Page 76 of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
Guy looked up at her and laughed and then said to Isaac: “She always was a feisty one.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, Guy!” Nory said, exasperated.
Guy was still close enough to Isaac that Jeremy couldn’t get between them, both men immovable; Isaac because he was trying to keep the horse calm and Guy because he was engaged in some sort of private standoff. His eyes were intent on Isaac. Nory recognized the stance, the angry drunk gunning for a fight.
“Let’s go, Guy.” Jeremy tried again, pulling him away more forcefully this time. But Guy yanked himself free and fell forward into Isaac. Isaac pushed him back up to standing with his elbow, while keeping hold of the reins. But Guy saw this as a move of aggression on Isaac’s part and flew at him.
“You starting, mate?” He grimaced, shoving Isaac hard.
Isaac staggered backward but caught his balance. The horse whinnied and stamped her hooves. The groom hovered in the periphery, clearly wanting to take the reins from Isaac but wary of Guy, who looked wound up enough to lash out.
“Please don’t push me,” Isaac said with a quiet firmness.
“Jez, get him out of here!” Nory called, properly worried now. “Guy, pack it in.”
“What was that, fella?” Guy had gone the kind of deaf that only a drunk man with his blood up can. His focus was solely on Isaac. “Don’t push you? Is that what you said?”
He shoved Isaac hard with both hands. Isaac stumbled and lost his grip on the reins; the horse instantly began to rear back. Jeremy tried to grab Guy from behind, but Guy’s adrenaline was pumping, and he swung round hard and fast. A crack sounded as his fist connected with Jeremy’s jaw. Jeremy went down. Guy was temporarily shocked into inaction. Isaac had recovered his balance, while Jimmy rushed to the other side of the horse and grappled Nory quickly down off the horse’s back before the frightened mare could throw her.
Nory’s knees were shaking. Guy had always been belligerent when drunk, but she’d never known him to be violent. And Isaac was an unknown quantity.
As the groom helped Isaac get the mare back into her stall and calm her down, Nory rushed to help a dazed Jeremy. Guy was muttering halfhearted “sorrys” at Jeremy.
“Jez, are you all right?” Nory asked, crouching beside him and lifting his face with her hand to inspect him. His lip was split and bleeding freely. Nory rooted around in her pockets and found a clean tissue, which she pressed to his mouth. Katie was going to flip when she saw this.
“Yep,” he said, taking over the tissue compression and rubbinghis jaw with his free hand. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in a brawl.” He tried to smile, then winced. “I think I was probably about nine years old.” He attempted a laugh, and blood splattered out onto Nory’s coat sleeve. “Sorry, Nory, I’ll pay to get it cleaned.” His face had drained of color.
“Don’t be silly,” said Nory soothingly. “It’ll wipe off. How do you feel?” She didn’t like the sheen of sweat breaking out over his forehead.
“Fine,” he said, grinning red. “I need to get cleaned up before Katie arrives.” He went to get up and then slumped back to the ground. “Actually, I’m a bit dizzy, I might just stay down for a while.”
“That’s probably best. Did you hit your head when you fell? Might you be concussed?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Jeremy gingerly reached his hand to the back of his head. “No, I’m fairly sure I didn’t. I think my blood sugar dropped at the shock of being in my first real fistfight.”
“It doesn’t really count as a fight if only one person throws a punch,” said Nory, wrapping her arms around him and kissing the top of his head. He was bleeding on her jacket, but she didn’t care. She was determined to send it to the best dry cleaner in London and send the bill to Guy.
“If anybody asks, I got in a few swings before I went down.”
“Don’t worry, Rocky, your secret’s safe with me.”
One of the stable hands proffered a wodge of paper towels, which Jeremy took gratefully.
“I feel like such a tit,” he grumbled as the blood turned the green paper towels brown.
“Well, I’m hugely grateful that this will be the residualmemory of the morning rather than my ungainly climbing onto a horse.” Nory smiled.
“I don’t think Isaac minded,” Jeremy whispered.
Satisfied that Jeremy was shaken and stirred but not broken, Nory stood and rounded on Guy, who had been hovering and swaying nearby, muttering incoherently. She was so angry with him, she felt as though her heart was pounding outside her chest.
“What are you doing?” she shouted.
“Oh, don’t start, Nor, I’m not in the mood. Soz, Jezzer,” he garbled.
“You started it by rocking up drunk!”
“Don’t try to reason with him, Nory,” said Jeremy with his head between his knees.
