Amy's Christmas Guest

I woke in the morning to find only Sarah with me.

"The girls slipped out a little while ago. They said something about bacon sandwiches," Sarah explained.

I chuckled. "I told them once that if you give a man bacon and coffee in the morning before you ask him anything, he'll give you whatever you want."

"I'll remember that," Sarah grinned. "It'll come in handy."

"Is there something you had in mind to ask me?" I queried.

"Maybe," she said, enigmatically.

Just then the girls came back in, Amy carrying a tray. She put the tray down on the bed, and Laura poured the coffee.

"Thanks, girls, that's really thoughtful," I said.

Amy grinned. "Just like old times, eh."

We sat and ate in companionable silence, then I said, "So, what does everyone want to do today?"

"I'd like to carry on working on my canvas," replied Laura.

"More study for me," said Amy. "I've really got into some of my college books for next year."

She and Laura got up and gave us both a quick kiss – "A promise for later," grinned Amy – then they left for their own pursuits.

"That just leaves you and me. What would you like to do?" I asked Sarah.

"What I'd really like is to go for a long walk with you, somewhere rugged," she replied.

"I know the perfect place," I said. "It's only a short drive away."

"Let's get ready, then," she said. We went into the en-suite and showered together, then I dried her with one of the large fluffy towels.

"That's lovely," she said as I held her close with only the towel between us. "But don't get me too excited or we'll never make it to our walk."

I grinned. "OK," I said, releasing her.

She quickly dressed, this time choosing a practical sweater and skirt combination. "I have some walking shoes in my luggage," she said.

When we were both ready we got into the car and set off down the road in the opposite direction to town. On the horizon loomed an outcrop of jagged rocks.

"That's where we're going," I indicated. "The moor rises behind the rocks and then there's a steep escarpment – the walking route along the edge is one of my favourites."

We reached the spot where I usually parked when I came this way, and set off on foot through a small patch of woodland and up onto the moor. Sarah kept up with my pace, and I let her get a little ahead of me so that I could look at her.

She turned her head to look over her shoulder. "Not flagging already?" she teased.

"No, just wanted to look at you," I said truthfully.

She smiled. "Come here," she said. I caught up with her, and she took my face in her hands and kissed me.

We continued on, reaching the start of the path along the edge. Sarah stopped, and looked out over the plain at the bottom of the cliffs. She was still for so long that I said, "Are you OK?"

She looked wistful. "If this was India, you'd see the smoke of cooking fires, there'd be the scent of flowers and the jungle, a hint of the coming rains. Maybe there'd be a vulture or two circling."

"You really miss it, don't you," I said. She nodded, then started to walk on.

When we'd been going a while, we came to one of my favourite spots, a large flat rock facing the edge. We sat down on the rock and I put my arm around Sarah's shoulders.

I took a deep breath. "Sarah, this might seem a little soon, but things between us – and with you and the girls – have worked so easily, that I want to ask you something."

She turned her face to me, her expression a mixture of hope, confusion, perhaps even a little fear.

I waited a moment, then said slowly, "Sarah Fox, will you marry me?"

Her eyes were suddenly wet. "Tim, yes, I will."

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. "Hey, leave the breath in me," she teased.

"There's more," I said. She looked at me uncomprehendingly.

"You know I'm pretty well off financially," I said. "If we planned carefully, I could stop working, and we'd be free to do whatever we wanted."

I paused, then continued, "It'd be much cheaper living in India. We could all go."

Tears were running down her cheeks now, and I held her gently in my arms.

After a few minutes, she sniffled, and tried to wipe her eyes on her sleeve. "Here," I said, passing her some paper hankies. "Good job I always have a pocket full of these."

She dried her eyes and blew her nose loudly. "Are you certain this is what you want, Tim?"

"Definitely," I replied. "We'll have to talk to the girls about it, of course; I know they have plans, but I already have some ideas about that."

Sarah stood up. "Tim," she said, "Do you know of anywhere round here where we could have some privacy?"

I thought for a moment. "Just back from the cliffs a little further down the path, there's a stone barn – I think the farmer keeps extra straw and some hay for the cattle in there."

"Perfect," she said. "Let's go."

She led the way along the path, and shortly the barn came into sight. We opened the door and went inside. The space was lit by shafts of sunlight from the high window openings, and the fragrance of hay filled the air.

I closed the door behind us, and turned back to Sarah. Straight away she was in my arms, kissing me urgently. I returned her kisses, and my hands searched for the bottom of her sweater, then moved up inside it to touch her breasts. I'd noticed she hadn't bothered with a bra, and her soft breasts filled my hands. I caressed them, and felt her nipples harden against my palms.

"Take my sweater off," Sarah breathed, and I complied, lifting the garment over her head and draping it over a wooden beam before returning my attention to her breasts. I bent to kiss them, and took one nipple gently between my lips.

I felt her hands at the fastening of my jeans, and she slid them down for me to step out of.

"Take me now," she whispered. She turned to face away from me and rested her hands on a beam.

I lifted her skirt up, unsurprised to find that she had also omitted panties, and moved up close behind her, pressing my hard tip against her entrance. I slid into her, and moved one hand to caress her breasts, the other to start touching her clitoris.

I began to move in and out of her, and I felt her breathing change. Soon I was approaching my own climax, and as I spurted into her she cried out, shuddering as her own orgasm took her.

I held her close for a while, then carefully moved back, withdrawing from her. She turned to face me again and held me tightly. "Thanks, Tim. It really feels like we've made our plans certain now."

"Shall we get back to the girls?" I suggested. "We have a lot to talk to them about."

She nodded. She put her sweater back on as I retrieved my jeans, and we left the barn, returning to the path to retrace our steps.

I drove us home, and as we pulled up to the house I saw Laura making her way back from her studio, obviously having heard the car on the drive.

We went into the kitchen to make coffee, and the girls joined us.

"Sarah, your eyes are red," said Amy with concern in her voice. "Have you been crying? Is everything OK?"

"I'm fine," smiled Sarah. "Happy crying. But Tim and I do have some news."

She took a deep breath. "Tim has asked me to marry him, and I said yes."

The girls squealed with delight and surrounded Sarah, hugging her enthusiastically.

Amy turned to me. "Well done, Uncle Tim." I noticed that she named our real family relationship.

A mischievous grin spread across her face, and she turned back to Sarah. "That'll make you my step-aunt – that's nearly stepmother. You could be wicked, and beat me and Laura, and make us scrub floors."

Sarah pretended a menacing expression – I decided she was thinking of Cruella DeVille – then hugged the two girls and kissed their hair.

"There is something else," I said. "Sarah was talking about how much she missed India. We wondered if there was a way we could all go."

"A holiday would be lovely," said Laura.

But Amy had grasped my meaning, and sank down onto her chair, her thoughts obviously whirling.

"Move to India?" she said. Laura caught up, and reached out to put her hand on Amy's.

Amy said slowly, "I hear it's a fast-growing economy, lots of entrepreneurs, plenty of opportunity."

"Trust you to be the level-headed one, thinking about business," teased Laura. "Think of the culture! Those temples, the carvings, the paintings."

"We don't have to decide straight away," I said. "I know you'll need time to think about how it would change your plans."

Amy nodded. "Laura and I will talk about it."

"Now," said Sarah, "is anyone hungry yet?"

"Not very," said Amy. "I know – we can have a snack now, then go out later for a meal to celebrate your engagement."

"Excellent idea," I said. "Could everyone cope with beans on toast? Think it's my turn to cook."

There were nods around the table, so I lit the grill to make the toast and went to fetch tins from the cupboard.

When I returned, Amy and Laura were deep in conversation. Sarah watched me cooking, obviously leaving the girls space for their discussion.

I finished heating the beans, and served the food. When we'd finished eating, I said, "I know it's been an eventful morning. What shall we do this afternoon before we get ready to go out?"

"It's still sunny," said Sarah, "so we should make the most of it. How about we play Triv on the lawn?"

"Great idea," I said. "Amy and I will take on the two of you."

Sarah grinned. "I think you've made a tactical error there. You two may know all the factual stuff – what are the categories, science and nature, maybe geography? – but I think we have the advantage over you with the rest."

"We'll see," I said.

I fetched the Trivial Pursuit set from the living room, and we went out to the garden, sitting round a plastic table to play.

At first the game went my and Amy's way, and we got to four cheeses with some good luck on the history and entertainment categories. But then Sarah and Laura caught up, getting a couple of really easy questions for the science and geography cheeses, and suddenly only needed the literature cheese to win.

Laura rolled the dice, and moved her team's piece to the literature square.

I picked up the question card and read. I groaned. "We've had it now."

Sarah grinned triumphantly. "Go on, read the question."

"Who played the gamekeeper in the screen adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover?"

Sarah and Laura exchanged glances, and chorused in appalling Yorkshire accents, "Sean Bean! Ee, my lady!"

Amy picked up the literature cheese and dropped it in, finishing the game.

"Well done," she said. "That was fun."

Sarah glanced at her watch. "Don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to get hungry again. Shall we talk about where we're going to eat?"

"What about a curry?" suggested Laura. "If we're thinking about moving there permanently, we should get more used to the food."

"The food at Satpura was great," said Amy, remembering.

"Curry sounds good," said Sarah. "I have a suggestion. How about we put on our Indian clothes?"

"That's a great idea," I said. "Laura, do you think you'll be OK with that sari?"

She smiled. "If Amy can lend me some safety pins, I think I'll cope."

"Great," said Sarah. "Tim, I guess you can manage your outfit – the girls and I will go up and get ready properly."

"Can't wait," I said. "I've seen what you three can do. Give me a shout when you're about half an hour from ready."

They went upstairs, and I settled down with a book. I was deeply into the plot of an adventure romance set in the Egyptian ruins of Ethiopia, when I heard a voice calling my name from upstairs.

I went to the bottom of the stairs and looked up. Sarah was standing there in her Indian tunic and trousers, but there was something different about her, something elusive and exotic.

Before I could try to pin it down, she said, "Half hour warning. See you at the car!" And she vanished back into the flat.

I went up the stairs, quickly showered, and dressed in the outfit Sarah had got for me. I rummaged in a drawer, and found the gold wristwatch I'd bought on a whim but never worn; it seemed to fit with the persona suggested by my clothes.

I came downstairs to find Sarah and the girls waiting for me. Laura's sari was flawlessly placed, and Amy looked comfortable in her salwar kameez. I looked again at each of them; they both seemed to have acquired the mysterious something I had perceived in Sarah a few minutes before.

We left the house and got into the car, Amy helping Laura get the flowing fabric of her sari in without mishap. I drove into town and parked. We got out and walked towards the Indian restaurant I remembered.

We walked into the restaurant, and the manager approached us. "A table for four?" he asked.

"Yes, please," replied Sarah. Then she spoke to him in a language I recognised as Hindi. He looked surprised for a moment, then replied. Sarah smiled, and spoke again, but this time not in Hindi. Her words sounded more Chinese than anything, though the characteristic singsong tone seemed to be missing.

The manager grinned broadly, and called across to one of the waiters. The waiter showed us to a table, while the manager walked over to the kitchen intercom and spoke animatedly for what seemed a considerable time.

The waiter took drinks orders, and returned with our drinks, as well as a pitcher of a creamy-looking liquid and four glasses.

"Sarah my love," I said, "you never cease to surprise me. What have you pulled out of the hat this time?"

"I'm sure you believe in serendipity," she replied. "The people who run this place are from the same area where I'm based in India. The manager was delighted that I could speak to him in his own language."

"Dare I ask what we're getting to eat?" asked Amy with a grin.

"He said not to worry about ordering, he would make sure we got an amazing meal," Sarah said. "Try the drink – it's only yogurt and fruit juice."

Amy poured a little into her glass and sipped. "Wow," she said, "that's gorgeous. Really refreshing."

She poured full glasses for all of us, and we drank.

"Mm," I said. "I would never have thought to try this."

The waiter approached carrying a large plate, which he put down in the centre of the table.

The plate contained a variety of small items – what looked like tiny samosas, small pieces of meat on sticks, little cakes of some kind of fried vegetable.

"Starters, I guess," said Sarah. "Tuck in."

We started to eat. "Mm," said Amy, "these are delicious."

"By the way," I said, "I can't contain my curiosity any more. What did you three do to yourselves, there's something different I can't put my finger on."

Sarah chuckled. "I thought you'd notice. It's just makeup, but I darkened the girls' hair a little too."

"It has quite an effect," I confessed.

Just then the waiter arrived and lit the candles in the food warmers. He returned with a large bowl of rice, then several dishes.

I helped Sarah and the girls to rice, then took some myself. "Who's going to be brave?" I said.

Sarah took a spoon and tasted the dish nearest to her. Her eyes widened and she said, "This is good. I recognise the taste, I've had it before, but this is better."

"I'm convinced," I said, spooning some of the contents onto my rice. The girls followed suit with the other dishes, and we started to eat.

"Hmm, this one's a little spicy," said Laura. She sipped more of the creamy drink. "But this cools it down."

As we finished each dish, the waiter brought other items – what looked like deep-fried vegetables, potato cakes, even some chips.

Finally we sat back. "I don't think I could eat another thing," said Sarah.

The manager approached and spoke to her in the language I didn't recognise.

"Apparently there's one more dish," explained Sarah. "But it's dessert."

The waiter brought a curved metal dish, containing something looking like a creamy rice pudding.

"What's in it?" I asked.

Sarah thought for a moment. "Rice, coconut milk, some kind of nuts, sultanas, sugar. Spices, but I don't even know the name of those."

"Sounds harmless enough," I said. I took a spoonful and tried it. "Mm, delicious."

The girls wasted no time in digging in to the creamy dessert, and even Sarah managed a couple of spoonfuls. Finally we sat back, completely satisfied.

After a few minutes, the manager returned. Sarah translated his words.

"He hopes we've enjoyed our meal. He asks that we think well of his country and people."

"Please," I said, "tell him we enjoyed ourselves immensely. How much is the bill?"

Sarah spoke to him, and listened to the reply.

"He says that it's been a pleasure serving us, and to see Westerners who've gone to the trouble of dressing properly, learning his language. There's no charge."

As Sarah finished speaking, the manager made a gesture with his hands that was unmistakeable as one of deep respect, and withdrew.

We walked back to the car, and I drove us home. We went into the kitchen and I made coffee for all of us.

As we sat and sipped, Amy suddenly spoke.

"I've made up my mind. I know it's not rational, but that man – the food – his generosity – Sarah speaking that language – the clothes – how I felt in the clothes and makeup – I want to go to India."

She wiped her eyes. "Laura, I'm sorry, we haven't had time to talk properly like I promised."

Laura put out her hand to Amy's. "You know me," she said. "I make up my mind quickly, even big decisions. I'll go."

I covered their hands with mine, and Sarah did likewise.

"Then we're decided," I said. "I'll talk to my boss tomorrow."