‘All a bit too much?’ Padam suggests.
‘Yes, and really, there are only the three of us. We don’t even cook a turkey anymore.’
Before he can stop himself, the words are tumbling from Malcolm. ‘Grace, I wonder if you and your friends would do me the honour of joining me for Christmas lunch at my house on Newbiggen. I am having a gathering of local friends, including Rev. Ruth. It will be quite a party, but I can’t help feeling it would be much more of a party if the Three Disgraces were to grace us with their presence.’
He waits and watches, wondering if he has gone too far with the pun.
Then Grace turns a glowing look upon him, and it is as if someone has injected the little woman with some sort of youth serum. Ten years seem to fall from her, and whilst it couldn’t be said that she leaps from the chair, she certainly rises with renewed vigour. ‘Why that is marvellous, Mr Buswell.’
‘Please call me Malcolm.’
‘And you can call us all Grace,’ she chortles. ‘We would be delighted to attend. I cannot wait to tell the others.’ She pauses. ‘You will be having turkey?’ she asks a little shyly.
‘There will be turkey and all the trimmings …’
‘Sprouts in lemon and parmesan,’ Padam murmurs.
‘… Christmas pudding; and as well as wine there will be my special Christmas cocktail, and I believe one of our number is bringing plum vodka.’
‘Well, that is certainly one in the eye for the wet young thing who came round and invited us to a pensioners’ lunch at the Temperance Hall,’ Grace says gleefully.
Padam seems to be enjoying this as much as Malcolm, and it is on the tip of his tongue to extend the invitation to Padam. Afterwards Malcolm cannot think what stopped him. Certain he would be with his nephew’s family? Worried he might say no? Or an underlying shyness at the thought of Padam seeing his home?
As he dithers, Padam sorts out the sale of the Richard Osman and plucks his car keys from the bowl under the counter. ‘Grace, my car is just outside. I’ve just been unloading from the cash-and-carry. May I offer you a lift down the hill? It is cold out there and it looks like snow.’
This is certainly true.
‘It is not a Mercedes,’ Padam continues, ‘but it does have electric heated seats, so I hope I can offer you a comfortable ride.’
‘Lead the way, young man,’ Grace declares. ‘We are going to want to start planning what to wear.’
With this they are both gone and Malcolm is alone with his thoughts. But not for long. With Christmas only three days away, the shop is busy with last-minute shoppers.One of these is Yana, coming in to buy a book for her boss’s son. She loiters for a while as she chooses, and Malcolm feels she is building up to something.
At the till she tumbles into speech. ‘Malcolm, I feel like I rushed at you the other day. You don’t really know me, and you’ve never met Max, and I feel bad about—’
He stops her there. ‘No, no, I would be delighted to meet him, and I insist you both come to lunch. I believe you said he was Canadian?’
Yana grins at him. ‘Thank you, Malcolm. Yes, he’s Canadian, but for some time he is working with the RAF.’
‘Now why did I think you said he was in mountain rescue?’ Malcolm wonders aloud.
‘I did. I mean he is,’ Yana says. ‘They have a squadron at RAF Leeming that does mountain rescue, some volunteers, some crew. They use helicopters for search and rescue for the more difficult jobs. Max is a mountain leader and has flight experience too. Although he says he was never going to be aTop Gun. This is his favourite film. He is making me watch it many times. He’s a navigator by training. He always claims he’s more Goose than Maverick.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Top Gun? You have not seen this film?’
‘Now I come to think of it, I believe I have. I imagine that would make him a Canadian goose.’
Although Yana smiles, he can tell by her expression that she has heard this one far too many times before.
Rev. Ruth as a goose?
No. Not that.
Yana leaves with her book and he waves her off with a reassuring, ‘The more the merrier!’ And for the first time, Malcolm finds that he really means it.
Soon Padam returns clutching another bottle of mulled wine. ‘From the Disgraces,’ he says, showing it to Malcolm. He peers more closely at the label. ‘I think it is decades old, but I’m willing to give it a go. Do you fancy a glass?’
