Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“Three it is,” Thomas said, putting an extra spoonful of sugar into her tea and stirring it in. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired. Hungry. Happy. Raging at the injustice of how nobody likes the end bit of the bread loaf. The usual.”
Hell, I wasn’t even pregnant, and I felt that.
“The end bit makes cracking cheese on toast,” I offered, raising my cup towards her. “The edges curl up and keeps all the cheese inside the bit of bread.”
Beth looked at me, and if it were a cartoon, she’d have hearts pumping from her pupils right now. “That’s bloody genius. Why have I never done that?”
I grinned.
“Anyway, I have some pyjamas set aside for you,” she continued. “Emily explained what happened. I think someone is putting them in one of the spare rooms for you.”
Oh.
“Oh, thank you. You didn’t have to.”
“Nonsense. You can’t sleep in your clothes, and you’ll freeze if you wear nothing.” She slid a sly gaze towards Thomas. “Although it sounds like someone here wouldn’t mind that at all.”
Thomas sat back down and picked up his mug. “If you were single, neither would you.”
“You are a pig,” Beth replied.
“I didn’t hear a denial.”
“I’m a married woman, so shut up or I’ll tell her all your dirty secrets.”
“I don’t have any dirty secrets.”
“I beg to differ.”
I laughed, shuffling back to lean against the sofa. Their sibling-like relationship was so endearing. It reminded me so much of me and Hazel, and I loved that Beth had that kind of relationship in her life after what she’d told me about her parents.
“Now there’s a conversation I’d make you cheese on toast for,” I told Beth.
She grinned.
“This is an ambush,” Thomas grumbled, but there was a sparkle in his eyes that belied his grumpy tone.
Emily strolled into the room just as he finished talking, looking at her phone. “Right, well, I spoke to your grandmother, Sylvie, and they’re fine. Apparently, Hazel and Julian were with them having dinner when the snow started, so they decided to stay with them just in case.”
Nice to know my sister and her almost-husband were having a nice, calm dinner at my house while I was getting poked in the eye by pine needles.
For their wedding, no less.
If I ever got married, I was going to have her embroider my entire dress with something ridiculous like the original one-hundred-and-fifty-one Pokémon and see how she liked it.
“May was quite relived that we had possession of her little pig, so she’ll sleep easy tonight.” She smiled down at me. “And Beth has some pyjamas being put in a spare room for you, and a couple of our housekeeping staff are preparing the room for you now. Are you hungry at all, dear?”
“Oh, no, you’ve done more than enough. Thank you.” I smiled at her. “I really appreciate it.”
“You really are very welcome,” Emily continued. “If you need anything, tell Thomas. He will make sure you have what you need.”
He glanced at me.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I told him wearily, ignoring Beth’s snort. “We might be friends now, but that doesn’t mean you can take liberties with that.”
His lips quirked into a little smile. “Me? Take liberties? I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You’re so full of crap. There are aliens in another galaxy that can smell it.”
“Is that any way to talk to someone who stopped you being frozen to death tonight?”
“Stopped me? Goodness, I can tell you’ve warmed up with that nonsense. I would have been perfectly fine walking home. In fact, I should have, then I wouldn’t have had to listen to you bleating on at me about what a hero you are.”
“I’m glad you noticed. Thankfully I wasn’t wearing my suit of armour tonight or it would have been a little difficult to get you back here safely. Not to mention the rust that would have ended up on it.”
“Well, if you’d worn it and fallen over into a hedgerow, I’d have left you there.”
Emily rested on the back of the sofa and leant closer to Beth. “Is this what they call being friends?”
“I think so,” Beth replied, not bothering in the slightest to hide her amusement.
“Oh. It rather sounds like they’re flirting, don’t you think?”
“Every time they open their mouths, honestly.”
I glared at them both before I remembered they’d very graciously welcomed me into their home without a second thought and quickly dropped my frown. “I am not flirting with him.”
“You are,” Beth replied. “You just haven’t realised it yet.”
“I’m thirty. I know what flirting looks like.”
“Are you sure about that, dear?” Emily fought back a smile and straightened up. “I’m going to make sure all the staff are taken care of and retire for the night, I think. Thomas, there’s enough soup left for both of you in the slow cooker if you end up hungry. Sylvie will be staying in the Bronte room tonight. Will you make sure she gets there safely?”