Page 31 of The Secret Mistletoe Promise
‘Good time of year for it.’
‘You’re serious?’
‘I’m not really, but Harry and I did something similar last year. I’m pretty sure it was December.’
‘Wow. Even more hardcore than me. How are you feeling?’
‘Feeling?’ Sophie frowned.
‘About the wedding.’
‘Oh – I’m excited! A bit nervous, because I want everyone to have a good time, but mostly I can’t wait to be married to Harry.’
‘That’s good. Exactly how it should be.’
Sophie’s expression softened. ‘How areyoufeeling?’
‘I don’t know.’ Imogen glanced at the sea. ‘I’m trying to sort everything out in my head, which works better when I’m distracted. So I’ve had an ice cream, I’ve paddled with Lucy’s puppy who, by the way, is completely impressionable – she didn’t eventryto stop me.’
Sophie grinned.
‘I’ve been in Mistingham for three weeks, and it’s made me realize that everything about London feels … doom-laden. Things here are all gold-frosted mistletoe and fish and chips, the rasp of the waves when you open your window, even in the middle of the night. That’s much nicer than the shouts and sirens you get in London.’
‘Birdie’s house is pretty near the Blossom Bough,’ Sophiesaid. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t heard the shouts of people being kicked out after last orders, especially on a Saturday.’
‘Gentle country folk having a few pints isn’t the same as London finance bros who’ve been drinking vodka and Red Bull since four o’clock.’ She shook her head. ‘And I get to help you with your notebooks,andyou’ve invited me to your wedding. I love a good wedding – except, it turns out, when it’s my own.’ She grinned, because she didn’t want Sophie to feel sorry for her.
‘I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your offer of help with the notebooks, and if there’s anythingIcan do … though I don’t know what.’
‘Being able to talk about it helps, but so does focusing on other things. Birdie is wonderful – I knew she would treat my whole situation with no-nonsense kindness – and Mistingham is beautiful. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of exploring it.’
‘Or eating Dexter’s pastries,’ Sophie said, and Imogen blushed.
She thought of a passage she’d read inNorthanger Abbeythat morning, lying in bed with the window open, the mizzle and the whisper of the waves drifting in. She took a breath and recited it to Sophie.
‘After an agreeable drive of almost twenty miles, they entered Woodston, a large and populous village, in a situation not unpleasant. Catherine was ashamed to say how pretty she thought it, as the General seemed to think an apology necessary for the flatness of the country, and the size of the village; but in her heart she preferred it to any place she had ever been at, and looked with great admiration at every neat house above the rank of a cottage, and at all the little chandler’s shops which they passed.’
‘Oh, wow,’ Sophie said.
‘It’s fromNorthanger Abbey,’ Imogen explained. ‘It made me think of Mistingham.’
‘You recited it so well.’
‘I did some drama training – quite a few years ago, now – but I’m still good at memorizing passages of text, lines and poems and things. It’s a habit I haven’t got out of.’
‘Right.’ Sophie sounded determined.
‘Right …?’ Imogen asked with a laugh.
‘I need to speak to Harry, but would you be happy to do a reading at our wedding, on top of the notebooks? Or is that too much?’
‘Seriously? A reading?’
‘That was completely off the cuff, but your voice … I was captivated. I would love you to read something. In fact, I’m not going to tell Harry. Can you do it, sort of as a gift from me to him? I’ll have a think about the piece, but if you have any ideas then I’ll be guided by you.’
‘I would love to do that.’ Imogen’s eyes were threatening to leak. ‘I’ll have a think about readings, too.’
‘This is so exciting.’ Sophie squeezed her arm. ‘Thank you, Imogen. I’d better rush – I’m already later than I said I’d be, and Jazz will be climbing the walls. See you tomorrow? At the shop?’
