Read Online Baby It's Cold Outside by Kerry Barrett - Free Book Online Page A

police, I was sure. Thinking of Lou made me wonder if the others were home yet. I pulled myself out of the bath, feeling all my aching limbs complain, wrapped myself in a towel and went to get dressed. It was only just after six p.m. – it had been a very, very long day – but I pulled on my pyjamas with a thick jumper on top. I roughly dried my hair and hoiked it into a ponytail and then went to find my mum.
    She was in the kitchen laying the table. Something delicious-smelling was in the oven, a salad bowl was on the side, and there was an open bottle of red wine just asking to be poured.
    â€˜Esme,’ she said when she saw me. ‘Darling girl.’ She threw her arms around me and held me tight. I started to cry again, even though I’d promised myself I wouldn’t. It really had been a horrible day.
    â€˜I know,’ Mum said, stroking my hair like she had when I was tiny. ‘I know. You’ve had such an awful time, but you saved all those people. You did that, Ez.’
    I gave her a watery smile and she steered me into a seat and poured me a glass of wine.
    â€˜Tell me all about it,’ she said, even though Harry must have already filled her in on most of it. ‘It’s good to talk.’
    We chatted for a while and Suky joined us and hugged me as Mum had done.
    â€˜You clever, clever girl,’ she said. ‘I always knew you could do it.’
    Then Harry and Louise arrived in the kitchen too. Harry was wearing yoga trousers and had wet hair, while Lou was in her PJs like me.
    â€˜Jamie and Tansy are putting Parker to bed,’ Harry said, pouring wine into a clean glass and handing it to Lou. ‘He’s beat, the poor wee thing.’
    Louise and I shared a glance. Parker really had won Harry’s heart.
    â€˜Jamie said he’d be down in a minute, but Tansy’s going to bed now too,’ Harry carried on. ‘Jetlag I think.’
    Mum turned the oven down.
    â€˜The lasagne’s ready,’ she said. ‘So we can just have a drink and wait for Jamie.’
    I looked round at everyone.
    â€˜I’m going to need your help,’ I said. I’d been thinking of virtually nothing else since Penny had told me the road was blocked.
    â€˜The avalanche means nothing can come into Claddach,’ I explained. ‘So my dress, Harry’s dress, the food – it’s all stuck outside.’
    I paused to gulp some wine.
    â€˜And Chloe, and Dad and the bloody registrar. What are we going to do?’
    There was nothing Mum and Suky liked better than a crisis. They sprang into action immediately. Mum waggled her fingers and a notepad and pen appeared in front of her.
    â€˜Right,’ she said, clicking the pen. ‘Where shall we start?’
    We all shuffled round the table a bit so we were closer together and everyone looked at me.
    â€˜Easy stuff first?’ I suggested.
    Harry nodded.
    â€˜Dresses,’ she said.
    The important thing to remember about magic – our sort at least – is that it’s not, well, magic. We can’t create things that aren’t there. We can just move them about, or change them. Sitting there in the kitchen, none of us could have spun a wedding dress out of thin air. If we had a pile of fabric, though, we could wiggle our fingers and make it into whatever we pleased. And getting a wedding dress from wherever it was – somewhere between here and Aberdeen – was child’s play.
    â€˜They’re in a van somewhere,’ I said. ‘I can get those.’
    â€˜All of them?’ Mum asked.
    â€˜Mine, Harry’s and Chloe’s,’ I said. ‘Jamie and Frankie have got their suits, and we brought their ties up from Edinburgh.’
    Mum wrote down “Dresses” on her pad, then wrote “Esme” next to it.
    â€˜What’s next?’ she said.
    â€˜Food,’ said Suky. ‘Eva and I can sort that out, no trouble.’
    Mum wrote that