“I won’t.” A flash of memory from the night he appeared on their doorstep, when she’d slammed the door shut in his face and hoped she’d never see him again. How far they’d come in such a short time.
Her father cleared his throat. “Why did you do such a foolish thing and go out in that storm? You could have died and left my daughter for good.”
His cheeks paled, as though the idea made him ill. “When I came down for breakfast, I saw Cricket eating the candied ginger. Mr. Fleming said I could get more anytime I needed, so I went into town to replace it. I thought I could make it back before the storm grew worse.”
“Candy is worth risking your life?”
Aunt Margaret cackled from her seat by the fire. “It is when a baby is making you cast up your accounts every morning.” She pointed her cane at Lily. “Is it finally you, dear girl?”
She opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but Violet stepped forward.
“It’s me, Aunt Margaret.” She gave a trembling smile. “I’m expecting.”
The viscountess sent up a whoop of joy and pulled her daughter to her chest, and the gentlemen swarmed Callum to clap him on the back. “It’s a Christmas miracle,” her mother repeated as she rocked Violet in her arms. “I’m so happy.”
As her relatives celebrated, Lily curled towards her husband, and he brought his arm around her waist to pull her close. “You risked your life for my sister.”
He swallowed hard, and she pressed the cup of tea to his lips. After a long sip, he spoke. “For your family.”
She cupped his chilled jaw with her palm. “Our family.”
“Our family.” He said the words with a reverence belonging to prayer. “And to be clear, I didn’t intend to risk my life. That was an unfortunate consequence of my attempt to do a good deed.”
She gave a wry shake of her head. “Never put me through that again, please,” she whispered. “Now that I have you, I can’t stand to lose you.”
“You won’t.” He kissed her temple, her cheekbone, mindless of her family lingering nearby. “Next Christmas, I promise to stay indoors the entire time.”
Her cheeks ached with her smile. “Not if I race you into town again.”
“It’s not a race if there’s no competition.”
She lifted her lips towards his but hesitated. One kiss would likely lead to another, and the parlor was not the place for such a display.
Aunt Margaret rapped her cane on the floor, and Lily and Philip wrenched apart. “Don’t stop on my account.” She winked as she gestured at the ceiling with her cane. “A kiss is required. It’s the rules of Christmas.”
They lifted their gazes, and Philip burst into laughter.
Mistletoe hung directly above them.
“Well,” he drawled, the corner of his full lips pulling up into a smirk. “If it’s Christmas…”
She brought her mouth to his. “Then let’s be merry together.”
Epilogue
One year later
Lilyleanedcloseto the window of Hannigan’s, her breath fogging the plate glass. “Look what they’ve done here!”
Philip took no pains to hide his amusement at his wife’s joy in exploring the window displays at Bond Street’s finest shops, and his smile was broad when he reached her side. He settled his hand on the small of her back, leaning close to capture her cinnamon and citrus scent. The smoky chill in the air hinted at snow, the only missing element preventing the winter night from being truly magical. “What is it?”
He could only see her profile, the pink in her cheeks and nose reflected from the strung bulbs illuminating the display. “How clever to turn the trunks into Santa’s sleigh. I’ll need to come back tomorrow to get a new satchel for Fern. She’s run hers to ribbons.”
They had one day left in London before joining the rest of the Waverly family in Oxfordshire. Parliament had begun its winter recess that afternoon, and while Philip enjoyed voting his seat andadvancing legislation around public health reform, he was desperate for some quiet time with his wife.
Well, “quiet time” was not to be expected at Boar’s Hill, not with the boys, the dog, Fern and Alex’s toddler, and..
A bubble of anticipatory glee formed beneath his sternum, and he mumbled a quick prayer that next Christmas, there would be one more family member celebrating the holiday.
