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  ‘But, umm … you do have extraordinary daughters, Mr and Mrs Merchant. Two extraordinary daughters.’ With that he looked at Holly. She stared up at him, unblinking. Punch him? Or shag him? She couldn’t decide.

  ‘And Holly and I have found that …’ He grinned down, as sexy as was humanly possible. ‘… we seem to get on quite well. Very well.’

  Time really had stopped, she was sure of it. Each member of her family was sitting stock still, their limbs held in ungainly poses, movement interrupted by some cataclysmic event, namely the revelation that someone actually fancied Holly and not Rosa.

  Holly was the only one who did move, although she did so as if in a dream. Slowly but inexorably, she rose to her feet, driven by some invisible force that made her seek out Daniel’s closeness. And as soon as she was upright, without looking at anyone else, she coiled her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  She kissed him and it was as if nobody else existed, as if they had all melted away. She could hear nothing. In actual fact, there was no other sound; every single member of her family had been struck dumb.

  At last, someone broke the silence. ‘You have got to be bloody kidding me!’

  Holly tore herself away and back to reality. All eyes were fixed on her, staring with abject shock. The source of the voice, Rosa, had risen to her feet, still with fork in hand. ‘You?’

  ‘Me,’ Holly confirmed.

  ‘But … what?’

  ‘Your sister and I are together,’ reiterated Daniel.

  ‘But … you’re so … old for her.’ Rosa’s face was contorted in disbelief and disgust.

  ‘Only twelve years. Could be worse.’

  Silence descended again. But then, from the end of the table came the loudest guffaw, accompanied by applause. Miles had stood up and was coming round to them both. He clapped Daniel on the back and embraced him. ‘Well done, lad. I always thought that one would be worth it in the end. Prickly on the outside, but rather fun when you get past the sharp bits.’ He winked and padded away. ‘Super nosh, Jane. I’m off to watch the Queen.’

  Holly dared glance at her mother, who was still staring over at them silently.

  ‘Well, there we are then. One down, just not the one I’d imagined,’ Jane Merchant said at last. With a deep intake of breath, she reached for a bottle, poured herself a full glass, and downed it in one. Then she picked something up from the table and walked over to Daniel with it, offering him the other end. ‘Cracker?’

  With a smile, he took hold and pulled it with a resounding crack. There was a shuffling as the rest of the family reached for theirs, relief sweeping through them like a rush of wind.

  As the sound of pulled crackers echoed in Holly’s ears, Daniel drew her in for another kiss.

  Whatever their future held, she was sure it would go with a bang.

  Accent Press Seasonal Shorts

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  Alice Raine

  Elizabeth Coldwell

  KD Grace

  Demelza Hart

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  Published by Accent Press Ltd 2014

  ISBN 9781783759187

  Snowed In

  Copyright © Alice Raine 2014

  Christmas for One

  Copyright © Elizabeth Coldwell 2014

  A Valentine for Christmas

  Copyright © KD Grace 2014

  The Sharpness of Holly

  Copyright © Demelza Hart 2014

  The right of Alice Raine, Elizabeth Coldwell, KD Grace and Demelza Hart are to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  The story contained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers: Accent Press Ltd, Ty Cynon House, Navigation Park, Abercynon, CF45 4SN