Page 44 of A Christmas Celebration
I drank mine in silence, feeling rather awkward. Jack was right in that I did like his brother but he clearly had something further to say on the matter and I was intrigued to know, even though it was most likely none of his business, what it was.
‘So, Paige, what do you think?’ I heard someone say and I realized I’d completely tuned out of the conversation.
‘Sorry,’ I said, clearing my throat. ‘I missed that.’
Archie rolled his eyes and leant over from where he was sitting at Molly’s feet and slapped my knee.
‘Ow,’ I protested.
‘Wake up, Paige,’ he tutted. ‘Jack just asked you if you wanted to visit the distillery tomorrow.’
‘Oh,’ I said, looking from him back to Jack.
‘I can show you around, if you like,’ Jack offered.
‘That would work out great for me,’ Archie keenly said. ‘Because I could go with you and pick up my car.’
‘All right,’ I agreed, thinking it would be the ideal opportunity to find out what was on Jack’s mind. ‘Thanks. I’ll come over as soon as I’ve finished getting the hall ready for the weekend.’
Chapter 13
Jack having sussed I had feelings for his brother, along with difficult to dismiss thoughts of Albert’s upset and Molly’s sloe gin made for both a heavy cocktail and a sleepless night and consequently I was rather behind my time when Archie came to find me the next day.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked, right when I was least expecting it.
I let out a screech and leapt into the air, banging my head on the doorframe of the cupboard where I was packing away some of the cleaning supplies.
‘Oh, Paige,’ he apologized. ‘I’m so sorry. I thought you’d heard me come in.’
Ordinarily he would have laughed so I knew he knew that I’d hurt myself.
‘Well, I hadn’t,’ I said, rubbing the tender bump on the top of my head. ‘I’m almost done. You can give me a hand with the last of it, if you like.’
With Archie taking on the final bout of vacuuming andmiraculously, with no trace of a hangover, we were soon on our way to the distillery in Anna’s Fiat. On the journey I asked a question which I quickly regretted.
‘Do you know much about Jack’s brother?’ I enquired in a light-hearted tone, as I pulled over to let a tractor pass on one of the narrow roads.
‘Brodie?’ Archie frowned.
‘Assuming he’s the only brother,’ I said, feeling immediately rattled, ‘then yes, Brodie.’
Archie grinned and gave me a look.
‘What?’ I snapped as he caught my eye.
‘Oh, Paige,’ he teased. ‘Has someone got a little crush?’
Had it not been for the bump on the head, I would have realized I was opening the floodgates by asking and kept my mouth shut. Now, not only was Jack privy to my feelings, Archie was going to be convinced of them too.
‘Don’t be absurd,’ I ineffectively bit back. ‘I was just wondering…’
There was so much I was wondering, and a lot of it was related to working out the connection between Brodie and Angus, but as I had found out about the possibility of that as a result of eavesdropping, I could hardly gossip about it, could I?
‘He’s a looker, all right,’ Archie carried on, still grinning. ‘A total head turner, I’ll give you that. He’s only been here five minutes though, so I can’t tell you much. Although,’ he added, ‘I would have thought he’s a bit mean and moody for you. Don’t you usually go for fun-loving blonds?’
‘Oh, shut up,’ I snapped and he laughed. ‘Just forget it,’ I said, opening the window in the hope that the crisp air would stop me overheating. ‘You’re still an arse, Archie Connelly. Do you know that?’
Archie nodded and turned up the radio.
