Christmas at Wynter House

by Emily Harvale

  Rowan, who along with Dawn, was helping in the kitchen, even made tea, coffee or hot chocolate for each of Neva's clientele, and they were given the mince pies and biscuits Dawn had made at the cottage, to munch on while they waited.

  The gingerbread house Dawn and Sasha had made took pride of place at afternoon tea, but Neva didn't stop for that. Sasha brought her a piece together with a couple of other cakes Dawn and Rowan had made in Penny's kitchen.

  One big surprise of the day was when Carruthers appeared, late in the afternoon, gave a little cough and a bow and asked if he could possibly prevail upon Neva to provide him with a slight trim.

  She assured him that nothing would give her more pleasure, and when he left, he smiled at her for the first time since she'd arrived, but it only lasted a moment and he was back to his usual self. Neva had never been so nervous in her life. Even when she had given Adam a “bit of a tidy up” as he called it, she hadn't felt like that.

  This was until ten minutes after George left, just as Neva was about to clear up, and Rafe stood in the doorway. He leant against the stone wall, looking just as relaxed as he had this morning, and rather annoyingly, twice as sexy. His face was slightly flushed as if he'd either been doing some physical work, or he'd been running. His hair looked damp and rather dishevelled as if billowed by the wind. And his dark blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

  'I don't believe I've ever seen so many happy and impeccably coiffed people in Wynter House. Words like 'wonderful' and 'talented' and 'genius' are being bandied about. And everyone's comparing fingernails and toenails. Even Archie is pleased. And believe me, that's high praise indeed.'

  'You sound surprised.'

  'Do I? I'm not. Not at all.'

  'I'll tell you something that may surprise you.' She tried to force herself to keep calm. But she was fighting a losing battle. 'I've never been so nervous as I was when I gave Carruthers a trim.'

  He grinned at her. 'You must be exhausted. People have been in and out of here all day.'

  She met his eyes and rested her chin on the top of the broom handle. 'Yes. In fact, the only people I haven't had in this chair today are Olivia ... and you.'

  A slow smile crept across his face. 'I don't think Olivia will be availing herself of your skills, and as much as I would be delighted to do so, you've had an extremely busy day and it looks as if you're clearing up.'

  She straightened up, tossed the broom to one side and patted the back of the chair.

  'Nope. I was simply preparing for my next customer. Sit down Rafe and tell me what you'd like me to do.'

  For a moment it looked as if he was going to turn and run but he walked to the chair, flashed her another smile, and sat down.

  'Anything you want, Neva. I'm in your hands.'

  'You may regret that. What if I decided to dye your hair purple?'

  He glanced at her over his shoulder. 'Would it suit me?'

  'Don't tempt me.' She tapped his shoulder with her fingers and felt how firm it was. 'What have you got in your hair? It looks like ...'

  Oh God. He'd obviously been in the old barn again. She picked out a couple of bits of dried something or other and tossed it on the floor.

  'I'll wash it later,' he said.

  'We can wash it now. Come over to the sink.'

  She walked to the far wall and waited for him to join her. He hesitated, but finally pushed himself out of the chair and strode towards her.

  'Where do you want me?'

  He was doing this on purpose. He must be. And it was working. She was getting hot, bothered and very turned on. She stood on her tiptoe, slid one hand into his hair, and shoved his head forward as fast as she could, grabbing the shower attachment with her other hand and turning it on.

  'Stick your head in the sink. Please.'

  Before he could say a word, he was bending over one of the large stone sinks and having his head soaked with lukewarm water.

  Neva had given everyone who had their hair washed, a quick head massage. It was one of the things she always did, having checked with each of them to make certain they would like one.

  She didn't bother to ask Rafe. Knowing him, he'd say no. But as she rested the shower attachment beneath the tap and leant forward and massaged shampoo into his hair, his shoulder pressed against her breasts and his hand brushed against her thigh. Instead of moving away, she moved closer, pressing into him far more than was necessary and leaning her body against his side. Her fingers kneaded his skull and she closed her eyes, unsure who was enjoying the experience the most. Him or her. The fire roared in the hearth opposite but the heat she was feeling had nothing to do with the flames in the grate.

  'Oh God, Neva,' he moaned softly. 'That feels so good.'

  'Tea, coffee or hot chocolate?' Rowan asked, from the doorway.

  Neva jumped, knocking Rafe sideways and sending the shower attachment shooting out of the sink, resulting in an arc of water over Rafe and herself. She grabbed the attachment and quickly turned off the tap, but her hair was dripping and Rafe had water and shampoo running down his face and jumper.

  Rowan gave them both an odd look before throwing them each a towel.

  'Well?'

  'Well what?' Neva asked, blushing from the tips of her toes.

  'Tea, coffee or hot chocolate?' Rowan looked directly at Rafe and smiled.

  He wiped shampoo from his eyes and dabbed at his jumper. 'Nothing for me thanks, Rowan. I've just had some water.'

  'Right. Well, I think Rafe's your last for today, and as we've prepared everything for tonight, if you don't mind, I'll nip upstairs and start getting ready for the party.'

  'That's fine,' Neva said. 'We won't be long.' She turned to Rafe but she couldn't look him in the eye. 'Sorry about that. She's been making drinks for everyone all day and she must've seen you come in. Um. I need to finish washing your hair and give you a bit of conditioner.' She waited by the sink until he stepped back in front of her.

  He didn't say a word, but she could feel him looking at her intently as she pretended to busy herself with the shower attachment and the taps. He eventually bent down over the sink and she held his head still so that she could wash out all the shampoo. Now she stood as far from him as she could and her back was aching by the time she rinsed out the conditioner.

  'Back to the chair, please.'

  She still didn't look at him but he was definitely looking at her. She towel-dried his hair and ran a comb through it, picking up her scissors and snipping away where necessary. She closed her eyes tight as she ran her fingers through it, this time not because she was enjoying it but because she was trying so hard not to. She needed to do this to make sure she had cut the hair evenly and she opened her eyes once she was certain she could touch it without melting on the spot.

  He's just another client, she told herself. He's just another client. If she repeated it enough times she might believe it. But she sighed with relief as soon as she had finished.

  'All done,' she said, gingerly brushing the cuttings from the towel around his shoulders and watching hundreds of dark brown strands of him fall to the floor. She would pick a few of those up when he had gone.

  'Thank you, Neva,' he said, getting up from the chair. 'I don't think I've ever had a haircut quite like this one.'

  She grabbed the broom as quickly as she could and began sweeping the floor, avoiding the hair she had just cut.

  'It was my pleasure. But I think I should tidy up now, and get upstairs. I believe there's a party starting in just over two hours and I need every second of that to get ready if I'm going to look at least half decent.'

  He took a step towards her and she quickly moved the broom and herself further away.

  'I think you look much better than half decent right now.'

  She laughed but it sounded more like someone being strangled.

  'That's because you've had shampoo in your eyes. Make sure you rinse that out again when you get upstairs, and if there's any irritation, have a word with Penny and ge
t some eye drops or something.'

  'We're not going to continue our conversation from earlier then? Or talk about what happened just now?'

  She coughed in surprise. 'It's been a long day, Rafe. I really need a shower. Can we discuss it later?'

  'Of course. Thanks again for ... everything. I'll see you tonight at the party.'

  'Yep. That's a date. No! I didn't mean ... That is, what I meant was-'

  'It's OK. I know exactly what you meant. I'll see you at 8. And Neva. I wish it was a date.'

  He was gone by the time she realised what he'd said.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Neva had never taken more than about forty-five minutes to get ready for anything in her life, and that time included showering, doing her hair and make-up and getting dressed. And she would have loved to have continued the conversation with Rafe in the wash room. But she was being honest when she had said she needed a shower. She'd been on the go since breakfast and what with the heat from the fire and the hairdryer, together with all the colourants and shampoos, she wasn't quite sure of the 'scent' she may be giving off.

  The way things had been going, anything could've happened in that room. Having slightly whiffy armpits was not what she wanted if she and Rafe were going to be having an intimate conversation about their feelings; kissing; and definitely not if they were going to go the whole hog and have sex. Plus, as much as she wanted him - and God, did she want him - she would prefer their first time not to be in an old wash room with a couple of stone sinks and flagstone floors. And the possibility of Rowan popping back to check if they wanted a hot beverage. Or worse, Carruthers appearing in the doorway just as they got to a particularly passionate bit.

  Tonight, for the first time in her life, it actually did take her more than two hours to get ready.

  That was partly because the minute she was sure Rafe was out of earshot, she phoned Jo and told her all about the shampoo massage incident. Then she'd rushed upstairs and collapsed on the bed, twisting and turning and imagining all the things that might have happened if Rowan hadn't come in at that precise moment.

  After that, she'd jumped in the shower, and spent longer than usual because she couldn't stop thinking about running her hands through his hair earlier and how wonderful it had felt.

  Spraying perfume under her arms and deodorant on her wrists and neck had delayed her even more, and once she'd washed that off, it took several changes of clothes before she finally plumped for the first dress she'd put on. It was one of Jo's and Neva hadn't realised she had packed it in her holdall by mistake. It wasn't the type of dress she would usually wear, but somehow tonight, it felt right.

  It was deep purple with delicately embroidered silver thread around the edges of the low sweeping neckline and three-quarter-length sleeves. The tight-fitting bodice of crepe at the front and sheer, purple organza at the back had tiny flashes of glitter, sparkling here and there. The skirt floated from her waist and danced around her hips and thighs when she moved; more sheer, glittery organza over tight-fitting crepe, and thankfully hiding the fact that her stomach definitely wasn't quite as flat as she would have liked.

  She took a selfie and sent it to Jo, waiting an agonising five minutes before a row of emoji hearts, excited faces, faces with tongues hanging out, popping eyes and several thumbs-up preceding the words: sex tonight and a stream of exclamation marks, beeped in reply.

  Her hair was swept up in a loose bun, and taking Jo's earlier advice, she fixed a sprig of mistletoe into the side. If anyone approached that she didn't want to kiss, she'd quickly take it out. Shimmering purple fingernails and matching toenails and a pair of high heeled glittery black sandals completed the ensemble and when she took one final glance before heading downstairs, even she thought she looked pretty good.

  Rafe was standing near the Christmas tree in one corner of the room, deep in conversation with Olivia but he turned as Neva sashayed as best she could into the ballroom. By the expression on his face and the look in his eyes, he thought she looked pretty good too, but he stayed exactly where he was and soon returned to his conversation with his grandmother.

  Cecil and Ronnie looked Neva up and down and gave her a low wolf-whistle. Ethel and Queenie both gave her a thumbs-up and even Sean and Gavin threw her admiring looks. Her family all did a double take and smiled. Sasha told her she looked as beautiful as a model in a magazine; a massive exaggeration but quite something for an eight-year-old into ghosts, vampires and zombies. Sasha, once again wore the zombie princess outfit Neva had bought her, but thankfully, on this occasion, without the festering blister.

  Dawn and Rowan, along with Penny, Taryn, Wendy and Judith had excelled themselves in the kitchen: the buffet for the evening was fit for Kings and Queens - and zombie princesses. There were platters of turkey, of festive ham, and of smoked salmon. A whole, clementine and vodka-baked salmon. Coronation chicken scones, halloumi fries, spiced mini Scotch eggs, sausage and fennel seed swirls, quail's eggs, devilled eggs, cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon and plain ones too, accompanied by bowls of fresh horseradish, honey and mustard, homemade mayonnaise and various other dips and sauces. There were prawns dressed with a lemon and dill sauce, prawns in paprika and chilli, and plain prawns. There were freshly made pâtés, sole goujons, and much more besides. The cherry, chocolate and hazelnut Pavlova, Christmas cheesecake, Wynter Pudding trifle - one of Penny's secret recipes, a massive Christmas cake, and various mini cakes and other tempting treats were more than enough to satisfy anyone with a sweet-tooth. And another gingerbread house, this one a replica of Wynter House, took centre stage.

  Adam appeared by Neva's side and handed her a glass of champagne.

  'You were right. Your mum is a very good cook. And may I say how sensational you look tonight? I'm afraid you'll have to make do with me for a while. Olivia is chewing Rafe's ear off.'

  'Oh. Any idea why?'

  'I'm not sure I should say, but Rafe will tell you anyway. He told her tonight about what he's been doing in the old barn.'

  Neva almost spilt her champagne. 'Really? And? What is he doing? It's nothing illegal, is it? No. Forget I said that. Of course it's not.'

  'Rafe should be the one to tell you, Neva. Not me. But no. It's definitely not illegal.' He gave her an odd look. 'When we first met, that rainy day on the road, which seems so long ago now but is only a few days, I thought you and I might have some fun together.'

  She met his eyes. They were nowhere near as dark as Rafe's. Or, now that she thought about it, anywhere near as gorgeous.

  'So did I, Adam. But the thing is-'

  'I know what the thing is, Neva. And he's standing over there talking to Olivia when he should be here, benefitting from this stunning view. But may I ask you something?'

  'Um. Of course.' She was blushing from head to toe.

  'It's not just lust, is it? Do you think it could be love?'

  She met his eyes. 'For him? Or for me?'

  He smiled and shook his head. 'I already know what it is for him. He's my brother and sometimes I think I know him better than he knows himself. What is it for you? I suppose you might think it's none of my business, but he was hurt very badly by a woman once, and I'd rather not see that repeated.'

  'Pippa, you mean? But that was years ago. Hasn't there been anyone else since her?'

  'No one serious, no. And only two other relationships. But they didn't last. I sort of forced him into them and I could tell from the start his heart wasn't in either. He tried. I'll give him that. But he's not like me. Rafe doesn't do things by halves. He takes after Olivia in the romance department and I sometimes think he doesn't really understand the meaning of the word, 'fling'. Rafe's not the type. Unlike me.' He winked at her. 'When Rafe falls for someone, you can pretty much guarantee he's in it for the long-haul. But I'm getting the feeling you don't want to answer my question.'

  She shook her head. 'It's not that I don't want to answer. It's that I'm not sure what to say. This whole thing has taken me by surprise. I
never expected to feel like this. To be completely honest, I've never felt this way about anybody in my life before I met Rafe. And I wasn't looking for a relationship right now. I'll be starting a new business and moving to a new town. Romance was the last thing on my mind. A fling with you would've been nice, and I did think that might happen. But now I know I don't want that. And what I do want, really frightens me. You asked if it's lust or if I thought it could be love. I suppose I'd have to say, it's definitely lust. But it's also love. And I don't think it could be love. I know it is. I'm just not sure what to do about it.'

  He beamed at her, and took her glass out of her hand. 'Then come with me, Neva Grey, because I know exactly what you should do about it. You should tell someone else exactly what you've just told me. Only perhaps leave out the bit about considering having a fling with me. Under the circumstances that may be better left unsaid.' He linked her arm through his and walked her towards Olivia and Rafe.

  Olivia glowered at her. Rafe darted looks between Adam and her and back again, furrowing his brows as if he didn't know what was going on but was dreading they were going to tell him they had just become an item or something.

  'We're having a conversation, Adam,' Olivia said, ignoring Neva completely.

  'I can see that, Olivia, but with the greatest love and respect, I think Rafe's been talking with you for far too long this evening and he and Neva have rather a lot to discuss.'

  Rafe looked stunned. 'We do?' Then a huge smile spread across his mouth. 'Yes, we do. Excuse me, Olivia. Perhaps we can pick this up later. Although, having said that, I've a feeling I may be busy. I'll talk to you tomorrow.'

  'Rafe!'

  Rafe ignored her and held out his hand to Neva, looking her directly in the eye, and the twinkle in his eyes and the smile on his face made her realise Adam was right. Adam took Olivia's arm, and turned her in the opposite direction.

  'Shall we?' Rafe said, looking as if he'd been given the best early Christmas present ever.