Snowy Christmas (4 page)

Emily took her seat with Snow White on her
lap. She needed an excuse to back out of the lunch, and she had the
perfect reason. "I'd rather not leave Snowy in the car any longer,
so I'll skip lunch."

"Don't worry. Dogs are welcome at the Fat
Goose. They can come in with us."

"Oh." That excuse wasn't going to work, then.
Emily racked her brain for another one.

Marcus must have picked up on her discomfort.
He put his key in the ignition and swiveled to face her. "My family
can be a little overwhelming, but we don't bite. Really."

"It's not that. Your family all seem really
nice." Not snobbish at all, like she might have expected. "The
truth is I can't afford lunch. You don't have to take me back to
Rosemoor Hall. It's not far. I'll put Snowy on her leash, and we
can walk."

"Listen, I invited you to lunch. I don't
expect you to pay." Now he sounded offended, and that was the last
thing she wanted, although his attitude was a nice change from
Vicente's. He'd always claimed poverty and expected her to pay for
everything.

"Do come, Emily," Marcus said. "It's a chance
for you and Snowy to get to know my family. While you're working at
Rosemoor Hall, you'll be seeing a lot of them, so you can consider
this training for your job."

"Really?" He was calling Sunday lunch
training? She had no idea what to say to that.

Marcus was confused. He couldn't decide if he was
offended Emily had thought he'd make her pay for her own lunch, or
pleasantly surprised to meet a woman who didn't take it for granted
he would pay.

He was also uncertain why he'd been so
insistent she should come. It was a family get-together, and she
was just a new staff member. He hardly knew her. In fact, he wasn't
sure why he'd invited her to church in the first place.

He steered his car into a parking space
outside the Fat Goose, cut the engine, and turned to clip on
Peggy's leash before he opened the door. She'd recognized where
they were and was already scratching at the car door to get
out.

"Yes, this is the place you get lots of tasty
tidbits, Pegs." He glanced at Emily, strangely unsettled by her
today. It was odd how different she looked without her glasses
hiding half her face. She was actually quite pretty. "I'm afraid we
tend to spoil the dogs at the Fat Goose."

Emily had put one end of the blue rope around
Snow White's neck and was holding the other end. Marcus wished he'd
insisted on buying a collar and leash for the dog. First thing on
Monday, he'd get her one. He planned to go shopping to buy Emily a
decent television, microwave oven, and anything else he could think
of that was missing from the housekeeper's apartment.

He climbed out and let Peggy jump down from
the back before rounding the car to help Emily. She had already
opened the passenger door and slid to the ground, Snow White in her
arms. Was it his imagination, or was she being a little prickly
with him? Had he done something to offend her? He gave her a tight
smile and shut and locked the doors.

Owen drove up and parked nearby. His family
piled out of their car, complete with Peggy's brother, a black
Labrador called Paddy. The two dogs pulled on their leashes to
sniff noses. They often walked together and were good friends.

Paddy snuffled at Snow White, and Emily
crouched with the Westie in her arms so the dogs could make
friends. Paddy was a good-natured Lab, and his tail wagged while he
said hello to the little creature.

"Paddy likes the white dog," Chloe said.

"Paddy likes everyone," Jennifer added with a
laugh.

Marcus's brother and his wife arrived,
parked, and joined them, their daughter asleep in a stroller and
their two dogs on leashes—Honey, a golden Labrador, and Jessie,
another of Peggy's siblings.

Emily laughed. "We're going to fill the pub
with dogs."

Marcus was pleased to hear her laugh. She
didn't do it very often. Half the time she seemed lost in thought,
and the thoughts obviously troubled her.

"It's not a family get-together without the
dogs," Jonathan said. He bent to stroke Honey's ears. "You're part
of the family, aren't you, girl."

Marcus stood back to let Chloe lead Paddy
into the pub first because that dog always had to be at the front.
Owen put his arm around Jennifer, protective of his pregnant wife,
and went in next. Marcus wanted to make sure Jonathan and Vicky
were safely inside with the stroller, so he waited until last.

Emily glanced his way and followed his
example, stepping aside to wait with him while the others went
first. The gesture touched him, affecting him more than it should.
For a moment, he had the strangest desire to put his arm around
her.

It had been two long years since he'd had a
female companion at dinner, and even when he was married, Gabriella
had rarely attended any family get-togethers. She'd made no secret
of the fact she found his family boring. She'd once said she'd
rather stick pins in her eyes than spend Christmas with Marcus's
brother. Even though Gabriella was history, the memory of that
comment still made him angry. His ex-wife had done her best to
drive a wedge between him and his family.

He banished the thought of putting an arm
around Emily. Two days ago, he'd finally rid himself of one woman.
He needed a good long break before he got involved with
another.

• • •

Emily watched Julie, the dog groomer, sluice water
over Snow White. They were washing her in a huge old square sink in
one of the rooms off the kitchen corridor at Rosemoor Hall that
Marcus used as a utility room.

"You're such a good girl, Snowy." Julie
seemed kind and handled Snow White gently, being extra careful with
her because of her history, and the little Westie appeared to trust
her.

"She's always a good girl, aren't you,
angel?" Emily had to restrain the urge to stroke her little wet dog
while Julie was working.

"How are things going?" Marcus stepped into
the open doorway wearing a sweater and jeans, what he called his
dog-walking outfit. Although he seemed to wear dog-walking clothes
most of the time.

"Very well," she said.

He looked great in casual clothes, but now
that Emily had seen him in a suit, she couldn't get that image out
of her mind. She'd even dreamed of him last night, wearing that
suit as he swept her into his arms. She cleared her throat and
concentrated on Snow White.

"Good morning, Mr. Bramwell," Julie piped up
cheerily. "Snowy is no trouble at all, a very well-behaved
dog."

"Wonderful. I'm going shopping to pick up a
microwave oven for your kitchen, Emily. As Snowy seems to be doing
fine with Julie, would you like to come and choose it
yourself?"

"I don't want to leave her right now, but
thanks for asking."

"Okay. I should be back just before your
meeting with Vicky about next weekend."

Sunday lunch at the Fat Goose yesterday with
Marcus's family had turned out to be fun. She'd sat beside Marcus's
sister-in-law, Vicky, who handled the event bookings at Rosemoor
Hall. This week Emily would be liaising with Vicky and taking over
responsibility for the catering side of the bookings. She was
looking forward to getting situated and eventually being more
hands-on with the food preparation. She already had menu ideas
flying around in her head.

Emily kept Snow White company while she was
dried and clipped, chatting with Julie. Snow White kept her
trusting dark eyes fixed on Emily, and she stroked her baby's face
as Julie finished up trimming her back legs. Shorn of her ragged
coat, the little Westie looked skinny but not as bad as Emily had
feared.

"I've taken the fur on her legs down short
and not given her a Westie skirt because of the muddy walks at this
time of year."

"That's great. Thanks."

Emily had reluctantly borrowed money from Ned
to pay the groomer. It was one thing she didn't want to put off.
Snow White deserved to be clean and have her overgrown coat cut
away, even if it put Emily further into debt.

Once Julie had gone, Emily took Snow White
for a walk around the large lawn at the front of Rosemoor Hall. The
huge patch of grass enclosed by a wall was a great place to walk
when she wanted to let Snow White off the leash safely.

"You are such a pretty girl now with your new
haircut." She couldn't stop stroking her dog's clean,
sweet-smelling fur. It was lovely to be able to see her face.

After the walk, they went back to the
apartment. Emily had just changed into black slacks and a lavender
blouse for her meeting with Vicky when a knock sounded at her door.
She opened it to find Marcus holding a rolled-up rug, accompanied
by a man with a pile of boxes on a hand truck.

"I've got a few things for you," Marcus
said.

Emily stepped aside to let the guy with the
hand truck push it in. Marcus followed and dropped the roll on the
sitting room floor.

"Thanks, Kevin. I'll take it from here," he
said.

"Right, Mr. Bramwell." The man nodded and
left.

Emily was speechless as she angled her head
to read the labels on the boxes. Marcus pulled a box cutter from
his pocket and slit the tape holding the rug in a roll.

"I thought this would brighten up the sitting
room." He pulled back the easy chairs and shook out a small
colorful rug, spreading it in front of the fireplace. Inside the
first rug was a second. "This is a smaller one to put beside your
bed." He strode towards her bedroom, and she followed to watch him
lay it on the floor.

"Marcus. This is too much."

She was overwhelmed as he started unpacking
the boxes. He lifted out the new microwave oven and set it up on
the kitchen counter. Then he unpacked a coffee machine and a shiny
new electric kettle. There was a set of saucepans and a tray, and a
set of place mats decorated with pictures of adorable Westies.

She picked up the tray and smiled at the
image of the cute Westie wearing a Santa hat and sitting in front
of a Christmas tree.

"I couldn't resist that," he said. He placed
a box full of new silverware and another containing a new white
dinner service on the kitchen counter.

"There are already plates and knives and
forks and things in the cupboards."

Marcus waved away her comment with a swipe of
his hand. "We'll throw those away. They're older than me."

Last he lifted the biggest box, a television,
and leaned it against the wall. "I'll need to put the stand on
this, so I'll do that later."

He stood back and rested his hands on his
hips, surveying his handiwork.

"This is all great. Thank you. But you didn't
need to get all these things." She found it hard to imagine how
he'd physically bought so much in the time he'd been away.

"I can't expect you to live in the 1950s.
I'll have the apartment decorated, and we'll update the bathroom
and kitchen."

"No, honestly."

He returned to the coffeemaker and fiddled
with it like a kid with a new toy, then turned to her, grinning.
"It was no trouble. I enjoyed myself."

He came closer, and as she started to step
back out of his way, he pulled something from his pocket—a small
red tartan collar and leash set. "A present for Snow White."

"Oh, Marcus. Thank you." Him buying items for
the housekeeper's apartment was one thing, but she couldn't let him
pay for her dog's needs. "I'll pay you back for the collar and
leash, though."

"It's a gift. From me to Snowy." They both
moved so they could see Snow White where she was rolling on the new
rug in the sitting room. "If I give her a gift, maybe she'll like
me."

"She's already starting to like you, anyway.
And you don't need to give me gifts to make me like you."

She'd meant it as a joke, but her tone of
voice came out sounding serious. She already liked him way too
much.

Emily's first week at Rosemoor Hall passed quickly.
She learned how things were run and familiarized herself with the
events booked to take place there in the next few months.

Vicky and Emily also had appointments with
three couples considering Rosemoor Hall as their wedding venue.
Emily had drawn up wedding menus so they could offer in-house
catering as part of the wedding package.

Marcus gave her free rein to change things as
she wanted, and Vicky was a pleasure to work with. Emily took over
responsibility for the cleaning of Rosemoor Hall from the admin
staff at the estate office. She decided to hire maids directly
rather than use a contract cleaning company, and placed
advertisements in local newspapers and around the village.

She loved the job, and Rosemoor Hall was a
beautiful stately home full of charming quirks. She also found time
to take Snow White for long walks. By the end of the week, she felt
invigorated and satisfied.

Her only disappointment was that she had no
chance to cook for others, although that would change when she
started catering the wedding bookings. She did wonder if she could
cook for Marcus, although he hadn't asked her to. So far the
opportunity to ask him hadn't arisen. He went to London for a
couple of days, and had visited his brother or cousin Owen for
dinner the other nights.

On Saturday there was a fiftieth wedding
anniversary party booked at the hall at lunchtime, and Emily helped
Vicky oversee that everything ran smoothly. The clients had hired
outside caterers. Emily was just checking they had left the kitchen
tidy when Peggy trotted in, her tail wagging.

Emily turned, a wet cloth in her hand as
Marcus appeared in the doorway. "Have they all gone?" he asked.

"The caterers have. I think there might be a
few guests still in the great hall, but they'll leave soon. They
only have booked the place until six."