Mistletoe & Hollywood (4 page)

“Nice to meet you.” I smiled, my eyes suspiciously watery and my nerves evaporating into the morning mist.

Jack, smiling, took my hand again, threading his fingers through mine.

Tiredness and lack of warm clothing made me shiver in the chilly winter morning.

“Gracious, it’s freezing, and you’re both in T-shirts. Where on earth is your luggage? Hurry inside. Go sit by the Aga and warm up, and we’ll have a spot of tea. I can’t believe you came straight here! I’m thrilled. Go on with you.” She motioned toward the house then turned to Nigel who was waiting quietly by the car after taking our hand luggage out. “Hi Nigel, darling. Will you stay and have some tea?” Well, now that we’d had a split second of awkward silence it seemed Charlotte was making up for lost talking time.

Jack let go of my hand and slung his arm around my shoulders. Pulling me in tight, he kissed the top of my head and then guided me toward the front door. “Come on.” He was positively radiating giddiness, and I nestled into his glow and let him lead me into another part of his life.

Stepping through the low front door, Jack had to duck slightly.

“People used to be way smaller in the old days,” I surmised. “How old is this place?”

The flagstone floor was worn and uneven, even undulating into smooth dips that were almost bowl-like in their shape. The smell of wood polish and waxed rain jackets met us just inside, and the walls were a mix of gleaming wood paneling in parts and whitewashed plaster in others.

“I don’t know. A couple hundred years maybe? It was a farmhouse. Kind of still is, if you count my mum’s chickens and her gardening. Most of the fields that used to be with this house were sold to surrounding farms though.”

Walking farther into the dim glow of the interior, the smell morphed into something deliciously edible, spiced with cinnamon and clove. The lighting came from a few leaded glass windows and some lamps, as there didn’t seem to be any overhead lights anywhere. I had stepped back in time almost. It was so cozy and comforting inside, I felt like I’d crawled into a gorgeous warm blanket at the end of an icy trek.

Jack led me down a short hall to a large spacious kitchen that was lighter than the front part of the house. The back wall was a series of windows, obviously newer but in keeping with the style of the home. A large farm table dwarfed the room. On the other side of it stood the source of all the heat: an old-fashioned Aga oven with a warm cream finish stood proudly against the far wall.

“Wow,” I said, letting go of Jack’s hand and walking around the table. “I think this is an original.” And the source of the delicious Christmas smell, I believed.

“It looks like it. But I bought it for Mum last year when her old one finally gave up. She almost refused. Didn’t want me spending that on her. But, I won.” He grinned.

“It’s stunning.” Having looked at them online over the last few years while dreaming of Butler family home renovations, I knew how expensive they were. I saw the kettle off to the side and placed it on the burner closest to me.

Jack came around and stopped close behind me. His hands settled on my waist and then slipped around my belly.

He dropped his head forward onto my shoulder. “Thank you,” he breathed.

“For?” I asked, folding my arms over his to keep him against me as I settled my head back against him.

“Making us come straight here.” He turned his face and pressed his mouth under my ear, making me shiver. “Being here with me at all. Doing all of this with me. Being in my life. Being you.” His mouth found my skin again, his voice husky.

“Well, me too. Thank you for bringing me here. Your mom, she’s…” I swallowed against a hard ball that suddenly seemed stuck in my throat. My eyes stung. Well, she was a mother. His mother. She adored her child.

And she loved me because he did.

And really? Love and beauty just seemed to radiate off her. I didn’t realize how much I missed the feeling of being loved like that by a mother, or grandmother, whom I adored and respected. It suddenly blindsided me. Nostalgia, not so much for my own mom, but Nana, slid over me. But my own mother too. I squeezed Jack’s arms tighter around me. I was so grateful he had her. With everything he’d been exposed to growing up, she’d protected him as best she could. Made him who he was today. “She’s beautiful,” I finally finished thickly, quietly.

“PINK?” I LAUGHED,
meeting the mirth in Charlotte’s eyes. “Tell me you have pictures.”

She stood, ignoring Jack’s warning look. “You better believe it. Right back.” Charlotte made her way over the cream carpeted floor of the cozy living room to the wall of shelves. The room was bathed in gorgeous lamp and firelight, the gloomy day still not brightening outside. A large Christmas tree adorned in sparkling baubles and twinkling white lights added to the glow. We all had full bellies, Nigel having been persuaded to stay for an early lunch of shepherd’s pie and red wine. Now we were drinking warm British tea again.

We were both exhausted, and the wine made me sleepier, but we were trying our best to stay occupied to avoid the jet lag that was sure to hit us.

“Mum,” Jack groaned. He leaned back, his T-shirt stretching across his muscled chest, still looking indecently sexy. He desperately needed a shave, and I desperately needed to feel his stubble before he did so. Preferably on other parts of my body than just my hands. “Please stop, Mum. Keri Ann doesn’t need to see my school play photos. Least of all when I was dressed as the pink snake in
Alice in Wonderland
.”

“Oh, but I do.” I snorted, overcome with the giggles again. I squeezed his hand where it sat on my thigh. “Did no one ever call them out for being overtly homo-erotic? I mean, pink worms? Seriously? I don’t believe there are supposed to be pink worms in that book.”

“Snakes,” argued Jack. But his mouth couldn’t contain his laughter either.

Personally, I wanted a shower. Our luggage had been delivered a few hours ago, and I was desperate to get out of these traveling clothes. “Snake, worm, whatever. And it was your acting debut… this I
have
to see.” I looked over at Nigel.

His mouth had dropped open. “Blow me down,” Nigel muttered. “You’re right. Mr. Busby, the drama master, came out of the closet a few years after you left, mate. It was all the talk. To think? He was subtly trying to let everyone know even then. Making the boys prance about like little pink willies.”

“I wouldn’t call that subtle,” said Jack and winked at me as we both cracked up.

“So you went to Jack’s school too?” I asked Nigel.

He nodded. “A few years ahead of this guy, obviously. I’d left by the time he was there. But Mr. Busby taught me too. Saw him once several years later at a gay club in London.” Nigel’s eyes shifted to the left, and he suddenly flushed to the roots of his hair.

“Nooo,” said Jack, incredulously. “You and Mr. Busby?”

“Stop it,” Nigel snapped and glanced at Charlotte’s back. He busied himself taking another sip of his tea. “Anyway, it was just the once,” he added.

“Please tell me you were… of age?” I affected a dramatic whisper, emulating Jack’s good-natured teasing.

Nigel grinned. “Well, I was, but I still called him
Mr. Busby
.” He gave a little shoulder wiggle and twitched his eyebrow several times in a lascivious manner, joining in the fun.

“Eeeeeeew!” Jack howled. “Nige. Really?”

I let out a huge chuckle.

“Here they are,” sang Charlotte as she plopped back on the chair on the other side of Jack and laid the photo album on the table.

“I can’t believe we have to do a baby album on the first day,” Jack groaned. “Surely we could’ve worked up to this.”

“No way. This is fantastic.”

The album had pictures ranging from Jack as a baby, through a toothy toddler, a gangly little boy, and then barely a picture of his teenage years, until his mom had started adding newspaper clippings of his early acting accomplishments. Charlotte turned the pages, slowly, almost to the end. “Well, after a while there were too many things to cut out and stick in here. My baby boy had made it.” Although I had a feeling Charlotte had a box somewhere stuffed with all Jack’s clippings, I couldn’t imagine she’d let one pass her by.

Jack leaned over and gave his mother’s shoulder a squeeze. She leaned into him.

“Oh, I worried so. Me being so far away and you being at the mercy of all those… vampires.” She sniffed, then laughed at herself. “I’m so glad you came home. Both of you,” she added to me.

“Thank you for making me feel welcome,” I murmured, feeling a little overwhelmed. Jack turned his hand that was on my thigh palm up and squeezed my hand. “Looks like I should get some real pictures of you and Jack this Christmas, instead of newspaper clippings, so you can add to the album,” I offered.

“Oh yes, that would be wonderful!”

Nigel stood. “All right, you lot. A man can’t sit around on his arse all day. There’s work to be done. I’m picking up some rich Russian footballer in a few hours. You’ve got my mobile, eh? Just gimme a shout when you need a ride.”

“Yeah, man. Thanks.” Jack stood too.

“I know you said you’d like to take Keri Ann to your friend Max’s place down in Hastings for lunch one day. That still on?”

Jack shifted uneasily and glanced at me. “Um, I don’t know. It might be a bit much if we’re seen out.”

“Oh,” said Nigel. “Well, I can understand that. Max’ll be disappointed though.”

Did Jack feel like he couldn’t do anything when I was with him because I was so leery of the press? I hated that for him. Like I was holding him back from going out and doing fun things. Especially seeing some old friends of his. But I couldn’t deny I was nervous we’d blow our cover and our peaceful plans for Christmas would be shot. I resolved to bring it up with him later.

We all made our way back through the house to see Nigel off.

“You can always borrow mine or Jeff’s car if you want to go for a drive or something,” Charlotte offered. “You don’t have to wait on Nigel.”

“Where is Jeff?” I asked. I’d heard a lot from Jack about the man who’d made Charlotte so happy.

“At work, I imagine,” said Jack.

Charlotte nodded. “He’s a solicitor. Works in the city still. Though I wish he’d cut back on his hours. He’s up at five every morning to get the train in. But he gets home by six, so that’s good.”

We waved Nigel off, and then Jack grabbed our stuff that was still piled by the door. “Where are we sleeping?”

“Oh right, come on. You probably want to freshen up. Then Jack, you can take Keri Ann on a walk around the fields, show her the land. Maybe it will help give you guys a second wind so you can stay up until Jeff gets home.”

“Sounds great. I’d love a hot shower,” I said and literally felt Jack willing me to catch his eye. No freaking way. I didn’t need to have hot naked showers in my head when I looked at him right now in front of his mother. My cheeks warmed as I flushed. It had to be so obvious that Jack and I were jonesing for some alone time. But, God, I didn’t even know what the sleeping arrangements were. What if Charlotte wanted us in separate bedrooms? Surely she wouldn’t.

CHARLOTTE TROTTED UP
the wooden stairs, ahead of me. “Don’t try these old stairs in socks. They’re so smooth and worn with age, you’ll go flying. I even slipped in shoes once. Anyway, maybe save your hot shower for after the walk, you’ll probably want one later. Not sure how much capacity the old boiler has for multiple showers all day.”

“I wish you’d—” Jack started.

“No more of that, Jack,” Charlotte admonished.

I glanced back at him, my eyebrows raised. “Don’t tell me. Jack wants to pay to replace your hot water heater,” I stated as we followed.

He shrugged his shoulders, lips pursing as if to say, “And?”

Charlotte turned and rolled her eyes. “Of course he does. And I keep telling him when the time comes, Jeff and I can handle it.”

She showed us to a pretty floral bedroom with elegant green accents and botanical prints on the wall. There were two big windows with the same view as the kitchen, over the fields. “Uh, so um.” She flushed, and my gut cinched tight with nerves. Dang, this was going to be worse than the birds and the bees talk my mom had tried when I was twelve. “You’re adults and I’ll leave you to make your own choices. This is what we call the Green Room. This bathroom here leads into the Blue Room, which is also made up. That’s where Jack usually stays. But, uh, obviously, uh—”