Five minutes later he pushed open the kitchen door, his eyes taking in the scene. Alice was dancing with Rick, Hannah was watching them from her seat at the kitchen table and Poppy was chasing the dog, waving a piece of mistletoe.
‘Kiss me, Hopeful—please, kiss me—’
A grin on his face, Mac reached down and grabbed the dog by his collar. ‘When a lady asks you for a kiss, it’s a good idea to comply. Sit!’
‘Mac!’ Delight exploding across her face, Louisa dropped the bowl she was holding and it smashed on the floor. ‘Oh, no! Those were my sprouts!’
She was pleased to see him.
More than pleased.
The look on her pretty face gave him the biggest high he could ever remember having.
‘Oh, great.’ Poppy jumped up and down with glee as she surveyed the remains of the vegetables. ‘I hate sprouts. I really hate them.’
‘But my sprouts are delicious,’ Louisa protested, dropping to her knees and trying to clear up the mess. Hopeful stuck his nose in the mess and Louisa gave him a push. ‘You can’t eat these—you’ll have a stomachache.’
‘And my credit card can’t stand another trip to the vet’s,’ Mac drawled, walking across to the kitchen and hauling Louisa to her feet. ‘Leave the sprouts,’ he ordered huskily. ‘I’ll clear it up in a minute.’
He wanted to kiss her, but he
knew that everyone was watching and she already looked flustered enough. He’d never seen Louisa flustered in the kitchen before.
‘What are you doing home?’ She wiped her hands on the front of her jeans, adorably self-conscious. ‘I thought you weren’t coming home.’
‘I heard that someone around here was cooking a turkey.’ He stared down into her sweet face and suddenly nothing in his life had ever seemed so clear. ‘Without sprouts.’
‘Actually, there’s another bowl of sprouts in the Aga.’
Poppy groaned. ‘Oh, no.’ She flung her arms round Hopeful. ‘I wish I was you. No one makes a dog eat sprouts.’
Mac stared at the kitchen table and did a double-take. ‘Louisa?’ His voice was faint. ‘What happened to the turkey?’
‘Me. That’s what happened to it.’ She pulled a face and gave an awkward shrug. ‘I told you that I’m not that great at carving.’
‘Carving?’ He struggled not to laugh. ‘You carved that? It looks as though it was caught in helicopter blades.’
Her face drooped. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever really grasped the anatomy of a turkey,’ she confessed sadly. ‘I’m sure it will taste fine. It’s the same bird.’
‘It was a bird?’ Mac couldn’t hold back the smile. ‘I think next year I’d better carve.’
He saw Louisa’s startled look. The question in her eyes. The hope.
Suddenly he longed to drag her down to the beach and tell her that he was going to be carving her turkey for the rest of his life, but then he noticed Alice sway.
‘Are you all right?’ He frowned sharply and Alice gave a girlish giggle.
‘Oh, I’m fine,’ she said gaily. ‘Just enjoying a dance with this handsome young man.’
Rick grinned and helped her to the nearest chair. ‘You’re pretty nimble on your feet, Alice,’ he said, and Louisa threw a pleading glance at Mac.
‘She’s had too much sherry on an empty stomach,’ she muttered, surreptitiously sliding the bottle away from Alice. ‘We need to eat before she passes out. Let’s get to the table and I can serve.’
‘I haven’t passed out from drink since I was a girl,’ Alice said cheerfully, flopping onto the chair, ‘so don’t worry about me.’
Mac strolled up to the table and offered his arm. ‘Let’s go through to the conservatory,’ he suggested, his eyes resting on Louisa, who was hurrying around the kitchen like a mad thing, putting the finishing touches to the lunch. ‘I popped in on Vera before I came home and she was enjoying herself hugely. She had three doctors perched on the end of her bed, listening to her wartime stories.’
Alice laughed. ‘Poor things.’ She swayed slightly and caught Mac’s arm. ‘Come on, then, let’s sit down.’