Page 27 of Mistletoe and Mystery

‘Oh, I can’t decide which to have,’ announced Mike, twisting his lips in indecision.

‘Why not have a slice of each?’ coaxed Claudia.

‘Great idea,’ Tim declared, reaching out for the serving spoon, his eyes wide with relish.

In the end they all had seconds and Millie thought if she consumed another mouthful she would burst, until she saw the cheeseboard that had been Tim’s responsibility and noticed a particularly good Roquefort, in her view the king of French cheeses.

‘Well, that was the bestFestive FeastI have ever had!’ declared Leo, pushing back his chair and rubbing his stomach in satisfaction as Claudia brought two cafetières of Blue Mountain coffee to the table along with a box of After Eight mints. ‘Gina, I just know we’re going to nail Christmas dinner this year. What do you think?’

‘Definitely,’ she laughed, her hazel eyes sparkling as she leaned forward to kiss her husband, her cheeks sporting red dots of delight. ‘I don’t know about you, but I need a lie down after all that food.’

‘Me too,’ giggled Marianne, wiggling her eyebrows and sending a suggestive glance in Mike’s direction as they helped to clear the table of the dessert plates and cheeseboard.

Millie deposited the crockery in the sink and ran her eyes despondently over the washing up as their guests trotted off up the stairs, chattering away about their plans for the rapidly approaching festive break.

‘Well, that went amazingly well. Thanks Millie, I couldn’t have done it without your help.’

‘I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I learned a great deal, too. Would you believe it’s the first time I’ve made a traditional English Christmas dinner?’

Millie glanced at Claudia who had taken on the appearance of a deflated balloon, her earlier buoyancy vanished into a chasm of tiredness. Her heart performed a flip-flop of sympathy and she smiled at her new friend and mentor.

‘Look, why don’t you go upstairs and take a nap, too? I’ll finish up here.’

‘I can’t leave you with all this to sort out!’

‘It’s no problem. You might have noticed that I’m not the tidiest of cooks, but I’m on a journey of self-improvement guided by my friend and colleague at Étienne’s, Pippa, and ably encouraged by my sister, Jen. I’m used to blitzing a room after a cookery session.’ She laughed, then softened her expression as she scrutinised Claudia’s face, not surprised to witness a surge of relief flick across her expression.

‘Well, if you’re sure?’

‘Absolutely. I’ll see you tomorrow for the brunch tutorial and if you need any help with decluttering the house before Rupert and Sven arrive, then I’m at your disposal, although I see that you’ve already done most of the hard work.’

‘There’s just the kitchen to sort out after tomorrow’s tutorial, and Tim thinks we should take down the tree in the hallway, too. It’s ridiculous that we’ve got to go to so much trouble to impress a buyer. Surely he should have enough vision to see beyond the décor!’

‘Don’t ask me, I prefer a house filled with as much bric-a-brac and souvenirs of a life well lived as possible! The more the merrier, in fact. It’s just so much more homely, especially at Christmas.’

Claudia looked as though she was about to say something else but instead she squeezed Millie’s hand, gave her a weak smile, and disappeared upstairs with an exhausted Tim in tow. After all, he had been up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven.

Millie sighed as she contemplated the task ahead of her, but she had seen worse, much worse. She pulled on a pair of Marigolds, tuned in the radio to a channel playing non-stop Christmas songs, and started to hand-wash the crystal before loading up the dishwasher with the pots and pans and utensils. With the music providing a rhythm to work to, the kitchen was spotless in no time and Millie was so proud of herself that she took a quick snap to send to Pippa as evidence of her achievement.

She was about to press send on her text when she paused, a swift kick of homesickness hitting her in the abdomen. She was suddenly desperate to hear Pippa’s voice, to hear all about her date with the hunky French sculptor she had talked about, and her plans for the Mistletoe Ball.

‘Hi Pippa, it’s Millie.’

‘Hey, Millie, great to hear from you! How’s things going at the showbiz end of the profession?’

Millie laughed, overwhelmed with delight to be speaking to her friend. ‘Everything’s going well. The guests on the course are great and I’m loving working with Claudia. I’m working hard on the lessons you’ve taught me on the subject of tidiness, and to prove it I’ve sent you a couple of photographs. You’d love Claudia’s kitchen, Pip, it’s amazing!’

‘I’m so jealous! We’re run off our feet here with the Christmas trade. Étienne has even deigned to appear front-of-house to help out, but it’s not helping with his temper. Why are you French people so temperamental?’

‘Passionate, we call it,’ Millie giggled, aware that her French accent had grown stronger as she became more animated in her excitement at being able to talk to Pippa. Of course, it was also more evident over the telephone too.

‘Talking of passionate, spill the details Harper!’

‘What details?’

‘Don’t give me that. I’ve seen the photos of the broodingly handsome Zach Barker, remember! Are the two of you curled up in a little love nest, hiding from the snow in front of a roaring log fire, feeding each other morsels of mince pies and knocking back the Champers?’

‘Actually…’

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