Maddie shook her head.

“I can’t believe we had that dress done on time and got her out the door. This was one of the most intense styling jobs I’ve ever had, and while it’s been a great experience, I’m looking forward to lunchtime tomorrow, when I’m all done with work and we can relax together. I’m jumping in the shower now. See you at cocktail hour!”

Vivian slowly followed Maddie up the stairs. She would have to tell Malcolm her decision tonight; she knew that. The problem was, she still had no idea what her decision would be.

Malcolm arrived at Sycamore Cottage at eight p.m. on the dot, two bottles of champagne in hand. He’d checked in with Julia, who had told him he didn’t need to bring anything, but his mother had raised him to always bring something when he went to someone’s house for dinner, and he had no intention of looking like a mannerless boor in front of Vivian.

“Happy Christmas, James,” he said when James opened the front door.

“Happy Christmas, sir,” James said. “Pleased you’ll be joining us for dinner.”

James had a very bland look on his face, which meant he must be aware of exactly why Malcolm was at dinner tonight. Had he seen them kissing the day before?

What was he thinking? Of course James knew exactly why Malcolm was at dinner tonight, whether or not he’d seen them kissing. James had been the one to deliver all of those notes to Vivian. People don’t send notes back and forth to each other all day if they haven’t at least thought about kissing each other.

“I’ve brought this champagne for all of us to enjoy; should I give it to you, or bring it back to Julia?”

James took the bottles out of his hands.

“I’ll ask Julia when she would like it to be served. Please, come in.”

James escorted him into the sitting room, which looked very different than the last time he’d been there, just a few days before. The lights were low, candles were lit everywhere, the white twinkle lights on the Christmas tree were glowing, and the fire was burning. A few other members of the Sycamore Cottage staff were already inside, including Julia. But Vivian wasn’t there yet. Nor was her daughter, who he was eager to finally meet.

“Malcolm! So pleased you’re joining us tonight,” Julia said. She glanced over at James. “Oh, do we have you to thank for this champagne? James, would you put it in one of the ice buckets in the dining room, please? We’ll have it with our first course.”

Julia handed Malcolm a cocktail.

“I’m delighted I had this dinner to have fun with; I have the chance to make the dishes I always want to make for my family Christmas dinner, but am never allowed to—my family never wants to fuss with tradition. Here’s the cocktail I made for all of us to start the night with.”

Malcolm took a sip, and his eyes widened.

“Goodness, Julia. I feel sorry for your family that they don’t have the chance to experience this drink.”

She grinned at him.

“I hope that will be your feeling throughout this entire meal.”

He was just about to take another sip when something occurred to him.

“Did my late addition to the party make trouble for you? If so, I apologize.”

She glanced over his shoulder.

“Absolutely not. You don’t think Vivian is the kind of person who wouldn’t check in with me about that before she invited you, do you?”

He laughed.

“No, we’ve both known her only a few days, and we know that she isn’t. But then, I’ve known you for years, and I know you’re the kind of person who would always say yes to that type of request, even if it threw your entire plan into chaos.”

She grinned at him.

“You know me too well, Malcolm. But I promise, that wasn’t the case.” She turned slightly and smiled at someone behind him. “I think you’re going to want to see this.”

Malcolm spun around and saw Vivian walk into the room. She had on a dark red dress, her hair was down, and her smile was dazzling. He hoped it was for him.

“You look incredible,” he said in a low voice when she came over to him and Julia.

She looked away and smiled.

“Thank you. Merry Christmas.” She smiled at Julia. “Merry Christmas, Julia. The sitting room has been transformed in just the past hour. Who can I thank for this?”

Julia nodded at the corner.

“That would be James. He’s excellent at decorating.” She handed Vivian a cocktail. “I love your dress.”

Vivian looked down at herself and smiled.

“Thank you. It’s all Maddie, of course. Thank goodness for my daughter.”

Malcolm touched her elbow. This was the first time he’d ever seen her not covered from head to toe against the weather. It was nice to reach out and touch her arm and feel her smooth skin, and not just her wool sweater.

“Your daughter is clearly a very talented woman,” Malcolm said, “but she’s lucky she has you to do her talents justice.”

Malcolm heard a voice next to him.

“I’m lucky I have my mother for many reasons, but yes, that’s one of them.”

Malcolm turned and smiled. Maddie looked a lot like her mother.

“Maddie, this is Malcolm Hudson, the queen’s private secretary.” Vivian’s cheeks were pink, either from the fire or from their compliments. “Malcolm, this is my daughter, Madeleine Forest.”

Malcolm and Maddie shook hands and smiled at each other.

“Malcolm, thanks for entertaining my mother for the past few days while I’ve been so busy here,” Maddie said.

She had no idea how much he’d enjoyed himself with Vivian, did she?

“The pleasure was all mine. And—”

Julia handed Maddie one of her special cocktails.

“For you, to celebrate a job well done,” Julia said to Maddie. “We have a lot of good drinks in store for us tonight: we’ll have champagne for our next course—some of it courtesy of Malcolm here—and some great wine with dinner, a gift from the Duke and Duchess to all of us.”

Maddie took a sip of her cocktail.

“Ooh, what is in this? And don’t tell me it’s a secret recipe. My boyfriend is a huge cocktail fan, and he would love this—I promise I won’t tell anyone else.”

As Maddie teased the cocktail recipe out of Julia, Malcolm stood just as close to Vivian as he dared, and wished they were alone in this room. Or any room, really. He wanted to be able to kiss her without people around them, he wanted to be able to tell her the plans he’d made for their tiny holiday, he wanted to know for sure her smile was just for him.

“All right, I’ll show you the bottle, but you have to swear you’re just going to tell your boyfriend and not a single person in the United Kingdom,” Julia said to Maddie.

Maddie held up her hand.

“I swear! And if it’s a brand we don’t have in the U.S., it would be a perfect gift to bring back to him from this trip.”

Maddie and Julia walked off, presumably to go inspect the alcohol, and he and Vivian were left alone.

They weren’t completely alone—James and a few other Sycamore Cottage staff and friends of staff were still milling about the sitting room, drinking Julia’s special cocktail and eating the cheese straws she had in vases on the tables. But this was likely as close as they’d get, at least until the twenty-eighth.