Christmas at the Little Waffle Shack - Helen J. Rolfe Page 0,99
get out that age-old bottle of scotch he only gave to select visitors, her mum would fuss over him and feed him until he said stop.
‘Let me know as soon as you have plans,’ her mum insisted. ‘And we’ll talk again after lunch, I shall want to know whether you’ve had a proper Christmas meal. This isn’t right.’
‘Stop worrying.’ With the snow falling outside the window, as much as she loved being at her parents’ and her mum’s delicious roast potatoes cooked in duck fat with just the right ratio of fluffy inside to crunchy outside, she had a sneaky suspicion someone in the Cove might be very happy she was hanging around.
The second she ended the call she phoned Daniel to tell him the news and he didn’t even hesitate, he invited her over to the Little Waffle Shack as soon as she was ready.
‘We’re eating Christmas lunch here?’ she asked when he let her in. She’d made her way slowly over, enjoying the bite of cold as snowflakes fell on her cheeks when she looked upwards, the crunch of snow beneath her feet as she trudged across the grass to the shack.
‘Call this the pre-lunch gathering,’ he said. ‘The main event is at Tumbleweed House.’ She was already in his arms, neither of them able to keep apart. ‘And don’t worry, I’ve got you on the guest list – Melissa and Harvey have enough food to feed most of the village, by the sounds of it.’
In the far corner of the shack Daniel had put a tree decorated in soft white lights with silver baubles and bows on the branches. A table had been pulled into the middle of the main area and low lighting, as well as white lights looped across the windows and the door, gave the whole waffle shack a cosy ambience. In the centre of the table sat a rustic arrangement of snow-dusted greenery and berries displayed in a hessian bag, white square plates were at each setting along with napkins tied off with red-and-white candy-cane-striped ribbon. ‘You look prepared,’ Lucy smiled. ‘Who’s coming here today?’
‘Mum, Harvey and Melissa.’
‘Is this the first time –’
‘That we’ve been together properly? Yes. It’s been a work in the making. After you and Melissa meddled and got Harvey and me together, my brother and I did a little messing of our own, starting with Harvey’s proposal last night. I was supposed to get you talking. Which’ – he dipped his head to kiss her on the lips – ‘incidentally’ – he kissed her again – ‘worked out very well.’
‘What’s the plan for today?’ she asked when she caught her breath.
‘This is the final part of operation pull-the-Luddingtons-back-together and after that I’m about done.’
Lucy kissed him firmly on the lips. ‘I’m glad it’s happening. And hearing you talk about your brother is nice too.’
It transpired that Carol was under the impression she was to have waffles here with Daniel and then she’d be going on to lunch at Harvey’s before returning here in the evening. The poor woman probably had no idea whether she was coming or going with those arrangements and two sons supposedly still at odds with one another. But Lucy hoped this would be an end to the family angst and it would make her Christmas pretty much perfect.
They were all camped out in the kitchen, where Daniel had a good batch of chocolate-peppermint batter on standby to serve their mum her favourite kind of waffles, when Carol arrived and Daniel had to break away from debating what shape they should cook them in and go out to welcome her. Lucy could hear their voices and made a thumbs-up to Harvey that their plan was intact. She heard Daniel offer to pour Carol a glass of champagne, they talked about the magic of the snow, and it was when she asked about the place settings at the table that he told her he and his brother had talked.
Lucy heard the wobble in Carol’s voice. They’d agreed they’d wait in the kitchen to give the poor woman some time to get her head around this, her emotions probably on a roller-coaster ride that might take a while to come to a standstill. Harvey was out next and Melissa dried her eyes when she heard tears from her soon-to-be mother-in-law. And when Harvey finally called them through and the girls came out from hiding, Daniel put his arm around Lucy.