Page 136 of A Christmas Celebration
‘Ooh,’ said Hayley, ‘what’s this?’
‘I’ve just started seeing someone,’ I said vaguely, hoping she’d let it drop.
‘Details!’ she loudly demanded.
‘You’ve a lot to answer for, Jamie Connelly,’ I tutted, pointing an accusatory finger down the table to where he sat with his arm around Anna. ‘I thought Archie was the champion pot stirrer around here now, but clearly you’re still a rival for the title.’
This had the desired distracting effect and the two men started an infantile arm wrestle which almost upset the teapot and had Dorothy demanding that everyone cleared out of her kitchen so she could get on with making the dinner.
‘I’ll help Gabe with our bags,’ Hayley said, ‘and then I’ll give you a hand, Dorothy, and Paige and I can get to knoweach other better. You can fill me in on the details of this budding romance.’ She winked at me, before sashaying out.
Anna said she’d be up for hearing all about it too, after she and Jamie had sorted their luggage, but whereas Hayley was back in the kitchen in a trice, Anna was nowhere to be seen.
‘She’s fallen asleep,’ Jamie explained with a yawn when he came down again.
‘You look as though you could do with a nap yourself,’ Dorothy said, scrutinizing the dark circles under his eyes.
‘I’m all right,’ he said. ‘I’d rather catch up on the goss and try to sleep tonight.’
I rolled my eyes.
‘You might as well get it over with,’ tutted Dorothy, setting the two extra helpers to work peeling and chopping veg. ‘You’ll get no peace until you do.’
‘Well,’ I said, thinking I might as well ham it up as they weren’t going to leave me alone, ‘I actually have two new men in my life.’
‘Blimey,’ said Hayley, looking at me appraisingly. ‘I wouldn’t have thought you were the type.’
‘One’s in his late eighties,’ I told her with a grin, ‘and now also a firm friend of the family.’
Jamie shook his head and Hayley laughed.
‘And the other?’ Jamie asked, not waiting to hear about how I’d met Albert or how our friendship had developed as a result.
‘Is someone who has only recently moved to the area,’ I told the pair.
‘Is he an octogenarian too?’ Hayley quipped.
I thought of Brodie’s wonderful towel clad physique in Albert’s steamy bathroom.
‘Absolutely not.’ I smiled.
‘You’re blushing,’ teased Jamie.
‘I don’t care.’ I shrugged.
‘So, who is it then?’ Hayley urged.
‘A guy called Brodie,’ I said, loving the way his name sounded on my lips.
‘Is that Jack’s brother?’ Jamie pounced, his eyes lighting up.
‘Who?’ Hayley frowned.
‘The guy who owns the distillery,’ Jamie said impatiently. ‘His brother turned up not all that long ago.’
‘It is Jack’s brother,’ I said. ‘And that’s all I’m going to say, so you can just keep peeling the veg while I go and check the fires.’
I didn’t respond to any of the subsequent barrage Jamie bombarded me with as I walked out but I did hope that I was still going out with Brodie once the dust kicked up by the exhibition request had settled.
