Page 20 of A Christmas Celebration
My dreams that night were of a different sort, but nonetheless disconcerting. Given that Jack had such a pleasing expression and a whole host of kind words – and deeds – in his arsenal, I felt cheated that it was his gloomy brother who filled my head throughout the longest watches of the night.
Unable to stifle yawns from breakfast to bedtime the following day, Archie said he wouldn’t burden me with the instructions on how to carry out the housework until I’d properly got the measure of the volunteering.
‘Sundays should be a time to rest,’ he said, showing unexpected understanding. ‘And we could all do with one day a week to laze about, couldn’t we?’
I wondered if his words had been prompted by something Molly had said, but her out-of-this-world expression gave nothing away. However it came about, I was happy to while away the day napping in front of the fire and indulging in Dorothy’s legendary Sunday roast.
I was feeling a bit jittery on Monday morning and headed back to Wynbridge bright and early to run through that week’s schedule with Kathleen. It wasn’t strictly necessary but with my confidence having taken such a recent knock, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance. I might have only been the gopher, but I would run through the role until I knew it inside out and back to front because the last thing I needed was another mishap.
I knew deliveries were made on a Tuesday, Thursday and even a Saturday if required, and that would leave Monday, Wednesday and Friday to keep on top of the chores at the hall once Archie handed them over. At a push I could do more cleaning on Sunday, but Catherine had already said that wouldn’t be necessary. She had assured me that everyone could strip and change their own beds and that Molly would be cleaning her and Angus’s room along with Dorothy’s and Mick’s.
‘Did she start first time?’
I had just parked up in the market square when Jack’s truck pulled into the space next to me and he and Brodie, the brother Grim, jumped out. I had tried, and failed, on the drive in, to stop myself from wondering if I might bump into them.
‘She did,’ I said, giving Jack a warm smile. ‘But Mick has insisted I keep the jump leads with me, just in case.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Jack nodded. ‘And my knowing you’ve got them means I won’t need to follow you around on the off chance that you might get stuck.’
‘That sounds a bit stalkerish, Jack,’ said Brodie, making his brother blush.
‘I didn’t mean it to.’ He grimaced.
‘Ignore him, Jack,’ I tutted, dismissing Brodie. ‘You were simply being chivalrous. Who knows when I might need rescuing again?’
Brodie fixed me with a level stare and I was rooted to the spot when his face was suddenly transformed by a smile which set my cheeks blazing as brightly as he’d turned his brother’s. So that must have been what seduced the group in the gallery on Saturday. It wasn’t the glower, but a smile which had held them entranced.
I stared, dumbstruck, feeling both heady and hypnotized as he cocked his head to one side. It was witchcraft and powerful enough to rival even Molly’s skills.
‘You really don’t strike me as the sort of woman who needs rescuing,’ he said, which had the immediate effect of turning my cheeks even redder.
‘Well,’ I swallowed, ‘that’s as maybe…’
My words tailed off and I just stood there, like an idiot.
‘You haven’t forgotten about my offer to show you around the distillery, have you?’ Jack asked, thankfully breaking the spell Brodie had somehow cast over me.
‘No,’ I said, turning to look at him and instantly feeling more human again. ‘Not at all, but it might take me a couple of weeks to take you up on your offer if that’s all right? I’m currently settling into a routine of volunteering here in town and helping out at the hall so I haven’t much spare time at the moment.’
‘That’s all right,’ Jack said cheerfully. ‘But if you want to get the measure of the place, you can always look it up online. My Instagram account will give you an idea of what it’s like.’
‘Thanks for the suggestion,’ I said. ‘But I don’t have Instagram or any other social media accounts.’
Brodie laughed loudly and clapped his hands together, making me jump.
‘There, Jack,’ he said, moving to stand next to me and punching his brother on the arm as he did. ‘I’m not the only eejit in the world who doesn’t have an online presence. Paige is as much of an eejit as I am. No offence,’ he quickly added, frowning down at me.
‘None taken.’ I frowned back.
He was quite transformed and I felt drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I reminded myself of the potentially unhappy outcome of that particular idiom but I couldn’t seem to flutter away.
‘I wasn’t implying that you’re an eejit,’ he then said, still holding my gaze. ‘But that’s what Jack called me. He reckons I’m the last person alive who doesn’t have an online presence, but he was wrong. There’s two of us.’
‘So it would seem,’ I agreed, hastily forcing myself to look over at Jack before I was further bewitched by his brother.
I hadn’t considered that Brodie and I might have anything in common, but surprisingly we had. Jack rolled his eyes and I guessed this was a topic of conversation which had been covered by the sparring siblings many times before.
‘I just think,’ Jack said, ‘it wouldn’t hurt for you to have something up and running.’
