As soon as that was over, Miranda belatedly called Flo and Adrian to wish them a merry Christmas, keeping the conversation deliberately upbeat, then headed for the kitchen. After a hectic, busy morning spent preparing the turkey for the family’s Christmas feast that night and the more time-consuming dishes that would be eaten the next day, Miranda whipped up a light lunch of roasted pumpkin soup with pesto and sour cream stirred through, served with freshly baked rolls on the side. It caused oohs of delight. And Miranda flushed with pleasure when Callum’s father commented, “You picked a winner, Callum.” Her gaze met Callum’s then skittered away under the heat and intensity she read there.
That afternoon she focused on their Christmas dinner, and preparing what could be done in advance for Pauline’s party the next day. Although with the help she’d had from Callum’s mother as well as Lindsey and Anna, Miranda was starting to feel like a fraud. Even Callum and his brothers wandered in through the course of the afternoon to give a hand, the kitchen ending up full of action and much hilarity. It had been incredibly fun.
The hardest part had been keeping a straight face when Pauline looked around in bewilderment at all the food and demanded, “Who’s going to eat all of this? It’s far too much.”
“Have no fear, Mother,” Fraser said. “We’re growing men-there won’t be a crumb left.”
Miranda caught Callum suppressing a grin, and Hunter immediately marched his mother out on the pretext of needing her advice about how to best dry the Italian loafers he’d saturated the previous night.
“You shouldn’t have worn them to the carols, Hunter,” they heard Pauline say as she followed him out the kitchen, completely diverted.
“You’re fortunate to have such a wonderful family,” Miranda murmured to Callum.
“I know.”
It wasn’t only Callum who held Miranda enthralled…she was dangerously close to falling in love with his family.
And that she couldn’t afford.
His mother’s utter, unfeigned surprise the next day when the first of her birthday guests arrived made the whole loving deception worthwhile, Callum decided as he exchanged looks of satisfaction with his brothers.
“How did I not get the smallest whiff of this?” Pauline asked as cars crowded the forecourt in front of the house.
“It was supposed to be a secret,” said Callum.
“Though Dad nearly let the cat out of the bag five minutes after we arrived on Thursday,” said Fraser with a mock glare at his father.
“Never could keep a secret, your father.” Pauline gave her husband a fond smile, and Callum looked away to give them a private moment.
“I managed to keep it in all of yesterday,” said Robin, and everyone laughed.
But when Petra arrived with her father, tension filled the air as Callum stepped closer to Miranda. Petra gave Miranda a quick glance, and aside from the hurt in her eyes, showed little reaction.
But Callum was aware of Miranda shifting away from him, distancing herself. She didn’t like the deception he’d asked her to perform, Callum realized.
It grew even more sticky when Callum discovered that Gordon and Petra had been invited to stay with the family for the balance of the weekend and wouldn’t be leaving with the other guests.
“Trouble?” Fraser asked a little while later with a meaningful look in Petra’s direction.
Callum resisted the urge to snap at his brother. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Good. Because despite the fact that Petra had the sense to dump you, Gordon remains important to our business.”
“You invited them to stay?” Callum stared at his brother in disbelief.
“Yes.” Fraser narrowed his gaze. “It shouldn’t be a problem, should it?”
Callum sincerely hoped it wouldn’t become one-but he had already detected Gordon’s coolness toward Miranda.
When all the guests had arrived, everyone assembled in the large formal dining for a buffet-style birthday lunch. Callum stopped dead at the sight of Miranda. She’d changed into a red dress that clung softly to her curves. Everything about the dress shrieked
After lunch Pauline opened her gifts, and with every card she read out, her eyes grew increasingly dewy. Callum was surprised to see Miranda hand his mother a box lightly wrapped in tissue paper.
“Happy birthday,” Miranda said.
His mother pulled off the wrapping to reveal a half dozen brandy snaps filled with cream, and a finger lick at the end of one had her whimpering with delight.
It stunned Callum that Miranda had taken the care to make the sweet he’d told her his mother loved. But her consideration warmed his heart. For an instant he was guiltily conscious of the fact that she should be spending Christmas with her own mother and brother-not his.
As the afternoon passed, Miranda was supremely aware of Callum’s every move whenever they were together, and she grew increasingly uncomfortable with the number of times his fingers would brush hers, or his hand would settle on her waist, the fine, soft jersey fabric of her dress failing to present any substantial barrier to the warmth of his touch. She knew he was making certain that Gordon harbored no hopes of a reconciliation between his daughter and Callum. But she disliked the deceit and the flare of pain in Petra’s eyes. And on top of that, it troubled her deeply that she was deceiving Callum. He still had no idea of the damage Adrian had done to an Ironstone car…and more significantly that she hadn’t disclosed it to him.
Yet how could she? She couldn’t have gone against Adrian’s wishes. And ultimately it was Adrian’s problem. How would he ever learn to take responsibility for his life if she fixed all his problems for him? Look what a mess Flo made simply because she expected everyone to leap around and fix things for her. Her father treating Flo as a china doll had only worsened the problem.
But now Christmas was over. Adrian’s worry about being locked up over the holiday with little chance of bail was no longer valid. And every time her gaze connected with Callum’s, Miranda wished she hadn’t agreed to keep quiet until she returned to London. As much as she hadn’t wanted to raise something controversial on Christmas Day or his mother’s birthday, she now needed Callum to be in the picture.
Then maybe they could finally advance their strained relationship. But would he still even want to be friends when he found out she’d deceived him?
Tea had been served in delicate china cups. Miranda sneaked out to take a five-minute break in the downstairs study and decided she would call Adrian. Maybe he would agree to let her tell Callum the truth-presuming she got the opportunity.
Adrian answered his mobile on first ring. “What’s up, sis?”
She told him, and when he spoke again the breezy note had vanished. “No,” he said adamantly. “I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”
“On Monday when I get back, you said,” she reminded him.
“Maybe.”
He was trying to wriggle off the hook. Her brother must be truly scared of the consequences.
“It’s not going to get easier-and if you leave it too long, I’ll tell him myself.”
“I know that.” Adrian sounded so despondent she felt like an absolute witch. Then he said, “I’ve been getting threatening calls. I’ve managed to put them off because I told them you were away.”
“It doesn’t make any difference whether I’m there or not. I’ve told you-they’re not getting my money. Absolutely not.” She breathed deeply. “Look, Callum will give you a break.”
Adrian’s sin wasn’t anything like what their father had done. They couldn’t use that as a yardstick for judging Callum’s likely reaction. “I’m sure Callum will understand.” Miranda hoped that he would live up to her brave claim.
Adrian muttered something she was grateful she couldn’t make out, and then hung up.
