Chapter 6
L ucerne turned to Darro at the kitchen table, concern wrinkling her smooth brow. They were having some tea after supper. Angus had worked late and stayed to eat because Poppy was working on a ‘Christmas project’ as she put it. Ainsley hadn’t come in for dinner, so there was just the three of them. “Ainsley still seems a little off, ye did talk to her the other day, right? I think Dal was pretty rough on her.”
Darro nodded and rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. “Aye, I did talk to her, but I can’t say he was wrong. He’s been putting up with her attitude fer the last few weeks.”
Lucerne’s eyes flashed. “If ye all weren’t taking bets on whether or not Dal could ‘tame her’ , as ye men put it, then maybe she wouldn’t feel like she was being backed into a corner.”
“She doesn’t even know about the pool,” Angus protested.
She eyed him in disbelief. “Seriously, Angus? Don’t be na?ve, of course she knows. Everyone on Neamh, and probably in Inverness too, knows it. The better question would be how could she not know?”
Angus looked flummoxed. “I never meant to cause her a problem, we were just teasin’ young Dallas.”
“With all of ye men placing bets like dogs in that tasteless poker game painting, it’s a small wonder Dal even had a chance,” she scolded. “I predict he won’t be staying around Neamh now except to do his job until Ainsley has left. If she was even slightly interested beneath all that lady of the manor act that she’s been putting on, she doesn’t stand a chance now.”
Darro stared. “Do ye think she has an interest? Because she told me she didn’t.”
“If she did, she still wouldn’t fall right into his lap,” Lucerne protested. “The lass has her pride, as any woman should.”
“I think he’d like that,” Angus couldn’t help teasing. “The lad’s got the right idea anyway.”
Lucerne rolled her eyes. “Leave it to ye, Angus.” She headed for the door. “I’m going to feed the baby.”
The men watched her leave and Angus turned to Darro. “So, ye made the lass apologize. That’s it?”
Darro nodded cautiously. “Aye, that’s it. Wasn’t that enough?”
Angus scratched his chin. “Well...I’ve seen the time when ye have done more.”
Darro shook his head. “Not my jurisdiction anymore, Angus. Ainsley is a grown woman now and capable of making her own decisions. I’m not her disciplinarian, she’s too old fer that.”
Angus gawped, then hooted. “Since when is a lass too old to go over a knee?”
“Never,” Darro replied with a grin. “Just not my knee. Now it will be up to the man she chooses to take care of her and protect her in that way. I fully agree with Dal’s sentiment, but he didn’t take the initiative to do that. Mayhap he isn’t the one fer her.”
“Well, he did say if she wasn’t the boss’s sister...” His voice trailed off.
Darro chuckled. “Ye and I both know that wouldn’t have stopped us.”
Angus nodded. “Of course not. Then again, the world is changin’. Young men and women don’t react the same way anymore. Too much change if ye ask me.”
Darro snorted. “I’m not close to your age, Angus, and it still didn’t stop me.”
“Yer a different breed.”
“Mayhap. Then again, mayhap not so different. Mica is a younger man and ye heard him when Pauley wanted to go into Kelly Woods alone.” Mica was Pauley’s partner in the police force in Inverness.
“He’s one of us and so is Jamie,” Angus replied, nodding his head. “I know my oldest son is too, but I’m not so sure about Ben. I think he’s still wearin’ those rose-colored glasses in his marriage. He only sees what he wants to see.”
Darro’s eyes narrowed. “Aye, I can understand that. I highly doubt that Dottie made that lasagna, especially since she blushes every time anyone mentions it.”
“I’m afraid I have to agree with ye on this one,” Angus responded dryly. “She’s chewin’ that thumbnail back to the quick these days. The lad needs to start pickin’ up on things a little better. No one is sayin’ it, but I know we are all thinkin’ the same thing. Who do ye suppose made it?”
“Are ye certain Poppy didn’t make it fer her?”
Angus snorted. “I’d know if she did.”
“Ye sure about that?” Darro teased.
“Of course I’m sure,” Angus snorted. “Besides, ye weren’t here when we heated up the goods. Poppy was just as surprised as everyone else. I know she was wonderin’ if we’d have to throw it away and just pretend that we ate it.”
“Ah, so the plot thickens. Another Christmas secret to unravel.”
“Christmas is always full of secrets,” Angus chortled. “Some good...some not so good, but it’s always a good time figurin’ them out.” He picked up his tea glass for a toast. “Here’s to Christmas secrets.”
Darro chuckled and bumped his glass against Angus’s. “To Christmas secrets.”
***
T oni was pushing her shopping cart through the busy aisles of Nesbitt’s Market the following Monday when she spied Dal checking out steaks. She knew him of course, through Dottie. The three of them had some fun together back in the day. Still did once in a while with Ben and Dottie. She pushed her cart up beside his. “Anything good?”
Dal looked up and smiled. “Hiya, Antonia.”
“Ye must be the only person that still calls me Antonia,” she mocked. “Everyone else just calls me Toni. What are ye doing here?”
“I like Antonia, it’s a great lasses name. Tony is a man’s name,” he teased. “I’m shopping fer some grill food. What does it look like?”
She looked skyward praying for patience. “Grill food? It’s 7 degrees outside. How are ye going to grill?”
He chuckled. “Easy. Mum has one of those indoor grills, like a George Forman grill. Ye remember those?”
She nodded. “Aye, but I thought ye were staying at Neamh and taking yer meals there during the winter months. Ye know...all that travel back and forth on crappy roads and all that? Ye did it last year.”
Dal picked up a package with a particularly nice sirloin in it and added it to his cart. “I’m off now until after New Years. I’ll be staying with Mum fer the holidays.”
“Are ye going to the Christmas party at Neamh on Wednesday?” Toni eyeballed the steaks but ultimately turned them down. She was more of a chicken and turkey girl. And of course, seafood. She loved seafood.
“Probably fer a while, but I doubt I’ll stay long,” he replied, grabbing a package of hamburgers.
“What’s wrong? Did Cupid’s arrow miss its target?” she asked shrewdly. Dottie had told her that his pursuit of the lovely Ainsley MacCandish wasn’t going well.
Dal shrugged. “It was just a fun way to pass the time. Not a big deal. She’s headed back to Boston after New Year’s so it’s a moot point anyway.”
Toni’s eyes narrowed. Was it her imagination or was there a wistful note in his tone? He was eyeballing the meat like a tiger deciding which one to grab and avoiding making eye contact with her. “She dumped ye.”
He flashed a look of extreme irritation her way. “We weren’t together so she couldn’t dump me,” he snapped.
“Then ye dumped her.”
“What did I just say? We were never together so there was no dumping fer either of us. Besides, my love life or the lack of it isn’t any of yer business, Antonia,” he chided.
Toni knew he was lying but she didn’t press the issue. “That’s okay, keep yer secrets. We all have secrets we don’t want to share.”
He seemed to grab that remark like a lifeline. “Aye, even Ben has a secret. The funny part is that he still thinks it’s a secret,” he chortled. “I caught him coming away from Thistlewind last week. So, when I went in fer a cup of coffee after he left and I asked Poppy about why he was there. She admitted that Ben was taking some cooking lessons and was planning on bringing something to the party at Neamh. So, I’ll be going at least to see what he’s bringing. This ought to be good.”
Toni’s trouble alert reared up. “Did she say what he’s bringing?”
“Nay, just that it’s a favorite treat of Dottie’s at Christmas time. I have no idea what that is because Dottie loves food period. She just doesn’t know how to cook it.” Then he narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t tell anyone I told ye that. Especially Dottie,” he warned.
Toni held up both hands to ward him off. “I won’t tell anyone. It’ll be our secret.”
“See that ye don’t.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to get going, Mum is waiting in the car.”
“Have fun at the party,” she called after him.
As he headed to the checkout, Toni hurried through her shopping. She was meeting Dottie in just over an hour for her last lesson in belly dancing. The routine her friend was going to do for Ben was already perfect, she just wanted one last practice.
But Toni had a sinking feeling that Dottie’s Christmas secret was about to blow wide open. She shot her a text telling her she needed to get to the studio as soon as possible. They needed to talk.
Thirty minutes later, Toni parked her car and brought her groceries into the little kitchen. The sudden ring of the bell over the studio door signaled her that Dottie had taken her seriously. She hurried to the front door and unlocked it, but kept the closed sign up. It was Christmas week; she was only taking special clients with holiday reasons.
“Get in here,” she hissed as she hurried back to the kitchen.
Dottie hurried after her. “What is going on, Toni?”
“Do ye want some tea?” Toni asked as she put her groceries away, slamming cabinet doors and dumping stuff in the freezer and fridge. There were just three bags, so it only took a minute.
“Nay, I have an energy drink.” Dottie held up her thermos.
“Well, I need a drink,” Toni replied, fanning her face as she sat the teakettle on to boil. “Let me sit down, and then I’ll tell ye what I know.”
Dottie giggled. “Don’t tell me yer mum and dad have decided to come home fer Christmas. That’s the only thing I can think of that would get ye in such a dither.”
“Nay,” she mumbled, reaching for her teabag and mug. “It’s not my mum and dad, thank the Lord. It’s worse.”
“What can possibly be worse in yer life?”
“The problem isn’t in my life—it’s in yers.”
“Mine? What about mine?” Dottie jumped up from the table and went to the cabinet where Toni was dumping sugar into her cup before she added water.
“I’ll tell ye in a minute, just let my tea water get hot,” she insisted stubbornly, wanting to be in a position to offer comfort if Dottie fainted or something.
Dottie huffed and stomped back to the table and dropped into a chair. “Ye are the most frustrating person sometimes.”
The kettle was barely beginning to scream when Toni yanked it from the stove and poured the lukewarm water over her teabag in the mug. It would have to do; she needed a drink. Picking up her mug, she walked back to Dottie while the teabag was steeping.
Sitting down, she faced her friend across the table. “It’s about Ben,” she announced.
Dottie gasped and leaped up. “What about Ben? Is he cheating? What do ye know? I swear, if he’s cheating on me...”
“Nay, he’s not cheating on ye,” Toni yelped. “Will ye just listen?” Then she explained what Dal had told her in the market regarding making a treat with Poppy’s help, but not that Ben was taking cooking lessons. After all, she was trying to keep part of it secret. “So, what is yer favorite Christmas treat, Dottie?” she finally asked.
Dottie looked shell-shocked as the implications hit her. “Nay, it can’t be true,” she gasped. “Do ye really think Ben would make Clootie Dumpling’s fer the party?”
“It’s all supposed to be a surprise fer ye, Dottie. What do ye think it means?”
“It means if Ben is really making Clootie Dumplings, then he’ll know how much work and time goes into them. He’ll know I couldn’t have made them because there will be no evidence of it around the cottage. Toni, we don’t even own a bamboree! And I’ve never used a Clootie bag and I don’t even know what the ingredients are. It won’t take him long to figure out something’s fishy.” Dottie was wringing her hands by this time.
“Can’t ye borrow one from yer mom and...and...just set it on the stove or something?” Toni waved her hands around, looking for inspiration.
“That would never work, he’s already watching me because he’s worried about me. Hiding things from him isn’t the easiest thing to do.” Dottie dropped back into her chair and groaned. “This can’t be happening. Gawd, I have the absolute worst luck. What did I do to deserve this? I should have just confessed the other night when Ben was spanking me. Then this would all be over with.”
Toni sighed in sympathy. “Ben spanked ye? Fer real? First time ever, right?”
Dottie chewed on her less abused thumbnail. “Fer real.” She held up her thumbs. “All this anxiety is making me cannibalize my nails down to the quick,” she wailed. “And he notices when I do it. He knows something is wrong.”
“Then stop eating yer fingers, ye nit.”
“I can’t help it when I’m worried,” she whined. “I admitted part of my worries because I got too flippant with him fer once, the part where I jumped on the crazy train and volunteered fer food assignments, but not the rest.”
“Aye, sounds like ye missed a good opportunity. I mean, how much worse could it be? Ye were already in position and wouldn’t have to dread it coming, so why didn’t ye?”
Dottie ran her hands down her face and then glared at her friend. “Mayhap because my very good friend told me I could get away with it? And then there’s his belt just ready and handy when he gets furious at my admission,” she added sarcastically.
Toni held up her hands. “Whoa, now. I never said that...not exactly.”
Dottie jumped up and began pacing. “Aye, ye certainly did. Ye even told me ye’d help me ease the magnificent dishes I prepared into something not as magnificent but still edible. And I should just buy magnificent once in a while,” she practically shouted. “But even that will cost me more than I want to pay and it will be harder and harder to keep Ben from finding out.”
Toni eyed Dottie, wishing there was something she could do to help. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave and all that,” she finally said with a sigh. “The way I see it, ye still have the same decision ye have always had.”
Dottie stopped pacing and glared at her. “And that is?”
“See this through or fall over Ben’s lap and beg fer mercy. Maybe he’ll go easy on ye if ye tell him before he catches ye out in a lie. That’s the way I’d go, I think.”
“Ye think? Ye have never had to worry about it,” Dottie snapped.
Toni nodded and stirred her tea. “Aye, but don’t ye think it’s better to tell him than to be caught in the lie? It is Christmas after all. Maybe he’ll go easy on ye.”
“Probably. It’s just so hard to admit when you’ve been the world’s biggest idiot,” she grumbled.
Toni stood up. “Well, do ye still want to practice that sexy belly dance one more time? Ye could always give him that surprise first, then tell him.”
Dottie sighed. “I guess there could be worse ways fer him to find out.” She hauled herself out of the chair. “I’ll go change my clothes.”
Toni sighed and shook her head as Dottie disappeared into the bathroom. She thought about her latest boyfriend, the one who had broken up with her just a few days ago. A real class act to drop someone right before Christmas. “At least Dottie has someone who cares enough about her to spank her, even if she doesn’t like it,” she mumbled. “I wonder if I can return Lothario’s gifts?”
***
B en backed his pickup truck to the front door of Thistlewind and waved at Poppy when she appeared in the doorway. The supplies he’d purchased to make the Clootie Dumplings were in the heavy plastic box he kept in the back to protect groceries and other things from the weather during the winter months. He jumped out of the cab and went around to the tailgate to let it down. “I think I got everything, Poppy,” he shot at her with a wide grin. She gave him a thumbs up sign.
Lifting the lid on the box, he laid it back out of the way and peered down inside to see if the shopping bags had shifted. One bag had fallen over so he set it upright and grabbed at the can of baking powder that rolled into the corner of the box. He picked it up and saw a dirty piece of paper lying crumpled into the corner. It looked like a special type of receipt, not your normal cash register tape, but with part of it missing. He smoothed it out so he could read it. The total amount handwritten at the bottom was staggering. Almost 400 pounds!
He smoothed it out some more, trying to make out the faded ink and finally realized it looked like ‘ Lasagna with garlic sides’ ...149.00 pounds. The top with the vendor was torn off, so that was the only purchase listed, but there must have been more since the bottom total was higher. He frowned, staring at it until the penny finally dropped. Lasagna?
Lasagna!
“Cripes,” he muttered, stunned and unable to believe his eyes. Did this mean what he thought it meant?
“Do you need some help?” Poppy asked, peering at the paper in his hand. She suddenly gasped. “Ben, what is that?”
Ben stuffed it in the pocket of his jeans with a growl. “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” He handed her a bag of groceries. “Ye take this and I’ll get the bamboree pot and the other bag,” he added. “Ye don’t even have a coat on, ye shouldn’t have come out here.”
“You parked six feet from the door, I can handle it that far,” she replied, hurrying back into the warmth of the home.
Ben slammed the door down on the box, carried his load into the house, and set it on the kitchen table. His mind was working furiously and not liking the answers it was coming up with. Surely Dottie wouldn’t have paid for food to be prepared? Would she? She said she had only volunteered for one night and a dish for the party. The one night was over, that left only the party day after tomorrow. What else could she have possibly ordered that cost 250 pounds?
“Ben?”
He looked up and realized he was at the coat rack, had hung up his coat, taken off his shoes, and was still standing there. “Huh? Oh, sorry, Poppy. I guess I’m a bit distracted at the moment.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Poppy asked quietly, taking the ingredients out of the bags and setting them on the counter. Her eyes were soft with sympathy and Ben knew she’d put it together and come to the same conclusion he had.
He padded into the kitchen area in his sock feet. “Where can ye even buy prepared food that costs that much?” he asked in bewilderment. “If that’s what this means anyway.”
“High end restaurant chefs will sometimes do it if you know them personally. Helo’s Fine Catering in Inverness will take orders, but they charge a literal fortune for their dishes.”
Ben dropped into a chair. “I can’t believe Dottie would do that, but I also see the evidence with my own eyes.”
Poppy crossed to the counter and took out two mugs. “Would you like some coffee? Or some tea?”
“Aye, coffee would be nice this morning, thanks.”
“She must have her reasons, Ben. If that’s where her lasagna came from, try not to be too hard on her. Maybe she feels inferior in the cooking area because it seems to be such a huge expectation of a woman. Not every woman enjoys cooking and could care less if that’s one of her skills. Dottie is extremely smart, capable, and could probably write a program on how to cook a dish, she just doesn’t care to prepare it.”
“Aye, I know that,” Ben replied heavily. “I just wish she’d told me.”
Poppy raised one eyebrow. “You really didn’t know?”
Ben felt a stab of guilt and sighed. “Aye, ye are right. I guess I did know. I just didn’t know how much she hated it. Or maybe I just didn’t want to believe her. Part of this is probably my fault.”
“If that’s what it is. Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem,” she replied.
“I know, but I’ll still be checking this out. That’s money we could have used fer other things,” he growled in response.
“Do you still want to make the dumplings?”
He nodded. “Aye, I do. I find I’m very curious as to how they are made. I’ve actually enjoyed the simple things ye have taught me so far, Poppy. I never thought I would, but now that I’ve tried a few things, I don’t mind it.”
She chuckled. “Finish your coffee then, and we’ll get started. You are going to be here fer a while.”
“Oh...do Clootie Dumplings freeze well?”
“Yes, they do. Most things freeze well, especially food already prepared. It makes it a lot easier to prepare a head and a great way to save left-overs.”
Ben swallowed the last of his coffee and stood up. “I’m ready. Wash hands first, right?”
Poppy chuckled. “You are a fast learner.”
Ben tried to set aside the shock and dismay of finding that awful receipt. His gut told him Dottie had done it, but he would give her the benefit of the doubt before he gave her a good spanking for spending that kind of money without checking with him first. They had a budget in place that they both agreed on and adhered to. Why had she done this?
He couldn’t think of a good enough answer to justify her actions, and this time she wouldn’t be allowed to put him off when he asked questions. Something had led her down this road and he wanted to know exactly what it was. She would stay over his lap until he got down to the bottom line of truth, whatever that might be.
No more deceit.
***
A ngus opened the door to his home and sniffed the air in appreciation. “Cripes, somethin’ smells good around here,” he said when he spied Poppy in the kitchen.
Poppy whirled around, looking startled to see him. “Angus, what are you doing here?” she exclaimed.
“Can’t a man surprise his wife with a visit over lunch?” he teased as he stripped off his outer gear and padded over for a kiss. “Why are ye lookin’ so guilty, lass? Someone hidin’ in yer closet?”
Poppy blushed and put her arms around his neck. “Of course not. I wouldn’t put him in the closet, the shower would be a lot better.” She reached up and kissed him on the lips with a giggle.
Angus landed a sharp spank on her backside. “Saucy brat,” he growled, taking her mouth for a deeper kiss.
Poppy just melted more into him and he rubbed the sting out and patted her bum. “What are ye cookin’? It smells like Clootie Dumplin’s.”
“It is Clootie Dumplings,” she replied. “For the Sangster Christmas party.”
Angus got the distinct impression she was hiding something from the twinkle in her eye, but he couldn’t see what it would be at the moment. “Did ye have anythin’ in mind fer lunch? Lucerne was itchin’ to get out of the house because she hasn’t been out since she came home from the hospital. Darro took her into town fer a few last-minute things and Ainsley is watchin’ the baby and the other two. All of which leaves me on my own fer lunch today.”
“I’m just finishing the dishes but I have some sausage and cabbage rolls from last night if you want to reheat them for us,” she replied.
“Aye, I’d be happy to.” After putting the glass dish into the microwave on reheat, he grabbed some paper plates and silverware to put on the table. “What else have ye been up to today? Anythin’ I should know about?” He was actually teasing her but when the pink started creeping into her cheeks, he was instantly alert.
“Not much,” she replied, turning her back on him to put the last pan in the bottom of the cabinet.
Her bum in the air was too good a target to pass up so he swatted her firmly and then turned her around to face him when she gasped and popped up. “Yer blushin’, lass, and that means ye have been up to somethin’. What is it?”
Suddenly she folded her arms and took on that stubborn look that meant she wasn’t talking. “It’s a secret, I can’t tell you.”
“Is it a Christmas secret?”
She nodded, her brown eyes now twinkling. “That it is, so don’t ask me anymore about it.”
“Is it fer me?” he asked with a sly grin.
She laughed at him. “Angus, you are just like a kid. Not everything is about you, my dear husband.”
The microwave dinged behind him and he turned around to take out the sausage rolls. That’s when he spied the crumpled-up piece of paper sitting by the biscuit jar. Curious, he picked it up. “What’s this?”
Poppy tried to grab it from him, but he held it above her head as he studied it. Then his eyes popped. “Is this what I think it is?”
“That’s not something you were supposed to see,” she replied indignantly.
Angus narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t tell me ye spent money on professional food.” Then the lightning struck and he groaned. “Dottie?”
Poppy sighed. “Yes, it must be Dottie’s. But neither you nor I are supposed to know about it, so please don’t say anything to Ben. This is something they have to sort out together.”
“I’d be doin’ some sortin’ all right,” Angus declared with a snort. “And it would start right over my lap. Since I already know about it, ye might as well tell me what it’s doin’ in our kitchen.”
Poppy nodded and sat down at the table. “Ben must have left it here accidentally.”
“Ben? What was Ben doin’ here?”
Determination lit up her pretty eyes. “That is part of his Christmas secret and I won’t be explaining that, Angus Sangster. You will find out soon enough.”
Angus lifted one eyebrow but he knew he was beat. Poppy wouldn’t tell him because no one had to tell their holiday secrets. He would never force her.
Christmas rules were sacred.