Page 41 of A Billionaire for Christmas

LAST CHRISTMAS, I GAVE YOU MY TART

Molly lit the candles and switched on the twinkling lights while Lucca and Freda went to get changed into what would pass as waiters’ uniforms. Molly was dressed in full chef’s whites.

‘Why is this table over here in the alcove and so out of the way?’ Levi said, crossing the room, his laptop under one arm. ‘There are only two place settings.’

‘Yes,’ said Molly, clearing her throat. ‘I’ll bring your meal to your room as requested.’

Levi inspected the table setting, the candles, the plates and glasses for two. ‘It all looks incredibly romantic. And whose idea was this?’

‘Lucca’s.’

‘My brother has ordered a romantic meal for two? How unsurprising.’ Levi looked her over. ‘Unless this is a bucket list thing. I suppose you’ll be joining him?’

Molly gasped in surprise. ‘Absolutely not.’ She was growing tired of his leaping to conclusions. ‘I know you have a very low opinion of me but come on, really?’

Levi didn’t answer, his mouth set in a determined line.

She thought there was something odd in the way he was glaring at her. ‘Wait. Are you jealous?’

Levi shook his head too quickly. ‘No. Of course not. I have no idea what to make of you, that’s all.

I have no idea what you’re up to in this house, with me, with my family.

I just know that you’re not being entirely truthful.

’ He slowly placed his laptop down, his eyes not leaving her face.

‘Despite what you think, I read people for a living. I make business deals every day with people who have hidden agendas.’ He was leaning closer to her. Molly was frozen to the spot.

She opened her mouth to retaliate but Freda came rushing towards them. ‘They’re coming! Quiet or you’ll spoil the surprise.’

Lucca darted into the kitchen after her. They were both dressed in smart black clothes.

‘What’s going on? Why does the kitchen look like a science lab?’ Levi whispered back. He looked at what they were wearing. ‘Did someone die?’

‘Maybe, if we don’t get our parents talking to each other,’ whispered Freda. ‘They’re thinking of getting a divorce.’

‘What? Impossible,’ Levi said, frowning.

Lucca slung his arm around Levi, smiling. ‘It’s true. We’ll be from a broken home. We’ll end up as latchkey kids. Shunted from one house to another. Parents trying to buy our love.’

Levi shrugged his arm off. ‘What are you talking about? They’re a perfectly happy, solid couple.’

Freda coughed. ‘Are you kidding me? Since when?’

Molly wondered whether to tell them about Valerie’s suspicions and her own concerns over Armand’s health when a familiar click-clacking rang through the lodge.

‘They’re here. Places, everyone. Levi, if you’re staying, make yourself useful.

’ She threw a white chef’s overcoat at him and hoped he would join in.

After a second’s hesitation, he flicked her an intense look.

Despite her annoyance at him, it sent her pulse racing.

‘We’re trying to save a marriage. Come on, bro,’ pleaded Lucca.

‘I could use the help,’ said Molly, trying desperately not to blush. Levi was wearing close-fitting jogging pants that barely left anything to the imagination. And her imagination was hellbent on making the most of it.

Levi rolled his eyes and put the coat on.

The crisp, cotton jacket with its double row of buttons up to the neat collar suited him.

He looked sexy as hell. ‘Okay, Chef.’ A warmth in his tone had replaced the usual gruffness as she saw him visibly relax.

Lucca’s words echoed in her brain. ‘Where do you want me?’

Naked, sipping champagne in a hot tub. Molly shook the shocking thought away. She couldn’t afford to take her eye off the ball. Pardon the pun.

‘In the kitchen, please. I need you to sous-chef for me, starting with peeling the potatoes, then trimming the artichoke petals and slicing those shallots extra thin.’

He hesitated a fraction before giving her a half-smile. ‘Yes, boss.’

Lucca caught her eye and raised his eyebrows a fraction as though to say, What did I tell you? She gave herself a mental shake.

‘Here. I’ll show you.’ She would keep things strictly professional between them.

She would focus on the delicate task of deconstructing her version of an innovative gazpacho with roast scallops on a bed of microscopic winter salad and not allow her eyes to stray.

She was a robot. She would not react to him.

It was a fool’s errand because as soon as Levi stood next to her, she caught his familiar woody scent, putting her libido on immediate red alert.

He got to work speedily while Lucca and Freda introduced their confused and not entirely pleased parents to their plans for the evening. Molly and Levi listened from the kitchen.

‘Where is everyone?’ asked an irritable-sounding Valerie.

‘Surprise!’ Lucca said. ‘We have a special evening planned for you both as a thank you.’

‘Thank you for what?’ Armand said gruffly.

‘For being our parents, for being alive, does it matter?’

‘What he means is,’ interjected Freda, ‘we wanted to do something special for your upcoming wedding anniversary.’

‘It’s six months away,’ said Valerie in a harsh tone. ‘And your father hasn’t remembered it for the last ten years so why start celebrating now? And does it have to be so dark? I thought we had the electricity back.’

Armand studied his wife. ‘You haven’t a romantic bone in your body. You’ve forgotten how to love. That’s why I don’t bother.’

A thorny silence descended.

‘Merry Christmas, parents,’ Lucca said abruptly. ‘Your loving children, well, the three you know about, hope you have a wonderful evening and would very much appreciate it if you could get along for at least the next two to three hours.’

‘Christ Almighty. Is there really any need?’ Valerie spat. ‘And for your information, Armand, it hasn’t been easy playing second fiddle to an art gallery and then to a golf stick.’

‘Club, ma chérie . It’s called a golf club . Perhaps if you took the slightest bit of interest, we could play together.’

‘Never. I couldn’t think of anything worse,’ Valerie said frostily.

Levi gave Molly a grateful look as they hunched together over the bench, straining to listen. He whispered to her, ‘Maybe this is a good idea.’

Lucca ploughed on, reading aloud from the card Molly had written for him.

‘Tonight is a celebration of your wonderful marriage. A chance to rediscover things about yourselves as we take you on a culinary journey of your lives together. Each correct question will move you on to the next round and so on.’

‘For the first round, we’re taking you back to your wedding day,’ Freda announced. ‘Can you remember what you served your guests?’

Valerie rolled her eyes dramatically. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. No, of course not.’

‘Like it was yesterday,’ replied Armand at the same time.

While Valerie floundered, Molly nudged Levi into action. She pointed to a slate platter featuring a wide selection of amuse-bouches of all shapes and colours. ‘I need you to gently place these flowers on top of the ones I pipe the purée on, please.’

Levi leaned very close to her, whispering back, ‘What are they?’

‘Each one represents every course they had at their wedding. But with a slight twist.’

Levi looked suitably impressed. ‘How would you know what they ate? It was nearly forty years ago.’

‘Research. Obviously. You’re not the only one who’s exhaustingly thorough. Also, Lucca has been pumping your housekeeper in France for information. She raked through an old box of mementoes and found the original menu. And I asked your dad earlier if he could remember, to jog his memory.’

She was pleased to see a smile tugging at Levi’s kissable lips.

‘Here, take these.’ Molly bent down to retrieve two tiny ramekins filled with thinly sliced duck and shallots on a bed of mashed buttery potato. She took a pan from the stove and poured a drizzle of cherry brandy, sloe and plum sauce.

A cheer alerted them to the fact that the first round had been successful. Freda hurried through into the kitchen followed by Lucca. ‘It’s working,’ he said excitedly, his eyes shining.

Molly gave them both a slate platter each. ‘Instruct them to eat from left to right in order, then this one last. When they’ve finished, we’ll give them a palate cleanser ready for the next round of questions.’

They watched Freda and Lucca go. Levi cleared his throat. ‘This was a very thoughtful idea. I’m sorry for the way I’ve been behaving. I should never have accused you of…’

Molly held up a hand. ‘It’s fine. Let’s just get through this meal and then we can talk. I still owe you an explanation for the letter you found. And then, when you realise you’re wrong about me, you can apologise for being such a tosser.’

Levi’s eyes softened as they exchanged a tender look. ‘Okay. I’m guessing that’s some kind of jerk. What’s next?’

Molly had loved recreating this one. Freda had often heard her mother go on about how overjoyed she was to be expecting Levi but how difficult pregnancy in France had been due to her bizarre cravings for American food.

Molly had managed to recreate the classic 1980s cheddar melt and the short-lived caramel pecan roll that apparently Armand had flown across the Atlantic especially for his wife.

‘They must have been so deeply in love at the beginning,’ Molly whispered as she assembled the miniscule, bite-size cheeseburgers. ‘It’s such a shame how couples drift apart. Can you sprinkle those with cinnamon, please, and lie a gingerbread toffee twist onto the sauce?’

Levi gave her an intense look but said nothing as he did what she asked.

* * *

It was somewhere around the sixth round that Armand and Valerie could be heard laughing. ‘I haven’t heard them laughing like that for a long time,’ Levi declared. ‘I guess I’m away a lot. I hadn’t realised how far apart they’d grown.’

‘Well, this next round is a take on the time they took you to visit your grandparents in Phoenix.’