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‘Yes. I’m going with a Mistletoe theme. Mistletoe and silver bells to be precise.’
His eyes lit up for a moment and a small smile hovered on his mouth.
‘Mum loved mistletoe, and silver bells.’
‘I know. We’re doing this because she loved them.’
‘You are? Then yes. I’m happy. And no. I don’t need to ask Bianca. I will tell her in the morning though. What about the tree?’
‘Trees. We’re having more than one. And yes. They’ll be white, green, and silver too.’
‘Trees? Don’t we usually have one massive tree at the end of the Great Hall? A very brightly decorated tree.’
‘You did. We won’t. We’ll have one massive tree together with two smaller trees and they’ll be set up to look as if they are the entrance to a forest. There’ll be snow at the bases of each. One will have white decorations, one silver, and one sparkly green. There will also be a tree in the dining room. That will have white, silver, and green decorations.’
‘O-k-ay, I think.’
‘We want to have a walkway of lights along the length of the drive, so there’ll be white posts either side each draped with white nets of lights across the top and down the sides, creating a tunnel for guests to walk through. On the front door, there will be two huge wreaths, both hung with two silver bells in the centres. Is that a problem?’
‘No. That sounds … magical.’
‘We’ll hire the caterers we always use for large events. They’re based in Folkestone and although they’re fully booked, they’re friends of ours and like us, will hire extra staff. For which you’ll pay handsomely. Yes?’
‘Yes. Are they good? Forget I asked. I trust you.’
‘You do? Erm. They’re good. But I’ll take you to the restaurant they own in the town centre, for a tasting.’
He raised his brows. ‘You’re taking me out to dinner?’
‘No. I’m taking you for a tasting. You’re paying.’
‘Fine.’ He jumped to his feet. ‘More wine?’
‘Yes please. No! Oh, okay. Just one.’
‘Well, I am wearing quite a bit of your first glass,’ he quipped.
‘We had agreed not to discuss that.’
‘Sorry. I was forgetting myself.’
He walked to the bar but he glanced back and smiled and for a moment Grace forgot just how cross she still was with him. Especially because he knew she was still in love with Russell and he had clearly thought she might be a little crazy because of that. The smile had gone when he returned.
‘Are there any foods any of you are allergic to? We’ll have the food laid out in large shallow boxes designed especially for the event. They’ll look like presents and there’ll be cards attached that look like gift cards, only they’ll say what’s in the food, so that people with peanut allergies, or shell fish allergies, etc. will know exactly what they can and can’t eat.’
‘None of us have allergies, but I can’t abide the taste of anchovies. I know that’s weird, but there it is.’
‘I’ll make sure all your food has anchovies in then.’
Grace tried to retain a straight face, but her lips twitched and he grinned.
‘Thanks. At least you didn’t say poison.’
‘Now there’s an idea.’
He reached out and poked her in the side with his finger. It was a friendly, silly gesture and was so gentle that Grace hardly felt it – but she did, and shock waves of delight bounced around her body.
‘I have to go,’ she said.
