A Mistletoe Proposal

‘Just promise that I can be there to see you crush him beneath your heel,’ Charlie implored.

‘When you two have finished,’ Roscoe said in a bored voice.

‘Just a little innocent fun,’ Charlie protested.

‘Sorry, I don’t do fun.’ Roscoe’s voice was so withering that Pippa threw him another quick glance. For a moment his face was tight, hard, older.

‘That’s right, he doesn’t,’ Charlie said.

‘OK, I’m here,’ said a voice overhead.

Charlie groaned, then bounced up as he recognised the man who owed him money, now holding out an envelope.

‘I only ran to get this,’ he said. ‘I always meant to repay you.’ He dropped the envelope and fled. The reason became obvious a moment later.

‘There’s only half here,’ Charlie yelped. ‘Hey, come back!’ He resumed the pursuit.

Alone again, Roscoe and Pippa eyed each other, suspicion on one side, defiance on the other.

‘How am I doing?’ she asked.

‘You’ve certainly got his attention. I’d give a lot to know what he’s thinking.’

‘He believes what he wants to believe,’ she said with a small flash of anger. ‘Men always do. Didn’t you know that? I know it. And so does any woman who’s ever had a man in her life.’

‘And when a woman knows it she makes use of it?’

‘She does if she has any sense of self-preservation. And may I remind you again, Mr Havering, that I’m doing what you hired me to do? You’re paying for my skills, but you don’t get to dictate what skills I use or how I use them.’

‘Don’t I?’

‘No, because if you try I’ll simply step aside and let Charlie see you pulling my strings.’

He drew a sharp breath. ‘You really know how to fight dirty.’

‘Have you only just realised that?’

He regarded her. ‘I think I have.’

‘Good, then we understand each other. Now he’s coming back. Smile at me so that he’ll know that all is well between us.’

‘I wonder if that day will ever come,’ he said softly.

But the next moment he was smiling as she’d suggested, even talking pleasantly, loud enough for Charlie to hear. ‘My mother’s housekeeper is an expert cook. I promise that you’ll enjoy tonight’s meal, Miss Havering.’

‘Pippa,’ she said. ‘After all, we’re fighting on the same side.’

His eyes warned her not to push her luck, but he only inclined his head before rising and saying, ‘I’ll get the car. Be waiting for me outside and don’t take too long.’

She longed to salute him ironically and say, Yes sir, no sir. I obey, sir. But he was gone before she had the chance.

‘That’s his way,’ Charlie said, correctly interpreting her seething. ‘People give up arguing. You will too.’

‘Will I? I wonder. Did you catch up with that man?’

‘No, he escaped again. But at least I got some of the money. And now we’re alone, can I tell you that you are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever met?’

‘No, you can’t tell me that,’ she said. ‘For one thing, I already know and, for another, your brother wouldn’t approve.’

‘Oh, forget him. What does he have to do with us?’

Pippa frowned. ‘He’s protecting you. Don’t you owe him some kind of consideration?’

‘Why? He’s only thinking of himself. The good name of Havering must be defended at all costs. The truth is, he cares for nobody.’

‘And nobody cares for him?’ she murmured slowly.

Charlie shrugged. ‘Who knows? He doesn’t let anyone inside.’

It sounded so convincing, but suddenly there was the whispered memory of Roscoe saying, ‘If anything happens to Charlie, it would break my mother’s heart… At all costs I want to save her from more suffering.’

This wasn’t a man who cared nothing for anyone. He might care so much that he only admitted it under stress.

Or perhaps Charlie was right. Which of the two was the real man? Impossible to say. Unless…

Suddenly the waiter hurried up to them, almost stuttering in his agitation. ‘He’s in the car…says he told you to be out there waiting for him. He’s good ’n mad.’

They ran outside to where Roscoe’s car was by the kerb, engine running. When they had tumbled into the back seat, Pippa said politely, ‘I’m really sorry,’ but Roscoe only grunted, his eyes on the traffic as he edged his way into the flow. She supposed she couldn’t blame him.

Their destination was an expensive London suburb, full of large detached houses standing in luxurious gardens. A woman was waiting by the gate, smiling and waving at the sight of them. She was thin and frail-looking, and Pippa recalled Roscoe saying that she’d been in a bad way ever since his father’s death, fifteen years earlier.

But her face was brilliant with joy as Charlie got out of the car and she could hug him. He handed Pippa out and she found herself being scrutinised by two bright eyes before Angela Havering thrust out a hand declaring that she was so glad to meet her.

Roscoe drove the car away.

‘He has to park at the back,’ Charlie explained. ‘He’ll join us in a minute.’

‘Come inside,’ Angela said, taking her hand. ‘I want to know all about you, and how you’re going to save my dear boy.’

She drew Pippa into the house, a lavishly elegant establishment, clearly furnished and tended by someone who’d brought housekeeping to a fine art, with the cash to do it.

In the kitchen they found Nora, a cheerful, middle-aged woman in a large apron, presiding over a variety of dishes.

‘I hope I didn’t make your life difficult, coming unexpectedly,’ Pippa said as they were introduced.

‘There’s plenty to eat,’ Angela said. ‘It’s always been one of my husband’s maxims that a successful house has food ready all the time.’

Pippa smiled, but she had a strange, edgy feeling. Angela spoke almost as if her husband were still alive.

Nora poured wine and Angela handed them each a glass and raised hers in salute.

‘Welcome to our home,’ she said to Pippa. ‘I’m sure you’re going to make everything all right.’

It was a charming scene, but it would have been more charming, Pippa thought, if she’d waited for Roscoe to join them. It was a tiny point, but it troubled her.

From the kitchen window, she had a view of the back garden, with a large garage at the far end. As she watched, Roscoe came out of a side door of the garage and began walking to the house.

‘Here he is,’ she said, pointing.

‘Oh, good. I was afraid he’d keep us waiting. Honestly, he can be so inconsiderate.’

Over supper, Angela was on edge, constantly turning an anxious expression on Charlie, then a frowning gaze at Roscoe, as though silently criticising him for something. To Pippa, it seemed as though she’d given all her love to one son and barely registered the existence of the other.

Of course, she argued with herself, Charlie was a vulnerable boy threatened with disaster, while Roscoe was a powerful man, well able to take care of himself. But still…

Charlie’s cellphone rang. He went out into the hall to speak to the caller and, as soon as he’d gone, Angela clasped Pippa’s hand.

‘You see how he is, how he needs to be cared for.’

‘And he’s lucky to have a brother who cares for him,’ Pippa couldn’t resist saying.

‘Oh, yes, of course there’s Roscoe. He does his best, but when I think of what might happen to my darling… maybe prison…’

‘He won’t go to prison,’ Pippa said at once. ‘It’s a first offence, nothing was stolen and nobody was hurt. A fine, and perhaps some community service is the worst that will happen.’

‘But he’ll have a criminal record.’

‘Yes, and that’s why we’re working so hard to defend him.’