The Ultimate Village Game by Beth Merwood

Author:Beth Merwood [Merwood, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy; Country setting; Rescue dog; Blackmail; English; Family conflict; Wealth; Money; Past secrets; High Society; Obsession; Female protagonist;
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2022-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Christmas

Thankfully I’d managed not to drink too many glasses of wine at Jenny’s house. I had to put on festive clothing again the next day and be the life and soul of the party at Moonstones. To be fair, I would be one life and soul amongst many.

A good deal of preparation had gone into making Christmas Eve a day to remember. Joe had the music playing in the lounge from early afternoon, and we cleared an area for dancing. I went to Molly’s room.

“Are you ready for the party, Molly?”

She was sitting on her bed with her walking frame at the ready.

“Do I need a comb?”

“I’ll brush your hair for you. Aren’t you going to wear your new cardigan? Come on, I think you should put it on.” I spent some time with her.

“I haven’t had a bath,” she told me.

“You had one yesterday, Molly. You’ll be fine.”

She smiled at me, and I felt a huge pang of love for her. It was a privilege to help to look after people who had become unable to do it for themselves. It would have been nice to spend all my time with just one resident and give them the one-to-one care they deserved. If only we lived in that sort of a world.

We went to the lounge, and it soon began to fill up. Lianne handed out crackers to pull, and in no time, we were all in party hats. Joe was distributing sparkling drinks, the nearest nonalcoholic beverage to champagne he’d been able to find. John and Larry were both on duty and in the kitchen preparing food for the Christmas dinner the following day, as well as the party tea. They took turns to come to the lounge and spend time with the residents. Our ladies, Ethel, Lolly, Agnes, Mrs. Roberts, and Molly, of course, had all dressed up. They looked lovely, sitting together in paper crowns of various colors. I was pleased to see Molly joining in with the others; they helped her on with her bright yellow headwear. Joe took a photo, and at that moment Bert and Mr. Pickering made their entrance, Lionel following behind, doing a few dance steps on the way.

“I’m a little rusty, I’m afraid,” he said to the group of ladies.

“I’m sure Joe can find some oil,” Lolly said.

The men took a table and received their crackers and sparkling drinks. Sadly, Marcia and Mrs. Cook were going to miss out on the occasion; neither felt well. We would make sure to look in on them frequently.

“Any chance of a real drink?” asked Bert.

Joe conjured up a few tiny glasses and gave out some measures of sweet sherry. Molly preferred a large glass of orange squash, and Agnes wanted ginger wine. She sent me to her room to find the bottle, a Christmas present she’d received. She offered it around.

Soon the dancing began. Ethel and Lionel were up straight away. Not long passed before Joe was dancing with Lolly; her leg had obviously improved.

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