Page 129 of The Christmas Invitation
Unfortunately, this had the effect of turning Piers gruesomely gallant.
‘How lovely all the ladies look tonight,’ he said, leering at Zelda, ‘but especiallyyou, Sybil. You must let me take you in to dinner.’
He drew her arm through his and led her into the hall, as if they were in some period drama set in a stately home. I noticed Sybil’s perfume as she went past, something very strong and unusual, yet somehow familiar.
In the hall Piers came to a sudden stop under the kissing bough.
‘Well, well, here’s an opportune bunch of mistletoe!’ he said, then kissed Sybil, though she turned her head at the last minute and it landed on her cheek rather than her lips.
Undaunted, he said gaily, his eyes moving from me to Zelda in her red mini dress, ‘Now, who’s next?’
‘Nobody wants to kiss you, Piers,’ said Clara firmly. ‘But wedowant our dinner, so let’s go into the dining room before it goes cold.’
‘I feel I’ve just had a narrow escape from a ghastly experience,’ I whispered to Lex.
‘I can’t remember anyone ever kissingmeunder the mistletoe,’ he replied. ‘But I like to think I’m a more attractive proposition than Piers.’
‘Maybe you haven’t tried his scattergun method of asking?’ I said, grinning.
‘No, but there’s no one left to fireatnow, except you and Pansy … and call me picky, but I’d prefer not to kiss a dog.’
I looked up and found his dark green eyes looking down into mine were not agate-hard at that moment, but soft and a little sad.
On a sudden impulse, I stood on tiptoe and kissed him quickly … or at least, it wasmeantto be quickly, but his arms went round me, holding me close and the moment went on for ever.
Then Pansy suddenly emitted a sharp and jealous volley of yapping and we fell apart, staring at each other, before bursting into speech at once.
‘Meg! I—’ Lex sounded oddly shaken.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean—’ I began.
A voice interrupted us. ‘You two want yer dinner out ’ere?’ asked Den, who was heading for the dining room with a covered dish, followed by River, carrying a basket of bread rolls.
‘I see the Goddess put the idea of the kissing bough into my head for a purpose,’ River said, and smiled benignly on us.
34
Well Spiced
Lex and I took our seats at the dining table, carefully not looking at each other, which wasn’t easy, since we were directly opposite. Another leaf had been added to the table to make room for us all. As well as Sybil and Piers, Den was dining with us and had laid a place for himself between Tottie and Clara.
We passed round the basket of rolls and the butter and Den uncovered the serving dish to reveal two smaller ones inside, which Piers regarded with disfavour.
‘What on earth are those?’
‘This one’s vegetable pâté, and the other mushroom,’ said Tottie.
‘Mushroomsarevegetables,’ Teddy said.
‘Fungi, smarty-pants,’ said Tottie amiably.
‘Oh God, I’d forgotten you were all vegetarians. I should have remembered those weird snacks you serve up at your Boxing Day party,’ said Piers. ‘It’s a wonder anyone goes to it, what with that and the lack of a decent drink.’
‘If you haven’t managed to get away by then, Piers, do feel free to give it a miss and stay at the guesthouse,’ Clara told him.
‘Ditto Christmas Day,’ agreed Henry.
Piers’ brandy-clouded mind seemed to find the concept of a vegetarian Christmas dinner impossible to grasp.
