‘It’s best to let the turkey rest for a while anyway,’ said Carrie.
‘How long do you think?’
‘I’d say at least forty-five minutes, uncovered so it doesn’t continue to cook and the skin doesn’t go soggy.’
Daisy began to smile. ‘Well it sounds as though perhaps I wasn’t too far off the mark then.’
‘I did tell you to allow time for resting,’ Fern piped up with a shakeof her head. ‘You wouldn’t listen.’
Ginny leaned in to Carrie. ‘Fern would’ve been happy doing all this herself, but she’s not allowed to take over.’
After introducing Cooper and Jacob to Carrie, Loretta shooed the boys away along with their questions about how long until lunch, could they have another mince pie each, and complaining they’d pass out if they didn’t eat soon.
Loretta found twotrivets and put them side by side on the worktop. ‘Put the turkey on here for the time being, Daisy.’
‘I’ll get the potatoes on,’ said Ginny. ‘Could you slice up the carrots, Carrie?’
‘I’ll do the stuffing,’ said Fern.
Between them they par-boiled potatoes, got the carrots caramelising beautifully, lined up pigs in blankets on a tray. They formed stuffing balls and slotted them into the ovento turn them into golden morsels that paired well with the turkey, and Loretta made the gravy using the pan juices Daisy had thankfully remembered to set aside.
‘I saw Mum do it once,’ Daisy told them. ‘I admit I didn’t know why she was doing it, I thought she’d put the liquid in a bottle to throw out or something. But today I thought I might have remembered her saying something once about gravyand juices, so I kept them aside.’
‘How can you not know this stuff after eating Mum’s roasts for years?’ Fern scolded.
‘OK, Mrs Domesticity,’ Daisy laughed, ‘I’ll get there in the end. Who knows, one year I’ll have my own place and cook for you all. How does that sound?’
‘As long as it’s not in a tent I’ll be there,’ said Ginny as she spooned out the cranberry sauce she’d got from HawthornLane Farm. ‘Daisy’s into camping,’ she explained at Carrie’s confusion.
‘I love camping,’ Carrie enthused. Her put-together appearance suggested nothing of the sort, it leaned towards a careful cleansing routine, self-care and plenty of sleep, none of the things Loretta associated with camping. That had been Harry’s thing, and Daisy’s.
Daisy poured the finished gravy into the awaiting porcelainjug. ‘Dad used to take me a lot when I was little,’ she said to Carrie. ‘We could go sometime … if you like.’ The suggestion was tentative but a good one, a more promising start than Loretta ever could’ve imagined, and Ivor had come into the room with enough time to overhear it. He gave her a wink and came to her side. He’d promised he’d stay in the sitting room with the boys when Carrie firstarrived so the house wasn’t too crazy.
‘What a Christmas this is going to be,’ Ivor said quietly to Loretta.
‘Almost time to dish up,’ Daisy announced, pulling out the pre-warmed plates from the oven.
Ginny rounded up the family and as the room filled and everyone began to sit down for Christmas lunch Carrie came to Loretta’s side.
‘You have a beautiful family.’ Her eyes glistened with emotion.
Loretta gave her arm a squeeze. ‘You’re a part of it now. Come on, let’s eat.’
The girls had already arranged the place settings and had Carrie sitting towards the middle, not on the end. The boys could have those spots, they wouldn’t care when there was a bowl of pigs in blankets bigger than Loretta had ever seen, enough roast potatoes to feed a football team, a generous boat of gravy to drowneverything.
‘There is something very important we all need to know, Carrie.’ Fern passed the bowl of sprouts to Ginny. ‘Where do you sit on the great sprout debate?’
‘You mean love ’em or hate ’em?’ Carrie seemed happy with the relaxed subject matter. She put her hands together, everyone was waiting. ‘Well, I would have to say … I love ’em!’
Groans came from Ginny and Daisy who had a mutualdislike for them. Fern and Ivor on the other hand cheered and extolled the virtues of the humble green vegetable. Everett and the boys declared they’d eat pretty much what was put in front of them.
‘As long as it’s smothered in gravy.’ When Fern eyed Cooper’s plate the teen cheekily added another slop of gravy for good measure.
Everett involved Carrie by asking her what her favourite thing aboutButterbury was.
‘I love that it’s a village but big enough to have a few shops, the bookshop especially and the pub. But my favourite thing is Lantern Square. It’s beautiful.’
‘Couldn’t agree more.’ Everett accepted Fern’s offer of more stuffing balls. ‘Ever since I got together with Fern I fell in love with this village. I think we’ll end up retiring here.’
