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Mabel saw Brooke’s expression change.

“Great. That’s good news.” Her tone was a little too brisk. A little too cheerful.

Mabel sensed it wasn’t good news at all.

Brooke removed the apron she’d only recently tied around her waist. “We’d better tell Izzy and Jason, too. I’m sure they have people they need to reassure.”

“I’ll do that now,” Matt said and left the room again.

Brooke stood for a moment without moving and then gave Mabel a quick smile of apology before following Matt out of the room.

Mabel had a strong sense that calling her mother wasn’t something Brooke was looking forward to.

Why? Her mother couldn’t exactly blame her for the storm, could she?

Families, Mabel thought wearily, were always more complicated than they seemed. And that was true of hers, too.

She stared out the window, watching the relentless swirl of snow and breathing in the scent of cinnamon and spice as the cookies baked. She’d braced herself for yet another Christmas alone with only the cats to keep her company. But now she had a houseful of people, including children.

Maybe instead of shutting Christmas out, it was time to let it in.

14

Izzy

Call her family?

Izzy stared at the door Matt had just closed behind him. Now she wished she hadn’t come back to the room.

Calling her family was the last thing she wanted to do. They probably wouldn’t even answer her call, and that would require more explanation than she was prepared to give.

Killing time while she tried to figure out how best to handle the situation, Izzy smoothed the bed that Jason had made while she was out and put an extra set of blankets on the window seat.

“Do you have your phone?” Jason was already retrieving his from the camera bag.

Her phone. That was it! She could pretend to have lost her phone.

She checked her coat and her bag and realised that she actually had lost her phone.

“I can’t find it. I think I last saw it in the car. It must still be there.” Normally, being without her phone would have given her an anxiety attack, but in this case she was relieved. It solved her problem, for now, at least. “Don’t worry—you go ahead and call your family.”

“No, I insist you go first.” He held out his phone. “Use my phone. It’s no problem.”

It was a big problem for Izzy, but what choice did she have?

Reluctantly, she took his phone.

“Thanks. I’ll be quick.”

What was she going to do?

She stood with the phone in her hand, her mind blank. And then had an idea.

She’d call the local weather service number she’d been using to monitor the storm. Jason would never be any the wiser.

Satisfied with her solution she dialled the number and turned down the volume on his phone so he wouldn’t hear the forecast in the background.

“Hi, Dad, it’s Izzy. Hope you’re well. Just letting you know I was caught out by the storm coming back from my last job, but I’m fine. Thought I’d let you know in case you were worrying.” She managed not to roll her eyes. The thought of her family worrying about her would have been hilarious if it hadn’t been so sad. “I’ve found somewhere to stay, so everything is good. Have fun! I miss you.”