Bluebell's Christmas Magic: A perfect and heart-warming cosy Christmas romance for 2019

by Marie Laval

  She filled the kettle and flicked it on. As the water boiled, she gave the kitchen a quick tidy up, took a slab of cheese and some ham from the fridge, some sliced bread from the breadbin, and prepared a round of toasted sandwiches.

  ‘Can I help?’

  She gasped and looked towards the door. Stefan leant against the jamb and pointed to the knife in her hand.

  ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have startled you when you’re holding a knife.’

  She put the knife on the worktop. ‘I’m making sandwiches. Would you like some?’

  ‘That would be nice.’

  ‘I wanted to thank you again for being so kind, for taking me to the hospital, driving us back here… and generally helping me out this week at the clubhouse. I hope you don’t think I took advantage of you.’

  ‘I don’t mind if you do.’

  He looked at her – a deep, searching look that went straight to her heart. He didn’t smile, didn’t move from the doorway, and yet it felt that the air was shifting, thickening, and some kind of strange force connected them and pulled them closer. Her body tensed and tingled in awareness. She should speak, say something. Her lips parted but she couldn’t utter a word.

  He was the one who broke the silence. ‘By the way, your granddad is helping Rachel put the boys to bed, but he said he wouldn’t mind a tipple and Rachel sent me to get some brandy.’

  She nodded and indicated one of the cupboards. ‘There’s a bottle in there.’

  He seemed to fill in all the space as he walked in. Brushing past her, he opened the cupboard, took out a bottle of brandy and reached out for the liquor glasses. ‘Shall I get a glass for you?’

  ‘Why not?’ She tilted her chin, gazed into his eyes, feeling altogether hot, weak and dizzy now he was within touching distance. A little brandy would steady her.

  Stefan put four glasses on the worktop, filled a small measure of liquor in two of them and handed her a glass.

  ‘Santé.’

  They clinked their glasses together, and Cassie drank hers in one big gulp. Fire erupted in her throat, and trailed all the way down to her stomach. She coughed and tears burned her eyes.

  ‘That was a mistake,’ she croaked, before coughing again and gasping for air.

  ‘Allow me.’ He slipped her empty glass out of her fingers and put it down. Stepping closer, he encircled her in his arms, pulled her against his chest, and gently tapped the palm of his hands between her shoulder blades.

  Her cough eased off, then stopped, but he didn’t move. ‘Better?’ As usual, his deep voice gave her goosebumps.

  ‘Much better,’ she lied.

  She wasn’t better at all. Her heart thumped fast and wild and the heat from his body penetrated through her clothing. She tilted her face up, arched against him and lifted her hands on to his shoulders. He tensed under her touch, his arms tightened around her, and fire burned in his tawny lion eyes. How she wanted to stay right there… and how she yearned for his kiss…

  He wasn’t moving. He hardly appeared to be breathing. Would she dare? Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against his, breathing in his scent, and shivering as the stubble on his cheeks rasped against her skin, making her body tight and hot at the same time.

  It only lasted one second. Two perhaps. He didn’t respond but remained hard and still. Then he released her and stepped back.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Joseph Bell walked into the kitchen and pointed to the toaster. ‘Something’s burning. Are you two just going to stand there like lemons or are you going to do something about it?’

  Stefan stared at the smoke billowing out of the sandwich maker, breathed in the acrid smell of burning bread and snapped out of his daze. ‘I’ll sort it…’

  ‘Let me do it.’ Cassie rushed past him and unplugged the toaster. She got hold of the knife, flipped the cover open and proceeded to scrape the charred bread and cheese off.

  ‘What were you two doing? Did you not notice it was burning?’ Joseph asked looking from Stefan to Cassie.

  ‘Obviously not,’ Cassie replied without turning round.

  Joseph shrugged, poured a generous measure of brandy into a glass, drank a mouthful and let out a contented sigh. ‘Are you not having a drink?’

  ‘We had one already,’ Cassie said, still without turning round. She threw the charred bread in the bin, and started chopping some cheese – hacking at it, would be a more accurate description.

  Joseph frowned. ‘What’s the matter with you, Trifle? You’re making a right mess with that cheese.’

  Cassie stared at the mound of cheese crumbs in front of her. ‘Nothing’s the matter with me, and when I need advice on how to slice cheese I will make sure to ask you.’

  The old man whistled between his teeth. ‘When you’re like that, you remind me of your grandma the time I forgot our wedding anniversary.’

  Turning to Stefan, he added. ‘We’d better retreat to the living room with this excellent brandy. I have no intention of getting in the way of an angry woman with a knife.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Cassie snapped and she stabbed at the cheese again.

  Joseph arched his eyebrows and gestured for Stefan to follow him. ‘Are you having another drink, son?’ he asked once they were in the living room.

  ‘I’ll pass, thank you. I’m driving.’

  ‘You’re right, of course.’ Joseph cocked his head to one side. ‘You wouldn’t have any idea why Cassie is in such a foul mood, by any chance? You two haven’t argued or anything?’

  Stefan’s face heated. ‘Hmm… No.’

  The rattling of the front door opening saved him from Joseph’s scrutiny.

  ‘I’m home!’ Tim called from the hallway, before popping his head into the living room. ‘Hi, Stefan. Hi, Joseph. I’m glad to be back. Where are Rachel and the boys?’

  Joseph replied that the two younger children were asleep and that Rachel was putting Louis to bed, and Tim said he’d check on him.

  As Joseph finished his brandy, he seemed to have forgotten all about his question about Cassie, which was lucky because Stefan would have been hard-pressed to give him an answer.

  He knew what he was feeling right now – a mix of regret, frustration, and the bitter satisfaction of having done the right thing by pulling away from her before he succumbed to the burning desire to kiss her. However, he had no idea what Cassie was thinking. She had been warm and soft in his arms as she snuggled against him, and the feel of her lips had almost tipped him over the edge. It had taken all his willpower to stop himself from giving in to the sweet madness he yearned for, kissing her, pulling her closer, touching her. Thank goodness he had remembered just in time that it would be a bad idea on so many different levels.

  He was a mess, and he was only in Belthorn for a few weeks – the time to sort himself out. He had no right to get involved with her.

  What’s more it wasn’t him she wanted. He remembered the longing on her face when she had looked at Hardman’s photo in the interior design magazine, and the way her voice had mellowed as she said how talented and inspiring he was. This was the man she wanted. The man she was attracted to. Not him.

  She only kissed him because she was grateful. She said so herself. She was grateful for his helping her in the clubhouse, and giving her cousins a lift back from hospital.

  Tim and Rachel came back downstairs. Rachel made some tea and coffee, Cassie brought a dish piled high with toasted sandwiches, and they all sat down at the table to eat. She didn’t look at him, her cheeks were red, and uncharacteristically for her, she wasn’t smiling.

  ‘The snow has caused accidents everywhere,’ Tim said as he sipped the generous measure of brandy Joseph had poured to warm him up.

  Stefan frowned. ‘Then perhaps we should leave straight away.’

  Cassie glanced at him, then at the grandfather clock. ‘Let’s have something to eat first. Half an hour shouldn’t make much of a difference.’

  He wasn’t sure it was a good idea,
but she sounded so annoyed so he didn’t insist. The conversation around the table rolled around Louis’s accident and Rachel’s sister’s forthcoming wedding, which prompted Joseph to regale them with a few risqué puns about Tarzan and Jane, and the odd policeman joke, then Rachel mentioned some gossip she’d overheard at school that morning.

  ‘Another of your clients got burgled yesterday,’ she told Cassie.

  Cassie put her cup of tea down. ‘Oh no! Who was it this time?’

  ‘Tabitha Sweeney. All her jewellery and some cash were stolen when she was at her gym class. Her husband is mad at her because she didn’t switch on the alarm, and now the insurance won’t pay out.’

  Cassie gasped. ‘Tabitha always puts her alarm on. She must have been very distracted to forget it yesterday.’

  ‘Or someone knew the code and disabled it,’ Tim remarked.

  ‘I don’t think it’s possible. Apart from her husband and herself, only her in-laws and I know it.’

  ‘People are getting nervous,’ Rachel remarked.

  Cassie nodded. ‘I’m not surprised. Nadine Hartley is a good friend of Tabitha’s and she has tons of expensive jewellery. She’s bound to review her security arrangements now.’

  ‘At least, we don’t risk anything here,’ Rachel said. ‘I don’t have any jewellery worth stealing, and even if I had, nobody would get passed the dogs.’

  ‘What do you mean, you have nothing worth stealing?’ Tim protested. ‘You have your engagement ring and the bracelet with the gold charms I bought you when the boys were born.’

  Rachel leant against her husband’s shoulder. ‘How can I forget?’ Turning to Stefan, she added. ‘Do you know what charms my husband gave me to thank me for the hard time I had giving birth to his three sons?’

  Tim’s cheekbones flushed bright red. ‘It was a joke, Rachel… and I’m a farmer after all.’

  Oblivious, Rachel carried on, ‘He bought me a sheep, a tractor and a cow! If he thinks that’s an incentive for me to produce baby number four, he is seriously mistaken.’

  Joseph laughed. ‘Give the lad a break, Rachel. Tim loves you and the boys, and that matters more than any piece of jewellery. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about those burglaries. We’ve never had so much trouble in years. It’s a shame Keith retired to Tenerife. He could have helped.’

  He looked at Stefan and explained. ‘Cassie’s step-dad used to be a policeman. He would probably put those burglars in the nick in no time at all. Perhaps he could give us some idea about what’s going on.’

  ‘Keith is enjoying his retirement far too much to worry about burglaries in Red Moss, Granddad,’ Cassie said, ‘but I suppose I could always ask for his input next time I Skype Mum.’

  Something had been niggling at Stefan’s mind during the conversation. ‘How many burglaries have there been so far?’ he asked.

  Cassie looked at him. ‘That’s the fifth one, and all the victims are my clients. People are going to believe that I bring bad luck.’

  ‘Or that you’re in league with the burglars,’ Rachel said.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Joseph retorted. ‘No one who knows our Cassie would ever believe that.’

  ‘I hope not, but you know what people are like…’ Rachel stifled a yawn and started clearing the table. Joseph drank the last of his brandy. Whereas Stefan had stuck to coffee, Cassie’s grandfather had been rather liberal with the liquor.

  ‘Let’s have one last joke before bedtime,’ he insisted.

  ‘I hope it’s not another of your policeman’s jokes,’ Cassie remarked. ‘We already had three tonight.’

  Rachel chuckled. ‘Or another naughty Tarzan and Jane one… I thought Stefan was going to choke on his sandwich because of your double-entendre about bananas.’

  ‘Give over, Rachel! The lad’s French, and everybody knows that the French are the masters of seduction. Stefan here isn’t shocked by a few risqué puns, are you, son?’ Joseph winked at Stefan, who forced a smile. Master of seduction? Had the old man taken a good look at him?

  ‘Anyway,’ Joseph added, ‘your Kerry had better get used to hearing more naughty jokes. She’s the one who wanted a Tarzan and Jane wedding reception after all. And who knows? That jungle theme may whip a bit of life into that stuffy fiancé of hers.’

  He clasped his hand onto Stefan’s shoulder. ‘Are you ready for another joke, son? I promise there is nothing naughty about this one.’

  Stefan seemed to have become the elderly man’s guinea pig for testing his riddles. He hadn’t been able to guess any answer so far, and was starting to feel rather stupid.

  ‘Here it is. What do cows drive in Antarctica?’

  Stefan sighed. Hell, why did Joseph always have to ask him for answers he didn’t have? ‘Hmm… Ice cream floats? Four-hoof-drives?’

  He looked at Joseph. ‘How am I doing?’

  Joseph pulled a face. ‘You’re not even close.’ He turned to Cassie, Tim and Rachel. ‘Anybody else want to hazard a guess? No? Then here is the answer to my riddle. What do cows drive in Antarctica? Snow-moo-biles!’

  Cassie smiled. ‘That’s very silly, Granddad, even by your standards.’

  Silly or not, her grandfather’s jokes seemed to have improved her mood.

  Rachel got up and yawned. ‘We’ll need snowmobiles tomorrow morning if the weather doesn’t improve! For now it’s time to go to bed.’ She looked at Cassie, then at Stefan. ‘What are you two doing? Do you want to stop here for the night?’

  ‘Thanks for the offer but I’ll take my chances.’ He glanced at Cassie. ‘However, I’ll understand if you’d rather stay here.’

  Cassie shook her head. ‘No. I’ll go back with you. I’m sure we’ll be fine.’

  She kissed Rachel, Tim and her granddad goodnight, and put her coat and hat on.

  Tim shook Stefan’s hand as they were leaving. ‘Thanks for picking Rachel and Louis up from the hospital. I really appreciate it. I’ll call round at Belthorn in the morning. I’m on snow-ploughing duty with guys from neighbouring farms and the manor house is on my round.’

  The goodbyes took a few more minutes, and then he was driving down the farm track with Cassie at his side.

  It had only been one hour since Tim had come back but any tracks he might have left earlier were now covered with a mantle of snow so thick it was hard to see where the lane ended and the ditches on either side started. He could have done with one of the snowmobiles from Joseph’s joke, he thought as he focussed on keeping the Range Rover on the road. Snowflakes danced in the beam of the headlights and stuck to the windscreen and wipers, enveloping the car in a white cocoon. Even the noise of the engine sounded muffled.

  ‘What’s happening over there?’ Cassie pointed to blue and red lights flashing ahead. A police four-wheel drive was parked across the road, and two officers signalled for them to stop. Stefan wound his window down.

  ‘There’s been an accident, you can’t get to Red Moss this way,’ one of the policemen told Stefan. He explained that a twenty-mile diversion would take them back to the other side of the village, and the campsite where Cassie had left her van. ‘But all the roads in the area are pretty bad, sir, and we can’t guarantee that you won’t get stuck further down.’

  Stefan thanked him, and turned to Cassie. ‘The best option is to take you back to the farm. You can always get your van tomorrow.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’ll drive to Belthorn after dropping you off.’

  She shook her head. ‘Actually, it would be safer if we both went back to Belthorn together and I stayed overnight… that’s if you don’t mind.’

  His heart skipped a beat, but he wasn’t stupid enough to read anything into her suggestion. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I have been so focussed on the wedding reception that I’ve neglected my work for the past few days. If I stop over, at least I can spend some time in Belthorn first thing tomorrow morning before driving to Keswick for my meeting with Piers. Tim said he was coming up, so he can give
me a lift back to the campsite on his tractor.’

  Of course. The woman was as usual only thinking about her job.

  ‘I don’t keep timesheets, you know, and won’t report you to Charlie or that estate manager of his if you miss a few days,’ he said, not even trying to hide the temper in his voice.

  She sighed. ‘I know, but there’s another reason I’d rather come with you.’ She looked at him. ‘I don’t want you to be driving back on your own. It’s not safe on a night like this. You could get lost or stuck on country lanes.’

  He thought for a moment. She did have a point. Being alone on the road in a snowstorm was dangerous, but so would being alone at the manor house with Cassie…

  ‘Are you sure that’s what you want?’ he asked nevertheless.

  ‘It’s the only sensible thing to do,’ she replied.

  He did a U-turn, and headed back towards the manor house.

  If driving down from the farm had been difficult, it was even more treacherous to tackle the lane up to Belthorn. The wheels of the Range Rover kept spinning, and Stefan had to ease off the accelerator several times until the tyres bit into the snow again and the car sprung forward.

  ‘I knew it would be bad, but I didn’t think it would be this bad,’ he muttered as the headlights swept over the lane, or what should be the lane.

  Huge snowdrifts had accumulated on either side, reaching out almost to the top of the Sanctuary Stone. The car slid sideways. The steering wheel spun in his hands, light and unresponsive, and there was nothing he could do. The Range Rover bumped into the Sanctuary Stone with a dull thud, and the engine coughed and stalled.

  ‘Damn. I don’t believe this. Twice in the same place!’ He turned to Cassie. ‘Are you all right?’ The impact hadn’t been strong enough to deploy the airbags, but she may still be hurt, and he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happened to her.