Episode 3919 (10th December 2004)

Plot
The thought of spending Christmas without Simon makes Nicola miserable. In the café, she is ecstatic when Simon presents her with tickets for a Christmas holiday in the Caribbean. Simon tells Nicola that he felt awful upsetting the woman he loved just to please his mam. Over lunch in The Woolpack, they break the news to Rodney and Lesley. Rodney is pleased for them but Lesley proceeds to pile on the guilt by telling them that she won’t need to buy a turkey and will be happy on her own with a small chicken. Nicola tells Lesley that she loves Simon and wants Christmas to be special because he’s given her a second chance after she treated him badly. Lesley continues to pile on the guilt and Nicola rushes out in tears. Alone with Lesley, Rodney warns her that if she ruins Simon’s relationship with Nicola he will resent her for the rest of his life. Lesley drops some heavy hints about her culinary abilities and Rodney invites her to spend Christmas with him. Later, Lesley clasps Rodney’s knee as she tells him she will give him an experience to remember. Cain heads into the village with Daz in tow. They wait outside Jacob’s Fold until Danny leaves. Cain breaks a window round the back and they both hide when Jack comes out to see what all the noise is about. Cain forces to Daz to climb in and let him into the house. Daz tells Cain that he wants nothing to do with the robbery and Cain tells him to keep watch. They return to Butler’s Farm and pile Len and Pearl’s possessions on the kitchen table. Debbie is horrified when she returns and sees the stuff there. She tells Cain he is disgusting when he reluctantly reveals where the stuff is from. He tells her had no choice because he has to come up with the money to protect her. Debbie warns Cain to keep Daz out of trouble and Cain says that he will. Meanwhile, back at Jacob’s Fold, Danny returns and calls the police. Danny is unimpressed when Jarvis comes round and tells the police he’s a friend of Len and Pearl’s. Scott finds Zoe in the café with Jean. He tells her that he feels like his life has gone backwards, now that he lacks easy access to Jean and a place of his own. Zoe tells him not to expect any sympathy from her. Later, in The Woolpack, Dawn is surprisingly sympathetic and agrees to let him move back in with her on the condition that they remain as friends only. Callum asks Sam to muck out the stables at Home Farm. Just as he’s about to set to work, Zak appears from the shadows and tells him to stop what he’s doing and help him shift a load of riding tackle out into the van. Sam reluctantly agrees to help and later helps him remove the tyres from a parked car.