Page 5 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas

‘I’ll handle him,’ she promised. ‘Come on, let’s go in.’

As we entered the living room together, I announced loudly, ‘I’m back!’ All the men except Connor were still in front of the TV. The movie credits were just rolling up, so I doubted they minded too much that dinner was late.

Sidnee was snuggled up to Thomas, which made me smile. Fluffy, Loki and Shadow were playing quietly at the back of the room, the cat controlling everything like a master puppeteer as Fluffy watched him indulgently.

Gunnar looked up at me and I saw the moment Liv came in behind me by the way his face went from open and happy to stormy. He stood up. ‘What isshedoing here?’ he spat.

Sigrid hurried over. ‘None of that, Bam-Bam. It’s Christmas.’

I heard Gunnar’s not-so-subtle whisper, ‘I’m not staying here ifsheis.’

Sig’s jaw tightened and her hands went to her hips. ‘Youarestaying – we are all staying. Bunny and Connor have workedincredibly hard to make this day special and you are going to enjoy it.’ The ‘or else’ hung unsaid in the air. Everyone else in the room had frozen, their eyes switching from Liv to Gunnar as if they were watching a tennis match.

‘Okay. Great!’ I said awkwardly, trying to cut through the tension. ‘Let’s eat!’

Liv was still carrying her two bottles of wine so I took them and placed them on the counter. Gunnar glared. ‘Best check the wine for poison,’ he growled loudly.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Liv’s shoulders slump and I glared at him, unconsciously mimicking Sigrid’s stance by placing my hands on my hips. ‘I invited her to join us. She’s alone and it’s Christmas, the perfect time to let bygones be bygones.’

Gunnar’s face was turning red now; only Sig’s gentle hand on his bicep was keeping him from exploding.

‘Maybe now would be a good time to apologise, Liv,’ I suggested in a low aside to her. If she waited a moment more, I wasn’t sure that Gunnar wouldn’t throw her bodily out of the house.

She nodded and cleared her throat. I could tell she was nervous, which was so unusual for her that it seemed downright weird. ‘Gunnar and Sigrid, I came to offer you a sincere apology.’ She noticed Stan and tacked on, ‘And Stan, of course. I wasn’t myself but I should have fought harder. Please forgive me. I’ll do everything I can to make it up to you.’

Sigrid offered Liv a warm smile. ‘I’ve already forgiven you, Liv. You weren’t responsible for your actions.’ She gave her husband a pointed look that he wilfully ignored.

Stan nodded. ‘It wasn’t your fault. I don’t hold a grudge.’ It wasn’t the same as Sigrid’s open-hearted forgiveness but it was better than the death glare that Gunnar was offering.

The silence lengthened as all eyes focused on Gunnar, but still he said nothing. Liv had pushed him beyond the limits of his enormous heart. I got the impression that he could really hold a grudge so forgiveness would take time – maybe even centuries.

Finally, after the silence had become awkward, Gunnar rumbled, ‘Since my wife is so generous, I’ll give you a truce. For tonight.’

Liv smile weakly. ‘I’ll take it. Thank you. Thanks to all of you.’

She handed me her coat; in between doing that and walking to the dining room, her usual aplomb asserted itself. She sat at the table and looked around imperiously. She had somehow turned her apology into an opportunity to play queen. I couldn’t help but admire her.

Truce or not, Gunnar sat as far as he could away from her. Connor carved the turkey. I had assumed that Gunnar would do it but I guessed Sigrid thought that giving him any form of weapon would be a bad idea right now.

Everyone helped themselves from the laden platters and tureens. Connor put on some quiet Christmas music to fill the awkward silence that had fallen over us once again. Once all our plates were full, however, we started praising Sigrid and talking about the food, then bringing up old times. Soon everyone except Gunnar was laughing and talking.

I gorged myself on the delicious food, as did everyone else. We only pushed back from the table when we were too full to eat anything else. By the end of the meal, Gunnar had relaxed enough to laugh occasionally and even join in the conversation.

‘Since we have to wait until we have room for dessert and those amazing pies, let’s go over to the piano for a sing-along!’ I proposed excitedly.

‘Seriously?’ Stan groaned.

Connor shot daggers at him. ‘You’re a guest here,’ he reminded him, his tone suddenly dangerous.

Oh boy! I jumped in between the two testosterone-fuelled men. ‘Hey! Stan doesn’t have to sing if he doesn’t want to.’

‘If he isn’t man enough,’ Connor jibed.

Stan’s eyes narrowed. ‘I can sing like a lark. You’re going to sound like a dying racoon in comparison.’

Connor looked amused. ‘We’ll see, bear.’

‘You’re on.’

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