04

This story is almost complete and if it is liked then I hope to submit on a regular basis to get it all posted in time for Christmas. As always thank you for reading me and hope you enjoy xx

*

Will it just be for the season... or will it take them into the New Year and beyond as well?

Chapter One

"Brian is bringing his friend from work with him this afternoon," Mrs Reeves told her daughter, Shelly.

Shelly raised her brow in question. "Oh, that's nice for him... is there any particular reason why I might need this information though?"

Her mum sighed impatiently. "Well, I just thought that maybe..."

"Mother, do you actually know anything about this man? Is he tall or short? Is he nice, or cruel... is he young or old... is he single, even?"

Mrs Reeves shrugged her shoulders. "Well, if he is Brian's friend, then he must be..."

"Have you met many of Brian's friends?"

"Well... no..."

Shelly reached out suddenly and kissed her mum on the cheek.

"I love you dearly mother, but please do not try to fix me up."

Her mum looked unhappily at her. "I just hate to see you looking so dejected."

"Annoyed," Shelly corrected bitterly. "Annoyed with myself for being such a blind silly fool, but more annoyed with... him, for being the cheating two timing, lying, manipulative rat that he was!"

She was of course referring to her recently ex-boyfriend -- Malcolm who she had been living with for the past eight months -- in blind rose coloured denial of what he was actually like; until she had come home early from work one morning, to find her 'loving' boyfriend, in the arms of another woman, and had been forced to face the truth.

"Look, mum; I have only just come home, it's only been a few weeks, and I am still feeling a little bit raw about it all, the last thing that I want to do, is to go steam rolling back into another relationship."

"So, don't!" her mum snapped suddenly. "Don't think in terms of relationships for a change, and just aim for having a good time for a bit... have an affair -- with no strings attached!"

"Mother!"

"You take things much too seriously Shelly -- you always have, and look where it gets you!"

*

Shelly took a leisurely shower, refusing to admit to herself that she was dawdling just so that she would not have to face her mum again anytime soon. To say that her mother's comment had hit a nerve was an understatement and a half.

"I've made you a cup of coffee, and left it on your dressing table!" her mum rapped on the bathroom door.

Shelly gave a sigh and switched off the water, before wrapping a towel around her wet hair, and then a second larger towel around her wet body.

"Thanks mum, I'll be right out!"

"That would be useful, because then I might have time for a bath!"

She smiled to herself at the wryness in her mum's tone, and as she heard the tread of her parent's feet on the stairway, she gave a little sigh and then she gathered up her bits and swept out of the room.

"Bathroom's free!" she yelled as she shot across the small landing and into her bedroom.

She perched on the padded stool, in front of her dressing table and regarded her expression in the vanity mirror.

Even with her hair wrapped in that towel, she still looked pretty, with her clear ivory complexion, a little pink now from the steam of the shower. Her lips were full and she had that cute strawberry shape to them when she pouted, as she was at that moment.

Her hair when dry was long and thick and fell in soft golden waves, but her eyes were her most complimented feature. They were big, and a deep, smoky dark blue colour that always drew a comment -- usually with a reference to 'bedroom eyes', or some such nonsense.

She had planned to dress casually, in jeans and a simple sweater, but in a sudden mood of impatience she threw them back on to the bed, and burrowed through her wardrobe looking for her little black dress.

The party was to begin at two, it was her aunt and uncles thirtieth wedding anniversary and although it was starting at two o'clock, it would most certainly go on into the evening -- well into the evening.

She paired the little black dress, with her knee length turquoise jacket, and some chunky turquoise costume jewellery, and stepped back to check her reflection.

The dress was smart enough to carry her through to the evening, but the brighter turquoise, would be suitable for the afternoon.

She picked up a little velvet pouch and put her gold pendant, and some gold and crystal, dangling earrings into it, and then slipped it into her handbag. Later she would shed the chunky turquoise and replace it with the more elegant gold.

Her high heeled sandals would suit for both afternoon and evening, and hopefully she would be able to sit down at times, and so give her feet a rest.

She had put her make up on before dressing, and so now she slipped her cosmetic bag into her handbag, along with her phone, her keys, a comb, and her purse.

Uncle Pete would be picking them up at about half past one, and glancing at her watch she saw she had a good three quarters of an hour to kill.

She heard the bathroom door open and then a moment later, her mum's hairdryer, sounded.

Shelly gave her a few minutes and then went and knocked on her door.

"Are you decent?" she called lightly.

"Yes, come on in."

Her mum was sitting on her bed, and was just finishing drying her hair. She stopped when Shelly entered though and a pleased smile lit up her face. "Oh you do look nice!" she sighed happily.

"Thank you... I was wondering if you wanted me to curl your hair for you?"

"Oh would, you? That would be so good of you... I can never get it right myself."

Shelly made short work of her mum's shoulder length, ash blond hair, and after styling and spraying it, she ran her fingers through it a few times, to lift it and give it some bounce.

Shelly waited downstairs whilst her mum finished getting ready, and as she waited she sat staring at the photograph on the fire place.

It was of her mum and dad, when they had celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. Shelly felt a lump in her throat, they had looked so happy in that picture, taken five years ago -- they had been so happy. None of them had known then, just how quickly the cancer would take him away from them all.

Three years ago, Shelly and her mum had lost Mr Reeves, and for a while her mum had been inconsolable. Uncle Pete had been the only person who could seem to sooth her hurts, with his gentle undemanding support, and unending sympathy.

Uncle Pete had been her father's step brother, but the two of them had been brothers in every other sense of the word. they had grown up together, with their birthdays only being two days apart, they had been the same age, and had the same interests, and had had the undoubted love of two parents -- even if only one parent on each side, had been blood.

Uncle Pete had never married though; he had travelled the world with his work, and lived a free and single life.

Shelly always suspected that he was at least a little in love with her mum.

She glanced at her watch as she heard her mum coming down the stairs, and a grin split her face as she stepped into the room.

"Uncle Pete will not be able to keep his eyes off you!" she exclaimed unthinkingly.

She saw the colour flood her mum's cheeks. "Oh, don't be daft," she stuttered, but Shelly saw the sparkle in her green eyes even as she looked away.

Mrs Reeves may have been in her sixties, but she wore the years and the heartaches well. Her face had a few lines in it admittedly, but she used her makeup to good effect, and her smile was always close at hand, giving her eyes a lively sparkle almost all of the time. She stubbornly refused to concede to the grey in her hair and dyed it out at the first sign of any.

Her figure -- although she was not so slender, she was curvy rather than plump, and she and her daughter were both of a petite height of just over five feet -- something that they had both complained about on more than one occasion.

She had also elected to wear a black dress, covered with a green jacket in her case, and the emerald earrings, were her only choice in jewellery.

She was still a very attractive woman, and for the first time in a while, it seemed that she realised that too.

The impatient rattle of the front door letterbox, had them both chuckling as Mrs Reeves, clutched her hand bag.

"Are you sure that I look alright?" she suddenly asked uncertainly.

Shelly reached out to give her a quick reassuring hug. "You look fabulous -- just you look into Uncle Pete's eyes, and then you will know for sure."

She stepped back and grinned.

"I just want to top up my lipstick, so you go and get in the car, and I will lock up on my way out."

Shelly took out her lipstick as the letterbox rattled again, and the doorbell went as well.

Mrs Reeves gave her daughter one last anxious look and then with a little sigh she went to open the door.

Shelly sat poised on the edge of her seat, listening shamelessly and not even attempting to do her lipstick.

"Pete," she heard her mum say brightly, and she could picture the smile on her parent's face.

"Ah there you are, Maureen, I thought...."

There was a pause, and Shelly drew in a breath and waited.

"You look lovely, Maureen... you look beautiful... just like the first time I saw you!" Uncle Pete's words were all jostling to get out, and Shelly grinned mischievously.

"Thank you, Pete... that is very sweet of you,"

A slight chill swept through the room, and then her mum called. "Shelly are you coming?"

"Yes, mum coming now." She drew her lipstick across her lips and returned it into her bag, and pulled out her keys.

As she pulled the front door too, and locked it, she heard the car door slam.

Uncle Pete was still on the pavement though, and waiting with the back door open, and Shelly gave him an affectionate peck on the cheek, as he helped her to climb into the car.

"You always are such a gentleman, Uncle Pete," she laughed.

"How are you, Shelly? You are looking lovely -- as usual."

Uncle Pete was a man of few words, usually, and although in his mid-sixties, he had always had a quiet strength about him, that had always been reassuring to Shelly, and her mum.

He was a tall man with a thick head of hair which had been dark, but was peppered liberally with grey now, and his shoulders were still broad and strong looking.

He had always been a handsome man, and not for the first time Shelly wondered why he had never married... surely it was not just because of her mum?

He closed her door, and then walked round and climbed in next to Maureen.

"Okay, shall we go and enjoy a party?" Uncle Pete said brightly, and Shelly saw her mum nodding.

She sat back and relaxed into the back seat, and took out her phone to start playing on it, which deliberately kept her out of the short conversation. A conversation enjoyed a lot by the two in the front, and she could tell that her mum was enjoying it, because her voice was slightly higher than normal, and she laughed with genuine amusement over something Uncle Pete murmured to her. It came as a surprise to Shelly when she realised that neither of them had laughed in quite a while now.

Uncle Pete drove them to the hotel which was hosting today's celebrations, and he parked the vehicle with little fuss and fanfare, before climbing out of the car, and first helping Shelly, and lastly her mum to get out as well.

As she stood next to the car, and looked up at the brightly lit entrance, Shelly suddenly felt a little thrill of excitement; October was almost done and the festive season would be starting up soon, with Christmas not so far way now, and suddenly life was full of possibilities -- for both her and her mum maybe?

Chapter Two

"Aunty Mary!" Shelly reached up to kiss her mother's sister on the cheek.

Mary was almost the opposite of Maureen, she was dark haired and dark eyed, and at just over six foot, she towered over Shelly and her mum... had always towered over them.

"Thank you all so much for coming," she turned to look around the lobby, and then looked back with a little scowl. Bill is around somewhere," she said uncertainly.

"Oh, I am sure that we will bump into him at some point." Pete said reassuringly, as he kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"How are you Pete... it's always good to see you... in fact we don't seem to see enough of you these days?"

The reprimand was clear for them all to hear, and Shelly winced sympathetically, Aunt Mary could be a real tyrant if she felt snubbed by someone.

"Sorry that I've not been around much lately, but I have been busy," Pete said easily.

"Don't tell me that you are getting ready to leave again?" Mary said, and Shelly and Maureen exchanged a quick horrified look.

Uncle Pete had been around for so long now, that they had gotten used to him being there.

It never even occurred -- to either of them, that at some point he would like to pick up his travelling lifestyle once more.

Shelly was in no doubt that Pete had only stayed since her dad's death, so that he could be there for his late brother's widow and her daughter.

But now maybe he felt that he had been there enough, and had done enough for them, something which neither of them could argue about.

"Well, I will need to go away for a while..." whatever he had been about to say, was cut off by more people coming in through the main entrance.

"Is Kelly here yet?" Shelly asked as people began to call out in greeting.

"Yes, she's been in charge of the seating... I should think that she will be in the dining hall."

Shelly looked at her mum and saw that some of the vibrancy had died in her face.

She shot Uncle Pete a quick glare, and he just shrugged apologetically.

"I meant to tell you both," he said in a low voice. "But I wanted to talk to you properly about it -- to explain."

Maureen cut him off with a fixed bright smile. "You have been so good to us in this past couple of years, you don't owe us anything, Pete; certainly not an explanation!"

She turned away from the both of them, to greet the newcomers, and engage in a bright conversation with a woman who looked vaguely familiar to Shelly, but only vaguely. It seemed that her mum had decided to act as co-host, in Uncle Bill's absence, and Shelly just knew that she was doing it in order to avoid talking to Uncle Pete.

The day had started with such promise, but now Shelly thought it was going to be hard work all the way, and she just hoped that the afternoon and evening could go fast, and they could make their escape without one of them breaking down.

"I am going to go and look for Kelly," she said and stormed away from Uncle Pete before he could say anything more.

Cousin Kelly was not hard to find, since she was exactly where her mum -- Aunt Mary had said she would be.

The family tended to favour this hotel, whenever someone wanted to throw a party of some sort, and although they often had a straightforward buffet style spread, sometimes like now, they would make use of the dining room, and sit down to a more formal three or four course meal.

Kelly had just finished putting out the name cards, at the various tables, and was standing and admiring the setting.

Kelly was tall and willowy -- like her mother, with the same dark hair, and eyes and her dimples made her look younger than her twenty-five years, when she smiled.

Shelly and Kelly had grown up together, as the daughters of two sisters, and were almost the same age, although Shelly was slightly older. They had always been close, and the two of them had always speculated that their mothers must have collaborated over their daughters naming, because of course the play on their names had always been a source for fun and laughter -- and general mocking and mix-ups.

"Hi there!" Kelly grinned when she spotted her, and of course those dimples flared to life, and animated her face, and Shelly felt old and plain and dull in comparison.

Kelly strode across the room and stopped in front of her.

The smile wavered and then faded completely.

"I was so sorry to hear about Malcolm, and I am really sorry not to have got in touch with you sooner, but..."

Shelly forced a little smile. Don't worry about it Kel, I know you've been busy helping your mum with arranging this party today, and preparing for your..."

"It's all off!" Kelly cut in abruptly as Shelly was about to mention her impending nuptials

"What?" she blinked her blue eyes up at her cousin, who simply sniffed defiantly and tried for a grin but only managed to achieve a grimace.

"Rick had been lying to me, I found some things out the other day, and one of those somethings was that he had a bit on the side -- had had a bit on the side for months, or so I gather."

"You mean that you were cheated on too?" Shelly demanded in an appalled tone.

Kelly blushed and scowled uncomfortably. "Well you don't have to shout about it, I mean I am almost certain that everyone on the planet doesn't need to hear about my relationship woes."

Shelly blushed too. "Sorry," she muttered. "It's just that... well what's the matter with the two of us?" it was such a plaintive tone that she said it with that Kelly had to sympathise and agree.

"Oh, I don't know," she sighed. "I guess that we are just too trusting... and we both obviously have awful taste in men!"

"I have to agree with you there, in fact I don't think that I will bother with a man ever again!" Shelly said grumpily as she thought about her mum and Pete, about Malcolm, and now Kelly's partner Phil as well. "They are all just complete let downs!"

"So, what will you do then?" Kelly challenged scornfully, as she fought not to let the hurts drag her down -- especially not today.

Shelly had the grace to blush, okay she had been a bit of a wild one in her day, had been accused of being a nymphomaniac and a man eater on more than one occasion, although she had always thought of it as simply having a healthy sex drive.

"Oh, I don't know," she snapped defiantly. "Maybe I will just invest in a vibrator!"

Kelly laughed. "Or one of those rabbit things?"

"Well they are supposed to hit all the right spots!" Shelly said loftily.

They laughed together and anyone looking would see two lovely young women enjoying themselves, rather than two lovely young women trying to hide their hurts.

"Who is she?" Dean asked from the doorway.

Brian looked across the room, and then back at his boss. "She?"

"They, the two women... they look like they mean business around here, and so maybe you should introduce me and let them know that I am invited."

"Ah, yes of course -- I guess they can look a bit intimidating," Brian said seriously. "They are my cousins, Kelly and Shelly..."

"Shelly is the blond?" Dean guessed.

"Yes, that's right -- how did you know?"

Dean laughed lightly. "I have always pictured a Shelly as a blond, and for that matter a Kelly has always seemed suited to a brunette."

"Yes, well I suppose so... anyway shall we go and say hello?"

"Yes, let's -- let's go across and say hello to them." Dean tried his best not to sound too eager, but he was painfully aware of Brian's quick look of surprise.

Dean knew that he was always seen as reserved at best, and brusque or short tempered at worst. But then as the employer of a thriving business, of twenty plus employees, as the boss of a growing and expanding haulage firm, he needed to show strength -- otherwise customers and employees alike would feel that they could walk all over him.

He followed Brian across the room, but before he could even reach his target, someone raced past them, grabbed the blond haired beauty by the arm, and after whispering urgently into her ear, literally dragged Shelly away again; straight past him; so close that he could almost reach out and touch her. Almost.