Two Purple Gloves (A Pear Street Christmas #2)

CHAPTER ONE

“Hyper Organisation.”

LISA

“H e better have done it already, I’m rubbish at keeping secrets.” Harry fusses nervously as he pins up a particularly stubborn garland that has fallen down for the thousandth time today.

I smile at my husband in his fluster and place a soothing hand on his chest. “Jake said he was asking her yesterday.”

“Then why haven’t we heard anything?” Harry’s jewel green eyes go wide, nostrils flaring the way they do when he’s annoyed but trying not to show it, not that he’s very good at keeping it to himself.

“Probably because Nel wanted to tell you in person,” I say in amusement.

His shoulders sag and he pouts, looking so much like our boys that I have to laugh at him. “Fine. But if they get here and they’re not engaged, I’m going to spend the next few days wound up like the car we bought Oscar for Christmas.”

A head pops out from the living room as our youngest, Oscar, hangs on the side of the doorframe. “What did you get me for Christmas?”

Hands on hips, I give Harry an unimpressed look and he can only turn his lips down in a helpless gesture. “Nothing but coal and socks,” I tell Oscar with a serious mum-face.

He narrows his gaze and slinks back into the living room to join the extended family waiting for us to join them. I face Harry and place my hands on his chest, smiling sweetly back up at him. It’s nice to have a moment just the two of us with the house full and three kids now that Mary is here, but we haven’t had two minutes in what feels like forever.

Harry looks down at me, a slow smile spreading across his face. I usually love being the subject of Harry Forest’s attention, he really looks at me. His eyes dart back and forth as he takes in the features of my face as though committing them to memory, like I’m a piece of art to be savoured. His arms wrap around my waist, and he drops his forehead to mine. “You look beautiful,” he says gently.

My smile becomes forced, my cheeks warming as I look down. There was a time that men would call me beautiful, and I’d believe them. Arrogant? Maybe. But I’ve just always been aware of how the world sees me.

I’m tall, naturally slim, naturally blonde, great tits, good skin, and a perfectly symmetrical face. When I first met Harry at university, I was in my prime and getting noticed by a lot of guys, but Harry immediately saw more than the packaging. Unfortunately, after twelve years of marriage and three kids, I’m not feeling all that confident anymore.

Baby number one was easy to bounce back from, my figure seemed to spring back into shape like nothing ever happened. After Oscar was born, my tummy slowly settled back to flat but my boobs grew and never deflated, although they hung a little lower. Mary had to be evicted via c-section leaving me with a little belly overhang that now refuses to sod off.

My hair fell out in handfuls and what was once thick and shiny is now thin and dull. I breast-fed my first two children for their first year but after six months with Mary, my milk dried up and my boobs shrunk and dropped even further. I have wrinkles and grey hairs—at least I would if I hadn’t dyed them. For the first time in my life, I’m feeling self-conscious and it’s throwing me off balance.

“Thank you,” I mumble, looking to the floor. Harry crooks his finger under my chin and guides my face up to look at him, planting a tender kiss on my lips. Twelve years of marriage, fifteen years of sleeping together, and my heart still flutters .

Before we can try for anything more than a light peck, the doorbell sounds. Harry’s eyes go wide, and my adorable husband wears his excited nerves on his face as clear as day. “They’re here,” he whispers before darting to the porchway and opening the door.

I stand by his side with one arm around his waist so I can pinch him sharply if he says something stupid. You can never be too careful where Harry is involved. On the other side, Harry’s sister, Nel, and his best friend, Jake, stand hand in hand, smiling at us.

Nel is made up beautifully if a little heavy, which makes me think she’s just done a makeup tutorial on her social media account. Beneath her camel coat, she wears a deep red, satin shirt that hugs her curvaceous figure and plunges so low that a fair amount of cleavage is on display. As I focus on her ample cleavage, highlighted by that plunging neckline, my attention is interrupted when she adjusts the waistband of her black trousers. I feel a quick nudge from Harry alerting me that he too sees the sparkle from the new diamond ring on her finger.

I step forward and wrap my arms around my sister-in-law. “You’re here! You look fantastic.”

She squeezes me back, so much more affectionate than she used to be. Until she spent Christmas with us last year, I was always desperate to be closer with Nel, but she’d been reserved and tended to pull away. After she and Harry lost their parents, she agreed to spend last Christmas with us, ended up getting together with Harry’s best friend, and over the last year has integrated herself into our family, exactly where she should have been all along.

“So do you,” she says with a smile as she steps back.

Harry and Jake are hugging like long-lost soul mates as Nel and I break apart and we exchange a look, rolling our eyes with amusement. When the boys let each other go, Nel and Jake take their shoes and coats off and I can feel Harry practically vibrating next to me .

“What?” Nel asks, noticing him staring a hole through the side of her face.

“Have you got any news for us?” Harry bounces slightly on the balls of his feet, trying to temper the big emotions he wants to let out.

She glares at him but the smile fighting to break free is obvious. “You couldn’t let me get a drink first?” When we say nothing, she holds her hand up to show off the beautifully elegant ring that Jake was determined to pick out himself—but sent Harry and me pictures of for final approval.

I can feel Harry slump in relief next to me and I go straight for Jake while my husband wraps his sister in a hug. “Congratulations, Jakey,” I squeal through my ridiculously wide smile as we rock from side to side, my arms around his neck, his around my waist.

Jake and Harry have been best friends since they were boys, more like brothers than anything else. I met Jake the same time I met Harry, and he quickly became one of my best friends too. Jake is the godfather to all three of our children, and the first person we call for anything. I’m so happy that he’s finally found his happiness with the girl he was silently obsessed with for years.

“Thanks, Lis.” I can feel his smile against my cheek as we hug.

Before I can pull Nel in again, Harry leads her off to the lounge to make the announcement to my parents and extended family who have all accepted Nel and Jake as their own since we spent Christmas together last year.

“Come on,” I tell Jake. “Best get your fiancé a drink, she’s going to need it.”

Jake hums in agreement and follows me into the kitchen. “Wow, it looks great in here,” he says, admiring my winter wonderland Christmas decorations. I went a little overboard this year but with the extra people we’re hosting and it being Mary’s first Christmas, I wanted it to be magical.

“Yeah,” I agree with him. “I’m pretty amazing.” I shimmy my shoulders and pout my lips .

He laughs as we walk through to the garage where our cocktail bar is set up. “You sure are. How’ve you been, Lis?” He gets to work making a cocktail.

“Good,” I chirp. “Busy, but good.”

I think my voice might be a little too high and my words too fast because he stops halfway through making a cosmopolitan and narrows his eyes at me. “You sure?”

I stop fussing around with the bottles and glasses and turn to give him a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m good.” Seemingly satisfied by that, he nods and goes back to his concoction. “You looking forward to your parents and sister getting here tomorrow?” I ask, changing the subject.

His smile grows as he shaves a fancy slither of orange peel to garnish Nel’s drink. “Yeah, it’ll be good to see Mandy and the kids. I haven’t seen her in over a year.”

He doesn’t mention Mandy’s husband, John. You don’t have to know Jake long to know that he thinks John is a complete cuntwaffle—his word, not mine.

“Mum and Dad are flapping about what they should bring and worried about imposing.” He winces as if he might be worried too.

“It’s no problem,” I tell him, squeezing his arm in reassurance. “I love entertaining. I love all of this so don’t worry, please.”

“I don’t know how you do it, Lis,” he muses, shaking his head and garnishing the cocktail.

“Hyper organisation,” I say, opening the cupboard above our heads and showing him the four sheets of paper taped on the inside of the door.

“Oh my god.” Jake looks stunned, impressed, and possibly scared.

The papers show a very detailed itinerary of the next four days, scheduled down to the minute. It’s my play by play of everything I need to do. Each task beautifully highlighted in a different color. “I have everything planned and Mum, Rhi, and Auntie Hen all have copies and said they’ll jump in and help. ”

“I’ll do whatever I can too,” he jumps in. “Although keep me out the kitchen, Nel has already banned me from my own.”

I snort. “That’s because cheese puffs and celery sticks don’t count as a balanced meal, Partridge.”

“Okay, one time you come round and that was all I had in the house; I was capable of keeping myself alive before Nel came along you know?” He throws his hands up in mock exasperation.

“Sure you were,” I say placatingly. And he pinches my nose, making me laugh. “Anyway, please don’t let your parents worry about being here, I’m looking forward to it and the food is going to be amazing.” I wink at him.

We walk back to the living room where everyone is sat on the sofas, the floor, and the footstall. Jake goes straight to Nel’s side, handing her a cocktail and starts talking to my boys, Lucas and Oscar. I find Harry on the armchair, holding Mary above his head and pulling faces up at her. I head over to sit on the arm and tickle her neck, making her squeal and dribble slightly. Luckily Harry darts his head to the side avoiding her drool landing on his cheek. I take the sleeve of my holly and ivy cotton dress and wipe the collar of his shirt to soak up the wet patch.

“Thanks, babe,” he chuckles, bringing Mary down to sit on his lap.

She’s gorgeous, our baby girl. She bears a striking resemblance to Nel though with dark hair and brown eyes whereas both Harry and I are blonde with green and blue eyes respectively.

Harry tucks Mary into his side and rests his free hand on my thigh. “You ready for the madness?” he asks me, looking out at the rabble currently swarming our living room.

“Yeah,” I sigh. “Bring it on.”