Page 39 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
CLAUDIA
‘Here goes nothing,’ said Claudia, raising her hand to knock on the heavy old door of Seabury House.
For some reason, she was weirdly nervous, and the fact that George chose that moment to lace his fingers through hers did nothing to calm her racing heart.
‘Well, well, well!’ said Connie, opening the door with a flourish. Her eyes instantly dropped to their joined hands. ‘Looks like you two have been busy!’
‘Erm… hi,’ said Claudia. ‘Sorry we’re a bit late.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Connie, her eyes flicking between the pair of them with a look of glee.
‘We brought these to apologise,’ said George, holding up the paper bag they’d brought with them.
‘What is it?’ said Connie, grabbing the bag from George and ushering the pair of them inside.
‘That’s Claudia’s bag of apology cakes,’ said George with a wicked grin.
‘But, what happened to the grand tour?’ said Connie with a little frown.
‘We got… caught up,’ said Claudia, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole. From the expression onConnie’s face, it was pretty obvious she’d guessedexactlywhat kind of “caught up” they meant.
‘Well, it’s always nice to have a bit of extra pudding,’ said Connie blandly.
Just at that moment, a wail came from somewhere deeper inside the house.
‘Is that my little Melly-moo?’ cooed George. ‘May I?’
‘In the kitchen,’ said Connie. ‘And please, be my guest! I’m pretty sure everyone’ll be chuffed to give you a shot at the baby wrangling.’
Claudia watched as George scooted away, and then turned shyly back to Connie.
‘So!’ said Connie, wriggling her eyebrows. ‘Either you found a ridiculously good facialist in Seabury that I don’t know about, or you’ve got gossip to share…’
‘I have no idea what you mean,’ said Claudia, raising an eyebrow and hoping she wasn’t actually going to melt with the force of the blush that was climbing all the way up from her feet.
‘Pull the other one,’ chuckled Connie. ‘I know that glow. So… you and George, eh?!’
‘About ten years too late… but… if I didn’t kiss and tell, there would be gossip to spill, yes.’
Connie let out a squeal of excitement that was promptly echoed by another high-pitched baby wail.
‘You’re officially one of us!’ she said. ‘Ready to meet the gang?’
‘Absolutely,’ laughed Claudia, relieved that Connie wasn’t about to pump her for the details… at least, not yet!
Claudia followed her host down the hallway into a huge, stone-floored kitchen. The air was scented with fresh bread and herbs, and Claudia’s stomach let out a rumble that would have been decidedly embarrassing if it hadn’t been drowned out bythe vast amount of chatter going on around the wooden table in the centre of the room.
‘You’ve already met Matt and Ewan,’ said Connie, pointing at the boys in turn. ‘This is Rosie, and that little madam trying to burst George’s eardrums is Melody’
Claudia grinned around at everyone, giving them all an awkward little wave before her eyes strayed back to George. He was still standing off to one side, bouncing the howling baby in the crook of his arm and beaming at the tot as if she was the most magical thing he’d ever seen.
The sight was almost enough to make her melt on the spot.
‘Come sit down!’ said Matt, waving her over. ‘We’re ready for the interrogation to begin.’
Claudia skirted around the table and slipped into one of the chairs opposite him, glad to have a reason to stop staring at George with the kind of longing that was probably obvious enough that it might as well be tattooed on her forehead.
‘So,’ she said, deciding she might as well get the awkward bit out of the way. ‘I owe you guys an apology for being a huge pain in the behind yesterday.’
