took a bottle of champagne out of the fridge.
“I think it’s time for mimosas, don’t you two?”
Maddie drained her coffee cup and got up for more.
“Absolutely. And Julia, never tell my boyfriend I said this, but you make the best coffee I’ve ever had.”
Julia took a big package of that ham-like English bacon out of the fridge.
“I never will, I promise. But honestly, anyone who makes coffee anywhere near as good as mine seems like a pretty good catch.”
Maddie grinned.
“That he is.” She looked down at her phone and laughed. “Speak of the devil, he just texted me about the Duchess’s outfit.”
Vivian smiled. She was so happy Maddie had found Theo.
Maddie kept scrolling through photos and—Vivian was pretty sure—texting with Theo as Julia made an enormous breakfast for the three of them. After they ate a mountain of bacon, a pile of the most perfect scrambled eggs Vivian had ever had, delicious sautéed mushrooms (which Vivian had never thought of as a breakfast food, but ate every scrap of), crispy fried potatoes, and a stack of toast to go along with all of it, Maddie stood up and yawned.
“You won’t be mad if I take a nap, will you, Mom? I was up at the crack of dawn, and I’m exhausted.” She pointed at Julia. “It’s all your fault—I wasn’t tired until just now, but after that breakfast I almost fell asleep at the table.”
Vivian leaned over and gave her girl a big hug. Maddie rested her head on Vivian’s shoulder, and Vivian stroked her hair the way she had when Maddie was little.
“Go take your nap. This is our relaxing Christmas, remember? And your work here in England is finally done; that means you get to rest.”
Maddie sighed and smiled.
“That sounds fantastic, actually.”
When Maddie stood up, Vivian sat up with a jerk.
“I just realized something! What are we going to say to the rest of the family about me staying in London? You know them, Maddie—I don’t want to hear their mouths about this. I can’t even tell Jo—you know she won’t be able to keep it from everyone else.”
Maddie grinned.
“Oh, don’t worry, I already thought of that—we’ll just lie to them and say we’re both staying until the first. Blame it on me; tell them I told you the wrong dates. I’ll just hide out at Theo’s house until you get home so I don’t run into anyone.”
Vivian shook her head slowly.
“That’s . . . brilliant, actually.”
Maddie curtsied.
“I have a lot of experience in trying to keep secrets, you know.”
Vivian laughed and swatted her out of the room.
Vivian tried to help Julia with the dishes, and when Julia laughed at her and shooed her out of the kitchen, she took her tea and book to her favorite chair in the sitting room.
Would she hear from Malcolm today? Would she hear from him at all before she saw him on the twenty-eighth? He’d asked for her phone number before he’d left the previous night, and she’d given it to him, but there had been people around and they kept getting interrupted, so she’d forgotten to ask him for his.
But it already felt strange to know she wouldn’t see him for three days, and might not even have any contact with him at all.
She laughed at herself. Five days in a row with a man and it was like she was addicted to him. What had gotten into her? She was acting very silly, but somehow, she didn’t mind at all. She smiled and opened her book.
Malcolm enjoyed his drive back to London from Sandringham a lot more than he’d enjoyed his drive there. It was Christmas Day, the sun was shining, everyone in the government was on holiday until early January and couldn’t bother him, and soon he’d be spending five straight days with Vivian in London.
He smiled when he thought about the night before. With the exception of his misstep with Vivian’s travel arrangements, that had been the most fun Christmas Eve he’d had in a long time. He hoped Vivian really did forgive him for doing that, and hadn’t just decided to stay with him in London because her daughter had intervened. He was pretty sure from what he knew of her that she wasn’t the type to just go along with something she didn’t want to do, but just in case, he needed to make some excellent plans for the two of them, to ensure she had a great time. He already had a few ideas—he’d