Snowy Christmas (9 page)

"I can hear you, munchkin," Jonathan said.
"Daddy's coming to get you."

Isabelle squealed and ran faster.

"She's a little monkey." Vicky rushed to help
round up her daughter, and the tiny girl dashed back to hug her
daddy's leg.

"There you are." Jonathan picked her up and
blew on her tummy, making her shriek with laughter.

Peggy, Jessie, Honey, and Paddy vied with
each other for the prime spot on the rug in front of the fire.
While they were disagreeing, Snow White sneaked in and stole the
best place for herself.

"Look at that." Emily pointed as the doggy
drama unfolded, secretly proud of her little girl for coming out on
top. Everyone laughed as the bigger dogs positioned themselves
around the bold little Westie.

"She's obviously not timid anymore," Jennifer
said. "She's a wily terrier. They come out on top of the Labs every
time."

When the tree was covered in precious glass
baubles of many colors, gleaming in the firelight, they all sat
together and drank tea from a vintage bone-china tea service that
had been in the family for ages and was apparently worth a
fortune.

Shelly arrived when all the work was done.
She plopped down on a chair and accepted a cup of tea. "The pub's
hectic. I can only get away for half an hour, but I had to come and
see how you were getting along. It's wonderful to have a tree in
the great hall again. I've really missed this. I can't wait to
celebrate Christmas Day here. It'll be like old times."

Emily and Shelly were planning to cook a
traditional family Christmas dinner in the kitchen here, and Emily
was looking forward to it. Her grandma and Ned were invited as
well.

Everyone fell silent, enjoying a rest, while
the log fire crackled and the dogs snored.

"This brings back so many memories," Jonathan
said. He hugged his sleepy daughter close on his lap and kissed her
hair. "The last time we had Christmas here all together was before
I went to Afghanistan, when Mum and Dad were still alive." Vicky
snuggled up beside her husband and rested her head on his
shoulder.

"Sorry, Jon." Marcus didn't elaborate on his
apology, but Emily had heard enough of what had happened over the
past decade to know what he was apologizing for—and it wasn't him
who should be apologizing. It was the Taliban who had taken
Jonathan's sight, and Marcus's ex-wife who'd tried to divide Marcus
from his family.

Emily rose from her seat near the fire and
sat on the arm of Marcus's chair, leaning in to rest her cheek
against his head. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles,
glancing up at her beneath his thick dark lashes, the firelight
dancing in his brown eyes.

"As head of the family, from now on I promise
to uphold the values we all hold dear," he said to the room in
general. "Family, Rosemoor, and dogs, not necessarily in that
order."

"To family, Rosemoor, and dogs," Owen echoed,
raising his teacup towards the Christmas tree, and they all
repeated his words.

Marcus pulled Emily onto his lap, and they
chuckled when Peggy rose and rested her head on his knee as if she
were jealous.

"We can share him, Pegs." Emily stroked the
black Labrador's head.

She had feared this Christmas would be her
worst. Instead it promised to be the best ever.

Emily strolled through the crisp morning air, her
breath steaming. Peggy and Snow White dashed around together,
following the trails on the frosty grass where wild animals had
passed in the night.

Marcus had a meeting with his financial
advisor, who'd arrived with the biggest briefcase Emily had ever
seen. The two men were closeted in Marcus's office, no doubt
talking about the stock market and interest rates. As it was such a
lovely morning, and it was good to be alive, she'd decided to take
the dogs for a walk alone.

Over the weekend, Chloe had invited her to
stop by to taste the cinnamon cookies she'd baked, so Emily took
the path that led to Rosemoor Farm. Chloe had started her school
Christmas vacation now, so she should be home on a weekday.

As Emily entered the farmyard, she saw Owen
talking to Ned, their voices lost in the noise from the shed of
bleating goats. Both men shouted hello and waved. Owen's Jack
Russell, Zack, trotted across to greet Peggy and Snow White, but
Ned's grumpy collie ignored them, thank goodness.

She knocked on the back door of Rosemoor
Farm. A few moments later came the sound of Paddy barking and
jumping up at the inside of the door, and then it opened. Paddy
burst out like a black hurricane, nearly taking the legs from under
her.

"Paddy, no," Chloe shouted. "Get back inside
now."

With a clatter of claws, all the dogs charged
inside. Emily toed off her boots and followed, wincing at the trail
of dirty paw prints into the kitchen.

"Mum's in surgery spaying a cat," Chloe said.
"I'll make you a cup of tea, and you can taste my cookies. I want
your expert opinion. I still plan to study veterinary medicine, but
I like cooking as well." Chloe sounded so grown-up and serious, it
made Emily smile.

"Thank you. I can't wait. Do you have a dog
towel and a cloth to wipe the floor?"

While Emily cleaned the dogs, and then their
paw prints from the floor, Chloe made the tea. Snow White and Peggy
checked out the two dogs' beds. A sleek gray cat was curled in the
center of one, so they both squeezed into the other, a big black
dog and a small white fluffy one curled side by side.

Chloe crouched and stroked the cat, who
stretched with a meow and settled back to sleep again. "Sixpence
always steals one of the poor dogs' beds. Dad says she rules the
roost because she has claws."

"It doesn't matter. Snowy and Pegs are used
to sleeping together. They're such good friends."

Emily took out her phone and snapped a
photograph of them to show Marcus. A pang of longing hit her at the
thought of him. It seemed wrong to be walking the dogs and visiting
Rosemoor Farm without him. She was so used to them being together
that whenever they were apart, she felt something was missing.

Chloe placed a plate of golden-brown
Christmas tree and star-shaped cookies on the table with the
teapot, mugs, sugar bowl, and milk. Then she proceeded to pour out
the tea and add one sugar and a touch of milk for Emily, just as
she liked. Chloe had been an efficient waitress at the wedding, and
made a good hostess.

Emily bit into a cookie and chewed
thoughtfully. Chloe's cookies were tasty. "Very good," she said.
"The cinnamon adds just the right spicy tang to the buttery flavor,
and it crumbles perfectly in the mouth. I'd like the recipe, if you
don't mind."

Chloe grinned. "I'll photocopy it in the
estate office and drop it off at the hall sometime."

Emily and Chloe had a nice chat about school,
careers, dogs, especially how to stop Paddy being naughty, and
Christmas. An hour later, Emily was just pulling on her boots at
the door to leave when Ned put his head inside.

"Glad I caught you," he said. "I've been
meaning to drop these off. Sorry, should have done it sooner. I've
had some of them a few weeks." He held out a bundle of letters
contained in a rubber band.

A quick flick through the envelopes showed
that they had all been redirected from Spain. Vicente had
handwritten her address on each one. Emily's heart gave a sick jolt
at being reminded of him. She was surprised he'd bothered to
forward her mail. She'd have expected him to toss it in the
trash.

She stuffed the letters in her coat pocket
and pushed the image of him out of her mind. He was history. She
had to be positive and look to the future—with Marcus. The thought
of him brought a smile to her lips.

As Emily opened the gate onto the parkland,
Peggy and Snow White bounded through. She took the long route
around the perimeter of the huge expanse of grassland. When she
reached the felled oak tree at the farthest corner, which had been
carved into a bench by a local craftsman, she stopped and sat.

The view across the frost-coated grass and
trees towards Rosemoor Hall was spectacular. Trimmed with sparkling
Christmas lights, the majestic golden-stone building stood framed
by its gardens like an ancient monarch sitting on a throne, keeping
watch over his lands.

It was a beautiful sight. She loved Rosemoor
Hall, probably because she loved Marcus, and in her mind the hall
was part of him, his home. Now it was her home too. The thought
gave her a warm pulse of belonging, something she hadn't felt for a
long time.

The bundle of letters dug into her thigh
where her coat pulled tight. She stood, tugged the envelopes from
her pocket, and then sat and snapped the rubber band off them.
Leafing through, she found two were from her grandma, and one was
from her parents, who lived in Cyprus. Her father had joined the
army as an engineer when Emily was fourteen, leaving her with her
grandma so she didn't have to change schools. By then, Ned was
already working at Rosemoor Farm.

There was some Spanish junk mail, and she
couldn't understand why Vicente had bothered to forward
that
to her. Tucked among the Spanish mail was an official-looking
envelope. Setting the other mail aside, she tore this one open and
scanned the Spanish writing. As the words sank in, the blood
drained from her head and her ears buzzed.

She dropped the pages and closed her eyes for
a moment, willing them to disappear. But the two sheets of
cream-colored paper were still lying on the ground at her feet. She
considered stamping them into the dirt and pretending she hadn't
received them, but this problem wouldn't go away.

It was a letter from a Spanish loan company,
the sort that offered short-term loans at high rates of interest.
In threatening terms, they demanded she pay the arrears she owed
immediately, or they would take her to court.

It wasn't a fortune, only five thousand
Euros, but it was five thousand Euros she didn't have. And she
hadn't taken out the loan anyway.

She pressed her hand over her eyes, dimly
aware of Snow White's paws on her knee as her baby came to see what
was wrong. "It's all right, sweetie." She pressed her face to the
top of Snow White's head, and tears pricked her eyes.

After a moment, she sucked in a breath and
tried to focus. Had Vicente sneakily persuaded her to sign a loan
application? It was unlikely. She carefully read any legal
documents she signed. That meant he must have forged her
signature.

The cold penetrated Emily's clothes while she
stared unseeing over the countryside. Eventually, Peggy got fed up
with chasing rabbits and pheasants and came to find out what was
happening.

A figure in the distance caught Emily's
attention, and she recognized Marcus walking her way. He waved his
arms and whistled. Peggy took off, hurtling across the grass
towards him. Snow White stood to attention, head high and tail
wagging, but she stayed at Emily's side.

How was she going to tell Marcus about her
latest problem? He'd been wonderful helping her out, and she knew
he would do so again, but she didn't want him to think she was a
disaster zone. This would probably mean an urgent trip to Spain,
and she might have to report the issue to the Spanish police. She
might even have to talk to Vicente again.

The moment Marcus was close enough to see her
face, his smile fell away to be replaced by a frown. "What's the
matter, love?"

The tears she'd held back filled her eyes and
rolled down her cheeks. In answer, she held out the letter. He took
it and sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and
pressing his warm lips to hers.

"Whatever it is, we'll sort it out." He
glanced at the letter and shook his head. "I can't read Spanish.
What does it say?"

She told him. "I think Vicente must have
taken out a loan in my name and forged my signature."

"You're not liable then. It's identity theft.
As soon as we get back to the hall, I'll call my lawyers. They'll
handle this for us."

"I don't want to have to go to Spain and miss
Christmas at Rosemoor."

"You won't." He stroked the hair back from
her face and tucked it under her wool hat. "Vicente probably thinks
you won't have the money to pay for legal advice and you won't know
how to handle this, but he's wrong. You have me to help you."

Emily leaned into Marcus and breathed in the
familiar smell of him that was so reassuring. "Sorry I seem to
cause one problem after another."

"The only thing you did wrong was fall for a
jerk who's made your life hell. I can't criticize you for that. I
did something similar myself."

Marcus moved away and Emily sighed, missing
the feel of his arms around her. She expected him to stand, but
instead he took her gloved hands in his and went down on one knee
in front of her.

Emily stared at him, her eyes wide in
confusion. "Be careful of your nice trousers." She tried to tug him
up since he was still wearing the expensive trousers he'd put on
for the meeting with his financial advisor, but he shook his head
and smiled.

"Don't worry. They'll clean up." He put a
hand in his coat pocket and pulled out a black leather box with
gold writing embossed on top.

The ground seemed to tilt beneath her, and
she clamped a hand over her mouth. Surely he wasn't about to…

He lifted the lid of the box to reveal a
stunning engagement ring with a diamond solitaire the size of a
marble. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but it was massive.

"I planned to keep this until Christmas, but
I can't wait to ask you. Emily, my love, will you do me the honor
of being my wife?"

Emily opened her mouth and closed it again.
She felt light-headed from her wildly fluctuating emotions—first
despair and now elation.