“Why, Doctor, I think I’d swoon at such charm if I didn’t know you so well,”
“So how about it? Glass of bubbly and a euphemism?” Daniel waggled the bottle at her.
“Champagne yes, but definitely not the euphemism, thanks very much.” She tucked one hand into the crook of his arm and drew him into the house.
“How disappointing.” He faked a boyish pout.
“Ha! You’d run a mile if I ever actually took you up on it, but it’s lovely to see you. I’ve missed you.”
Daniel gave her hand a squeeze and dropped the flirty tone. “I’ve missed you, too, Dulcie-belle. It’s not the same without you next door. I need my best friend back.”
“I’m sure you’re not short of company, Daniel.” She looked up at his handsome, smiling face, the bright blue of his eyes and fair hair, swept back by an absent hand and in need of a cut. “Who’s keeping your bed warm this month? Let me guess…one of the nurses? Or maybe that cute girl I met this week who’s taken over the ice-sculptures?”
“Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it is like good seed sown on a good soil that yields an abundance of fruits,” he replied, opening a cupboard door in the kitchen and removing two flute glasses.
Dulcie raised her eyebrows. “Did you just quote Buddha?”
“Not sure,” he admitted. “The cute girl who does the ice-sculptures now, her name is Charity.”
“Uh huh, and she stirs your soul to eloquence?” Dulcie clinked her glass with Daniel’s.
“Not thus far, but you never know.” Daniel winked at her and said, “Here’s to conquests yet to be made.”
They took the bottle through to the den, and Daniel flopped onto a large overstuffed couch. Dulcie kicked off her shoes and curled up at the other end.
“Talking of conquests, I can’t believe Adam is getting married. I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend.”
“They haven’t been together all that long,” Daniel said, “But Lynette is pretty forceful when she knows what she wants.”
“It’s hard to imagine Adam being railroaded though,” she speculated.
“It probably helps that her father is a Judge.”
Dulcie laughed, “He’s not that desperate to advance that he’d marry her because of it!”
“She’s also stunning. She might be a cold fish but I know that I wouldn’t kick her out of bed.”
“You wouldn’t kick a moose out of bed.”
“Chance would be a fine thing, even moose are thin on the ground in my life.”
“So, you’re actually single right now?” she asked.
“Well…” he paused, and she tilted her head, waiting. He gave her a guilty look. “I am involved with a woman, a surgeon at the hospital.”
“But that’s great, isn’t it? What’s the problem?”
Daniel twisted the stem of his glass, suddenly reluctant to confide.
“Too early to talk about?” Dulcie said sympathetically. “I take it you’re not at bring-her-home-to-the-family stage yet, or is she working on Christmas day?”
“It’s not that. She’s married.”
“Daniel!”
“I know, I know.” He held up a placating hand. “It was stupid.”
“But you love her?” Dulcie asked, gently.
“Gosh no. It just happened, then kept happening. We work such long hours, it’s actually quite hard to meet someone outside of work, much less build and maintain a relationship. I guess I just put the job first, and Felicia was convenient.”
“What you need is to fall head over heels in love with a girl, then you’d put her first.” Dulcie told him decisively. “But that’s not going to happen if you keep up something casual.”
“Well, there’s always you,” Daniel said.
Dulcie sighed. “Yes, there’s always us. I’m not meeting anyone either, and it would make our parents so happy.”
“One slight problem,” Daniel said, filling up their glasses, “is that, jokes aside, I don’t fancy you in the slightest. I mean…” he hastened to add, “it’s not that you’re not attractive, just that you’re, you know, you.”
Dulcie nodded in rueful agreement. “I know, it’s just not there, is it? But I do love you loads. Maybe we could force ourselves through the physical stuff and just be happy being married to a good friend?”
“Hey, I’m male. I’m pretty sure I can force myself through it with aplomb.”
He put down his glass, and then reached for her, catching Dulcie by surprise, and she found herself pulled onto his lap. She blinked at the suddenly serious look in his eye as he twined his fingers into her hair.
“Daniel…” She started to speak, but he covered her mouth with his and silenced her.
Chapter Seven
Seconds ticked by as Daniel’s lips moved against Dulcie’s. Then he released her.
“Ugh,” he gave her a playful shove, and she rolled back to her original position. “No. I just can’t do it. It’s like kissing my sister.”
Dulcie laughed, not remotely upset, and made a show of rinsing her mouth out with the champagne.
At least she knew now that Maria had been wrong. Daniel was definitely not in love with her. But he clearly needed to find a suitable girlfriend, and quickly, before things went badly wrong with his work situation or with the other woman’s marriage.
They spent the rest of the evening together in a companiable fashion. Opening another bottle of wine and settling down in front of a movie, and it was midnight before Daniel left to return to his parents’ house next door.
As they stepped outside, there was movement in the air all around them, and then the snow flakes began to fall in earnest.
“At last,” Daniel said, looking up at the dark sky. “It’s late this year.”
“Totally,” Dulcie agreed. “It’s just weird not having snow at Christmas here. I don’t think we’ve had a Christmas in Christmas without snow during my lifetime.”
“Oh, no, no, no, no!” A distressed voice came from the house on the other side of Dulcie’s.
They both looked over and saw a heavily pregnant woman standing on the neighboring porch in her nightgown, staring at the sky in horror.
“Are you okay?” Dulcie asked, walking to the fence that separated their properties.
“I’ve felt better.” The woman stroked to her stomach. “But this,” she gestured at the snow, “is the last thing I need. I was hoping to have the baby before it happened, and now I might be snowed in, and I’m absolutely terrified by the idea of a home birth.”
“Oh dear.” Dulcie bit her lip, well aware that the road often became impassable for days. “When are you due?”
“Last week,” the woman said, bitterly.
“Ah.”
“I’ve got snow-treads for my car in case of a medical emergency,” Daniel said, joining Dulcie at the fence. “I’m also a doctor,” he explained to the woman, “and I’m just on the other side of Dulcie.” He put one foot on a stone sculpture and used it to help himself to vault over the fence. “Here’s my card. You can call me any time of the day or night. Or get your husband to come and bang on our door if you suddenly go into labor.”
“I don’t have a husband, it’s just me. Just us,” she amended, touching her bump protectively.
“All the more reason to call me then.” He smiled.
“Thank you,” she looked down at the card, “Dr. Carlton.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m Jessica,” she said.
“And you’re cold. You should be in bed,”
“Call of nature got me up yet again,” she gave an embarrassed shrug. “Sometimes, I think I should just sleep in the bathroom until the baby is off my bladder. Anyway, it’s a relief to know you’re close by, Daniel.”
“Even if I’m at work, I’ll come and get you, okay? Just call me,” he told her, making Dulcie raise her eyebrows in surprise.
“You are a sucker for a pretty face,” she teased as he climbed back over the f
ence when Jessica had shut her door.
“Was she pretty?” Daniel asked innocently. “I didn’t notice.”
Dulcie snorted but said nothing more.
Chapter Eight
Kit and “The Insect” arrived the next day. Dulcie was out shopping for some flowers to grace the dining table on the big day when the florist informed her he’d been spotted unloading suitcases outside the Hollyberry Hotel that morning. As it was only one street away, Dulcie decided to walk over there and say hello.
“Dulcie, darling!” Kit greeted her enthusiastically. “Come in and meet Imogen. I’m sure the two of you are going to get along marvelously.”
Dulcie, following him into his hotel suite, realized straight away that it was highly unlikely that she and Imogen were going to get along marvelously, if at all. The other woman looked at her with an expression of utter distaste.
“Hello.” Imogen held out a cool hand as though the gesture pained her. “I recognize you. You’re the underwear model from Christopher’s wall.”
“Still?” Dulcie raised one brow at Kit questioningly, “It’s still up?” She turned back to Imogen, “I’m not an underwear model. It was a one-off to get my underwear range off the ground.”
“Wait, you’re Sweet Bright Designs?” Imogen still looked cold and suspicious.
“Dulcie Bright, at your service.”
“Oh.” Imogen’s expression cleared a little. “And Dulcie means sweet, doesn’t it? I get it now.”
“Don’t mind Imogen,” Kit said, putting an arm around his girlfriend. “She’s very possessive and highly insecure around other models.”
Dulcie didn’t know how to respond to such rude openness about the woman standing right in front of her, but Imogen simply stamped her heel straight into Kit’s foot, sending him hopping across the room, cursing like a sailor.
“He has a terrible reputation among the models,” Imogen said, clearly not all that put out.
“Kit has always liked to have beautiful things,” Dulcie said, a smile touching her lips as Kit continued to massage his foot and look outraged.
“Kit?” Imogen asked.
“It’s what my family call me,” Kit replied.
“But Dulcie isn’t family,” Imogen’s eyes narrowed again, and Dulcie sighed internally. Clearly Kit had only been half-joking about her possessiveness.
“I really ought to be going,” Dulcie said. “I just stopped in to say hi and to find out what your plans were for the twenty-fifth. I wasn’t really sure if you were here to spend Christmas with Noelle because you decided not to stay at the house?”
“No, I actually brought Imogen here simply because it is the most romantic place I know of at Christmas time. And staying in a hotel makes it a bit more special than staying in my boyhood bedroom. Obviously, I’ll make some time to see Noelle, but I’ve booked Imogen and I a table at Silver Bells for Christmas dinner.”
“Okay, sure. Well, I hope to see you again before you leave.”
“Hmm, maybe,” Imogen said, drifting over to the window as though Dulcie was already gone.
Kit handed Dulcie her shopping bags and pulled her in for a quick hug. “You can count on seeing me again, anyway. I want to talk to you, privately, at some point.”
“Oh, uh, sure. Of course.” Dulcie shot a nervous glance toward Imogen, then gave Kit a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.
Was Kit in love with her as Maria had suggested? It seemed odd that he’d bring his girlfriend to Christmas Springs with him if that were the case, but it was strange that he still had her picture on his wall and that he wanted to talk privately with her.
Dulcie couldn’t deny she had known he had a crush on her when they were teenagers. She was a couple of years older and had probably seemed desirable to him when they were both school age.
Kit had liked her just as she had liked Adam.
But he was now surrounded daily by the most beautiful women in the world, and much adored by them from what she had heard. Plus, there was Imogen. Dulcie knew she could look good if she tried, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Imogen. No wonder she was a model. She had been tall and graceful, and her face had been a study in flawless perfection.
No, there was no way that Kit was interested in her when he already had Imogen, was there?
Chapter Nine
Dulcie was almost at her front door when she almost ran into Adam coming out of his parents’ house.
“Oh great,” she muttered, “as if I hadn’t seen enough Carltons for the day.”
The first thing she noticed was that Adam was clearly in a foul mood. He glared at her for a second, and then made to walk on by.
“Adam?” she said loud enough to force him to acknowledge her. “What’s the matter?”
“I thought I asked you to be a good influence on Noelle,” he snapped, “but I suppose you were too busy sleeping with my brother to care what plans she has?”
“I beg your pardon?” Dulcie said, shocked by his tone.
“You don’t get my pardon. How could you sanction Noelle going to a club with that boy tonight?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Noelle hasn’t said a word to me and, of course, I’ll tell her not go to a nightclub. She’s under-age, for a start. But I’m not her jailor, Adam.”
He stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment before bobbing his head in acknowledgment of her words. “She led me to believe you had given your permission, but now I think about it, she just hinted it rather than actually saying it.”
“You should have known better,” Dulcie said, her own wrath rising at his assumptions. “And what is this nonsense about me sleeping with your brother?”
“Don’t try to deny that. You were seen, Dulcie. You should draw your curtains if you don’t want everyone to know what you get up to.”
“Mrs. Croom,” Dulcie guessed, shooting a venomous look at the house directly opposite her own. “But why she should report back to you is quite beyond me!”
“She did no such thing. She and Lynette are friends.”
“I see, so she told Lynette, and Lynette couldn’t wait to spread gossip to you. But for your information, we did not sleep together. Daniel came over last night, that was all.”
“Your relationship with Daniel is none of my business,” he said.
“Then why comment on it at all?” she responded, her voice still filled with fury.
Adam shook his head. “I don’t know. Sorry, I shouldn’t have. But you were kissing?”
Dulcie glared at him, unable to deny it but too angry to explain it either. So, she did neither, simply stepping around him and going into her house, slamming the door behind her.
She waited ten minutes to make sure he’d gone, and to give herself time to calm down, then she took a deep breath and went to have a little talk with Noelle.
When she got there, she found that Noelle was also seething with anger after Adam’s visit, and Dulcie had to listen calmly as the younger girl vented her feelings about older brothers who tried to act like parents and told her what she could and couldn’t do.
It became clear to Dulcie that Adam had handled the situation badly. He had not just forbidden her to go to the night club but had also forbidden her from seeing her boyfriend, which Noelle had absolutely no intention of doing and had told him so.
Adam had apparently realized he didn’t actually have the right to stop her going out with whomever she chose and had, instead, delivered a lecture on the dangers of drugs, which had made Noelle even more angry.
“It’s not as though I was going to take anything dodgy,” Noelle told Dulcie, as she stamped a path back and forth her kitchen, “but now I feel like doing it just to spite him! How dare he try to act like he’s my dad? And what’s it remotely got to do with him anyway?”
While Dulcie privately agreed with Noelle, she could also see that letting the young girl go out feeling that way was a recipe for disaster, so she did her best to calm her down while not encouraging an
y reckless behavior.
“I think he’s just worried. You know how he feels responsible for you all. It’s the curse of being the eldest child,” Dulcie said, soothingly, “and with your parents away, I suppose he thought he was in charge of what you do.”
“But that’s what you’re here for. My mom specifically said to check in with you about where I go and stuff.”
“Yes, but you haven’t, have you,” Dulcie pointed out gently. “You haven’t said a word to me about going out tonight. Do you have some plans?”
Noelle gave a sulky shrug. “It’s not clubbing. I just said that to wind Adam up. I’m just planning to go `round to a friend’s house.”
“With Liam?”
“Yes. So what?”
Dulcie spread her hands out placatingly. “That’s fine with me, it’s not my place to chaperone you or try to sabotage your relationship. Only make sure to message me and let me know you get there safely, just in case, okay?”
Dulcie heaved a sigh of relief as Noelle promised to keep her informed. But if she hadn’t been so annoyed with Adam herself, then she might have been more concerned that Noelle was still looking mutinous.
Chapter Ten
It was just past 11 pm when Dulcie’s cell phone began to ring and caller ID let her know it was Noelle.
“Nell?” Dulcie answered, stifling a yawn.
“Um, is this Dulcie?” a boy’s nervous voice asked.
“Yes, who is this?” Her eyes snapped open, instantly awake.
“It’s Nell’s boyfriend. I’m so sorry, but she took a pill… I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she’s having a bad trip or something. She needs help.”
“Have you called 911?” Dulcie said, already pulling on some jeans and yanking a sweater out of the drawers.
“No, I can’t. It’s drugs, man. I’d be in so much trouble. She’s okay, just freaked out like. She keeps asking for you and begging me not to tell her brother. She’s not really making sense.”
“Idiot!” Dulcie muttered, though she wasn’t sure who she was directing it at. “Just tell me where you are.”
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