Page 49 of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
They settled themselves in, plates piled high with chicken drumsticks, salad, and hot potatoes.Gremlinswon the vote againstIt’s a Wonderful LifeandDie Hard. Camille was asleep before the opening credits had finished.
When the movie ended, they left the snug, blinking against the light, yawning, and shivering slightly after the warm dark of the room. Camille, bleary eyed, went off to retrieve her husband from the billiards room. Charles was sitting on a brown leather chesterfield sofa in the hall, one leg crossed over the other while reading a book. He looked up as they emerged rumpled andrelaxed from an afternoon of doing nothing. His expression at seeing Jenna was utter joy, as though he hadn’t seen her for a month. Nory couldn’t help feeling wistful.
“Who won?” Jenna asked.
“Pip, obviously.”
“You didn’t play for money, did you?”
“I couldn’t help it, Guy wanted to ‘make things more interesting’!”
“Oh, darling! You know you should never play against Pippa for money; she always wins—she always did. Don’t you remember?”
Charles rubbed his chin and looked sheepish. “I thought I might have learned a few new tricks in the interim. Unfortunately, Pip’s rather upped her game since school too.”
Jenna tsked good-naturedly and passed her arm through his.
“Nory, I’ve been thinking, why don’t you invite that gardener of yours to join us for dinner tonight?” Charles asked.
Nory flushed instantly. “He’s notmygardener.”
“You know what I mean,” said Charles. “Guy reckons you’ve been sloping off to see him every chance you get.”
“I’d hardly describe it as ‘sloping off’.” She almost addedand the first time I ended up at his house it was because I was trying to escape Guy, but Camille might be in earshot.
“Well, whatever.” Charles waved an arm dismissively. “Invite him up for dinner tonight, he’d be very welcome.”
Nory wasn’t sure it was a good idea. She wasn’t even certain Isaac would want to come.
“I’ll think about it,” said Nory. “But if I do invite him, you’re not to refer to him as ‘the gardener.’ His name is Isaac.”
Jenna and Ameerah were grinning from ear to ear and Nory wondered if they’d had a hand in this.
Nory was hemming and hawing about whether to invite Isaac to dinner. She knew she would be crossing a boundary if she did, but if he accepted, then perhaps he was willing to cross it too. She spotted him out of her bedroom window, pushing a wheelbarrow through the formal gardens with Lettuce trotting along beside him. Before she could overthink it, she had grabbed her coat from the back of the chair and hurtled down the stairs, cursing briefly in the boot room as she fought to get her Wellies on, before dashing out into the frosty late afternoon.
The sun was low in the sky, and the peculiar pumpkin glow to the clouds hinted at more snow this evening. She found Isaac digging bulbs into the sleeping flower beds.
“What are they?” she asked, coming up behind him. Lettuce had left off sniffing around the borders when Nory had gotten near and trotted over to join her.
“Alliums, mostly. They’ll give a nice height when the tulips begin to die back. I should have had them in by now, I didn’t expect the weather to turn so fast. You out for a walk?”
“As a matter of fact, I was looking for you.”
“I’m honored. How can I be of service?”
“I wanted to invite you to join us for dinner tonight, at the castle.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“Whose idea was it?” he asked, and Nory noted more than a hint of suspicion in his voice.
“Charles suggested it, and I thought it might be a nice idea. You can meet everyone properly.”
“Why do I need to meet them?”
Nory didn’t have an answer for this. She felt suddenly foolish and annoyed with herself.
