Chapter 18
Mia
Despite the delayed start to dinner preparations, Mia’s pork loin turned out amazing and her family have been effusive with their praise of the dinner she’d planned.
Charlie and Sam have enthusiastically tackled the cleanup, and Penny has appointed herself cocktail waitress for the evening.
Mia wanders into the living room to stand beside Martin’s tree.
Looking at the twinkling lights, she rubs her arm again, remembering the sensation of Sam’s hand snaking up it, sending shivers across her skin.
Several times throughout dinner she caught herself rubbing the spot where Sam had kissed her knuckles, as though she could still feel the ghost of his lips there.
Her anger seems to have subsided significantly, as if she is actually on the path to forgiving Sam.
She can’t quite believe it, and yet, as she glances his way before taking a seat on the sofa, a flutter of hope dances inside her.
Aunt Gertie is perched in a high back chair, patiently explaining the rules of their traditional game of Christmas Eve Fishbowl to Sam, who is listening intently.
‘Let me see if I have this straight. There are four rounds to the game, and each one is different.’
‘Yes, exactly!’ She pats Sam on the leg. ‘You’re paying attention. The first round you can give as many verbal clues as you want.’
‘That one’s my favourite,’ Martin chimes in. ‘Although I’m always accused by my family of using words that are too highbrow.’
‘Ah, and my favourite round is charades,’ Penny adds. ‘You know I was quite the starlet when I was at university.’
Charlie and Mia swap looks. Penny brings this up every Christmas, and is often personally offended when her team can’t guess her clues.
‘But between them is the one word clue round?’ Sam clarifies.
‘Yes.’ Aunt Gertie nods emphatically. ‘And then the last round, well, you’ll see. It’s the most entertaining. Mia, pass out the papers. Everyone needs to write down seven clues.’
There are a few minutes of quiet intensity, where the only sounds are pencils scratching across paper. Then the clues are folded and added to Penny’s punch bowl, a pearlescent monstrosity inherited from Penny’s Great-Aunt Ida that’s too garish to use for any other event hosted at Willowby Manor.
‘I pick Mia for my first choice,’ Martin says gravely. Mia stifles a groan. Her father is notorious for giving way too much irrelevant information when it comes to the clues.
‘Well, I simply have to have Aunt Gertie,’ Penny muses. ‘She’s the secret weapon in the last round.’
‘I’ll take Sam,’ Martin says, after a painfully long deliberation.
Mia fidgets in her seat as Sam moves to the side of the room Martin has claimed for his team.
Sam shoots Mia a look, and then – mercifully – sits on the floor nearer to Martin.
To her immense relief, Mia’s stomach settles down, but she can’t seem to tear her eyes away from his square jawline and the chiselled outline of his shoulders under his shirt.
Maybe it’s best if she keeps some distance between them for now.
‘I guess I’m on Mum’s team, then. Which will be the winning team, obviously,’ Charlie quips.
‘Bold words,’ Mia responds. ‘I guess you’re going first, then?’
‘’Course,’ Charlie responds. He digs out a clue and opens it up to read it.
His eyes crinkle and he bounces a little in place.
‘All right, here we go.’ Sucking in an enormous breath, Charlie begins at a rapid fire pace.
‘OK, this is Dad’s favourite book. Oh, too hard?
OK, I’ll narrow it down. Thriller, wait, no, horror genre, they made a film of it. There’s an axe, and Jack Nicholson—’
‘The Shining!’ Aunt Gertie crows.
‘Yes, The Shining! On to the next. Let’s see, ah, OK. Holiday song, Elvis, perhaps? Involves Dad’s favourite botany creation at this time of year – yes, a Christmas tree—’
‘“Rocking Around the Tree”!’ Penny claps in delight, but Charlie shakes his head.
‘Not quite, Mum. Come on, what’s the rest?’
‘Oh, let me see, wait, don’t rush me, I know it, oh! “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”!’ Penny thrusts both arms in the air and shakes her fists, Rocky style.
Mia’s swallowed up in helpless laughter at her mother’s triumphant expression. Charlie leads his team to two more points in the time allotted, and then the game passes to Martin.
Martin and Sam huddle up, with Mia still giggling as she joins them. ‘All right, folks.’ Martin’s tone is infinitely serious. ‘This is no silly game. We have youth and beauty on our side. Our victory is a foregone matter.’
Sam’s eyes widen as he meets Mia’s gaze. ‘Don’t worry,’ she finds herself assuring him. ‘It’s easy once you get into a flow.’
‘That’s what I’m worried about,’ Sam mutters.
Martin takes his first clue. ‘All right, here we go, into the fray. Brilliant! This one’s a superhero, created by Stan Lee—’
‘Like that narrows it down,’ Charlie heckles.
‘Yes, Stan Lee, and played by various actors over the years. Let me think of the first chap’s name …’
Sam straightens. ‘Oh, erm, Hawkeye, Thor, Ironman, Starlord, Black Widow—’
‘Dad, just tell us what the suit looks like!’ Mia begs.
‘Right, there have been several iterations, and the latest is quite sophisticated, if you ask me.’
‘Dad!’ Mia is practically shouting, while Penny’s team howls with laughter.
‘Ah, well, let me see, the lad has an alliterated name. And is a photographer in—’
‘Spiderman!’
‘Yes! Brilliant, Sam. Very good. I knew you were a smart chap. OK, this next one is—’ The timer buzzes dramatically, and Mia groans in disappointment. ‘Not too bad. One point for us then.’
Mia shakes her head, but as soon as Aunt Gertie starts calling out clues, she forgets her disappointment and is caught up in the laughter again. After a lightning fast two minutes where Aunt Gertie racks up four points for her team, the bowl passes to Mia.
She stands in front of the Christmas tree, fishing out her first clue. Martin and Sam are watching her intently. ‘Right, here we go.’ She gives the nod for Charlie to start the timer. ‘Mm. Like a piano, but older.’
‘Harpsichord,’ Sam yells out.
‘Yes! OK, next. Merry Christmas but in Span—’
‘Feliz Navidad!’ Sam’s leaning towards her, completely focused.
‘Yes! Oh, food you eat on the second day of the week—’
‘Tacos! Taco Tuesday!’ Sam barks out the answer like a general.
‘Lucy’s and my favourite film—’
‘Oh, ah, Dirty Dancing!’ Martin rushes to answer.
‘Yes! OK, another.’ Mia fumbles frantically with the paper, one eye on the timer. ‘Ah, water activity, you use an oar. Not surfing, but the same kind of—’
‘Paddle boarding!’ Martin and Sam yell out at the same time.
Mia does a little jig, thrilled at her success. ‘Oh, and this one is when it’s your day to be older, and you use your mouth to put out the fire and—’
‘Blowing out birthday candles!’ Sam pumps the air when Mia nods, flopping back in his seat when the timer buzzes. ‘That was exhausting.’
‘We got six points!’ Mia excitedly tells her team. The grin Sam gives her is electrifying.
The turns continue at a dizzying rate, until the first round is finished and Penny’s team is ahead by two points.
‘Wait, before we begin the next round, I need to refresh my drink,’ Aunt Gertie says. Penny is fanning herself, her face red from laughter. Charlie is tapping away at his phone, and Martin has excused himself for a bathroom trip.
‘Would you like a refill?’ Sam asks Mia, scooping up her glass.
Mia looks up at him, feeling warm and loose from all the laughter. ‘Please. Cranberry martini with two shots of vermouth.’
‘Your wish is my command, my lady,’ Sam says, finishing with a silly bow.
As he heads for the bar cart, he glances over his shoulder and catches Mia watching him.
Sam shoots her a wink and she drops her gaze, trying to hide her smile.
She hasn’t seen this side of Sam since they were hanging out at uni.
Mia is still giggling when she looks over at the doorway that leads to the front hall. John is leaning there against the wall, watching her family with a broad smile. He catches her eye, but before Mia can decide if she should try to sneak out to speak to him, Charlie interrupts.
‘I’ve sent Molly a video of us playing. She’ll either think it’s hilarious, or she’ll never want to speak to me again.’
‘My money’s on the latter,’ Martin chuckles as he returns to the room. ‘All right. It seems to be my turn again. Mm, the one word round. Challenging, but we are up to the task. Aren’t we, team?’
‘Yes, sir!’ Mia and Sam call out in unison. Sam hands Mia her drink and she sips from it, sighing in pleasure as the perfectly mixed cocktail glides down her throat.
‘And, we’re off then!’
The one word round is fast and furious, until Charlie and Penny get stuck on the single clue Aunt Gertie has given.
‘Lift!’ she says again, emphatically.
Charlie and Penny shout over each other, but none of their guesses are right. Sam leans back far enough to catch Mia’s eye behind Charlie’s back. ‘Dirty Dancing,’ he mouths, and Mia snickers, nodding vigorously.
‘LIFT!’ Aunt Gertie practically screeches, rising up on her toes.
‘No, no! No body language! That’s cheating, Aunt Gertie!’ Mia scolds, and her great-aunt pouts. The timer goes off, and Aunt Gertie throws the clue back into the bowl, disgusted.
Mia takes another sip of her drink. From the corner of her eye, she can see that Sam is watching her again.
He’s been doing that all evening, starting with the wide-eyed, obvious admiration of her outfit that keeps making her heart flutter more than she cares to admit.
She tugs at the hem of her skirt, feeling an all too familiar heat pooling in the pit of her stomach.
It’s probably just the alcohol in her system.
It’s definitely not the man sitting a few feet away from her, who can’t seem to keep his eyes off her.