For Christmas, Forever: The Yuletide Engagement / The Doctor's Christmas Bride / Snowbound Reunion. Barbara McMahon

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      ‘Eight weeks ago,’ he admitted reluctantly.

      Ellie raised dark brows. ‘And?’

      The grimace turned to a self-conscious smile. ‘She said yes.’

      Ellie gave an emotional laugh. ‘You are an idiot, Toby,’ she told him affectionately. ‘You’ve asked her; she’s said yes. The next move is to buy her a ring. Then arrange the wedding. I’ll be there to dance at it,’ she promised. ‘Am I making myself clear, Toby?’ she teased.

      He grinned widely. ‘Very.’

      ‘Good.’ She nodded her satisfaction. ‘I’ll just have to learn to cope with having the arrogant Patrick McGrath as some sort of relative.’ She frowned.

      Toby frowned too. ‘But I thought you liked him?’

      Too much!

      She swallowed hard, straightening determinedly; after all, there was such a thing as pride involved here—her own! ‘He’s your boss, Toby; of course I had to be pleasant to him. Now that he’s going to be your brother-in-law too, I’ll just have to continue being pleasant to him. It shouldn’t be that difficult; with any luck I’ll see very little of him,’ she dismissed scathingly, turning to leave the bedroom—and finding herself face to face with a stricken Teresa McGrath!

      Ellie looked at the other woman searchingly, knowing by her unhappy expression that she had heard every word of Ellie’s last statement…

      Chapter Ten

      ‘I KNOW I said I was going to telephone, but—I did knock on the kitchen door when I arrived, and when no one answered I let myself in,’ Teresa explained awkwardly. ‘I hope you don’t mind?’ she added with a selfconscious grimace.

      Mind? Of course Ellie didn’t mind the younger woman letting herself in—it was the remarks that Teresa had overheard her making about her brother that Ellie minded! It was one thing to say those things about Patrick to Toby—completely out of defence for her heart—quite another for a member of the McGrath family to have actually heard her saying them…

      ‘Tess…?’ Toby called hopefully from inside the bedroom.

      Teresa’s face visibly brightened. ‘He’s feeling better?’

      ‘Much,’ Ellie assured her warmly. ‘I’ll go down and make some coffee and leave the two of you to have a chat.’ And, hopefully, regain some of her lost composure!

      What she really wanted to happen was for the ground to open and swallow her up!

      Ellie was shaking by the time she reached the sanctuary of the kitchen, sitting down weakly in one of the kitchen chairs before burying her face in her hands with a groan of self-disgust.

      All she had wanted to do with those remarks she’d made to Toby was regain some of her damaged pride—and what she had succeeded in doing was probably alienating her future sister-in-law!

      How could she explain that to Teresa without giving away the fact that she had fallen completely in love with Patrick?

      Her groan of self-disgust turned to one of pain. She had fallen in love with Patrick, and all he had been doing was keeping her romantically occupied long enough to ensure that Toby announced his engagement to Teresa.

      She was sure now that was all Patrick had been doing this last week or so. She was the one who had been stupid enough to take his attention seriously. To fall in love with him!

      How to extricate herself without Patrick ever being aware of that fact, without completely losing her selfrespect? That was the problem!

      Out of the frying pan into the fire, once again sprang to mind.

      She had thought her infatuation with the fickle Gareth was the worst thing she had ever done in her life, but falling in love with Patrick had to be so much worse. Because he wasn’t fickle. The love she felt for him wouldn’t be as easily shrugged off as her feelings for Gareth had been.

      It was because she truly loved Patrick that she was now able to see her previous feelings for Gareth for exactly what they were!

      But this time she would come out of it with at least her pride intact, Ellie decided as she straightened determinedly. She had to!

      The coffee was fresh in the pot, and cups, cream and sugar placed on the kitchen table by the time Teresa came downstairs ten minutes later. The smile on Ellie’s face was warm and friendly.

      ‘He’s much better, isn’t he?’ she told Teresa lightly.

      ‘Much.’ The younger woman nodded, her expression slightly reserved.

      Was that so surprising, when minutes ago Teresa had walked in on a conversation where Ellie had been totally dismissing any need for her to like this woman’s brother?

      Ellie drew in a ragged breath, deciding it was probably better to jump in at the deep end. ‘Look, concerning what you overheard me saying about Patrick earlier—’

      ‘Please,’ Teresa cut in with an awkward wave of her hand. ‘I know how—how Patrick can be sometimes. He really doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just—well, he’s used to being in charge.’ She grimaced. ‘Not that he’s in the least arrogant about it.’ She hastened to defend her brother. ‘Usually he just charms people into submission!’

      Ellie knew just how true that was!

      She shook her head. ‘That was still no reason for me to—to—Well, I’m sorry you overheard my remarks,’ she concluded heavily.

      Great, Ellie, she instantly chided herself. That was really apologising for being so rude earlier about Teresa’s brother!

      ‘Would you like some coffee?’ she offered briskly.

      Teresa turned to look at the things laid out on the kitchen table before glancing back at Ellie. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’ She smiled before sitting down.

      Somehow Ellie very much doubted this young woman was any more used to sitting down in a kitchen drinking coffee than Patrick was; it would most likely be served to them in the drawing room, by staff as efficient as George’s had been on Saturday evening.

      Which posed the disheartening thought: where did Toby fit into all this?

      No doubt he and Teresa were in love—that was only too easy to see after last night!—but how would the two of them fare being married to each other when their backgrounds were so different? Toby, as Patrick’s assistant, earned a very good wage, but he certainly couldn’t keep Teresa in the life to which she was accustomed…

      ‘I’m an interior designer.’

      Ellie looked up from pouring the coffee to find Teresa McGrath smiling at her ruefully.

      Had her thoughts been so obvious? Or was it just that Teresa had the same ability as Patrick to be able to read her thoughts in particular? After Ellie’s earlier remarks about Patrick, that was a disquieting thought.

      Ellie shook her head. ‘I СКАЧАТЬ