Page 67 of I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Being with Grant, Meg had never considered that perhaps she could have more.

‘Hot chocolate or hot buttered rum?’ Jonathan offered.

‘Either.’ She moved to take off her coat, but he stepped closer, put his hand over hers to stop her undoing the buttons.

‘I thought we might take our drinks outside and enjoy them on the patio.’

Romantic. ‘We can watch the snow fall.’

‘Yes, we can watch the snow fall.’ He didn’t leave her straight away; he kept his gaze on hers, the tension between them. ‘I had a really good time today.’

‘I did too.’

He gulped, nerves surfacing. And he turned to go into the kitchen.

As he ladled out the portions of hot buttered rum from the slow cooker, she watched this strong, dependable, handsome man who all of a sudden was nervous.

When he’d found her lost out there in the blizzard, she’d been asleep. She’d woken to the sound of a deep voice, felt someone scoop her up, and when she opened her eyes, it was to see Jonathan. In his arms, she’d never felt so safe. She hadn’t said a word; she’d simply let herself be held. The next thing she knew, paramedics had taken over and she was on the way to the hospital. Jonathan had been the first person she saw once the doctor cleared her. He’d brought her safely back here to Winterbruck, and that was the night she realised she wouldn’t be able to leave Switzerland without telling him how she felt.

She went over to his side. She didn’t say a word; she simply put a hand against his chest when he turned round. She couldn’t even look up into his eyes. ‘Jonathan, I need to say something.’

He stepped back. ‘Are you going to tell me you’re not interested?’

Confused, she asked, ‘In the drink?’

‘No, in me.’

She felt something akin to relief. ‘I was about to tell you that I’ve got feelings for you. Good feelings, I mean.’

He allowed himself a cautious smile. ‘Is now the right time to tell you that I have good feelings about you too?’

‘I’d say it’s an excellent time.’

He closed the gap between them, his hands on either side of her face, his mouth close to hers.

They forgot about the hot buttered rum, no matter how delicious it was. All they needed was each other and it soon became obvious that her sister was right. She wasn’t going to be sleeping in the spare room tonight.

And as she lay in Jonathan’s arms, cosy and warm, watching the snow beyond the window as he slept beside her, the first person she couldn’t wait to tell was Chrissie.

23

CHRISSIE

It was Christmas Eve, one of Chrissie’s favourite days of the season.

Warm and full up from a bowl of porridge topped with cinnamon and honey, she stood at the window of the lounge looking out at the snow. Anthony had loved days like this, and the Christmases they’d brought Sarah here had been magical as a family. Now, it didn’t pain her to think of the togetherness they’d once had; it brought her joy that she’d been lucky enough to have him in her life, even though it wasn’t for as long as she’d wanted.

She smiled as she spotted Sarah and Rhys come into view. They were clearing the path outside the chalet, having already done Jonathan’s. Sarah had volunteered them both at dinner last night, and Rhys had been all for it. So had Jonathan, declaring he’d do his best to try and have a lie in.

Rhys was good for Sarah. She might not have seen it at the start, but she could see it now, and it was heartwarming to see Sarah larking around in the snow with the man she loved. Chrissie would do anything for her daughter, but only if Sarah wanted. It was hard to back off. Her brain and body had almost twitched wanting to take control when the pair of them had arrived this morning from the hotel. As they had a hot drink before Sarah and Rhys ventured outside, Sarah had started talking about smaller wedding venues, asking whether she had any idea about those. Chrissie had said she wasn’t sure and it had been on the tip of her tongue to say she’d look into it when her dad gave her a smile and rested a hand on her shoulder. If Sarah wanted her help, she’d ask for it. She assumed the reasoning for a smaller venue was to control the guest list, or at least the size of it, but again, she wasn’t going to interfere.

Astrid came into the room to stand next to Chrissie and to watch her granddaughter and fiancé outside the window. ‘He’s a wonderful boy,’ she said. ‘We really like him.’

‘Me too.’ Chrissie turned and smiled.

But a frown was forming on her mum’s face. ‘Whatever is he doing?’

When Chrissie looked out of the window again, Rhys was down on one knee and by the looks of things had wiggled Sarah’s engagement ring off her finger. It was between his fingers, glinting in the sunlight.