Page 4 of A Christmas Celebration
It was Dorothy, the Wynthorpe cook. She bustled in,dabbing her eyes with a cotton handkerchief before gathering her wits.
‘Right,’ she said briskly, looking me up and down. ‘Let the dog see the rabbit. Let me see what needs doing. Um,’ she then pronounced, ‘you look like you need a decent meal to me.’
We all laughed because that had always been Dorothy’s stock response whenever anyone arrived at the hall and she knew there was an opportunity to feed them.
‘She’s all right,’ Archie laughed. ‘Nothing like the pale and pudgy Paige I remember.’
I shook my head as I realized, he had already resorted to his teasing pre-teen self and childishly stuck my tongue out to match him, which made Mick, the hall handyman who had wandered in from outside, laugh.
‘Here, my love,’ he said, pulling out a chair for me to sit on. ‘Sit yourself down before everyone feels entitled to express an opinion on how you look.’
‘My dear Paige,’ said the bearer of the dreamy voice, which had so far remained silent, as I made myself comfortable.
‘Molly.’ I smiled. ‘How are you?’
‘That’s exactly what I was going to ask you,’ she responded, pinning me with her pale blue gaze as she tucked an unruly auburn curl behind her ear with one hand and held out the other for me to take.
Out of everyone’s scrutiny, I knew Molly’s would penetrate the deepest. A self-confessed white witch, she lived in a cottage in the Wynthorpe woods and knew the workings of my heart and head better than any of the others.
When I used to visit as a child and teenager, we had enjoyed a firm friendship. Our sisterly solidarity had run deep as a result of having to deal with all three mischievous Connelly brothers, but we had drifted apart in the years since. Not that that seemed to matter now. I had the feeling we were going to pick up exactly where we had left off.
Momentarily unable to meet her eyes, I realized that she would soon suss out that there was more behind my impromptu arrival than I had let on. In fact, a fleeting glance at her face gave me the distinct impression that she already had.
‘Let me get you some tea, Paige,’ said Dorothy, rushing about just as she always had and thankfully distracting Molly in the process.
‘And I’ll tell you more about what’s been going on here,’ added Archie.
‘Or not going on,’ I corrected.
‘Exactly,’ he tutted, throwing his father a look which, true to form, went straight over his head.
Archie told me more about the charity Jamie and Anna had set up, which supported bereaved youngsters and had closed earlier in the year than usual to afford them a break and how Gabe the woodsman, Hayley the housekeeper’s other half, was the newest hall recruit.
‘And what about introducing me to the dogs?’ I asked, as Dorothy poured me another cup of tea. ‘I know Floss, of course, but not the other two.’
‘Bran, the wolfhound, is Gabe’s shadow,’ said Mick, patting the gargantuan serene grey dog sitting by his side. ‘But he’s with us while his master’s away as he’s not a fan of travelling far.’
‘And Suki here,’ said Molly, reaching down to scoop the tiny scrap up, ‘is mine and Archie’s. Dumped here by his ex a few Christmases ago.’
Suki wriggled in Molly’s arms and fondly licked her chin.
‘I’d forgotten you and Archie are a couple now, Molly,’ I said, shaking my head.
This time, it was Archie who stuck out his tongue.
‘It’s quite the surprise, isn’t it?’ said Molly with a wry smile, making her better half pout.
‘Given the relentless teasing that went on between you when we were growing up,’ I laughed, ‘it’s more than that!’
Archie leant across and kissed Molly’s cheek, blushing in the process.
‘But clearly a good one,’ I relented, pleased to see them both so happy.
I was barely capable of stifling the yawns which had descended by the time I’d drunk my third mug of tea and eaten a huge slice of Dorothy’s delicious fruitcake.
‘So, exactly how long have you been back in the country?’ Catherine asked when she spotted my eyelids starting to droop.
‘Just a few hours,’ I told her as yet another yawn developed and I forced myself to sit up straighter. ‘This time yesterday I was still in Jordan.’
