Page 83 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

He savoured the coffee and the quiet and stared out at the peaceful landscape until Anna appeared half an hour later.

“Morning,” she murmured and the single word made his pulse react.

“Sleep well?” he asked.

“Yes. Did you?”

He nodded. “Do you want a coffee?”

She put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him when he went to get up. “I can get it. Do you want a refill?”

“Please.”

She’d only just walked away when his mum arrived in the room.

“Morning!” she chimed.

Warren ignored the way the muscles in his jaw clenched. He wouldn’t let them get to him, he reminded himself.

“I’m getting coffee if you want one,” Anna said.

“No, thanks,” his mum replied. “I’ve already had three cups this morning.”

“Have you been working?” Anna asked.

“Of course she has,” Warren replied. “There’s no rest for the wicked.”

His mum rolled her eyes. “I’ll rest once this deal goes through.”

“Sure you will,” Warren muttered, but his animosity was drowned out by the joyful shouts of his nephew as he ran into the room.

“It’s snowed!” He stopped in front of Warren and jumped up and down. “It snowed a lot. Did you see it?”

“I’ve seen it,” Warren said, the excitement in Josh’s eyes making him smile. “Are you going to go sledging?”

Josh looked around, eyes landing on Selena as she strode in.

“You haven’t got a sledge here,” she said. “But Tamara is going to take you out for a nice snowy walk.”

“Aren’t our old sledges in the garage?” Warren asked his mum.

“I think so, yes.”

“He’s not going to play on a twenty-year-old sledge,” Selena said in her usual haughty tone.

“I want to go sledging!” Josh declared.

“The wood is probably rotten on those old things,” Selena insisted. “But I suppose Tamara could take you out to buy a new one.”

“It’s thick snow,” his mum pointed out. “Don’t let her drive in this with Josh in the car. It’s not safe.”

Selena shook her head. “They’ll just go for a walk then. Josh, go to Tamara, and she’ll help you get your snow gear on.”

Warren took the mug of coffee from Anna, noticing that Josh ignored his mum’s instructions and stayed put.

“I don’t see what the problem is with using the old sledges,” Warren said to his sister.

“Yes,” she said tersely. “But you also don’t see the problem with throwing him into the air or hanging him upside down.”