Page 117 of Let Me Love You (Excess All Areas 5)

With ten minutes, a lot of teamwork, and then Nan basically redoing everything he and Alex had done, the table was set. It was only when he moved the cake from Nan that he realised she’d put it on the cake platter she usually saved for her Christmas cake, and when the cake was eaten, there’d be a giant Christmas tree looking up at eleven Jewish people in the middle of August. He slapped a palm over his eyes and winced.

The doorbell rang before he had a chance to fix it.

He smoothed his shirt.

“You’ve got this, lad,” Nan said, patting his back. “And we’ve got you, yeah?”

He took a deep breath and opened the door. “Issur, Anna. Thank you for coming.”

“Ben,” Issur said, taking the hand Ben offered.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Anna said, stepping into the living room. “You have a lovely home.”

He’d just got them settled when someone else knocked. And, one by one, he introduced Chaya’s brothers, sister, their partners, and children to his family. Alex played bartender, making sure everyone had drinks, while Ben dealt with jackets and keeping children away from guitars that he swiftly moved upstairs.

He’d just returned to the living room when he heard the keys in the door.

Perfect timing.

“Hey, Ben,” Chaya shouted from the hallway. He’d never get tired of the sound of her hanging her jacket on her hook that had been lonely, the clatter of keys as she dropped them on the shelf. “You’ll never guess what happened today, I was put in charge of this case where…” She stepped into the living room, studied her family and excited niece and nephews, and then glanced at Ben. “What the…?”

Then, everyone began to talk at once. How it was lovely to be invited, and the flowers needed water, and Yiddish words, some he understood, likemazel, and others he didn’t get at all.

All of them were talking. Apologies. Promises. All love.

With the worst timing, his phone beeped in his pocket. “Sorry. Timer for the brisket.”

Chaya looked at him. “You made brisket?”

“And vegetarian options. I wasn’t sure. I made a savourykugeland have store-boughtlatkes.”

“Jewish egg noodlekugelor potatokugel?”

“Potato,” he answered.

“You made potatoes and potatoes?” Chaya said with a grin.

Ben shrugged. “Didn’t realise until I got home that’s what I’d done. There’s alsobazargan.It’s like tabbouleh with—”

“I know what it is,” she said, stepping out of her father’s hold to take his hands in hers. “I’m guessing you arranged this.”

“It was time.”

Chaya stepped up onto her toes and kissed him. “Thank you.”

Ben smiled. “My pleasure. And tomorrow, you need to help me pick out a gift for a woman called Bernette who shops at this kosher store in Prestwich.”

With a laugh, she let him lead her into the kitchen, where he kissed her out of the gaze of everyone else.

“I love that you did this,” she said.

“Always.”

EPILOGUE ONE: BEN

Ben walked down the six-hundred-year-old hallway of Fernhill Castle with a bounce to his step. Through the windows he passed, he saw the rolling Yorkshire Dales and trees starting to turn for autumn. He saw Zoe’s Roadster in the car park and gave thanks for his sister-in-law to be. This had been her idea, of a fashion, to have a completely over-the-top birthday party for Alex.

In an unusual display of mild and sunny weather, the grounds and two stages were decked in lights and flowers.

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