Chapter 23 MIA #3
‘No, I’m ready,’ she says simply. ‘I want them to know. I want the whole world to know!’ she says with a laugh bubbling up inside her.
‘Although, actually, maybe I don’t want my mum to know we snuck away on Christmas Day to hook up …
perhaps we should stagger our arrival downstairs so she can’t put two and two together so easily. ’
Sam chuckles, brushing a kiss to her knuckles before sitting up. ‘Whatever you want, Mia.’
They both begin to get dressed, and Sam fishes something out of his trouser pocket, handing it to Mia once she’s fully clothed.
It’s the box containing the missing earring.
She stands in front of her dresser, pulling open the drawer to find the other one, to complete the pair.
She examines her reflection as she threads the earrings through the holes in her earlobes.
She looks different. Softer, somehow. After a moment, Mia realizes the difference. She looks … happy.
She turns to Sam, who’s waiting by the door.
‘Thank you for returning Gran’s earring. Mum will be so pleased to see me wearing them.’
Sam nods, his eyes roving over Mia’s face. ‘You look beautiful,’ he says simply, and Mia suddenly feels shy under his gaze, like she’s thirteen and meeting him for the first time all over again, and she can’t think of how to respond.
‘I’ll head down first, if that’s OK? Maybe give it five minutes and then you can follow?’
Sam nods, and Mia slips out of the door quickly, the emotion still bursting in her chest. She’s not sure when exactly this came about.
Or how, exactly. Loving Sam has just snuck up on her.
It has happened without Mia’s consent, or even her knowledge.
But now that she knows, her love for Sam fills her heart.
Her lungs. Her very being. She also knows that John is going to be absolutely insufferable when he finds out.
As she heads down the stairs, Mia begins to wonder where John has got to. She had explicitly asked him to come up to the big house, hadn’t she? Probably for the best that he hasn’t made a surprise appearance in the last half an hour, but still. What’s keeping him?
Mia can hear the burble of her family’s chatter, and she follows it into the front room where she finds them all standing by the tree.
Aunt Gertie hears her enter and turns with a mischievous grin stretching her cheeks, a knowing look twinkling in her eye.
Of course she’d know. Mia smirks, raising a finger to her lips conspiratorially.
Gertie gives her a small wink of agreement, just as Penny spins round.
‘Oh, Mia, there you are! We were beginning to wonder where you’d got to. We haven’t had dessert yet because we wanted to wait for—’ She cuts herself off, staring intently at Mia’s face.
‘What is it?’ Mia asks, suddenly self-conscious.
‘You’re wearing the earrings,’ Penny says softly, and if Mia isn’t mistaken there’s a definite waver to her voice.
‘Oh, yeah, I decided they’re too pretty not to wear, even if they don’t go perfectly with my outfit,’ Mia responds with a smile, touched that the small gesture of wearing the earrings means so much to her mum.
Everyone’s looking at her now, and Mia feels the need to break the silence. ‘Has, uh, has anyone seen Sam?’ she tries to say as casually as possible.
Gertie looks at her with a wise smile full of secrets, lifts a gnarled finger and points straight at Mia. Confused, Mia just stares at Aunt Gertie, wondering if her elderly aunt has lost her mind.
But then she feels the warmth of someone at her back, and she’s wrapped in the scent of spicy evergreen.
She turns to see Sam standing beside her in the doorway.
He shoves his hands into his pockets and hunches his shoulders, smiling sheepishly.
‘Am I interrupting—’ he begins and then stops, because Mia puts a hand on his arm.
She knew he was coming downstairs after her, but she still feels a deep relief at the fact that he’s there, beside her.
‘Oh, look, everyone!’ Aunt Gertie exclaims, toddling over to the window. ‘Someone’s made a snowman in the front garden!’ Mia’s parents and Charlie and Molly crowd around Aunt Gertie to see.
‘It’s so big,’ Penny says in surprise. ‘Who would have had the time to make that?’
‘Is it wearing a sweater?’ Molly asks. ‘What’s that pattern?’
‘Argyle, if I’m not mistaken,’ Martin responds.
Mia breathes a quiet thanks to John, who’s provided her family with the perfect distraction. A feeling of peace creeps over her, and she looks up at Sam, whose shoulders are nearly bumping with hers in the narrow doorway.
And as she does, Mia can’t quite remember how to breathe. Sam is looking at her so steadily, and the warmth of his gaze is filling her up. There’s something softer in the look he levels at her now that the tension between them has eased.
‘Merry Christmas, Mia,’ Sam says, in a voice that promises only good things in her future.
‘Merry Christmas, Sam.’ He smiles at her then, that crooked one that makes every part of her stand up and take notice. Suddenly, it feels like the most natural thing in the world to follow up that simple statement with the words, ‘I love you, Sam.’
She could have told him he’d won the lottery and his smile wouldn’t have been as bright. Sam leans in until he’s right beside Mia’s ear and then doesn’t move for a moment. Mia holds her breath and waits. She is so glad she did when Sam whispers, ‘I love you too, Mia. Completely.’
She slides her arms around Sam’s neck and pulls him into her embrace. He comes readily, as if he’s been waiting a lifetime to be in her arms. Everything fades away as they stand there together, their breaths intertwining and heartbeats synchronizing.
Christmas has always been her favourite season, but Mia knows this particular one will always stand out in her mind.
Something brushes against her hair, and at first, she thinks it’s Sam’s hands.
But the sensation comes again, and it’s familiarly insistent.
She glances up towards the doorframe above her and is startled to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging just above her and Sam’s heads.
Strange, she could have sworn there wasn’t any mistletoe up there before.
But then the mistletoe vibrates insistently, and when she tilts her head, Mia can see a man’s hand shoved through the moulding.
The ring on his little finger is all too recognizable, and Mia has to swallow her laughter as she imagines how much discomfort John has undergone to orchestrate this event.
Is he lying on the floor upstairs? Mia glances over at her family, but they’re still absorbed in the mystery of the snowman.
Taking pity on John’s indigestion, Mia brings a hand up and runs it along Sam’s jawline, thrilling at the slight scrape of stubble against her fingers.
‘Mmm,’ she says contentedly, all other words leaving her head. Sam smiles down at her and he’s still smiling when she finds his lips with hers.
This kiss is different. Before, their kisses had been full of burning passion, both Mia and Sam desperate for release and hungry for each other.
But this time, it’s more careful, more considered, as though they can communicate all the emotion they can’t say with words through this one kiss.
Sam kisses Mia like she’s a work of art, and he is the artist. Like she’s nothing more than ephemeral words and it is his job to capture them.
He kisses her until she’s simultaneously desperate for air, and despairing at the thought of him ever stopping.
When he finally releases her, Mia just about stops herself from letting out a tiny moan of protest. She could keep kissing Sam for days. Then it dawns on her that the room has fallen silent. Still tangled in Sam’s embrace, Mia moves her head just enough to peer out at her family.
They’re all beaming at her, seemingly delirious with joy.
Charlie looks absolutely delighted, and he tips Molly’s chin up to claim his own kiss.
Penny is starry-eyed, and Mia can practically hear the wedding bells already ringing in her head, just as she’d expected.
And Martin is looking at Mia with such warmth and love, evidently just pleased that his favourite daughter is finally happy.
Aunt Gertie looks the most satisfied of them all, while Mia could have sworn she gave someone in the hall behind her a thumbs up.
Her family crowds around her, calling out their congratulations all on top of each other.
Mia hugs them each in turn, and when she reaches Molly, she pats the redhead surreptitiously on the back, reassuring herself the girl is real.
Molly giggles, drawing attention to her actions, and Charlie shakes his head.
‘Admit it, Mia. Molly is real and you doubted me.’
‘I admit to nothing,’ Mia maintains. ‘But Molly, I do have some stories to share about Charlie in school.’ She laughs at Charlie’s horrified face.
‘And even if I don’t share them, you never know what ghosts are creeping about Willowby Manor.
They know all of our secrets.’ Then she sneaks a glance behind her, but the hall is predictably empty and there is no mistletoe hanging in the doorway.
She shrugs her shoulders, and turns back to her family as she reaches a startling realization.
‘Oh no, you know what this means, right?’ Mia wails, even as she smiles over at Charlie and Molly. ‘I have to make everyone beef Wellington now!’
Her family dissolves into laughter once more at her dramatics.
‘Serves you right for doubting me,’ Charlie insists, and Molly jabs him in the ribs with her elbow.
‘I’ll help you,’ Sam promises. And suddenly, Mia can’t think of anything else she’d rather do than cook for her family with the help of the man that she loves.