Later on, after the house was more or less ready for the party, Rose announced, ‘I think we should get changed.’
They were in Rose’s bedroom and she was flicking through her large wardrobe of clothes for a different outfit.
Beryl and Annie looked at each other. ‘Why?’ asked Annie.
‘Because it’s a proper party and it’s Christmas and why the hell not?’ said Rose. ‘Don’t you want to get dressed up?’
‘I thought I was dressed up,’ said Beryl, glancing down at her matching twinset and skirt.
‘Sweetie, you are,’ Rose told her. ‘But I think we should bling it up a bit, don’t you?’
So Beryl was persuaded to put on a vintage Chanel jacket over a long chiffon skirt. ‘I’m not sure about chiffon at my age,’ she said, frowning.
‘Rubbish,’ said Rose, who had put on a beautiful dress in vivid blue. ‘Age is an attitude, not a number.’ She turned to look at Annie who was still wearing her jeans and top. ‘Now, what can we put you in?’
‘I’m really quite happy like this,’ said Annie, feeling awkward.
‘Darling, you look like you’ve come to mend the boiler,’ said Rose, shaking her head. ‘No, no, it simply won’t do. It’s a party! You’re a guest!’
Trying to take in this new information, Annie watched as Rose ran her hands across all the outfits in the first wardrobe before declaring them not good enough. Her second wardrobe apparently held a few more decent choices but they weren’t quite ‘the one’.
Then, halfway across the third and final wardrobe, her hand faltered. ‘I wonder,’ murmured Rose, before pulling out a red, long dress. ‘Yes, I think this will do. Do you remember this one when we packed it away?’
Annie walked across to feel the delicate silk. ‘It’s beautiful but it’s a bit much, don’t you think?’
But Rose was adamant. ‘This is the one,’ she said. ‘Go on. Off you trot and get changed.’
Realising she had no choice, Annie left the room.
‘Where have I seen that dress before?’ asked Beryl.
Rose sat down at her dressing table to put on a long gold necklace. ‘It’s the Givenchy dress than I leant to Beatrice all those years ago. Do you remember? Arthur couldn’t take his eyes off her.’
She and Beryl exchanged a knowing smile at their reflections in the mirror.
*
The party began late in the afternoon. It had a stunning backdrop of a fiery sunset which bathed the snowy branches of the willow tree in glorious pinks and oranges. Behind the tree, the historic house almost seemed to be showing off its beauty as the first guests arrived. It looked magnificent.
Lots of old friends were arriving and the entrance hall was beginning to fill with both people and laughter. The hall was softly lit and trails of fairy lights touched every surface and made it even more magical.
Sam fiddled with his tie. ‘I hate wearing these things,’ he moaned to his brother. ‘I can’t believe Aunt Rose made us all dress up.’
Will took a sip of champagne. ‘To be fair, all of our guests are dressed up to the nines.’
As he wandered away, Sam realised that his brother was right. Everyone had put on their finest gowns to attend the Earl of Cranley’s Boxing Day party.
Even Megan was dressed in a pretty green long gown. ‘Thank god for Rose,’ she had told him. ‘My parents are babysitting the kids and this is our first night out for years.’
She and her husband Neal were knocking back the champagne and looking thoroughly pleased to have a child-free evening.
Annie had dug out a whole load of mismatched wine and champagne glasses whilst Sam and Will had managed to buy trays of ready-made canapes so that they had something to feed everyone with.
Christmas music was blaring out from the surround sound downstairs and everybody seemed to be having a good time.
‘What a wonderful house,’ said a man coming up to him.
He introduced himself as an uncle of one of their tenants.
‘I’m a developer for luxury places,’ he carried on. ‘Places like this will always command a handsome price. Any time you want to sell, just let me know. This could be a gorgeous high-end hotel.’
Sam realised that someone was willing to offer the family a lot of money for Willow Tree Hall. This was the chance that he had so desperately wanted only a few months early. But he shook his head. ‘Sorry. This is our home and it’s not for sale.’
He had been given a chance to escape but he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay.
‘So how do you afford to run a place like this?’ asked the man.
‘Actually I have a great business plan for the future,’ said Sam, with a smile.
He had lots of changes to make after Christmas but for now he was going to enjoy the party.
*
Annie hovered at the top of the stairs, unsure as to whether she wanted to go down dressed like this. She was wearing a long column dress in bright red which had a split up one side, showing off her long legs and sparkly high heels. It also had one long sleeve but the other arm and shoulder were bare. She had worn her hair down so she didn’t feel too dressy which was ridiculous because she was in a vintage designer dress of all things!
‘Darling, you look fabulous,’ said Alex, coming to stand next to her. He was wearing a tuxedo. ‘I’d better hide you from Randy Mick.’
Annie giggled nervously. ‘It’s so tight!’
She went to tug the split further down her leg but Alex stopped her. ‘No. You’ve got to own that dress. Stand tall. You can totally wear it.’
‘I can?’
‘Champagne,’ declared Alex, holding out his arm for her to take. ‘Champagne always helps, my lovely.’
Annie felt so strange but, at the same time, wonderful in her dress. She found herself looking out for Sam in the throng and absent-mindedly touched her new diamond earrings that she had decided to wear. They had had barely any time to talk to one another over Christmas and she found she had missed their chats in the kitchen about life and everything else.
*
Sam had finally managed to shake off the very persistent businessman. He was desperately trying to find Annie whom he hadn’t seen since the guests had begun to arrive. Then, just as he was walking across the entrance hall, he spotted her walking down the staircase with Alex.
At least, he thought it was Annie. She looked stunning. The most un-Annie he had ever seen her. And yet, as she had laughed at something Alex had said, she was still his Annie.
His Annie. He shook his head to try to rid the words out of it, but they still kept whispering to him over and over.
In the glow of the candlelight and fairy lights, she seemed to gleam. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
*
Nearby, Rose smiled as she watched her nephew stare up in awe at Annie.
She murmured something to herself.
‘What was that?’ asked Arthur, leaning in so he could hear her word more clearly.
‘I said it’s magic,’ she whispered to him.
History was repeating itself at Willow Tree Hall.
*
It was one of the best parties anyone could remember in a long time.
Arthur had a great time catching up with all of his tenants. Rose flirted with every available man she could and was completely in her element. Will chatted up someone’s cousin who apparently was a lingerie model. Everyone laughed, sang and danced almost the whole night through. Even Hazy Weekend managed to belt out an ‘a cappella’ version of their Christmas hit that everyone apart from them loved.
But Sam stuck pretty close to Annie, not letting anyone else near her. She didn’t care. She just wanted him. Only him. And for once, she was going to relax and enjoy herself.
‘You look sensational,’ he told her, drawing her close against him on the dance floor in the middle of the entrance hall.
‘It’s not even my dress,’ she told him, glancing down.
‘I’ll buy it for you,’ he whispered against her ear as they swayed back and forth.
She laughed. ‘It’s not for sale. It’s a loan from my fairy godmother.’
‘What happens at midnight?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
She stared up at him. ‘I’m not sure,’ she murmured. ‘But I can’t wait to find out.’
The searing look he suddenly had made her suddenly breathless.
Later on, as the party progressed on into the wee small hours, Sam led Annie upstairs so that they could finally be alone. He guided her down the dark corridor and into her bedroom. Taking her by the hand, he led her across the dark room to the window where she could see the glittering night sky outside.
‘See that?’ he said softly. ‘It’s a new moon. Your favourite.’
She turned to look at him, her face so close to his. ‘How did you know that?’
He reached out to stroke her cheek. ‘You told me once, don’t you remember?’
She shook her head. She really didn’t. But then she had told him so much over the past six weeks. Had revealed so much of herself to him.
‘You see, I know everything about you,’ said Sam. ‘I’ve seen you tired, cold, hungry, excited, upset and, yes, a little bit drunk.’
She watched him smile a little as she felt her cheeks redden. In the near darkness, his eyes were the same colour as the night sky.
‘I don’t know any woman that’s ever danced around the kitchen in her pyjamas,’ he told her.
‘Then you must have been going out with the wrong women,’ she whispered.
‘So was it the best Christmas ever? Did you get your wish after all?’ he asked, his voice deep with desire.
She nodded, unable to tear her eyes away from his. ‘It was. All my wishes have come true.’
He gently brought his head down to hers so that, finally, they could kiss once more.
She saw his eyes gleam as their lips touched. He kissed her, at first so softly, and then much, much deeper.
She never wanted his lips to leave hers. Never wanted to know what it would be like to not have him hold her like this. She couldn’t have let go of him even if she had wanted to.
He abruptly stepped back to sweep her into his arms and take her across the room, closing the bedroom door to the world as they went.