by Jane Linfoot
‘Snowball? And the carriage…’ I let out a gasp, because it’s so much more than just that. It’s waiting for us a few yards from the door, as if it’s landed from a film set. Both the carriage and Snowball’s harness are twinkling with fairy-light strands, and there are candles flickering in the carriage lights. ‘Oh, Johnny, it’s beautiful.’ He must have been working like the wind to get all this done so fast.
Johnny jumps up into the high driver’s seat and pulls me up to sit beside him. ‘With snow at Christmas and a carriage, we had to go for a moonlight drive.’ One shake of the reins and Snowball sets off up the drive at a trot.
As the freezing air rushes past my face, I hook my arm around Johnny’s back and snuggle my head into the crook of his neck. ‘This is magical, I feel like a fairy princess. And even though it’s dark the snow is so bright.’ With the light splashing down from the moon, the folds of the white-covered landscape are luminous and the snow crust sparkles.
‘As first dates go, today has been pretty awesome.’ Johnny’s breath is coming out in clouds as he shouts over the rumble of the wheels and the clip clop of Snowball’s shoes. ‘Finding you has made this my best Christmas yet.’ He turns and grins at me. ‘In case I didn’t say before, Fi, I love you.’
I think he may have mentioned it earlier, but hearing it again, my chest feels like it might just burst. ‘I love you too, Johnny.’ Shouting at the top of my voice as we rush down the lane towards the village is the most perfect way to tell him. ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’
‘Whoa, Snowball.’ As we circle and turn around at the crossroads, we pull to a halt, and a second later Johnny dips and pulls me into a long, delicious snowy kiss that only stops much later, when Snowball begins to stamp impatiently. Johnny laughs as he breaks away. ‘Someone’s anxious to get back to his hay net. And we’ve got another two days of hard partying ahead of us.’
Whereas some guests are just warming up, my stamina is running out fast. ‘I’m looking forward to curling up in front of the fire with a mulled wine.’
Johnny gives a low laugh as he slides his mouth over mine again. ‘Once we go to bed tonight, I seriously doubt we’ll get up again before New Year.’
Which sounds perfect to me. ‘Talking of New Year, do you suppose with my new super powers I’ll get my laundry under control too?’ Telling people what I think is an awesome step forward but clean undies and shorts in neat piles would be something else. Especially if Johnny and I are going to be weekend roomies from now on.
‘Shall I be honest?’ He’s twiddling with the tangles in my hair. ‘Expressing yourself and being assertive are great life skills, but it’s way better to be yourself. Thongs under your sofa cushions are part of the fun of coming to yours. I love you as you are, I don’t want you to change.’
I appreciate the pressure’s off. Not that I’m intending to turn into Alice, but given how well those lists worked, folded clothes might be a logical next step.
‘One more thing too.’ He dips into his pocket and pushes something soft and small into my hands.
I know what they are is straight away. ‘The knitted bride and groom bears.’ I thought he’d forgotten them. ‘Thank you so much, you’ve no idea how happy I am to see them again.’
The twinkle in his eye is as bright as the string of fairy lights twisted around the reins. ‘They definitely belong in the shop. But I would like to borrow them back… if ever I need them, that is… which I’m hoping we will.’
‘I’m sure we can arrange that, Sir.’ I say, in my best shop-assistant voice. And even though I know Jess was purring when she sold them to him less than ten days ago, that is nothing compared to my beam now.
‘You know the old saying, “a best man’s for life, not just for Christmas”?’ As he tilts his head, he’s biting back his smile. ‘It means I’m here to stay. Just saying.’
‘Whereas I’d heard it was a bridesmaid for life,’ I laugh.
‘So now we’ve got that sorted out, we can get on with our first date, and the rest of our lives.’ As Johnny shakes the reins the carriage creaks and Snowball begins to trot back down the lane.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ I say, then squeal because I sound so unlike myself. ‘Dammit, I’m talking like a wedding manual.’
‘So you are.’ Luckily Johnny sounds amused rather than horrified. ‘That’s what happens when you’ve just pulled off the wedding of the year.’ As he winks, he’s shouting over the jingle of the bells on Snowball’s harness. ‘On the upside, we’ll know exactly how to do it when it comes to our turn.’
He grins at me and as his words sink in, our eyes lock. We’re both reliving the last ten days. And as we stare at each other, we break into a spontaneous ‘Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.’
Waaaaaaaahhh because we could never face going through that all over again. Waaaaaaahhh because it all turned out so wonderfully. And waaaaaaaaahhh because the thought of it ever being our turn is way beyond exciting. Even if it isn’t going to be right away.
And we’re still laughing as we turn back down the drive and thread our way back between the trees to where the windows of the house are glowing orange against the snow.
Acknowledgements
A big thank you…
To my wonderful editor Charlotte Ledger, who is talented, brilliant, supportive and lovely – all at the same time. This series belongs to both of us. To Kimberley Young and the team at HarperCollins for three wonderful covers and all-round expertise and support.
To Debbie Johnson and Zara Stoneley, and my writing friends across the world, for sharing and caring. To my friends, the fabulous bloggers, who spread the word.
To High Street Bride guru, Samantha Birch, for all her help. A special shout-out for the fabulous Emily Bridal of Sheffield, whose shop and dresses are so beautiful. And thanks to amazing cake baker, Caroline Tranter, for bringing the cakes in the book to life and for letting us use her fab pictures.
Big hugs and Happy Anniversary to India and Richard for their amazing wedding, which is where this series began. And more hugs and good luck to Anna and Jamie for their very own Sequins and Snowflakes wedding in February. To my whole family for cheering me on all the way. To Max for being a techy wizard, for making me tea and bringing me cake. And big love to my own hero, Phil… for being there every day and never letting me give up.
Favourite Christmas Cocktails from Brides by the Sea
In case you’d like to try a taste of Brides by the Sea at home, here’s how to make some of the fab cocktails and drinks featured in this book. Don’t stress too much about the quantities. At Brides by the Sea it’s much more about sloshing it in and having a good time. As Jess would say, LET THE FUN BEGIN…
WONDERFUL WHITE CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL
This is the perfect Christmas drink… Cream, shaken with ice, vodka, peppermint schnapps and white crème de cacao, served with a candy cane. Yum.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons double cream
2 tablespoons vodka
2 tablespoons peppermint schnapps
2 tablespoons white crème de cacao
1 cupful ice cubes
Candy cane to garnish
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake until chilled. Strain into chilled glasses, then add the candy cane.
SNOWBALLS
Simple to make and delish to drink long or short. I love the cherries and the name.
Ingredients:
1 part Advocat
3 parts chilled lemonade
Squeeze of lime to taste
Cocktail cherries
Pour Advocat into a glass, top up with lemonade and add a squeeze of lime to taste, and decorate with cherries.
For an extra luxury, add a dash of vodka or cream.
For a special Christmassy touch, dip the glass rims in melted white chocolate and dessicated coconut.
This can be drunk long in tall glasses, or in shorter ones, with less lemonade.
ICE QUEEN COCKTAILS
/> As delectable as their name…
Ingredients:
One and a half ounces white rum
Three quarters of an ounce fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon crème de menthe
One ounce prosecco or cava
Lime twists to garnish
Pop the rum, lime juice and crème de menthe in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into glasses, top up with sparkling wine and garnish with a lime twist.
WHITE RUSSIAN COCKTAILS
Simple to make, but if you save the cream to add at the end, you get snow caps on the ice mountains.
Ingredients:
30 ml Tia Maria or coffee-flavoured liqueur
30 ml vodka
125 ml fresh cream
Ice cubes
Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass, then pour over ice cubes in the serving glass.
Or, for a dramatic snowy-topped drink, put ice in the serving glass, pour the coffee liqueur and vodka over, and then float the cream on the top.
Strain into glasses, top up with sparkling wine and garnish with a lime twist.
And last but not least…
ALICE’S WINTER WARMER
Alice loved her Winter Warmers because they were warming and relaxing.
These are made with Pimms No 3 Winter Cup, the winter version of the summer drink, which is fortified with brandy and spices.
Ingredients:
150 ml Pimms No 3 Winter Cup
450 ml apple juice
(One part Pimms No 3 to three parts apple juice)
Apple slices
Orange slices
For large quantities, warm the Pimms and apple juice in a saucepan, then transfer to a serving jug and add fruit slices.
Alice warmed hers in a pan and drank it from a glass mug, usually without the fruit slices.
Cheers!
Happy Christmas,
Love Jane x
Favourite Recipes from Brides by the Sea
Tempted by the mouth-watering treats Poppy bakes in the book? Now you can try them for yourself!
COFFEE CUPCAKES TOPPED WITH TOASTED ALMONDS
Sera often turns to Poppy’s cupcakes to rescue her at stressful times. She particularly loves coffee cupcakes with toasted almonds on top. Here’s Poppy’s recipe.
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
150g sugar
150g butter
150g self-raising flour, sieved
3 eggs
Two heaped teaspoons instant coffee
A little warm water to dissolve the coffee
For the icing:
100g butter (softened)
200g icing sugar, sieved
Two heaped teaspoons instant coffee
A little warm water to dissolve the coffee
For the topping:
100g flaked almonds
Method for the sponge cakes:
1. Preheat the oven, 170C Fan/ Gas Mark 5/ 190C Electric. Prepare a 12 sectioned cupcake tin with your chosen cupcake cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, using an electric whisk.
3. Add the eggs, and mix again.
4. Add the sieved flour, and fold into the mixture until it’s all combined.
5. Put the coffee granules into a cup, and add a tiny amount of water. Mix until the coffee has dissolved, then add to the cake mixture. Stir gently until it’s all mixed in and the mixture is a uniform colour. You can vary the amount of coffee, to give a darker or lighter cake.
6. Spoon the mixture into the cases, filling to about 2/3 up the side, to allow for the cakes to rise.
7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked all the way through. (Check by sticking a sharp knife in. If it comes out clean then that means they’re done.)
8. Place on a cooling tray, and ice when cool.
Method for the buttercream icing:
You can make the buttercream icing while the cupcakes are in the oven.
1. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the softened butter and cream together.
2. Put the coffee granules into a cup, and add a tiny amount of water. Mix until the coffee has dissolved, then add to the icing. Mix until the icing is a uniform colour. Use more or less coffee depending on how dark you’d like your icing.
3. Spoon the icing into a piping bag, with the pipe of your choice. When the cupcakes are cool, pipe the icing in swirls on top of the cupcakes.
For the nut topping:
1. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan, add the nuts, and stir over a gentle heat until the almond flakes are toasted and golden brown.
2. Leave the toasted almonds to cool, then and sprinkle on top of the cupcakes as soon as they are iced.
As an alternative to almonds, walnut halves also work well with the coffee icing. You can pop these on top of the icing without toasting them
These are totally delish!!
EASY PEASY CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
The day of Alice’s wedding dress disaster the girls end up in Poppy’s kitchen eating chocolate brownies. The beauty of this recipe is that it uses Nutella chocolate spread which contains lots of the ingredients for brownies, already combined. So all you have to do is to add flour and eggs to Nutella, mix it together, and bake. Easy peasy, the brownies really are mouth-wateringly delish – and there’s plenty of opportunity for brownie mix tasting too.
Ingredients:
300g Nutella
2 eggs (free range ones if you’re going to taste the mixture!)
60g self-raising flour
Directions:
Put ingredients in a bowl. Mix it together until smooth. Spoon into greased baking tin (20cm square), or muffin/bun cases.
For extra pizazz sprinkle on a few chopped hazelnuts.
Bake in oven at 350F (180C), for 30 mins if baking as a cake. If cooking muffin/bun case brownies cook for 10-15 mins, or until centres are baked through, depending on the size. (Check by sticking a sharp knife in, it comes out clean when they’re done, although they are also nice slightly sticky in the middle.)
Eat when hot, or leave to cool. If you’re making the cake version, cut into squares.
Yummy.
Hope you enjoy these tastes of Brides by Sea,
Love Jane x
Coming Soon from Jane Linfoot
Summer at the Little Wedding Shop: Bunting and Bouquets, Book 3
About the Author
I write fun, flirty fiction with feisty heroines and a bit of an edge. Writing romance is cool because I get to wear pretty shoes instead of wellies. I live in a mountain kingdom in Derbyshire, where my family and pets are kind enough to ignore the domestic chaos. Happily, we’re in walking distance of a supermarket. I love hearts, flowers, happy endings, all things vintage, most things French. When I’m not on Facebook and can’t find an excuse for shopping, I’ll be walking or gardening. On days when I want to be really scared, I ride a tandem.
You can follow me on Twitter @janelinfoot.
Also by Jane Linfoot
The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea, Book 1
The Vintage Cinema Club
High Heels & Bicycle Wheels
The Right Side of Mr Wrong
How to Win a Guy in 10 Dates
About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.
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