Page 75 of A Brambleberry Manor Christmas
In the car, I ask her casually, ‘So what are you going to bedoing, you and Amy?’
‘Oh, nothing much. Just chatting and listening to music.’She looks over at me, a hint of a smile breaking through, and my heart sinks.
Please don’t let anything happen to spoil this lovelyday!
‘No, don’t turn into the farm,’ she says suddenly. ‘Keepgoing along this road.’
‘What?’ I swing around and the car skids a little.
‘Keep your eyes on the road!’ yelps Tavie, grabbing the wheel.
‘But where are we going?’ I demand, concentrating firmly onthe road.
‘You’ll find out. In fact, turn in here!’
‘Brambleberry Manor? But…’
‘Just do it, Jenny! Please?’
‘Okay, okay. But…are we expected?’
She smiles. ‘Oh, yes. Fen will be waiting for us.’
‘Fen? What’sshegot to do with this?’
‘For heaven’s sake, be patient, woman,’ she snaps, soundinglike her own granny. ‘Everything comes to she who waits.’
I smile wistfully as we bump along the snowy track to themanor.
If only that were true.
I’d wait forever for a man like Noah…
I park in the courtyard and peer nervously up at the windowsof the manor. It looks so warm and festive, lamps glowing in the windows andglimpses of fairy lights within.
What the hell are we doing here?
After receiving Marjery’s lovely Christmas card, I’mdesperate not to ruin things by turning up unannounced and ruining theirfestivities – the Christmas Day equivalent of spilling coke all over her shoes!
But there’s no sign of Marjery when Fen opens the door andlets us in.
Her eyes are gleaming. ‘Come this way, my lady,’ she says tome, with a little curtsy. ‘I saw your carriage arriving and your ball gownawaits.’
‘What?’ I laugh nervously. ‘Fen, what’s going on?’
Tavie giggles. ‘You’ll find out.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
My heart is starting to beat faster as Fen leads meinto the small cloakroom on the ground floor. (I say ‘small’ but that’s arelative term. The cloakroom is actually not much smaller than my living roomat home.)
‘By the way, did it all work out for Melanie and Fergus?’ Iask.
Fen smiles. ‘Oh, yes. They’re totally loved up. Fergus iswhisking her away to Paris for the weekend.’ She frowns. ‘Actually, it might beMelanie doing the whisking. I’m not sure whose idea it was. But anyway, yes,they’re off to the most romantic city in the world in the new year!’
I smile, delighted for them.
‘And now,’ says Fen. ‘Ta-dah!’ She closes the door andreveals the glorious dress that’s hanging on a peg on the back of it. ‘What doyou think?’
