Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (32 page)

‘Not at all,’ Jay said, smiling. ‘It would be an honour to sit on it with you.’

As Laurie walked towards Jay to pass him, he smiled and pointed to something above the doorway. ‘What’s this?’ he asked.

Hanging there was a sprig of mistletoe, tied with a red bow. Laurie smiled. Rachel must have put it up.

She looked across the doorway at Jay. ‘Because if it’s a trap,’ he said, ‘I really don’t mind.’

Jay moved his hand up her arm and brought her gently towards him. He smoothed back her hair, then cupped her chin with his hand. Looking into her eyes, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip.

Laurie closed her eyes as he kissed her, her whole body tingling at his touch. She put her arms around him. It felt natural, as if they were meant to be there.

As they kissed, Laurie forgot all about the flight she was about to catch. She thought instead of all the time with Jay she wanted to catch up on. The second chance they had now, to put things right, do it better this time.

And then there was room for just one other thought in her mind:
Thank you, Rach
.

I hope you enjoyed reading Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. Here are a couple of my favourite things to make at this time of year, to keep you in the Christmas spirit
.
Zak’s Photo Snowglobes

Drop your family into a Christmas scene! These pretty personalised snowglobes make perfect gifts for doting grandparents.

You will need:
A clean glass jar with a flat topWhite glitterA photo of a family member (smaller than the jar height and diameter)Sticky-back plastic (or a laminator) to cover the photoDistilled waterSmall amount of glycerine (available from chemists)Superglue or a glue gunWaterproof Christmas decorations for the backdrop
Prepare your photo
. Choose a photo of a family member and cut around the outline of their face or body. Then waterproof the image by laminating it or covering it in sticky-back plastic (on both sides) leaving a centimetre extra surrounding the image, so that the photo is completely sealed in.

Create your Christmas scene.
The underside of the jar lid is going to provide the base for your Christmas scene. Bend the bottom centimetre of the photo over and glue it to the inside of the lid using glue-gun glue or superglue. Add waterproof Christmas decorations behind the image to keep it propped up, like a plastic sprig of holly, a Santa cake decoration, or a souvenir Eiffel tower. Leave enough space around the edges for it to screw back on easily.

Fill your jar
with distilled water almost to the top, then add a couple of teaspoons of glitter and a dash of glycerine to help the snow to drift down slowly.

Seal it up.
Put plenty of glue around the lid, and then screw it on tightly. Decorate the edge of the lid with glitter or a ribbon, for extra sparkle. Give jar a shake and enjoy watching the snow fall over your handmade scene.

Next up, some beautiful ribbon-tied Christmas tree decorations. These traditional biscuits will add a touch of class to your tree, and they taste twice as good as they look
…

Milly’s Gingerbread Stars
Makes about 30 biscuits.

Ingredients:
340g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1½ tsp grated nutmeg

1½ tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tsp ground ginger

225g unsalted butter, softened

340g soft brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

75g crystallised ginger, finely chopped

To decorate
:
225g icing sugar
Silver balls to decorate

Preparation:
Put some classic Christmas tunes on the stereo and pour yourself a glass of sloe gin.

  Sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt together into a mixing bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar together, and then beat in the egg gradually. Stir into the flour to make a dough, then add the ginger. Now reward yourself with a sip or two of the gin.

Place the dough between two sheets of clingfilm, and roll out to the thickness of a pound coin. Pop it in the fridge for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 180°C, and put your feet up for a bit.

When the dough’s ready, cut out the biscuits, and put on a greased baking tray. Cook them for about ten minutes, and, while they are still hot from the oven, poke a hole at the top of each one. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Decoration
: Thread a ribbon through the hole at the top of each biscuit. If you’re making your own icing, simply sift the icing sugar, and then mix to a stiff consistency with boiling water. Brush the icing over the biscuits and decorate them with silver balls. They can then go in an airtight container (they’ll keep for a couple of weeks) or you can hang them straight on your tree.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Love
,

Abby x

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Huge thanks to my brilliant editor Jo Dickinson for her creativity, insight and guidance, and to agent extraordinaire Caroline Hardman for her support at every stage.

To the excellent team at Quercus – Jenny Richards for the lovely cover, Georgina Difford, Katie Gordon, Kathryn Taussig, David North and everyone else who has worked so hard on my book.

To Caroline Hogg, Emma Stonex and my mum Sheelagh, for their continuing encouragement and wise words. Thanks in particular to James, for his ideas, enthusiasm, and flair for Christmas tree decoration.

Finally, to the friends and family who make my festive season sparkle each year. Merry Christmas!

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Christmas Recipes

Acknowledgements