Page 64 of The Secret Mistletoe Promise
‘I’ll bring fans for everyone,’ Annie said with a chuckle. ‘No need if we’re in the manor,’ Frank grumbled. ‘That place is old and chilly.’
‘It’s not,’ May said. ‘There are huge fires and Harry’s installing central heating. It’s cosy.’
‘How do you like your new cottage?’ Mary asked.
‘I love it,’ May said. ‘It needs some work, but I’m going to ask my brother to do that. And it doesn’t have so many rooms that I get lost.’
‘I don’t see why Sophie and Harry wanted you to move out,’ Valerie muttered. ‘Especially with all that space.’
‘They didn’t want me to move out; they said there was enough room for all of us, but they’ve just got married.’ May shrugged. ‘It was time for me to find my own home, and for them to have their space. And it’s not like they’re keeping the manor to themselves, even though it’s their right to do that.’ She gestured at the hall, reminding everyone that Harry and Sophie were hosting the festivities for which they were, at this moment, rehearsing.
‘We can all see how much Harry has changed over the last year,’ Fiona said, ‘and as May pointed out, it’s up to him what he does with his property. I’m very grateful for his and Sophie’s generosity.’
‘Hear hear,’ Ermin said from the corner of the room. He was scribbling things in a notebook, possibly a new running order or comments on everyone’s performances. Imogen ran her palms down her jeans.
‘Now all he needs to do is open the bookshop again,’ someone said, ‘and the transformation will be complete.’
‘Never say never,’ May replied. Her smile was wide but, Imogen thought, a little bit bland. ‘Now, who’s next?’
When the rehearsal was over and everyone was saying goodbye, Imogen hovered by the door as Dexter was stopped and asked about mince pie orders and what special sandwiches he was doing in the run-up to Christmas, and whether his delivery days were changing, and she almost gave up and went back to Birdie’s, but he caught her eye and mouthed, ‘Ten secs,’ and so she stayed in place.
When he was finally released, he slid his arm through hers and they left the hall together.
The sky was crowded with stars, the air so cold that it felt like pinpricks against her skin. ‘Do you think that snowstorm is really going to happen?’ she asked.
‘It almost feelstoocold,’ Dexter said, as they turned in the direction of Birdie’s house. ‘Do you think we did OK in there?’
‘We got much better reactions than I thought we would, but that might be because everyone was distracted by the tension.’
‘What kind of tension?’
‘What kind doyouthink?’
Dexter pulled her closer, a wall of warmth down her left side, and Imogen told herself her tingles were from the night air, and not the man beside her. ‘What do you want to do now?’
‘I thought you had to pick up Lucy from my gran’s and get her home because it’s school tomorrow.’
‘I do have to do that,’ Dexter said, but when they reached the road that cut through to Birdie’s house, he manoeuvredher gently against a wall and stood in front of her. ‘We can have five minutes though, don’t you think?’
‘If anyone sees us—’
‘Everyone’s already seen us.’ Dexter cupped her jaw. ‘Can I kiss you?’
‘I will despair if you don’t,’ Imogen said, inspired by all the literary classics the Mistingham players had just re-enacted. Dexter chuckled, his breath coasting across her lips before he kissed her, sliding his hand up the back of her head so she didn’t bang it against the wall. Imogen kissed him back, happy for him to steal her breath and her thoughts. ‘Five minutes isn’t enough,’ he murmured.
‘Has Lucy got any playdates planned?’ She felt bad for wanting Dexter to herself, but she was also desperate for more time with him.
‘I don’t think so. I’ll organize one for her.’
‘OK. But you don’t have—’
‘I do.’ He cupped her face in both hands, his determined gaze like an underscore to his words. ‘I will find some time, OK?’
There were footsteps close by, low voices, and Dexter pulled back and took her hand, and they started walking again.
‘I didn’t know the bookshop was Harry’s,’ Imogen said. ‘I remember it from when I came here years ago, and I’ve passed the empty shop next to Sophie’s, but I didn’t know it was his.’
‘It was his dad’s,’ Dexter said. ‘He ran it for years, but then he got ill and had to give it up. Harry was living in London, he came back for the last few months of his dad’s life, but with all that to deal with, as well as the estate, hehasn’t had a chance to re-open the bookshop. Some of the villagers still resent him for it.’
