Page 6 of Escape for Christmas
‘In my professional opinion. As a vet, that is. Oh, bugger …’ He squirmed. ‘I’m digging a whopping great hole, aren’t I?’
‘Only the size of Cathedral Cavern,’ Sophie teased, unsure whether to be flattered that he’d noticed her figure or whether Brody thought she looked like she needed to look after herself more.
Jingle miaowed loudly and Belle was trying to climb off the table.
‘Um, let’s have you back in your carrier so you can get home,’ Brody muttered, clearly eager to move past any awkwardness.
Sophie opened the door and he shooed Jingle into the carrier while she scooped up Belle, who slunk in next to her brother and eyed Sophie menacingly through the grid.
‘Thanks. I’ll, um, see you soon,’ Brody said, scratching the back of his neck again as Sophie hoisted the carrier off the table and walked towards the door. ‘Oh, I almost forgot!’ he called after her.
‘What?’ She turned round, confused because she thought he’d checked everything concerning the cats.
‘I’m having a party. Well, it’s not an actual party. It’s definitely notmyparty. It’s for Mum really. Oh, I’m not explaining this very well, am I?’ he mumbled, taking a breath. ‘It’s her annual Village Do-Gooders’ Gathering,though she’d kill me for calling it that. She likes to host it at Felltop Farm because there’s a bit more space than at her place.’
That was an understatement. Sophie hadn’t been inside Felltop Farm, but she knew it was huge. It was the kind of ancient, rambling Lakeland farmhouse that had wings shooting off in all directions. Outside there were numerous outbuildings and land, where Brody kept a few rare-breed sheep, a donkey and chickens.
Sophie’s heart beat faster. A Christmas party – especially of ‘Do-Gooders’ – was her idea of hell. Brody’s company, however, would be a major compensation.
‘Oh. OK,’ she murmured.
‘And I wanted to ask you, but I probably shouldn’t …’
‘Shouldn’t?’ she couldn’t help repeating. It was a loaded word that made Sophie’s antennae twitch, almost as if he’d thought better of it.
‘After seeing your website,’ Brody explained. ‘And after what Vee told me.’
‘What has Vee told you?’ she asked, noticing that her voice came out higher than she meant it to. Did Brody – and half the village – know every last detail about the tinsel incident?
‘Only that you don’t do Christmas, and that’s OK,’ he said hastily. ‘It really is. Lots of people don’t, and sometimes I feel like skipping it myself. There’s so much pressure on one holiday and it seems to get worse every year.’
‘No, really, it’s not that I don’t do Christmas as such,’ Sophie told him, eager to explain sufficiently that he’dunderstand, but not too much so that she’d have to bare her soul. ‘It’s more that I – er – spotted a gap in the market for people who want something different. After all, every guest house and hotel in the Lakes is banging on about the log fires and seven-course turkey dinner … I thought my “Escape” would give Sunnyside a unique selling point.’ She was rather proud of herself, thinking she’d managed to sound convincing. ‘At least that was the plan.’
‘It’s a brilliant idea,’ Brody added hastily. ‘And it’s one reason why I thought the party might be a good opportunity for you. There’ll be other business people there who you might like to … bond with. The Traders’ Association chair, the director of the Tourist Board, the vicar – not that he’d be any help to Sunnyside – so I thought it might be a useful way to get to know people in an informal setting. Butpleasedon’t feel obliged and, in fact, you can forget I even mentioned it.’
When Brody finally paused for breath, Sophie felt her words stick in her throat, not knowing how to respond. She’d kind of backed herself into a corner, going on about her business reasons for launching the “Escape” … and now she had little excuse for not attending because, as Brody said, it would offer perfect networking to help her new business.
Argh! Her emotions were like two tug-of-war teams pulling as hard as they could on both sides. It was a proper Christmas do: not a small gathering, but a large formal one with half the village there – exactly the kind of thing she was hoping to avoid this year. Yet Brody would be hostingit and he’d asked herspecially, even if he’d then tried to un-invite her by telling her to forget it.
Brody was handsome and kind and, if she was being completely honest with herself, was the only man she’d even remotely contemplated getting to know better, since her ex.
‘Erm …’ she said, stalling for time. ‘When is this not-a-party happening?’
‘The twenty-third of December. You really don’t have to come, but you’d be doing me a huge favour and I’d owe you. It would be great to have someone under sixty there, who isn’t talking about their pension or what a wonderful man Michael Bublé is.’
Sophie chuckled, although she couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the idea of attending a festive party where everyone would be brimming with jollity and asking awkward questions. Especially about her marketing idea.
Since she’d first posted the ad on her website in October, she’d had several local hoteliers asking her why she was hosting an ‘anti-Christmas break’. One had even dubbed it an ‘“I hate Christmas” break’, which had sparked Sophie into telling him, in no uncertain terms, that it wasn’t anything of the kind. She was bound to have gained a reputation as a spiky oddball with some of the Bannerdale diehards, and this would bring her face-to-face with them.
‘Of course Harold would love seeing a friendly face too,’ Brody said, bringing her back to the matter at hand.
Sophie played along. ‘You mean he’d enjoy seeing someone who lets him have bacon?’
‘Naturally.’ Brody’s caramel-brown eyes focused on Sophie with a sudden seriousness that made her go as gooey as a brownie. ‘And I’d love to see your face too, of course.’
‘Oh, of course.’ She smiled.
She’d dodged so many seasonal invitations already from local acquaintances and business contacts, including an invite to join Vee’s family at the lantern parade in the week before Christmas, which was the highlight of the community’s festive celebrations, with children carrying home-made lanterns through the streets, carol-singing and a brass band.
