Page 39 of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
“Why don’t I ask the kitchen if they could send some cocoa up to your room?” Jenna suggested.
“That would be lovely, thank you. Thank you, to all of you, again. Good night.”
Camille left the room, and Jenna went off to see about the cocoa.
“Do you think we should do something?” asked Nory.
“Like what?” asked Ameerah.
“I don’t know.”
“We’ll keep an eye on her. We’ve got a few days yet.”
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll tell Jez too.”
“I think she could use some counseling or something,” said Ameerah.
“Something for sure,” agreed Nory.
“I vote myself not to be the one to tell Guy.” Ameerah grimaced.
“Oh, I think we’ll leave that to Charles.”
“And in the meantime, I think I might rescue Dev from the billiards room and see if he wants to get jiggy with me.”
“Well, in that case, I might see if the gardener will let me peep through his telescope.”
“Is that a euphemism?”
“Nope.”
“Do you think Jenna will be pissed with us if we desert her?” Ameerah asked.
“I think Jenna will join Pippa in slaying the boys at pool. She won’t miss us.”
In another twenty minutes, Nory had changed out of her evening dress and into jeans, boots, and an extra-thick jumper, and was knocking on Isaac’s front door. It was just after 10:00 p.m., and Nory had wondered if it was maybe too late to call on him, but when she had stepped out from the trees, she had seen his lights were on and there was still smoke curling out of the chimney.
She could hear Lettuce snuffling at the door, but the old lurcher hadn’t bothered to bark. Nory reasoned that she probably wasn’t a great guard dog. The porch light flicked on as Isaac opened the door.
“Hello,” she said, smiling hopefully. “Is your telescope available?”
Isaac cocked his head to one side, amused. “You’re lucky,” he said, stepping aside to let her through. “I was just about to close it down for the night.”
Lettuce kept close to Nory’s side, pushing her nose into Nory’s palm.
“Have you had many customers this evening?” she asked.
“It’s been steady,” Isaac replied with a completely straight face. “I am known to have the best telescope in the village, so demand for my services tends to be high.”
“I can well imagine.”
“Would you like a drink before stargazing?”
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
“I don’t have much in the way of alcohol, I’m afraid, but I can offer you a beer or a brandy.”
“Could I be terribly boring and ask for a cup of tea?”
