Читать книгу The Mills & Boon Ultimate Christmas Collection - Мишель Смарт, Kate Hardy - Страница 53
ОглавлениеThe office door swung open with a bang, bringing with it the sound of Christmas carols and Cruz’s dark face. Amory moved quickly to hide the gift she’d only half-wrapped.
“What is it?” I asked. Cruz was usually the epitome of cool, but something bothered him this fine Christmas Eve.
“Have you seen the ham hock?”
I pressed my lips together to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape. Ham hock? When no response was forthcoming from me he turned his steely gaze on Amory. “Well?”
She shook her head, innocent eyes wide. Just then a little giggle carried from down the hallway. We did our best to ignore it, knowing quite suddenly where the ham hock had gone.
“What did you need it for exactly?” I asked, buying time. The little giggle was edging closer, bringing with it the cheery notes of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.
“I need the hock for soup; waste not, want not.” His words were clipped as they so often were, having given up on me and Amory eons ago when it came to our education in the culinary arts. The only part we were interested in was consuming the delicious dishes – quality control; we wanted no part in the making of them.
“Didn’t we just eat our body weight in ham?” Amory asked. We’d been feasting on Christmas menus for the month of December in light of our festive season guests.
“Yes,” he said, his voice huffy. “And the remnants would make a fine soup. Running a kitchen is all about budgeting and minimizing food waste…”
Amory held up a hand, her eyes getting that particular glaze when Cruz tried to explain his position to her.
Unbeknownst to Cruz, five-year-old Millie appeared, light shining on her blonde head like a halo, the perfect disguise for the little minx she was. In her hand was the vestige of the ham hock, or at least that’s what it appeared to be to my untrained eye. Either that or she’d been excavating the garden for dinosaur bones again, but perhaps not in such snowy weather. You never could tell with Millie, though.
Cruz sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “It was Millie again, wasn’t it? And she’s behind me, isn’t she?”
Millie let her giggles spill out, and we soon followed suit. “Yes,” I said, lips twitching. She wore a bright-red Christmas onesie whose padded feet helped her sashay about undetected.
The tension left Cruz’s face and he turned to the small child. “Ah,” he said, taking the hock from her hand. “I should’ve known you’d be the culprit.” His voice softened. Millie had stolen the hearts of everyone at the lodge, despite her rascally nature. “Who were you saving this time?”
“The doggies,” she said in her cherubic voice. “Amory helped me.”
Amory let out a gasp and said, “I most certainly did not.” And then made shushing gestures to Millie behind Cruz’s back. Those two were partners in crime and it warmed my heart, even though Millie often gave her so-called confidante up to save herself.
Cruz just shook his head. “At this rate we’ll go bankrupt but the menagerie will be plump enough to live through the winter.”
We had amassed a number of stray animals at the lodge. Dogs, and cats, and once a pony, which I had spirited away to a friend’s farm before Millie could lay claim. Amory took the dogs home at night, but during the day they roamed the gardens, or snuggled by the fire, being secretly fed by these two conspirators.
“Amory told me no one likes ham soup,” Millie continued, getting her godmother well and truly in trouble.
Cruz turned slowly to Amory. “Did she now?” Amory’s mouth opened and closed while Millie just grinned, like the Cheshire Cat.
“She did.” Millie shrugged her shoulders, as if such trivial things bored her. “Can we open the presents now?”
“Not yet.” Millie’s face fell.
“Maybe I can sneak you one or two later,” Amory said. “How about we go grab a snack while Cruz isn’t looking? Some of those Santa-shaped gingerbread men…?”
Millie squealed.
“I’m right here, you know,” Cruz said, but smiled. He loved feeding people, and secretly delighted that none of his cookies ever made it through a day. There were plenty of hands snatching from the cookie jar.
For someone who didn’t want children of her own Amory sure didn’t mind spending time with them. It was a godsend really. She was the fun aunt, the one who got up to mischief with Millie, or cuddled and crooned to baby Brooklyn when my eyes were popping out of my head from lack of sleep.
Motherhood had been my greatest achievement to date, but I hadn’t been prepared for how much strength it sapped. Brooklyn was only three months old and had trouble settling. Then I’d have Millie up with the sparrows. Luckily I had plenty of hands at the lodge, so I could duck off for a nap when my brain turned to mush from fatigue.
The trio left the room, hands entwined, Millie negotiating for more cookies.
Alone, I kept up with wrapping the gifts, smiling when I came to ones I’d bought earlier in the year when I was fueled with pregnancy hormones. I really don’t know what I’d been thinking. Why would I have bought Kai a compass? The man read the stars, the moon, the sun, the wind… Still, I’d managed to get it all done and the children’s presents too, which were hidden upstairs in the attic. Millie had hunted high and low for them, but she had no idea there even was an attic. She hadn’t clued on yet the little cord dangling down was the access point.
Kai wandered in, his cheeks red from exertion, I hastily covered his present with the bright-red foil. “Been wandering up the mountain?” I asked.
“It was lonely without you.”
I stood and kissed him hard on the lips, tasting the fresh mountain air and his particular Kai loveliness. My heart did somersaults and I wondered if the effect he had on me would ever fade. It was still as strong as ever, but more solid now, more real. “My mountain-climbing days are numbered,” I said. “Until I’ve slept a good eight hours in a row.” Well, that was my excuse, anyway. He still dragged me out for midnight yoga over the summertime, and I’d fallen in love with the way it made me feel. Now I did it of my own free will, but cloistered inside, where it was warm in the winter.
I put my cheek against his chest, the thrumming of his heart almost enough to lull me to sleep. It still seemed like a dream, our fairy-tale romance, the fact we’d made a little family together, built up a thriving business and kept our love alive despite long hours and sleepless nights. Unlike my previous relationships, things just gelled with Kai. The more life got hectic, the more I felt his support. When I was stressed or overworked he sensed it and made me climb that godforsaken mountain. And when I noticed the same in him, I made him take time for himself. To wander to go be with nature, to go get lost in that way of his he so yearned for. Eventually, he’d acquiesce, and take his truck and go find some waves, somewhere where it was warmer, somewhere far from here.
I guess we found that balance, and learned to intuit what the other needed. His parents were coming soon, to stay for the winter. I worried they’d freeze with their Australian bodies, so used to heat and sun, but they assured me they’d acclimatize quickly, climbing mountains if need be to keep warm. Not hard to see where Kai inherited his love of hiking from then… I loved Kai’s parents. They were laid-back and easy-going, and all the adoption business had been squared away. It still came up every now and then, but there was no bitterness any more, just a sense of wonder at what might have been.
There was a knock on the door. I pulled myself away from Kai. Dazed from his proximity.
“Sorry to disturb you two lovebirds,” Micah said with his impish grin. “But Aunt Bessie is here. Says she wants to make an early start on dinner.”
I checked my watch. It was barely eight in the morning. “That’s Aunt Bessie. I’ll call Mom.”
I buzzed Mom’s extension and she said she’d come right over.
“Where’s Isla?”
Micah shrugged. “In town, doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, I imagine. She won’t be long.”
Isla’s parents couldn’t make it this Christmas, so she was all set to fly out to them the day after Christmas for the week.
“As long as she’s not working.” When winter set in and snow began to fall there wasn’t much need for a landscaper, so Isla helped out with the guest activities. She relished the work, and I often had to tell her to turn in for the day, so caught up was she with sorting dance lessons, or art classes, that she lost track of time.
“I’ve hidden her work file, so she can’t.”
I smiled at the knowledge. Isla didn’t have an off button and it was easy to work too hard at the lodge because there was always something that needed doing. “Good, she needs a proper break.”
He nodded. “I keep telling her.”
“Maybe she should take a few weeks over Christmas?” I said, mentally trying to rearrange staff, and who’d step in for her. Isla needed time to recharge her batteries and she would only do that if she wasn’t here.
“You tell her then. She won’t like it.” And she wouldn’t. That was the problem. Isla loved the lodge as much as I did.
“Yoooo hoooo,” a voice rang out.
“Aunt Bessie, we’re in here!”
My aunt sauntered into the room, her bleached-blonde hair curled to perfection, her face made up. I kissed her heavily rouged cheek, her flashing candy-cane earrings making me blink. “Merry Christmas,” she said.
“Merry Christmas, Aunt Bessie!” I darted a glance over my shoulder, hoping she couldn’t see her present. I’d found her the sweetest silver bracelet with little donut charms, perfect for the woman who’d taken the humble donut to the next level. In the years since she’d embraced Instagram she’d become something of a social media sensation, which had led to her being invited onto a plethora of mid-morning TV shows to do baking demonstrations, and now she had her very own cooking show. Filming wrapped in November so she was back at Puft, plying her wares and sharing all sorts of celebrity gossip with her goggle-eyed customers. But she was still the same old Aunt Bessie, a breath of fresh air and fun to boot.
“Where’s Anabelle?”
“Mom’s on her way,” I said as she took Micah into her arms, swishing him from side to side as if he were a little boy and not a full-grown man.
Just then the baby monitor rustled to life with the cries of Brooklyn. “Oh, my baby is awake,” Aunt Bessie said, grinning. “I guess that means you get to unload the car, and I’ll sort that precious little bundle out?”
Aunt Bessie loved my kids like they were her own grandbabies. She was the veritable baby whisperer when it came to Brooklyn, and when all else failed I called on Aunt Bessie to come and help if I couldn’t get her to settle. “I was going to bath her.”
“Leave it to me. Has she got some gorgeous little Christmas outfit?”
I grinned. “Of course. She’s Santa’s little helper, didn’t you know?”
She clapped her hands and rushed off toward the stairs.
***
That afternoon we had a full house. With everyone present we finally let Millie decorate the tree in the front salon. We had other Christmas trees scattered around the lodge, but they were professionally adorned by Amory, and more for the enjoyment of the guests. This one was all Millie’s and she’d made all sorts of garlands for it, including strings of popcorn she and Amory had laced that morning.
“Now, Mama?” she asked.
I kissed the top of her head. Her hair smelled like apples and innocence and I felt a fierce tug in my heart. How I loved her. “Now,” I agreed, and she shrieked and grabbed her grandma’s hand. Mom smiled, and bent over the box with Millie, discussing the pros and cons of putting the tinsel on first or last.
While they were occupied, I ambled to the kitchen and checked in on Aunt Bessie, who was helping Cruz with the Christmas Eve dinner prep.
Amory must’ve smelled something on offer and crept up behind me. “I hope you’re making gingerbread coffee to go with those,” she said, pointing to the tray of Santa gingerbread men.
“Aren’t we banned?”
Our last attempt to make eggnog had resulted in carnage. At least for the eggs involved. How exactly did one separate the yolk from the white? We didn’t think it mattered, but clearly it did. Cruz bemoaned the fate of so many eggs, and banished us with a stiff warning never to attempt cooking again.
“Technically. But this is just a snack, and you can’t mess up coffee. That’s the one gift you do have.”
Aunt Bessie shooed us out. “Come on, you two, you’ll set fire to something, or turn the oven off by mistake. Get out and we’ll make you some gingerbread coffee, yeah?” Baby Brooklyn was snug in her capsule, smiling and gurgling at Aunt Bessie’s voice. I gave her a kiss. She looked adorable in her little Santa’s helper suit complete with Santa hat. “I better feed the munchkin,” I said, taking the warm bundle. “We’ll be in the front salon then. Out of harm’s way.”
Amory snatched the tray of biscuits when Cruz had his back turned and we stole out of there like the thieves we were. I settled Brooklyn for her feed, while Millie and Mom heaped the poor fir tree with baubles of red, green and gold, as she bent Mom’s ear about everything she’d done that day, an exhausting list by the sounds of it. My little girl reminded me of me and Micah, and the fun we’d had on the grounds of the lodge growing up. So many places to explore and mischief to get up to.
Amory sat next to me, munching on a gingerbread man. Her wedding ring flashed under the Christmas lights, reminding me of their wedding. Well, their elopement actually. A few years back they’d announced breezily they were off to Vegas to get married, simple as that, as if they were talking about a weekend getaway. In typical Amory style she’d been married to the man she loved, wearing a flame-red dress, with just her, Cruz, and a witness they’d paid ten bucks.
“What’s that look you’re wearing there?” she said, squinting at me.
“What look?”
“You’re all misty-eyed…”
“Am I?” I laughed and dashed at my eyes. Weddings… I loved them no matter what scale they were on. “I was thinking of your elopement, actually, and how radiant you were coming home.”
The fire crackled behind as she contemplated. “It was perfect for us,” she said, her voice softening. While Amory was all bravado and brisk efficiency when it came to Cruz, she was almost shy about revealing her feelings. Eloping had been the right choice for them. It did make me wonder, as a wedding planner myself, if I’d ever get to walk down the aisle. I guess Kai and I had done things backwards: built up the business, had the babies. Did we really need a certificate to prove our love? Probably not in his eyes, but in mine, it was all about the celebration of that love. About sharing that precious moment with people who made your life complete. Still, we didn’t discuss it. But I often imagined my own wedding, what I’d wear, how we’d decorate the chapel, what on earth I’d say in my vows that would be enough to describe my love for him…
“What is it about Christmas that brings all this to the fore?” she asked. “You know, the memories, the love, all that soppiness.”
I laughed. “It’s the time of year to reflect, and hope and dream.”
“You’d look amazing in a backless gown,” she said, waggling a brow. Golly, the girl knew me so well, she could read my mind.
“Why, thank you,” I said, pretending not to understand. “But it’s a little cold for that.”
“Oh, please, you know what I’m talking about. Don’t make me open Pinterest.”
I colored. So, I’d been adding pins to my dream-wedding board? I was a wedding planner!
Isla wandered in, and our talk fell silent. “Take a seat,” I said, smiling. In the years she’d worked at the lodge, she’d grown even more beautiful with her fire-red hair, and willowy frame. But it was more than looks alone, it was an inner confidence she’d found that made her so striking.
“My shopping is finally done and just in the nick of time. Who wants to help me wrap them?”
I let out a groan. “I vote Amory.”
Amory surveyed her nails, which had little Christmas trees painstakingly painted on. “I can be swayed with champagne,” she said. Isla’s eyes brightened. “Deal! Oh, I got Micah the cutest gift! It’s a sketch of our wedding day, you know the picture under the arbor?” We nodded. “That one, in charcoal. It’s the prettiest thing.”
“I love that picture of you two,” I said, remembering it in detail, the way they only had eyes for each other.
“What picture?” Micah said, wandering in and holding his hands to the fire.
“Nothing,” Amory said, quickly.
“You three look guilty as sin.”
“Micah,” Amory said in dulcet tones. “It’s Christmas. Can’t a girl have some secrets at Christmas without getting the third degree?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Geez, Micah. Let there be some surprises, please.”
He colored. “When you three confer like that, it usually means trouble.”
I scoffed. “I hardly think that’s the case.” Poor Micah, he was right. We made a formidable team and it often led to trouble, at least where Micah was concerned. We’d cooked up crazy ideas for the lodge over the years: Halloween parties, Teddy Bears’ picnics, all sorts of things where we made Micah be the ghost, the bear, even the Easter bunny once. Not to mention all the girls’ movie nights we’d subjected him to when he couldn’t think of an excuse quick enough. In this case, however, it was innocent, but I didn’t blame him for being suspicious.
Kai came in and took a contented Brooklyn from me. Usually she’d be fussing, but it was like she knew Aunt Bessie was in the house, so was being the prefect baby. It was nice to relax, knowing she was settled.
“These ladies are up to something, Kai. I just know it.”
Kai raised a brow. “There’s an adult-sized Santa suit in the cupboard, is that it?”
I kept my laughter in check, knowing there was no such thing. “Kai, that was a secret!”
Micah’s mouth fell open. “Oh God, please don’t tell me you’ve organized some kind of Cedarwood Lodge Christmas Pageant or something, and I’m riding on a float.”
Dammit, I wished I’d thought of that. Before I could say anything to Amory, she’d taken her phone out and was making a note about it. Great minds and all that.
Aunt Bessie sashayed in with a tray of gingerbread coffees, the spicy, nutty scent peppering the air. “Get these down, would you, so we can crack open the champagne already.”
We each took a mug, and Millie had her own gingerbread milkshake, topped with whipped cream and the most enormous chocolate donut. “That’ll ruin her dinner, Aunt Bessie,” I said, picturing Millie dosed up on all that sugar, careening around the lodge.
“Hush now, who called the fun police? It’s Christmas, last time I checked.”
I shook my head ruefully. There was no winning when it came to Aunt Bessie and her donuts.
***
“Urgh,” said Amory clutching her tummy. “How are we supposed eat a proper meal? I’m still full from afternoon tea.”
Sure enough, like she did every year, Aunt Bessie had doled out some pre-feast snacks, so we’d managed to polish off piles of her latest creations, donuts in every shape and flavor you could imagine, some with candyfloss, others filled with luscious chocolate ganache. Mom had baked a pumpkin chiffon pie which had been demolished too. She’d come so far with her cooking over the years, and had also put on some much-needed weight. That haunted look she’d worn for so long was gone, and it made me smile just looking at her.
“Too bad,” I said, feeling decidedly sleepy myself. “We have to feast and feast we will.” I pulled my best friend up by the hand, the cat jumping from her lap, but the dogs near her feet snoring away, oblivious.
“Mom,” I said, entering the warmth of the kitchen. “We’ll set the table, yeah? Do you need help with anything else?”
She looked down her specs at me, and wiped her hands on her reindeer apron. “Set the table, and light the candles, and we’ll be ready in five. Millie needs her face washed, she got into the gravy.”
“The gravy?” That child was a bottomless pit.
“She loves it.”
I called to her as Amory and I went into the dining room to prepare the table. Our color theme this year was silver and white and as much bling as we could find. It suited the winter wonderland feel the lodge had at this time of year.
“Yeah?” Millie said, poking her little blonde head around the door. To my surprise she was dressed in her Christmas outfit, a frilly green dress, with matching headband, and her face was clean, her hair neatly held back.
“Aw, you look beautiful,” I said, snatching her up for a hug. “Very festive.”
“Daddy made me take a bath.” She rolled her deep-blue eyes.
“You probably had gravy from head to toe.”
“Yeah. Can we open the presents now?”
“Soon.” I kissed her cheek as she wiggled to get down.
Each year we handed out presents to one another on Christmas Eve as had become tradition. On Christmas Day our friends would visit their own families, and we’d go to Aunt Bessie’s to repeat the festivities. Millie knew she was in for a treat and couldn’t contain herself.
“How soon?”
Kai snuck in dressed in a black-knit sweater and denim jeans. He looked every inch a Vermonter these days, and less like a nomadic yogi. Golly, the guy took my breath away. “My little cherub can’t wait another moment for a present!” He scooped her up and rained kisses over her face.
“I can’t, not another minute! I’ve waited all day-y-y-y-y.”
The rest of the gang took up places at the table, Aunt Bessie and Cruz dashing in and out with heavenly scented dishes, my mouth watering despite what I’d eaten that day.
“Give that child a gift!” Aunt Bessie cried out. “We’ll be another few minutes at least.”
Amory bent to the tree and took a candy cane-wrapped box. “For you,” she said, kissing the tip of her nose. We exchanged a smile as Millie dashed the paper off in seconds, and let out a squeal. “Ice skates!” She kicked off her ballet flats and went to put them on.
“No, no,” I said, laughing. “You can’t wear them inside! After lunch tomorrow, Daddy and I will take you skating on the lake.”
“Tomorrow?” her voice pitched. “That’s for ever away!”
Kids! Time moved so much slower for them.
Amory bent and helped Millie put her ballet flats back on. “How about I get here bright and early and take you? Once you’ve opened up all of the gifts Santa brings you…”
Mollified, she beamed. “Yes!”
I knew Amory had matching skates, and they’d look a picture zooming around the ice hand in hand.
Millie opened the rest of her gifts, while we finished setting the table.
Amory winked and took fidgety Brooklyn from her capsule. There were presents for the baby too, Christmas books made from felt, and a rocking horse from Micah.
We sat down to eat, Mom and Aunt Bessie fussing with the placement of dishes, while I poured champagne for the table, and sparkling apple juice for Millie.
“A toast,” I said, as everyone took their places. “To another wonderful year at the lodge with the greatest family and friends anyone could have.”
We stood and clinked glasses, laughing as we tried to edge around each other’s outstretched arms. Just then Millie piped up. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot,” she said, lifting her finger. “Mom, Daddy has this big sparkly ring for you in his pocket…” Before she could say any more Kai clamped a hand over her mouth.
Everyone froze.
“I forget just how good those little ears are,” Kai said, gently tugging Millie’s earlobe.
Again the room fell silent. It could be a dress ring, an eternity ring, a pendant even, I told myself. It might not have been a wedding ring… I’d almost gotten used to the fact I’d planned the most glamourous weddings, yet had never walked down the aisle myself. We were busy, then we had the children and were even busier. And we loved each other, which was all that mattered, right?
But still, my heart pumped with hope.
“Well,” Kai said, taking my hand. “This wasn’t exactly how I planned this.” And then he dropped to one knee. “Clio, will you marry me?”
I blinked back happy tears, but I was lost for words. Until Amory coughed and motioned for me to respond. Oh, right! “Yes, my answer is yes!”
While I knew Kai loved me with his whole heart, I was a wedding and event planner, dammit, and I knew we’d have the most wonderful wedding that ever was. The wedding I’d been dreaming of since I was a young girl. And we’d have it right here, at Cedarwood Lodge, where I first clapped eyes on the man of my dreams…
