Page 17 of A Christmas Celebration
‘You are a daft dog,’ I tutted.
Fortunately, he hadn’t got properly wet from his brief encounter with the damp pavement, so there was no harm done, but that didn’t seem to be the opinion of the man who had finally turned and was now scowling in my direction.
His stubbled jaw was set hard, and when he pushed his dark hair away from his forehead, his eyes appeared almost black and carried an unsettling hint of menace. Mr Darcy sprang to mind and I felt myself shrink under his disapproving gaze.
‘Sorry,’ I stammered, frustrated by the shake in my voice. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’m looking for Jemma.’
He didn’t say anything.
‘I mean Lizzie.’ I blushed, holding out Hayley’s envelope as if that would explain everything. ‘I was told she was here.’
The man took a step towards me and my reaction was to take one back. Bran, sensing my discomfiture, shifted so he was standing almost in front of me.
‘You can’t bring a wet dog in here,’ were the man’s first furious sounding words.
‘He’s not wet.’ I recovered, standing a little straighter and channelling my inner Elizabeth Bennet in Bran’s defence. ‘He’s barely damp.’
‘Well, whatever,’ the man gruffly responded. ‘You can leave that with me,’ he then haughtily said, reaching out for the envelope.
‘No,’ I said, holding it close again. ‘I’d rather not.’
I had no idea who he was so I was hardly going to hand over Hayley’s designs to him, was I? He looked rather takenaback by my refusal and I dared him to challenge it, but then Lizzie appeared and the disconcerting stand-off was quickly defused.
‘Paige,’ she said, striding up. ‘It is Paige, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ I nodded.
‘Archie called a few minutes ago and left a message to say you’d be dropping by.’ She beamed.
Without a word, the man turned and walked back to the group who had been interestedly watching on. What a disagreeable person.
‘I’m sorry to have interrupted,’ I said, loud enough for him to hear.
‘Don’t mind Brodie,’ Lizzie whispered.
‘Oh, I won’t,’ I replied and had the pleasure of seeing his back stiffen. ‘These are for you, Lizzie,’ I said, holding out the envelope again. ‘And Jemma.’
‘Do you know what Hayley has come up with?’ Lizzie asked, running her fingers along the sealed edge of the envelope.
‘Sadly not,’ I told her. ‘Although I was tempted to take a peek when I drove in, but then thought I should wait along with everyone else until the official unveiling.’
‘I admire your ability to resist!’ Lizzie laughed. ‘But I’m sure your resolve will be richly rewarded.’
‘Given what I’ve seen from previous years,’ I smiled, looking at the shelves again, ‘I’m sure you’re right. Now,’ I added, ‘I suppose I’d better go in case Bran has another shake and gets in trouble again.’
‘Bran’s always welcome,’ Lizzie said brightly, patting his head, ‘and he’s not even wet, so no harm done.’
‘He’s not even damp,’ I couldn’t resist adding, wallowing in the momentary halt in Brodie’s speech to the group.
I left the gallery with a spring in my step and when I looked back was surprisingly gratified to discover the grumpy sod was watching me walk away.
‘Right then, Bran,’ I said, resisting the urge to wave. ‘Let’s find something tasty to eat, shall we?’
The market stalls were full of edible treats, so Bran and I wove our way between them tasting samples and picking up a little makeshift picnic as we went, which I thought we could park up and enjoy before we returned to the hall. I’d spotted a concrete pad in the gateway of a field on the drive into town which would be the perfect spot.
‘Come on then, Bran,’ I coaxingly said in the hope that he’d jump back in the Land Rover unaided after I’d given him a drink.
He willingly hopped in and hunkered down and I turned the engine over which thankfully started on the first try. I drove slowly out of town back the way we’d come, easily shifting the gears from second to third as I had on the drive in and within a few minutes I’d parked up again and was dipping into the bag of treats.
