Page 80 of Escape for Christmas
‘The ghostly maid dropping her … tray?’ Agatha suggested.
‘It was Harold,’ Sophie piped up from the rear. ‘He’s knocked over a vase.’ She picked it up. ‘Luckily it’s still in one piece.’
Harold wormed his way through everyone’s legs, tongue lolling, making everyone laugh except Nico, who glared angrily at the perpetrator.
Brody caught Sophie’s eye and she smiled briefly, as if she’d forgotten she was disappointed and angry with him. He grinned back, and for a second she seemed to smile in return, transporting him to the moment when they were on the cusp of taking their friendship to something more.
Sophie’s smile faded. ‘I’ll put this back on the table,’ she muttered. ‘And I think I’ll go downstairs. I feel a bit cold up here.’
‘I think we should all go back down,’ Brody said, the chill seizing him too. He’d found the day trying enough, without reminding himself of how much he’d lost.
‘Thank you so much for your hospitality.’
‘Thank you! I’ve really enjoyed it.’
‘Watch out for the ghost!’
‘Happy un-Christmas!’
‘Whoops! I think I’ve had too much mulled wine.’
With Tegan beside him, Brody bade farewell to his unexpected guests with a broad grin on his face.
Sophie was the last to go. ‘Thank you again,’ she said. ‘Both of you.’
‘You’re welcome,’ said Tegan, ‘I hope it wasn’t too awful?’
‘It was lovely, but I think you’ll be very glad to have the place to yourselves again. I hope your belated Christmas dinner goes well.’
‘Thank you,’ Tegan replied graciously. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing my parents. My dad’s not at all well and he’s actually waiting for an operation, so it will be nice to be together.’
‘Oh?’ said Sophie in surprise. ‘I didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear it.’
Was Brody imagining it or did Sophie catch his eye with a shocked glance. She must be thinking he was even more of a bastard.
Outside, the cold rain was falling softly. It was clear that a rapid thaw was under way, and the drive was slushy. Agatha had linked arms with Hugo and Una, though for whose benefit Brody wasn’t sure, as they were all slightly unsteady. The porch light lit them as far as the road, but they were relying on torches for the rest of the journey.
Sophie led the way, a torch in one hand and two bags of food in the other.
‘Whoa!’ She slipped and almost fell, but Nico was there in an instant, his hand at her elbow, steadying her. He didn’t remove it immediately, either.
Brody thought Sophie didn’t need any man’s help, but it hurt that she seemed happy to accept Nico’s. He watcheduntil his porch light clicked off and they’d all vanished into the darkness, before shutting the door.
The house was suddenly shockingly quiet. He didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or panic. Today had been stressful at times, but while he’d been rushing around, he’d at least been kept busy. Helping the Nowak children had been an unexpected highlight. Now he was alone with Tegan, with nothing to distract him.
‘That wasn’t so bad after all,’ she decided. ‘Reminds me of the old days. Do you remember your last birthday party? Carl and his friend didn’t leave here until three in the morning and you had the hangover to end all hangovers.’ She laughed.
Brody did remember. It had been one hell of a night and one hell of a morning after. He’d been happy then; at least he’d thought he had, from what he could remember.
‘Sophie was so brave to move here on her own. Did she split up with someone before she took over the guest house?’
‘What makes you think that?’ Brody asked.
Tegan shrugged. ‘I don’t know. She seems – sad somehow. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice person and she’s very pretty, but why else would you move to a place like this in the middle of nowhere, if you weren’t running away from something? She’ll really feel it when her guests leave after Boxing Day.’
‘She’ll be OK,’ Brody said. ‘Hopefully the power should be back on soon too, now the weather is clearing up’
‘I didn’t mean the power. I meant it will be awful for her being alone again.’
