‘Oh no!’ wailed Izzy and then started to giggle. Nothing was going to upset her today. She dropped the heavy tray on the counter top.
‘Something wrong?’ asked a low voice as a pair of arms slid around her waist. She turned to kiss Ross, tasting coffee on his breath.
‘It won’t go in.’ Her eyes danced with mischief.
‘I didn’t hear any complaints last night.’
Izzy giggled again, the laughter bubbling up like Champagne. Happiness fizzed through her and she was almost convinced little sparks danced from her skin. ‘I meant the turkey. It’s too big for the oven.’ Despite the potential disaster, she couldn’t take it seriously.
‘Oops,’ said Ross, staring at the twenty-four-pound bird nestled in a large roasting tin.
She prodded the butter-slathered pimply skin with a disconsolate finger as her bottom lip quivered with mirth. ‘I can’t believe this. All the planning and it never occurred to me to check the oven was big enough.’
‘You mean you didn’t put it on the list?’
She nudged him with a playful elbow. ‘No, I didn’t.’ She sighed. ‘I’m going to have to cut it up. I guess it will cook quicker that way.’
‘Tell you what. Let’s have another coffee and then we’ll think about the best plan of attack.’
She grinned at him. ‘We’ sounded so much better than ‘you’.
She sat down at the table while he replaced her mug on the Nespresso machine and popped in another pod. As she listened to its familiar buzz, her head ticked through various options. She could butcher the whole thing, something she’d learned to do in Ireland, then cook the breast, the wings and the legs separately, but Adrienne had always insisted that cooking on the bone enhanced the flavour of the meat and she’d wanted today to be perfect.
When Ross placed the coffee in front of her, she took a cautious sip and sighed.
‘There’s one thing I could do. I could chop it in two.’
Ross raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly. ‘And then superglue it back together once it’s cooked?’
She nodded. ‘Funny but it might work.’
‘Right. Would you like me to get the axe from Duncan’s tool shed?’
‘Axe?’ Izzy straightened. ‘I was thinking a saw, but actually, an axe is probably better.’
Ross stared at her and cleared his throat. ‘I was joking.’
‘Oh God, this is ridiculous, isn’t it? It’s straight out of situation comedy territory.’ She began to laugh. His lips twitched.
‘Just a bit.’
‘But I can’t think what else to do. If I cut it in half through the top, I can perhaps put it back together and hide the join with bacon strips when I carry it in.’
‘Are you going to be able to do that?’
‘No idea, but what’s the worst that can happen?’
‘You could chop your hand off.’
‘You’ve already demonstrated you’re good with a chopper,’ Izzy said, her eyes dancing again. ‘You can do it.’
He swooped in for a quick kiss before saying, ‘You want me to take an axe to the turkey?’
‘What else do you suggest? I need to get it in the oven and I also need to start preparing breakfast. I told everyone to be down by nine and I’m not even dressed yet.’
‘You’re making enough noise to wake the dead,’ said Jason, coming into the room bleary-eyed and clutching the front of his head. ‘Merry Christmas.’
‘Merry Christmas.’
