Julian sighed. “Lady Havorford is a troubled soul. Hatred is poisoning her spirit.”
“She’s trouble, all right,” I said. “But she won’t bother Kit anymore. He’s got a new family now, and we’ll stand by him.”
“Amen.” Julian stood back to examine me. “You’re looking remarkable cheerful, Lori. Was Father Christmas kind to you?”
I colored to my roots as I remembered just how kind Father Christmas had been once I’d dragged him off to bed on Christmas Eve.
“If I’m cheerful, it’s because I’ve come up with a killer fund-raising scheme for Saint Benedict’s,” I said, hastily redirecting the conversation.
Julian grinned. “Do tell.”
“It’s your idea, really.” I reached into my shoulder bag and handed him a slip of paper. “It’s my father’s recipe for angel cookies. You told me that I could make a fortune selling them, so I thought, why not use them to raise money for the hostel? Get it?” I held my hands in the air, framing an imaginary slogan. “Be an angel, support Saint Benedict’s.”
“It’s a lovely thought, Lori,” said Julian, “but we’d have to bake an awful lot of cookies to raise the kind of money Saint Benedict’s needs. We simply can’t afford the ingredients.”
“Not to worry,” I said. “I’ve already arranged for Shuttleworth Bakeries to make and distribute the cookies. They’ll sell them all over the country and donate seventy percent of the proceeds to Saint Benedict’s.”
“S-seventy percent?” Julian said wonderingly. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“I’m a powder puff,” I confessed. “It’s my father-in-law who drives a hard bargain. But wait, there’s more.” I dipped into my shoulder bag again and waved an oversized manila envelope under Julian’s nose.
“Another recipe?” he guessed.
“Nope.” I felt a shivery thrill of anticipation as I announced, “Julian, it is my pleasure to present you with the title to the new Saint Benedict’s.”
“I … I beg your pardon?” he said, blinking rapidly.
“My friend Derek Harris took a look at the old Saint Benedict’s while you and I were in London and he says it’ll take at least a year to renovate,” I explained. “It’d be ridiculous to have the men sleep in the streets for a whole year, so I bought a new building instead. I’ve cleared it with the bishop, and Derek’s ready to outfit the new place to your specifications.”
“It’s a magnificent gesture, Lori,” Julian said, frowning worriedly, “but are you sure you can afford it?”
I laughed out loud. “I guess I never mentioned that I’m the head of the Westwood Trust. Apart from that, I’ve got about a bazillion dollars of my own lying around, collecting interest. It’s time I put a chunk of it to good use.” I tapped the envelope excitedly. “The new building’s about six blocks from where you are now—four stories, blond brick, with a fenced parking area—”
“I know the place.” Julian put a hand to his forehead. “I prayed that it would somehow come to us one day, but I never imagined …”
I clucked my tongue in disapproval. “Isn’t there something about faith in your job description?”
“Lori,” he said huskily, “I—I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You’ve got it backwards, Julian. This is my way of thanking you.” I took his hand and tucked the envelope into it. “Merry Christmas, Father Bright.”
The call light above Kit’s doorway winked on and off. I tugged Julian into the room and left him standing near the door, staring dazedly at the manila envelope. As I approached the bed I saw the canvas carryall lying open on the bedside table and Lancaster nestled in the crook of Kit’s arm. The blue journal lay beneath Kit’s folded hands. He was slightly flushed, but composed, and his violet eyes never left my face.
“Will you take the job at Anscombe Manor?” I asked.
Kit nodded slowly. “As soon as I’m strong enough.”
“What job is that?” Julian asked, emerging from his trance, but before Kit or I could answer, he exclaimed, “Good heavens, what’s happened to Lancaster?”
The little brown horse was no longer the patched and faded toy Kit had left behind at Blackthorne Farm. His brown cotton hide was smooth and spotless, his mane and tail were complete and neatly combed, and his black button eyes twinkled in the lamplight.
Julian came to stand beside me. “Did you restore him, Lori?”
Kit’s eyes danced as I struggled to find an answer that was both truthful and accurate, but he gallantly came to my rescue.
“Let’s just say,” he murmured, gazing down at the blue journal, “that Lancaster’s stay at the cottage did him a world of good.”
Julian nodded absently, too caught up in his own euphoria to worry over niggling details. He spied the wrapped packages on the windowsill and declared, “It looks as though a belated Christmas is in order. Shall we?”
“By all means,” said Kit.
We sampled Sally Pyne’s hand-dipped chocolates, stacked Mr. Wetherhead’s magazines on the bedside table, and draped the warm winter clothing from Kitchen’s Emporium across Kit’s bed. Finally, Julian scrounged three drinking glasses from a supply cabinet down the hall and poured a tot of the Peacocks’ homemade brandy into each.
“A toast.” He raised his glass. “To blessings shared.”
“To answered prayers,” Kit chimed in.
I looked from Kit to Julian to the blue journal, lying buried beneath a scattering of bright ribbons, and thought of my father, opening his heart and hand to heal a wounded world. I hoped that he was listening as I raised my glass and said, “To a truly perfect Christmas.”
Angel Cookies
1 cup softened butter 2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sugar 3½ cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon baking powder
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Mix until combined well.
In a bowl, sift flour and baking powder together.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until mixture forms a dough. If easy to handle, roll out immediately; if sticky, wrap in plastic and chill for two hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the dough into a ¼-inch-thick round. Cut out angel shapes and arrange 1 inch apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Repeat for remaining dough.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.
Transfer to racks to cool. Frost with Confectioners’ Frosting.
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies.
Confectioners’ Frosting
cup softened butter 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons cream
Cream the butter and the salt together, then beat in the sugar. Stir in the cream and beat well, adding more sugar or more cream as needed to get the proper consistency.
Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon
Lori Shepherd loves living in the small English village of Finch, but she finds herself wishing for something exciting to spice up her all-too-familiar routine. When King Wilfred’s Faire opens nearby, Lori gets her wish and more. Wizards, wenches, magicians, and minstrels cajole the fairgoers while lords quaff, jesters joke, and knights battle in the joust arena. But Lori soon discovers that it’s not all pageantry and play.
A sinister figure is stalking the angel-voiced madrigal singer; a jealous rival has sabotaged the Dragon Knight’s weapons; and an evil assassin is trying to murder Good King Wilfred. With Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly guidance, Lori races to save her dear village and risks her neck to keep the medieval revelry from ending in tragedy.
ISBN 978-0-670-02050-8
Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter
Lori Shepherd’s life in England couldn’t be more tranquil—except for one thing. Her five-year-old twins have started school, and Lori fears they’ll catch everything from the flu to fleas. What they do come home with, however, i
s worse: a report of a pale, cloaked figure with bloodstained lips lurking in the woods.
Lori is skeptical at first but soon grows concerned enough to consult with her late (but not entirely departed) Aunt Dimity and her dear friend Kit Smith. With Kit and Aunt Dimity’s help, Lori uncovers the secret that will shock everyone—including herself—about the true identity of the twins’ vampire.
ISBN 978-0-14-311479-6
Aunt Dimity Goes West
Lori Shepherd, still recovering from her most recent adventure, is taking a vacation with her family in the beautiful mountain town of Bluebird, Colorado. But there’s something amiss at their seemingly perfect vacation home. Is the place cursed or is a sinister human hand shaping its eerie reputation? With Aunt Dimity’s help, Lori sets out to solve a hundred-year-old mystery and discovers that sometimes the strangest places can seem the most like home.
ISBN 978-0-14-311291-4
Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea
A series of death threats sends Lori Shepherd to a remote island off the Scottish coast and to a fabulous castle restored by an eccentric friend of her husband’s. But she finds herself drawn into an elaborate whodunit that may involve smuggling—or worse. Why has a human skull washed up on the beach? Is a desolate island really the best place to hide from a murderer? As Lori draws once more on Aunt Dimity’s supernatural aid, Atherton whips equal measures of whimsy and suspense into an irresistible confection.
ISBN 978-0-14-303830-6
Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin
Feeling a touch world-weary, Lori Shepherd decides to volunteer at the Radcliffe Infirmary, where she can spread a little good cheer. There she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a kind, retired legal secretary with no family, except a brother who has mysteriously disappeared. But after only a few visits, Miss Beacham suddenly passes away, leaving Lori to tie up the loose ends of her late friend’s life. Lori discovers that hidden among Miss Beacham’s belongings are clues that Lori believes her friend left for her to discover. Armed with the help of a handsome neighbor and Aunt Dimity’s supernatural skills, Lori begins to unearth Miss Beacham’s secrets and the surprising truth about her next of kin.
ISBN 978-0-14-303654-8
Aunt Dimity: Snowbound
A pleasant woodland stroll turns treacherous when the blizzard of the century crosses Lori Shepherd’s path, forcing her to seek shelter in Ladythorne Abbey. Once the home of the late, mysterious, madwoman Lucasta DeClerke, the abbey’s cloisters and corridors are haunted by her lingering presence. “Old sins cast long shadows,” Aunt Dimity tells Lori, who will need all of Aunt Dimity’s wisdom and compassion to banish the shadows of hatred and guilt that shroud Ladythorne Abbey.
ISBN 978-0-14-303458-2
Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday
Burning topiaries, threatening notes, suspicious maids, and family intrigue at a lush English country estate lead Lori to seek her phantom aunt’s help in identifying the culprit before he or she can torch the whole house and its guests. Atherton’s signature whimsical and splendidly original twists make for yet one more delicious adventure with cozy mystery lovers’ favorite supernatural sleuth.
ISBN 978-0-14-200393-0
Aunt Dimity: Detective
Nobody in the little town of Finch was really surprised when Prunella “Pruneface” Hooper came to a nasty demise—but murder? With the help of the ghostly Aunt Dimity and Nicholas, the enigmatic (and charming!) self-defense instructor, Lori unravels this delightfully tangled and gossip-filled whodunit.
ISBN 978-0-14-2001547-7
Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil
With rain crashing down on her Range Rover as it climbs up a steep embankment on the Northumberland moors, Lori Shepherd is beginning to doubt the wisdom of her decision to evaluate a rare book collection at Wyrdhurst Hall. It will take all of Aunt Dimity’s supernatural skills to help Lori solve the puzzle and restore peace to a family haunted by its tragic past.
ISBN 978-0-14-100219-4
Aunt Dimity’s Christmas
Lori Shepherd can hardly wait to celebrate Christmas this year with her family until she discovers the body of a mysterious stranger beneath her lilac bushes. Lori teams up with Julian Bright to unveil the tragic secret that led the stranger to her door, and must confront painful truths about herself and the true meaning of a perfect family Christmas.
ISBN 978-0-14-029630-3
Aunt Dimity Digs In
Once again Aunt Dimity’s spirit returns to aid the residents of Finch. While Lori Shepherd is busy caring for her twins with the help of a beautiful Italian nanny, the town is thrown into a frenzy by a visiting archaeologist intent on digging up more than just artifacts. Dimity’s magic blue notebook provides the key to the buried secrets.
ISBN 978-0-14-027569-8
Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed
Thanks to Aunt Dimity, Lori Shepherd is now happily married to her very own Prince Charming, Bill Willis. But when a second honeymoon turns into a backroads search for her missing father-in-law, Lori gets lost among all the centuries-old Willis family scandals she uncovers, and needs Aunt Dimity’s ghostly guidance to find her way back to the comforts of home.
ISBN 978-0-14-025881-3
Aunt Dimity and the Duke
Directed to Penford Hall, Emma Porter—forty, fat, and frumpy—is confronted with an eccentric duke and a mysteriously close-mouthed staff. In the face of harrowing events, Emma needs Aunt Dimity’s ghostly guidance to solve the mysteries and to learn to love again.
ISBN 978-0-14-017841-8
Aunt Dimity’s Death
Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was just a character in a bedtime story, until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a reading of the woman’s will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she’s about to inherit a sizable estate—if she can discover the secret hidden in Aunt Dimity’s English country cottage.
ISBN 978-0-14-017840-1
Aunt Dimity's Christmas Page 19
