Page 53 of A Billionaire for Christmas
Levi looked thunderous at Molly quoting him. He yanked at the chair opposite her. ‘How about now? Is this a good time? Seeing as you’ve decided to join us.’
Molly put a hand to her chest. He had such a forceful air. No wonder he always got what he wanted.
‘That’s enough. Leave the poor girl alone,’ said Lucca. ‘Let’s just enjoy the food. And for your information, it was Papa who insisted she stay.’
‘Don’t be mean, Levi. Molly’s been an angel to me all afternoon. Look what she taught me to bake.’ Freda pointed to the huge lump of deflated chocolate slop sitting proudly on the counter.
Levi gave Molly a quizzical look.
The shame.
‘It took me all afternoon, and a few goes, but we got there,’ Freda said, lifting up her third glass of champagne in celebration.
Molly smiled weakly at her. It wasn’t Freda’s fault she had two left hands and a serious drinking problem.
‘And I’m hoping to discuss the canapés for the wedding.’ Valerie picked one up and inspected it. ‘I hadn’t realised how good they would be. I must swing by the restaurant some time. Let her stay.’
As Levi glared at Molly across the candlelight, she had a sinking feeling. This was going to be bad. Very bad.
17
SOCIAL HELL
As everyone settled down to their appetisers, Toby took a seat next to Lucca, explaining that he couldn’t get the generator to work. Lucca offered to help him. Molly noticed again the ease with which the two men were able to talk.
‘I’m not surprised. It’s probably overloaded with the number of lights and decorations there are in this place. Do you want me to see if I can help?’ Molly asked Toby. She’d do anything to escape this dinner.
Valerie shook her head. ‘Leave the men to get on with it. I doubt you could help anyway. You’re not an engineer. What would you know?’
It was all very dismissive.
‘I don’t know much about generators, but I do know?—’
‘Toby will fix it later, won’t you?’ Valerie said, cutting her off. ‘Now, tell me about this restaurant. How much do you want for it?’
‘It’s not for sale.’
Valerie erupted into peals of laughter. ‘Don’t be silly. Name your price, girl.’
Molly was running out of patience with the older woman and wished she could find an excuse to leave the table. ‘It has sentimental value and it’s also my career and my home.’
‘Everything has a price,’ Valerie said, reaching over to dip a celery stick into one of the creamy dips. ‘You’d be surprised what people are willing to sacrifice in return for lots of money. Isn’t that right?’
To say that the ensuing silence was thorny would be an understatement, as those around the table appeared to inwardly question the matriarch’s shallow belief system.
‘Some people will go to extraordinary lengths,’ added Levi.
Not wanting to get into a discussion about values and attitudes to money, Molly scraped back her chair. She doubted Levi nor Valerie would like what she had to say. ‘It’s not for sale. Now, if the generator is out, I guess we should move the food from the freezer and put it outside in the snow otherwise it will start to defrost.’ The cupboards were well stocked and the freezer chests bulging with delicacies from around the world. Molly knew that they could be snowed in for months and she’d still be able to feed them, but there would be a day when it might come to crisp sandwiches or beans on toast, and she doubted any one of them could handle it. She surveyed the heavily laden table. The lobster tails, the Alaskan salmon and vacuum-packed Beluga caviar must be saved, or life would not be worth living. She glanced out of the window to see snow thwacking against the pane.
It was the last thing she wanted to do and apparently, she wasn’t the only one. She got up but nobody followed her to help.
‘Do what you must,’ said Valerie, waving her away. ‘It’s all very inconvenient.’
* * *
It took Molly twenty minutes to lug things from the freezer to just outside the boot room door, piling them in the snow. When she returned, Levi was exuding frosty vibes aplenty, even though Freda and his mother were bombarding him with questions about the wedding, about employment in the company and about his love life.
Molly kept her head down while Valerie grilled him.
