Page 67 of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
“I’m being an arse,” he said to his wife. “Ignore me.”
“Already on it.” She squinted her eyes at him and gave him a friendly elbow in the ribs.
“At this rate you’ll have to change the facias to Noel and Family, Dad,” Nory said, sneaking a sideways wink at Thomas, who glared back at her.
“Maybe we will,” said her dad. “Credit where it’s due. This family is built on good honest graft, and there’s not many can say that.”
“Jake, I really must protest,” Ameerah cut in. “I’ll have you know my father works damned hard; transferring one’s money all around the globe to avoid paying tax must be exhausting.”
They all laughed.
“And how is life in the murky world of the law?” Jake asked.
“Oh, you know, I’m just a gal fighting for the rights of the innocent and downtrodden, I don’t like to brag.”
Jake nodded. “And, Nory, how are you coping with being away from your books?”
“Better than I thought, actually,” Nory replied.
“Don’t be fooled, Jake, I keep catching her chasing books online,” said Ameerah. “Nory can sniff out a rare book a hundred miles away.”
“The day you got that business loan was one of the proudest days of my life,” said her dad.
“Good,” Nory replied. “Because I’ll be paying it off for the rest of mine.”
“But it’s yours. You’ve built something. There’s pride in that. No one can take that away from you.”
“Apart from the bank if I don’t keep up repayments,” said Nory.
“Nothing worth having is free.” Her dad chuckled.
Nory would have liked to disagree. She would have liked not to have spent nights lying awake with worry, wondering how she was going to find the money to renew her lease or pay the rent. Some free money would have been well worth having. But in her family, struggle was synonymous with pride.
“Having said that,” said Sasha, “we’ve agreed to have aMidsomer Murdersmurder in the dahlia house in March.”
Jake raised his tea mug and clinked it against his wife’s.
“As always, my wife is the voice of reason. It’ll help pay for new overhead misters for some of the greenhouses and a kitchen refurb for the camper van.” He grinned.
“I’m so pleased you’ve agreed.” Nory was delighted. “Noel and Son will be on TV!”
Even Thom smiled.
“Ameerah, love, any news from your parents?” Sasha asked.
“The suite on the cruise ship is the biggest my mum has ever seen, and they’ve signed up for every excursion available. They’ll be spending Christmas Day on the Galápagos Islands.”
“I hope giant tortoise isn’t on the à la carte menu,” said Thomas.
“Well, my love, I can’t promise you an à la carte menu, but excessive noise, sherry, and Jake snoring from beneath a paper crown are all available if you decide to spend Christmas with us,” said Sasha.
“Hear! Hear!” said Jake, before adding, “But I don’t snore.”
Cue many and varied impressions of Jake Noel snoring.
Nineteen
Dinner at the castle had been a subdued affair. The chest-beating bravado that would have otherwise greeted dishes of kill-your-own-pheasant was absent due to the Guy-Camille fiasco; such visceral celebrations seemed in poor taste.Guy was drunk by the time Ameerah and Nory got back from lunch and seemed determined to remain that way. Pippa had rearranged the table to close the gaps made by missing friends, but the absences were apparent. Nobody quite knew what to say to Guy. What do you say to an old friend whose wife has just very publicly left him? Even if he did have it coming?
