruth as the priest starts his address, and then we’re instructed to sit down. I turn to take my seat in the front pew, but do a double take as my gaze falls to the far left corner of the church.

  My heart skips a beat as his dark eyes meet mine.

  He has a beard now, a bushy black beard, but it’s definitely him. He smiles a playful smile and then gives me a look, nodding his head meaningfully. He’s trying to convey that everyone el
se is sitting down so I quickly do the same, but his stare burns into the back of my head as my heart beats wildly. And then happiness floods me and I can barely contain myself. He’s here. He’s here. He’s here.

  It’s hard to concentrate on the service. The next time we have to stand up, I look around to catch his eye, just to check it’s really him. It is; he’s unmistakeable, even with his new facial hair.

  Joe. My Joe.

  Of course, he isn’t just my Joe. He’s Joseph Strike, A-list actor and Hollywood’s hottest rising star, so millions of women around the world feel like they own a little piece of him too. But they don’t. Not really. He’s mine, all mine. My heart is so full it feels like it could burst.

  How did he get here without being recognised? It must be the beard. I suddenly have an uncontrollable urge to guffaw and I seriously consider stuffing Ruth’s tissue into my mouth to stop myself, but luckily it’s time to sing so we all stand up again. This time he grins back at me – he knows I’m close to losing it. I really need to concentrate but I see him begin to sing with such animated, over-the-top gusto to make me laugh, and it works.

  Amy flashes me a look so I quickly turn to face the front of the church but glance back at him to see him mouth ‘sorry’ for getting me into trouble. I purse my lips then try as hard as I can to sing the words on the order of service in my hands. What if he leaves because he knows he’s distracting me? Panicked, I look back, but he’s still there singing more calmly and watching me. He gives me another meaningful nod and after that I force myself to concentrate.

  The service is beautiful and when Jessie finally kisses his bride I have a valid excuse to clap so hard my hands sting. It’s also blissfully quick, with two short readings and hymns that are uplifting and only a few verses in length.

  The congregation follows the wedding party out of the church, and I know that Joe will wait until the end to leave so I have time to congratulate my friends. Jessie sweeps me up in a big bear hug and I whisper in his ear: ‘He’s here.’

  He puts me down, a stunned look on his face as he scans the crowd.