The Night Before Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

gradually fallen into disrepair. Originally designed as a sizable twin pair of houses, Katy and Jim had knocked through to create a double-fronted mansion with long elegant bay windows that Katy told her had cost a fortune to refurbish. The ostentatious and entirely decorative ramparts lining the roof were brought to an extravagant full stop by two delightfully fanciful turrets, majestically rounding off each corner of the house, looking for all the world as if the only thing they lacked was a pair of long-haired princesses to languish in them.
    It was clear, even from the outside, how much Katy had revelled in bringing the old place back to such glittering form. It had also been a total steal, according to Katy’s husband, Jim. But what they’d saved on buying their Victorian folly, they were obviously spending on turning it into a going concern.
    ‘It is very grand,’ Stephen said, leaning over to look out of Lydia’s window and kissing her on the ear at the same time, which made her forgive his fluffy-headed girl comment.
    ‘Grand!’ She smiled warmly at the classic Stephen understatement. ‘It’s gorgeous! I want to wrap it up in Christmas paper, pop a bow on it and take it home. This is just the right place to spend a perfect Christmas!’
    Stephen smiled, gently drawing her face to meet his.‘I’ve never known anyone as sweet as you, Lydia Grant,’ he said, and at that moment, as Stephen kissed her, all of Lydia’s doubts, her entire list of cons, melted away in an instant. Perhaps, Lydia thought, she truly was being silly and fluffy-headed; perhaps, on this one occasion, she was over thinking and analysing too much. Perhaps she was the one with the issues, not Stephen. He thought she was sweetest person he knew, and maybe that was a very good reason to marry a man. Perhaps everything was going to be all right after all.
    Suddenly unable to wait any longer, Lydia threw open the door, instantly feeling frozen as a blast of cold Cumbrian air engulfed them. She wrapped her coat around her and practically ran up the white marble steps to the front door, negotiating the impressive wreath to find an old brass knocker in the shape of a lion’s head. Lydia sounded it three times, and then, just to be on the safe side, pressed the brand new electronic doorbell too, instigating, somewhere deep in the depths of the house, the sound of a very excitable dog.
    ‘I’ve got a feeling we might be staying here for a bit longer than four days,’ Stephen said, stamping his feet in the several inches of snow that continued to accumulate as he got out of the car. ‘The snow is really coming down now. You go in and get warm, I’ll grab our bags from the boot.’
    Lydia clamped her arms around herself and hopped from one foot to the other as she heard squeals frominside. The sounds should rightfully have come from the children, but she recognised Katy’s voice and, sure enough, it was she who flung the door open, enfolding Lydia immediately in an enthusiastic hug. Katy’s dog, a motley-looking grey lurcher of indeterminate age, skipped around her knees. With her free hand, Lydia rubbed the soft head of Vincent Van Dog, so called because he’d arrived at the dog’s home where Katy had rescued him lacking in one ear, for reasons unknown.
    ‘Lyds!’ Katy exclaimed as she grabbed Lydia’s face and kissed her on both cold cheeks, drawing her inside the glorious warmth of the house. ‘God, it’s so good to see you! For a while, there, I was worried
no one
would make it. Alex and David came up this morning, but Mum and Dad are stuck in Perth, Jim’s folks are still in Surrey and there’s no sign of Joanna yet, although she’s en route. Jim reckons in another hour or two the roads around here will be impassable and we’ll be snowed in!’ Katy squealed again, clapping her hands together like a little girl. ‘But at least you’re here. I have really missed you, you know.’
    Gently, Lydia prised the hem of her coat from