Page 148 of Snowbound Surrender

They stepped out into the cold night air, which was now filled with swirling snowflakes.

“For we must return before the snow leaves us stranded here in the village. Do you not see how thick and fast it is coming down?”

Scarlett turned around in a circle, ascertaining that Hunter was, indeed, correct. Snow was beginning to collect upon the thatched roofs surrounding them, icicles hanging from their eaves. She couldn’t help herself. She threw her arms out, let her head hang back, and opened her mouth to collect snowflakes as they descended toward her.

“Scarlett! What in heaven’s name are you doing?” asked Lavinia, although Scarlett could hear the laughter in her voice.

“Collecting snowflakes!” she exclaimed, raising her head to look at her sister-in-law. “Did you never do such a thing?”

“No!” Lavinia said somewhat incredulously. “Our parents would have seen it as quite … improper.”

“Well, I suppose it is,” said Scarlett with a shrug. “Though Hunter is right. We best be going.”

“Did I hear you correctly?” he asked with a teasing look of astonishment. “I believe you just said I’m right.”

“Well,” she admitted, “for once you are.”

He held a hand out to help her into the waiting sleigh, and despite the layers of gloves between them and the frigid night air, a jolt of heat coursed through her from where they touched right to her very center.Get a hold of yourself Scarlett, she thought as she sat next to him underneath the blanket keeping out the cold.

“So…” Lavinia began speaking before she was even fully inside, ignoring her husband who had already rummaged in his pocket to pull out a flask before the sleigh even began to move. “You will come for dinner tonight, will you not?”

“No,” Hunter said curtly before turning his gaze toward the passing landscape. Lavinia’s smile fell, and Scarlett leaned forward.

“We would love to Lavinia, truly we would,” she said with much more tact. “However, we are concerned about the weather, and we wouldn’t like to impose upon you overnight.”

“Of course you may!” she exclaimed, but Hunter was already shaking his head.

“I’d like to spend Christmas alone with my wife,” he said pointedly, shocking them all into silence with the exception of Baxter, who choked on his drink.

“Very well, then,” said Lavinia, her eyebrows raised but a smug smile crossing her face. “We will leave you alone. But do come tomorrow instead?”

Scarlett simply nodded, and when the sleigh slid into Wintervale, Lavinia leaned back into the cushion behind her. “Have a lovely evening.”

CHAPTER 14

They had just enteredthe foyer, the heavy wooden door swinging shut behind them, when Hunter decided he had had enough of this bloody awkwardness between them. He was about to take Scarlett upstairs right then and there, but he stopped suddenly when he caught sight of her face, as it was full of wonder, fixed on the room in front of her.

“What in the…” her voice trailed off and he followed her gaze, beginning to stride forward with an arm at her back as she walked next to him wordlessly.

For strewn across the oak hardwood floors were evergreen needles and white and red petals — from what type of flower, he had no idea, although he was sure they were from his conservatory — lining the path before them through the oak-paneled hall, leading into the dining room. Spicer and Marion suddenly appeared, holding out their arms to divest them of their cloaks.

“Spicer,” Hunter ground out, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Just a bit of Christmas cheer, my lord,” he said quietly.

Hunter noticed Scarlett send a look of incredulity toward her maid, but Marion simply winked. Dazed, the two of them continued on into the dining room, finding Mrs. Shepherd andAbbot awaiting them, large smiles on their faces. Had his staff gone mad?

“Good evening, my lord, my lady,” Mrs. Shepherd greeted them. “Mass was lovely, wasn’t it? We will leave you now. We simply wanted to ensure all was well. We hope you have a lovely dinner.”

Hunter looked over to Scarlett, seeing that she shared his surprise and suspicion.

“Abbot,” he said before his butler could clear the doorway. “Do you care to share what is occurring here?”

“It is Christmas, my lord,” his butler said with a small smile. “And it’s about time you celebrated it properly.”

And they were gone with a click of the door handle, leaving Scarlett and Hunter alone in the dining room. Except it no longer looked like the dining room that he knew. A rich crimson tablecloth covered only one end of the long dining table, with a straight-backed chair placed at the head of it, another just beside, their curved legs seeming to reach toward one another as they framed the corner of the table.

The table settings were intimately close, the only light besides the fire was a few lit candles, while the heavily gilt Chippendale chandelier hanging over the table in bold outlines and delicate detail remained dark. While the room was dim, it was also somehow warm and inviting. Hunter turned to Scarlett, holding out his elbow. “It seems, Scarlett, our servants had plans of their own for us tonight.”