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“Fighting talk! Emily and Grace have an excuse, but I reckon it’d be ageist of me not to go for you. This one is coming your way, Elspeth.”

“Don’t you dare! Jamie McIntyre, I am warning y—”

Jamie swings his arm, and Maw throws up her own two to protect herself. But Jamie doesn’t actually let go of the snowball. He winks.

“Just kidding! Thanks for making us an amazing Christmas dinner.”

It may only have been a prank, but the next second, he’s pelted from all angles.

“That’s my maw you’re bothering!” Iona bellows.

“All right, all right, that’s enough!” Jamie laughs. “I surrender.”

The snowballs stop flying, and there are chuckles as we brush ourselves down. Then, out of nowhere, a final ball sails through the air and strikes an unsuspecting Jamie in the mouth. He has to spit out snow.

We all turn to see who threw it.

“Sorry!” Grace grins bashfully. “If I’d known it was going to be over so quickly, I’d have thrown one earlier. I didn’t want to miss my chance to get Jamie, though—not after that comment about the size of my bump.”

I let out a deep belly laugh. Grace really is incredible. Taking out Jamie after truce had been declared? That was magnificent.

“Well, after running around like bairns, have you all now found some space for dessert?” Maw asks.

There is a resounding “Yes!” from everyone.

“And a hot drink as well, please.” Emily shivers. “Oh, and afterwards, Ally was telling me it’s tradition for you to play board games?”

“Aye.” Lewis nods solemnly. “If you thought the snowball fight was ruthless, wait till we whip out Trivial Pursuit—then you’ll see us get competitive. It can be an emotional roller coaster.”

“Er . . .” Grace says. “Shouldn’t it just be a bit of fun?”

“No!” Maw, Iona, Ally, Lewis, Jamie, Cat, and I all let out the same exclamation at once.

Grace’s eyes widen with surprise.

“Sorry,” I murmur, “but it is about the winning, obviously.”

We head back to the hotel, the sun sinking out of sight, leaving a twilight gloom. Grace and I once again take up the rear.

“Seeing as everyone knows about us now,” she says softly, “you don’t have to sleep at your mum’s tonight. You can stay at David and Johnny’s with me. We can snuggle up together against the cold.”

“Just snuggle?” I wiggle my eyebrows. “There’s another way a man and a woman can warm up, and it’s pretty great.”

“Sounds . . . interesting. By any chance, would this way also help us relax after a stressful board game?”

I laugh. “You shouldn’t worry about that—a bit of competition makes things more fun. But aye, the thing I have in mind has a reputation for relieving stress.”

The corners of her lips turn up playfully. “Good. Well, we should give it a shot, then. Maybe you’ll even last a little longer than you did yesterday.”

“Oh, low blow!” I squeeze her hand. “Last night was different—I’d been saving myself for you for so long. Tonight, though? You better prepare yourself. I’ve one more Christmas present for you, and it’ll have you screaming out my name.”

“I’m sure David and Johnny will love that.”

“Aye, well, if you’d planned ahead, you’d have got them earplugs for Christmas. Plus a pair for me too—I’ve not forgotten you’re quite the snorer.”

“And with that comment, sex is off the cards.”

“No!” I chuckle. “It was just a joke. I take it back. Please!”