Page 48 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
There was a dangerous bite to his tone. Whatever was going on, he really wasn’t happy about his sister not being here.
I did understand. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it was for Beth to go through the IVF process by herself with little to no support, and to then find out she was pregnant alone…
If Julian had done that to my sister, I’d have his neck in a metal vice quicker than he could attempt to explain.
I wasn’t sure there was such a thing as explaining that situation, to be honest. Grief or no grief, Zara had been a terrible wife to Beth during the past several months, and I kind of hoped that Thomas did unload on her.
My gut told me she needed someone to knock some sense into her, just like Hazel had with the wedding when we’d started planning.
Sometimes, only your sibling could give you the reality check that you needed.
“Are you cold?” Thomas asked, looking over at me.
I nodded jerkily, wrapping my arms around myself. The clouds had gathered in the sky above us, and there was that heavy sensation in the air that said more snow was imminent. I knew Castleton well enough to realise that this snow was probably going to hang around for the next couple of weeks before there was any break.
If not snow, then ice. There was no way the ground would fully thaw at any point before Christmas. The closest it would get would be a freeze over some grey slushy mess.
I just hoped it snowed again in time for Hazel’s wedding on Christmas Eve. It was the one thing I didn’t have any control over and the thing that made me the most nervous.
Castletonalwayshad a white Christmas, and that was one of the reasons she’d chosen the twenty-fourth as her wedding date. It was almost guaranteed to snow, but with the amount we already had…
Well.
I was slightly panicking that it’d come early this year.
“Right, let’s go,” Thomas said, touching my arm.
I jerked out of my thoughts and blinked at him. “What?”
“Let’s go,” he repeated, and his lips twitched into a smile. “I just spoke to Mum and told her I was taking you home.”
“You did?”
He shook his head. “You really were in a little world of your own, weren’t you?”
“Mm.” I turned around and walked back towards the square with him beside me. “Just thinking about the wedding, that’s all.”
“Understandable. I can imagine your job is stressful anyway, never mind having to plan your sister’s wedding.”
I took a deep breath slowly sighed it out. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s really sunk in until now. I always want my clients’ weddings to be perfect, but this is something else.”
Thomas stopped at the hot drink stall. There was only one person at the counter, but he placed an order for two hot chocolates, then turned to me. “It’ll be fine. You have everything in place, don’t you? What’s left that could go wrong?”
“Oh, well, you’ve said that now. The last time someone said that about a wedding I was planning, the groom’s father died.”
Tentatively, he reached out and rapped his knuckles against the wooden siding of the stall and smiled awkwardly. “Touch wood. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.” He handed me one of the takeaway cups of hot chocolate.
The warmth instantly seeped through my gloves to my fingers, and I returned his smile. “Cross your toes, too. Just in case.”
“If I could in these shoes, I would.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank you. For the drink. Another peace offering?”
He lifted the cup to his lips and hid a smile behind the thick, white lid. “More like an attempt to keep you alive long enough to take you home. The last thing I need is you freezing to death in the middle of the square. You’d kill the Christmas vibes a bit.”
I rolled my eyes as we passed by the towering tree. “Thank you for your concern, Your Grace.”
Thomas laughed, and we made the rest of the walk to the carpark without saying another word. It was a weirdly comfortable silence, and I was too grateful for the warmth of the hot chocolate breaking my chill to speak at all.
