Page 25 of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
“Good morning to you,” she replied, throwing a bag containing the clothes she’d borrowed onto the backseat.
Isaac was wearing a knitted hat and a different coat than the one she had borrowed last night. He smelled of soap and sandalwood and, she noticed, was even better-looking in the daylight. His skin was smooth, clean-shaven, his dark complexion a contrast to her own pale skin, which refused to tan and freckled instantly when the sun hit it.
“Did anyone notice you were missing last night?” he asked as they pulled out onto the long drive.
In the distance Nory could see two golf carts bumping over the grounds, delivering her friends to their morning activities.
“Ameerah asked me this morning where I’d got to. She checked in on me before she went to bed to make sure I hadn’t been kidnapped. And Jeremy asked, but I don’t think any of the others noticed. Or if they did, they assumed I’d gone to bed early.”
“Are you known for going to bed early?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Nory laughed. “Aside from a brief foray in my twenties, I’ve never been terribly into all-night parties. I like books and tea more than I like clubs and margaritas.”
“Same,” Isaac agreed. “But then there aren’t too many night clubs in Hartmead.”
They passed the tiny station, where one of her parents would usually meet Nory off the train and drive her back to her childhood home. Then her old primary school. Somewhere behind those walls, her nephews, Jackson and Lucas, were learning in the same classrooms she had.
“Would you like a lift back up to the castle later? It’s no bother; I’ll leave a space between the bedding plants for you.”
“Thank you, that’s kind, but I don’t know how long I’ll be. I’m sure I can get someone to drive me back later.”
She would have liked to go back with Isaac, but it seemed selfish to make him wait around for her.
Isaac pulled into the Noel and Son Nursery car park. Nory’s family home was separated from the nursery by a high fence, but there was a gate behind the dahlia greenhouse that led into the back garden.
“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”
“Thanks, but no,” Isaac replied. “I need to catch up with Thom. He’s been getting me some extra salad leaves started. Your friend wants her wedding banquet homegrown where possible. Twohundred salads is a lot of lettuce, and she’s got competition from some pretty determined snails.”
“She’s an exacting personality.”
“ ‘Personality’ being the operative word. Andy said the waitresses were giddy last night because she’s in some soap opera?”
“Not justanysoap opera—Days and Nights!”
Isaac looked at her blankly.
“Well, anyway, Jenna’s a pretty big deal in the TV world. She’s won awards.”
Isaac nodded but looked unimpressed. It was a change for someone to be unimpressed with Jenna.
“So, you’ve got friends in high places. Anyone else in the group I should know about? No pop stars hiding in plain sight?”
“No. Ameerah’s a barrister, and her date, Dev, is a model. Jeremy’s an entomologist, and his wife, Katie, is in conservation, but she’s not here yet. Pippa’s—”
“Oh, I’ve had plenty of phone calls with Pippa Harrington,” Isaac cut in.
That didn’t sound good.
“She’s the bossy wedding planner,” Isaac continued. “I didn’t realize she used to go to the school. Figures. She wanted me to rip up the front lawn to install the cables for thirty Parisian lampposts.”
“I didn’t notice any Parisian lampposts on the front lawn,” Nory commented.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Oh,” said Nory. That wouldn’t have pleased Pippa. “Well,” she said brightly. “Moving on, there’s Guy, who’s a journalist, and his interior designer wife, Camille. And last but not least is the groom, Charles. He’s an investment banker.”
Isaac sniggered. “Nobody with a normal job, then.”
