The Christmas Swap, стр. 32
“Oh, aren’t you absolutely stunning?” Jackie took Lucy’s hands in hers and regarded her appraisingly, like a prize mare. “And look at the two of you together …” What? No. “You were obviously made for each other.” Please, please shut up. “Oh, you absolutely must have babies together.” Oh god. “Steph, my goodness!” she shouted. “Can you imagine the grandbabies these two would give you?”
“Mom!” Bridget’s rebuke was muffled by the rushing of blood in Lucy’s ears. She couldn’t remember ever being so horrifyingly embarrassed.
“Aunt Jackie, you have seriously got your wires crossed.” The sound of Will’s voice broke the spell and Lucy took a calming breath. “Lucy is Jules’s best friend. You know, from England?”
There was a beat of silence—welcomed silence—and Lucy waited for the penny to drop, which it finally did.
“Ooohhh, right. I forgot. That’s my mistake. I’m so sorry.” Briony seemed to take this as her cue, shaking her head at her mother as she left the foyer. Jackie gave Lucy an apologetic smile, which Lucy returned, even though she was furious with this … this … woman. She was clearly one of those people who went about saying whatever she wanted without any thought of how it would affect others.
“You must think I’m a total idiot. I am so, so sorry,” Jackie added. Lucy could see she’d begun a serious bout of self-flagellation. It was somewhat disarming and Lucy found herself in the odd position of reassuring her.
“It was an honest mistake.” If you don’t count the part about having grandbabies, which you should never, ever say to anyone unless they are about to give birth to said grandbaby. Bridget caught Lucy’s eye and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Lucy flattened her mouth into a not-quite smile. It wasn’t Bridget’s fault.
Steph entered the already brimming foyer. “Jackie! What on earth? You’ve been here, what, five minutes and you’ve already stuck your foot in it? Did you say something about grandbabies? To Lucy?”
“I might have.” The sisters shared a look. Steph’s said, “What the hell?” and Jackie’s was accompanied by a guilty shrug. A bubble of a snigger formed in Lucy’s stomach.
Steph shook her head at her sister. “Hon, Lucy’s our guest and you keep this up, she’s gonna get on a plane right back to England.”
“I know, I know. I just got excited. I thought Will had finally brought home a girl for Christmas.” Lucy heard Will groan behind her, and the snigger escaped. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to contain the breathy laugh.
The two sisters were still bantering when Will leant in to ask, “Is that at my expense?” She shook her head, then it changed directions into a nod. She laughed harder. The whole thing was just so absurd. She felt the shake of Will’s laugh against her back before she heard it.
Steph and Jackie stopped talking and looked at them, Steph’s eyes narrowing, before a smile spread across her face. “Okay you two, go get cleaned up for dinner.”
Without another word, Lucy and Will ran up the stairs like naughty school children. When they reached Lucy’s door, she had to lean against the frame because she was laughing so hard. Will made the “shush” sign with his hand, failing to stifle his own laugh. He pulled her into the room and closed the door. She straightened and sighed repeatedly to try and catch her breath, one hand fanning her face, the other planted on her chest.
She hadn’t laughed this hard in ages—first in the car and then at the Aunt Jackie debacle. Her stomach muscles were going to hurt in the morning.
Will blew out a long breath. “So, now you’ve met Aunt Jackie.”
She grinned and the laugh threatened to reappear. She quashed it with another breath. “Yes, yes, I have. I do think you downplayed what that experience was going to be like.”
“I’m sorry you were embarrassed.” He stepped forward and snaked his arms around her waist as though he’d done it a hundred times before. Lucy settled into the embrace, her hands resting on his forearms, a tiny part of her mind realising how wonderfully normal it felt to be there.
“She embarrassed you as well. Have you really never brought a girl home for Christmas?”
He shook his head. “There’s never been anyone I wanted to bring.”
“Actually,” a frown settled on her face, “come to think of it, I haven’t either.”
“You’ve never brought a girl home to meet the parents,” he teased.
She tutted. “You know what I mean.”
He nodded, his eyes roaming over her face. “She was right about something, you know, Aunt Jackie. You are stunning.”
Lucy gulped. Coming from Will, she could almost believe it. The corners of his mouth flickered into a slight smile and he licked his lips, just like he had on the snow. Lucy wasn’t letting the moment slip away this time. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. When she pulled back, there was what she could only describe as delight on his face, and he leant down and kissed her again, pulling her closer as her hands reached for the back of his neck, her fingers entwining in that glorious blond hair.
They were late to dinner.
*
“Popcorn or paper chains?” Will asked.
“Um, popcorn, I think,” Lucy replied.
The whole family was assembled in the living room to decorate the tree, a rather scraggly specimen that Bob and Nate had chopped down and dragged inside earlier that day. It was at least twelve feet tall and Lucy wondered how in the world they were going to reach the top to put the angel on—if there even was an angel. It seemed like the only decorations would be those they were going to make.
Bing Crosby was singing, the fireplace was on, and there were six giant bowls