Daisy leaned away from a table which was still groaning with the remains of an enormous Christmas dinner, and undid the button of her jeans with a sigh of relief. As usual, she’d eaten her share along with someone else’s. Now she was feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
Her mother stood up. ‘Shall we open our presents now?’ she suggested. ‘It’ll give us time for our dinner to go down before I bring out the Christmas pudding.’
Not that again! Hadn’t everyone learned their lesson last year?
‘I’m not having any,’ Daisy declared, ‘and you can’t make me!’
‘Don’t be such a party pooper. I made it especially for you.’ Sandra threw her a scowl.
Gee-Gee piped up, ‘Your mother wouldn’t let me put the sixpence in.’
‘I should bloody well hope not, after where it’s been!’ Daisy retorted.
‘I don’t know what you’re banging on about; I gave it a swill under the tap.’
‘It needed more than a swill, it needed melting down for scrap,’ Daisy replied, darkly.
‘Anyway,’ Gee-Gee carried on. ‘There’s a doctor in the house, this time.’
Noah tipped his glass in Gwenda’s direction.
‘Bella will have some, won’t you my darling?’ Sandra cooed.
Daisy rolled her eyes. ‘She’s only six months old, Mum.’ She looked at Zoe and shook her head in mock despair. ‘It’s a wonder David and I survived long enough to reach adulthood.’
Zoe said, ‘We’ll stick to the custard, I think,’ and wiped little Bella’s mouth. On the opposite side of the table, Elsie mirrored her actions with Gwenda.
Sandra unceremoniously plonked several badly wrapped gifts on the table. The baby had already unwrapped hers, and was sitting in her high chair waving a piece of decorative ribbon in the air, and gurgling to herself.
‘All those expensive toys, and the kid plays with the wrapping,’ David muttered, but his indulgent expression when he looked at his daughter gave the game away.
‘Here,’ Noah said. ‘Happy Christmas, Daisy,’ and he placed a small square package on the table next to her plate.
Was it…? Could it be…?
Her heart in her mouth, Daisy handed Noah an envelope. She wanted him to open his present first, because once she’d opened hers (if what was inside that gorgeous wrapping paper and beautifully tied ribbon was what she hoped it was) everyone’s attention would be on the third finger of her left hand, and she so desperately wanted Noah to be able to enjoy his gift for a few minutes before the shrieking started.
Noah shrugged and opened the envelope.
‘Tickets,’ he said, looking confused. ‘To Tenerife.’
‘There’s more,’ Daisy said, trying to keep a lid on her excitement.
He pulled another sheet of paper out of the envelope. ‘What’s this?’
‘Read it.’
‘A visit to an observatory.’
‘I wanted to get you a space flight, but I don’t have the same pull or earning power as Richard Branson, so I arranged for you to visit the observatory on Mount Teide instead.’
‘Just me?’
‘Do you honestly think I’d let you go to Tenerife for a week all on your own?’ she cried, pleased at the expression on Noah’s face. His grin was wider than the cracker he’d pulled earlier.
‘Your turn,’ he said, and Daisy eyed the box with barely contained enthusiasm. Slowly, carefully, savouring every second, she unwrapped the little box, intending to save the paper, the ribbon, and the bow. She didn’t want to forget anything about this glorious day.
She placed the unopened box on the table, a dark blue velvet box, just large enough to contain a ring, and her heart thundered so loudly, she wondered how come no one else heard it. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine what sort of ring Noah had chosen. She hoped he was a solitaire kind of guy.
Opening her eyes, and taking a deep breath, she slowly eased the lid open to reveal…
A necklace.
‘How lovely,’ she managed, disappointment knocking her hard. She lifted it out, hardly seeing it as her eyes blurred with tears, and she turned her back to the table. ‘Put it on me?’ she asked, relieved to hear the steadiness in her voice. She’d never forgive herself if Noah thought she wasn’t thrilled with the gift. He twisted in his seat, and fastened the chain around her neck. She used the time to compose herself, and plaster a grin on her face.
‘You haven’t looked at it properly, have you?’ he accused, and she realised she’d disappointed him after all.
She lifted it off her chest and pulled her chin in, peering cross-eyed at the pendant. When she saw what it was, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
‘I had it mounted,’ Noah said, as Daisy gaped in disbelief at the silver sixpence.
‘Is it…?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’ Noah grinned, clearly pleased with himself. ‘Your great-gran found it where you’d left it on the table. She wanted to put it in the pudding again this year, but I told her the luck wouldn’t work a second time, and I persuaded her to give it to me.’
It was a lovely gesture, but all Daisy could think of was where it had once been. And here she was, wearing the disgusting thing just above her heart. Then there was the issue of luck… She had worked hard to get rid of the damned thing once, and now it had found its way back, like something out of a horror film. It seemed bad luck wasn’t finished with her yet, and she had the awful feeling that something nasty was about to happen… Again!
She got up, and planted a kiss on Noah’s lips. ‘Thank you. I love it,’ she said, crossing her fingers to ward off the lie.
‘Now that’s all out of the way, I’ll fetch the pudding,’ Sandra said, but when Daisy began to help her collect the dirty dishes and the mounds of food still left in the tureens, her mother waved her away.
‘You helped prepare the lunch.’ (Daisy had cleaned the veg – that was all her mother trusted her to do). ‘Let the men do some work for a change. They can help clear it away. David, Noah, help me carry these into the kitchen.’
Once they were out of the room, Zoe whispered to her, ‘You did a good job, there.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t worry, I don’t think Noah could tell.’
‘Tell what?’ Darn it, she’d hoped no one had realised she’d thought the box contained a ring, and she was fully prepared to deny everything.
‘That you don’t like the necklace,’ Zoe said. ‘I don’t think I would either, knowing where it’s been. Trust a doctor not to see that. Still, it’s a lovely thought, and it didn’t bring you bad luck, did it?’
Daisy pondered her sister-in-law’s comment. Her run of bad luck had actually started before she’d swallowed the coin, but it had continued right up until she’d “eliminated” it. Or had it? Actually, when she thought about it, if it wasn’t for the sixpence, she never would have met Noah. And Melissa and the MD had been planning her exit from Caring Cards long before she’d set eyes on the sixpence. But now she had a new job with prospects (Mr Bradley – Ken – was making noises that he wanted to ease back a little and enjoy those grandchildren of his, and was giving more and more responsibility to Daisy), a nice lump sum, and the icing on the cake – Noah. Handsome, funny, loving, sexy Noah, who knew her as well as she knew herself (except when it came to certain small, silver coins).
‘Ta dah!’ Sandra breezed back into the dining room, holding a plate of flaming pudding. Noah came in behind her, holding the bowls, and David carried a jug of brandy sauce. Bella let out an ear-piercing shriek when she saw the flames, banging her chubby fists on her high chair.
‘See,’ Sandra said, ‘the baby would have some, if she was allowed, so you’ll have to have her share, Daisy.’
‘If it will stop you going on about it, I’ll have a spoonful,’ Daisy conceded. ‘But if I choke on it, my death will be on your head.’
‘Stop being such a drama queen,’ her mother said, holding her hand out to Noah like a surgeon expecting a scalpel.
Noah slapped a bowl in her palm, Sandra spooned a small amount of pudding into it, and David poured brandy sauce over the top.
‘There, hardly a mouthful. Happy?’ Sandra said, popping the dessert down in front of Daisy.
‘Did you put the sixpence in it?’ Gee-Gee asked, peering at it. Over the last year her eyesight had become progressively worse and so had her hearing. Her memory wasn’t so good, either. Daisy was simply grateful the old lady was able to join them this year, because she really didn’t fancy eating Christmas lunch at The Grange. Most of the food there could be sucked up with a straw.
‘No, Gee-Gee, it’s around my neck.’
‘It won’t do you any good there. You should have put it in the pudding. I thought you were going to, Sandra?’
‘No Gran, you must have heard wrong.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with my hearing, I’ll have you know!’
‘Now, ladies, no squabbling,’ David said, and Daisy shot him a grateful look. She didn’t want her family to frighten Noah off; his family was so much more… normal.
In an effort to tune out what could be the start of an epic row, Daisy turned her attention to her bowl. It was only a spoonful, so she scooped it up and popped it in her mouth.
Bloody hell! The woman had put a sodding sixpence in it after all, Daisy thought, after she’d bitten down on something very hard indeed. It was a wonder she’d not broken a tooth.
‘Mum!’ she cried around the mouthful of gooey pudding and rock hard…
That wasn’t a coin, it was the wrong shape for a start, sort of lumpy and with a hole in the middle.
She spat it out into the palm of her hand and stared at it.
There, covered in sticky, dark brown pudding, lay a diamond ring.
Daisy continued to stare at it, wordlessly.
This time she really did think she was going to die, because she couldn’t breathe. Elsie nudged her in the ribs, and placed a small jug filled with soapy water on the table.
‘Here, let me, seeing as you’re not going to,’ her nan said, snatching the ring out of Daisy’s hand, dropping in the jug and swirling it around. When it was clean, she took it back out and gave it to Noah.
He went down on one knee. ‘Daisy Jones, will you marry me?’ he asked.
Everything and everyone were totally and utterly silent. Even baby Bella didn’t make a sound.
‘Yes, oh yes!’ Daisy cried, when she couldn’t hold her joy in any longer, and Noah slipped the ring on her finger.
‘It’s got six diamonds around the big one,’ he said, ‘and they represent every penny in that sixpence. The middle diamond represents our love.’
Daisy squealed with happiness, and threw herself into Noah’s arms. As their lips met, Daisy Jones realised she was a very, very lucky lady, indeed.