Christmas in Peppercorn Street
Page 23
Then he went down on one knee and said, ‘Hang the speech I’d prepared. Claire, my darling Claire, will you please marry me? And the sooner the better.’
She looked down at him, her eyes full of happy tears. ‘Oh, Luke.’
When she didn’t speak he continued to look at her anxiously, but she was smiling so radiantly, he knew it wasn’t a refusal he was facing.
‘I couldn’t speak for a moment, I felt such joy welling up in me. Oh, Luke, I can’t think of anything I’d like better, only if you don’t stand up I won’t be able to kiss you properly and I’m quite desperate to seal this with a kiss.’
When that was done, the door was flung open and they turned round to see Gabby and Dee, with all the guests standing in the hall behind them.
‘I put a microphone in your office because I wanted to hear whether you did propose tonight,’ Dee said. ‘I thought you were going to, you were fussing with something.’
‘Only I was helping and I turned up the sound too much,’ Gabby said, ‘and it came out all loudly so everyone at the party heard it.’
The two girls waited with anxious expressions, clearly expecting him to be angry, but suddenly a bubble of laughter filled him and when he turned to Claire, he could see that she too was having difficulty holding back her amusement.
‘I don’t think we’ll have an uneventful life together with these two around, do you?’ he asked her.
‘Definitely not. And who’d want it?’
He turned to the girls and the smiling guests waiting behind them in the hall. ‘I haven’t quite finished so you might as well hear the rest.’
He took a little box out of his pocket and opened it, holding it out to Claire. ‘This was my grandmother’s ring. I’m hoping you’ll love it as much as I do and wear it for me.’
She took the beautiful ring with its deep blue sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds. ‘It’s gorgeous.’
‘I’ve never offered it to anyone else,’ he added in a whisper, then said more loudly, ‘If it doesn’t fit, we’ll have it altered.’
He slipped it on her finger and stood admiring it. ‘It fits perfectly. And you’re perfect for me.’
Dee and Gabby came closer to examine the ring, then Gabby could stay still no longer. She danced up and down on the spot, but that wasn’t enough so she did two cartwheels across the room and two more to bring her back, bouncing to her feet and slapping a kiss on Dee’s cheek.
‘Isn’t this the best Christmas that ever was, Dee! The very best. And you’re going to be my real sister now.’
‘It definitely is the best.’
Tom put his arm round Hilary as this scene played out but she was coping with the party better than he’d expected.
They didn’t stay late, but as they went to get their coats, someone tugged at his arm and he smiled down at Gabby. ‘Well, young lady. We have further to go than the others, so we’re going to take our leave now.’
‘I’m so glad you could come tonight, Gramps. Did you like the little cakes? I iced them all myself.’
‘They were pretty as well as delicious.’
She turned to Hilary. ‘I still want to learn how to crochet, you know. Mum can’t do it. Will you teach me next time you come to visit us?’
‘I’d love to. Would you give me another hug?’ Hilary asked suddenly.
‘Yes.’ Gabby suited the action to the words and stepped back, beaming up at Hilary. ‘Me and Mum hug a lot and now I’ve got Dee and Luke to hug as well as you two. Isn’t it wonderful?’
‘Yes, it is.’
Tom put his arm round his wife and led her out to the car, but Claire and Luke followed them with Gabby still hovering nearby.
‘Next time you come to visit we won’t have a house full of people,’ Luke said. ‘And you’ll always be welcome.’
‘Thank you.’ Hilary blinked hard and got into the car.
Tom said quietly, ‘She’s getting better each day. We’re both so grateful that you haven’t kept us from the child.’
‘We’d never do that. She regards you as her grandparents and I doubt that’ll ever change. I think that child is going to collect people to love all her life long.’
‘She’s adorable, a miracle in our lives.’
There were a few other miracles taking place lately, Claire thought.
Gabby ran back into the house and Claire took hold of Luke’s hand. ‘My daughter can make anyone feel better. Thank you for letting those two into the family.’
‘They’re nice people. As for Gabby, I fell for her charm from that very first night you fell into my life and so did Dee.’
‘I suppose we’ll have to go in and mingle with the guests. I’d rather stay here with you.’
‘Well, it’s too cold to linger outside. But can I make a date with you for an hour or so after everyone’s left or gone to bed? I want to make wedding plans – but without an audience. And I’ll need a few more kisses to keep me going.’
‘I shall look forward to it.’ She chuckled. ‘It was funny, though, wasn’t it, everyone hearing your proposal?’
‘I’ll never live it down.’
‘Trust Gabby to do something like that.’
Hand in hand they went back into the house. It felt as if everything there was sparkling with a reflection of their own happiness.
‘This is going to be the happiest Christmas of my life,’ she said softly.
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About the Author
ANNA JACOBS is the author of over eighty novels and is addicted to storytelling. She grew up in Lancashire, emigrated to Australia in the 1970s and writes stories set in both countries. She loves to return to England regularly to visit her family and soak up the history. She has two grown-up daughters and a grandson, and lives with her husband in a spacious home near the Swan Valley, the earliest wine-growing area in Western Australia. Her house is crammed with thousands of books.
annajacobs.com
By Anna Jacobs
THE PEPPERCORN SERIES
Peppercorn Street
Cinnamon Gardens
Saffron Lane
Bay Tree Cottage
Christmas in Peppercorn Street
THE PENNY LAKE SERIES
Changing Lara
Finding Cassie
THE HONEYFIELD SERIES
The Honeyfield Bequest
A Stranger in Honeyfield
Peace Comes to Honeyfield
THE HOPE TRILOGY
A Place of Hope
In Search of Hope
A Time for Hope
THE GREYLADIES SERIES
Heir to Greyladies
Mistress of Greyladies
Legacy of Greyladies
THE WILTSHIRE GIRLS SERIES
Cherry Tree Lane
Elm Tree Road
Yew Tree Gardens
Winds of Change
Moving On
The Cotton Lass and Other Stories
Change of Season
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
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London W1F 8AN
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First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2019.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2019.
Copyright © 2019 by ANNA JACOBS
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All
characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2468-0