Page 110 of A Christmas Celebration
‘What?’ he gasped. ‘I never said a word, but as you are so in the mood for Christmas, Paige,’ he then said to me, ‘how about giving us a hand to get more of the hall lights up this afternoon?’
‘Sorry,’ I said, reaching for my coat. ‘I’ll never bethatkeen.’
Before heading down to the studio, I let myself into the cottage using the key Albert had given me before I left the previous evening, to make a plateful of sandwiches and see if there were any mince pies left from the last batch Dorothy had sent.
I knew neither of the two new men in my life would think of their stomachs once they were ensconced in front of their easels and it was my plan to keep them filled up so they had the energy to keep painting. They both had a lot of catching up to do and I was going to make it my mission to enable their endeavours at every opportunity.
‘Come on,’ I said to Bran, who was still looking for Bella, after I’d done. ‘She’ll be in the studio.’
All was calm and silent as we headed across the garden and we slipped inside as quietly as we could. We must have been sitting next to the wood burner for at least half an hour before our presence was acknowledged and I had been starting to worry that the sandwiches were going to curl.
‘Paige.’ Albert beamed, when he eventually looked up from his easel. ‘Is it that time already?’
Just as I’d guessed, they had completely lost track of the hour.
‘Just about,’ I said quietly, taking in how different he looked. ‘How are you getting on?’
He looked back at the huge canvas he was standing in front of and nodded.
‘Not bad,’ he said, but he didn’t invite me to look.
Infuriatingly, both him and Brodie had set up at the far end of the studio facing the door, so there was no chance of a sneaky peek as I went in. I could see Brodie was working on a smaller canvas than Albert and that there were a further two stacked by his side, both with their images turned the wrong way for me to see them.
‘What about Brodie?’ I asked, inclining my head in his direction.
The space around his feet was also littered with what looked like pencil sketches. I hoped that wasn’t a bad sign. Now Albert had helped unlock his creativity again, I wanted him to be able to forge ahead all guns blazing.
‘Don’t worry,’ Albert reassured me. ‘It might look a bit messy, but it’s all part of his process. He’s not been here long. He went off sketching first. The other two canvases are from last night and they’re both finished.’
‘Oh, right,’ I said, thinking that was super speedy work. ‘That’s great.’
‘It is.’ Albert smiled, coming over to where I’d set the tray down on a little table next to the armchairs.
He picked up a sandwich with one hand and Bella with the other, plonked himself down, then settled the cat and started to eat. His movements were so free flowing and natural. He had none of the stooped stiffness which had all but crippled him when we first met.
‘What?’ he asked, as he chewed.
‘Nothing.’ I shrugged, my lips twitching into a smile as I leant over to pour the tea which was past its best.
Brodie still hadn’t even noticed I’d arrived, but I didn’t take it personally. It was a pleasure to watch him work. Even if I could only see his legs.
‘I’m so pleased about you two.’ Albert smiled, following my line of sight. ‘I knew you’d make a decent match, right from the moment I heard you scolding him for coming in here and sticking his nose in where you thought it wasn’t wanted.’
I blushed at the memory.
‘We didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts,’ I admitted, ‘but hopefully things will be plainer sailing now.’
‘Well,’ said Albert, ‘you know what they say about the course of true love…’
At that moment, Brodie’s head popped comically up above the top of the canvas he was sitting in front of and he jumped to his feet, pulling out an ear bud.
‘Paige!’ He beamed. ‘When did you get here?’
Without waiting for an answer, he pulled out the other bud, rushed over and kissed me full on the lips.
‘I didn’t hear you arrive,’ he said, kissing me again.
I might have been fascinated by brooding Brodie when we first met, but this new version was a total joy and the impact of his kisses were a revelation.
