Page 8 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“You forgot,” I said blithely, unwinding my scarf from around my neck. “Whatisfor lunch?”
Hazel blinked, pushing her highlighted caramel hair behind her ear. “Uh… Julian?”
He chuckled while he unzipped his coat. “She isn’t lying. She didn’t forget. She simply assigned me to the task when she couldn’t decide what to get.”
I pressed my lips together and looked at my little sister. What a load of bullshit.
Gramps was right. Julian was a simp.
“Well, you weren’t supposed to rat me out,” she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Now I’m glad I ate your sandwich.”
“You ate my sandwich?”
“She didn’t eat your sandwich,” Nana called. “Will you come and get your food before the pig does?”
I paused.
Thepig?
“The pig?” I questioned, filing into the kitchen after everyone else. “Why would a pig—”
Ah.
The pig.
Thepig.
The one that had held me up last night.
It was standing in the middle of the kitchen.
“Oh,” I said flatly.
“This is Beatrix Trotter,” Nana said brightly, bending down to feedBeatrix bloody Trottera carrot stick.
The little pink and black pig munched it down with the table manners of a nine-month-old baby eating spaghetti Bolognese for the first time.
“Nana, I’ve told you! You can’t feed farm animals from the kitchen! It’s illegal!” Hazel took the remaining carrot sticks from her.
“Really? That’s the issue here? Not that there’s a bloodypigin thekitchen?” I asked, looking around. “Surely that’s unsanitary.”
“Pigs are surprisingly clean animals, and I’ll thank you to keep your dirty insults to yourself. You might upset Beatrix.” Nana sniffed.
Gramps shook his head, walked past her to the spread of goodies from the Castleton Bakery, and grabbed a plate.
Fine. Whatever.
“But what’s it doinghere?” I questioned.
“She. It is a she.”
“That doesn’t answer my question!”
“Here we go,” Hazel muttered, giving Julian a plate with his still-wrapped sandwich on. “Don’t worry. It didn’t touch anything else. I kept it separate.”
“Thanks, honey.” He kissed her cheek and took it off to the side.
Of course. He had a severe gluten intolerance. That was the reason their entire wedding menu was gluten-free, and it’d taken me surprisingly long to find a caterer who could stick to such strict parameters.
