Page 93 of A Christmas Celebration
The chunky navy jumper encasing his broad chest was the perfect foil for his thick dark hair and eyes and the fact that he hadn’t shaved, cranked up the seductive man of the woods image even more. He couldn’t have looked further from a city suit if he tried and I felt my breath catch as his gaze sought out mine and held it for a brief heart-stopping second, a slow smile spreading across his face.
‘You all right?’ Molly asked.
‘Yes,’ I croaked, then cleared my throat. ‘Yes.’ I swallowed, turning my back on Brodie. ‘I’m fine.’
But I wasn’t fine. There was a Brodie shaped net closing in around me and I wished I really could turn off my feelings for him, rather than pretend to myself that I already had. In spite of the fear that he may have put the Connelly finances at risk and that his behaviour at Albert’s had beendreadful, I still fancied him like crazy and it was most inconvenient.
The fact that he looked like the epitome of a Hallmark hero and had now apologized for his behaviour didn’t help either. My heart twanged at the sight of him and my head seemed to have little problem ignoring the red financial warning flag with a big pound sign splashed across it.
‘Right,’ shouted Mick. ‘Let’s get started.’
Angus thanked everyone for coming and then Mick and Archie organized the troops. We were assigned specific teams and I was relieved not to be in Brodie’s. Even though I still needed to talk to him, I didn’t think I would have a hope in hell of contributing to the event or finding out anything if I had to witness the seductive sight of him turning all hunter-gatherer.
‘Come on,’ said Archie, handing me a hard hat, ‘we’re on mistletoe duty.’
Armed with a variety of equipment, Archie, Tilly from Brambles, who had arrived with another friend, Molly and I went off in search of the trees which had the most to crop. It wasn’t a particularly bright day and in places the woods felt a little foreboding. I was pleased to have woken up with such a sunny disposition. Had I not, I might have felt spooked. Tilly kept close to my side and I wondered if she felt it too.
‘Jake and Amber from Skylark Farm are harvesting mistletoe from their orchard to add to ours,’ Archie explained as we stopped under a poplar tree and got set up. ‘It sells out quicker than the holly and ivy, so we need to gather as much as we possibly can.’
‘Or as much as the trees want us to pick,’ Molly said meaningfully.
Tilly didn’t look as though she knew quite what to make of Molly, which I could understand.
‘That’s what I meant,’ smiled Archie. ‘Right, come on. Let’s get cracking.’
Just like his father, Archie had a passion for tools and took charge of the telescopic loppers. It wasn’t long before we were all warmed up and Tilly, immersed in the work, appeared far more relaxed. I wasn’t though.
‘Hey,’ I shouted at Archie again.
He was allegedly trying his best to steady the descent of the cut bunches to maintain as many of the berries as possible but there were a couple of pieces which fell fast and unchecked, mostly whenever I was directly underneath them.
‘You’re supposed to shoutbelowwhen you’ve cut a piece,’ I testily reminded him as I readjusted my hard hat.
The bunches he’d caught me with weren’t heavy, but they did gather a bit of momentum on their descent and had knocked my hat skew-whiff.
‘Sorry.’ He grinned.
‘Yeah,’ I tutted. ‘You look it.’
By lunchtime, we’d gathered quite a haul and Mick collected the bags in the trailer attached to the hall quad and ferried them back to the courtyard. The three of us followed on, taking the tools with us as we probably wouldn’t find them again.
The Wynthorpe woods felt bigger as we walked back andalthough I had easily traced the path to Molly and Archie’s cottage before, there were parts which felt unfamiliar that morning. There seemed to be something afoot too. Nothing I could grasp because I wasn’t in tune like Molly, but there was definitely something off-kilter.
‘How have you got on?’ Angus asked, once we’d pulled off our boots and joined everyone in the packed kitchen.
It was standing room only by the time we’d washed our hands and Dorothy and Kathleen were in their element. Dorothy had prepared two batches of soup and baked bread and potatoes which she piled high with a variety of cheese and set next to Kathleen’s huge trays of warm brownies and healthy flapjacks.
The level of chat was proof that everyone was enjoying themselves and the dogs skittered around and through our legs making sure no dropped crumb sullied the flagstone floor for many seconds.
‘We’ve got on really well,’ said Archie. ‘Great, actually. Molly was right, the mistletoe crop is huge this year. We’ve filled more bags than ever.’
‘So, watch out.’ Molly smiled at me. ‘It’s bound to weave its magic and we’ll all be kissing beneath it by the end of the day.’
‘Anyone here you fancy locking lips with, Paige?’ Archie piped up.
I ignored him and turned sharply away, bumping straight into Brodie. I heard Archie guffaw behind me and felt my cheeks turn bright red.
‘Oh, no,’ I gasped, as one half of the cheese-packed potato I’d just put on my plate, fell to the floor. ‘I’m so sorry.’
