Something Beginning With Mistletoe (Something Borrowed Book 3) Page 5

  Faith was starting to understand that Blake would have everything written down. He was methodical and organised. He was successful and smart.

  His brother ran his hand over hair longer than Blake’s. ‘I guess. There was a book. I think. I don’t know. Damn woman. Why isn’t she answering her phone?’

  Blake’s eyes flicked towards Daisy and Faith saw the concern he had for his niece right there etched in the soft gaze and yet tight jaw. He turned his attention back to his brother and the softness dissipated. ‘Has he had all his vaccinations?’

  ‘Look, does it matter? Surely you just sew up the artery?’

  ‘Yes, well, it’s a little more complicated than that.’ The nurse’s voice became just a little sharper as she visibly stiffened in reaction to Brad’s curt manner. ‘We check for muscle and nerve damage too and as you can appreciate it’s very fine work dealing with a small child’s tissues. He cut himself on rusty metal so tetanus is a real possibility.’

  ‘Call the GP surgery, Bradley, and check it out.’ Blake had taken control. It looked as if it was something he did regularly. ‘I apologise, Nurse…Nurse Maddie. We’ll find out and get back to you as soon as we can.’

  ‘Is Mummy coming?’ Daisy tugged on her dad’s sleeve, her bottom lip starting to wobble.

  Brad seemed to only just remember she was there. He blinked. ‘No darling. Not right now.’

  Blake interjected, ‘You have the number of the GP surgery, right?’

  ‘I don’t know. Yes. Maybe. I’ll find it. What? What’s your problem Blake?’

  Faith’s heart broke as the little girl’s head bounced back and forth, getting emotional whiplash watching the adults argue. This was no place for a child. She knew because she’d lived it herself. Time for distraction. ‘Hey, Daisy, fancy coming for a walk? We could check out the family room and the toy box and see if there’s anything good to play with.’

  Daisy smiled, hesitantly. ‘Yes please.’

  They rounded the corner, unfortunately still in hearing distance of the argument, but the girl’s face suddenly lit up and she dragged Faith sharp right. ‘Faith, come and see this. It says Santa’s going to be here.’

  Ah, yes. This was a grotto. A little house covered in pretend snow where Santa would sit on an elaborate chair and dole out presents. It had been so many years since she’d even given one some thought. Sure, she’d walked past one in the mall, perhaps…but not recently. Her heart thrummed as she took in the holly and the tinsel. The presents. All she could hear was a siren. No, that was in her head.

  No. She was in a hospital. There’d be ambulance sirens.

  She forced herself to look at the grotto and then watch Daisy’s delighted reaction. Something stirred in Faith’s memory. Something from a very long time ago—the little bubble of excitement, the secret wishes for presents she’d seen in the local toy shop. The smell of her mother’s perfume as she kissed Faith goodnight and made her promise to sleep all night so Father Christmas would come.

  Wow. That had actually happened. Before…before her world had turned upside down.

  Daisy tugged at her to look more closely. ‘Look, there’s a nativity scene too. I’m going to be Mary in our school show. Freddie was going to be a shepherd. And then he was ’emoted to be in the choir. But now he might be dead.’

  ‘Oh, sweetie.’ Faith shoved aside all her mixed emotions and focused on the little girl. She bent down so she could look her in the eyes and gently touch her shoulders. ‘The nurse said he was going to be fine. He’s just going to need some rest to get better.’

  ‘But he needs tetnus and wriggles too much. He might not get enough rest.’

  ‘Daddy’s going to sort out the tetanus thing. It’s just a little injection, he’ll hardly feel a thing.’ Faith had no idea what to suggest about the wriggling. She was way out of her depth here. She didn’t have any siblings of her own—well, none she’d met anyway. Did step-sisters count? Three step-sisters in Spain. And a couple of step-brothers too, apparently. Faith’s expertise was definitely not families; it was beer and adults and cajoling drunks out of the door at closing time. But then, a lot of them acted like kids half the time anyway.

  ‘You could read to him. Show him how to play quietly. Jigsaws? Drawing? I used to love colouring in. Maybe ask Daddy to get him some colouring books?’ Could he hold a pencil with his arm in a bandage?

  Behind them Blake’s voice was filled with exasperation. ‘He needs somewhere decent to recuperate, okay? I’m not taking no for an answer.’

  ‘He’s my son, Blake. I can take him where I please.’

  ‘Not on my watch. I have comfortable beds and lots of space. I have clean linen for you all and a cold beer for your nerves. What more could you need?’

  What the heck was this about? What was wrong with Brad’s place? Why was Blake being so insistent?

  This wasn’t the time and place to ask.

  Brad took a while to think, but when he spoke his voice was resigned. ‘Okay, I’ll come for a couple of days once he’s discharged.’

  Brad’s relieved exhale was loud enough for Faith to hear. ‘Right, well let me take Daisy. I’ll grab her some food and she can stay the night with me.’

  ‘Will you come with us to Blake’s?’ Daisy slipped her hand into Faith’s. So trusting. Faith wished that sweet innocence would last Daisy a lifetime. But knew, from experience, it probably wouldn’t.

  ‘No, I don’t think so, honey. It’s family time. You don’t need me there too.’ Faith took a couple of steps away so the Delacourtes could be together.

  When she lifted her head she realised Blake was looking at her. As their gaze connected a hot jolt of something she could only describe as desire slammed through her.

  Wow. Where the hell had that come from? He smiled, and that made her reaction a thousand times more intense. ‘All okay?’

  ‘Fine.’ She didn’t feel fine at all, she felt hot all over. And her voice was strange. Too high. ‘We were just looking at the grotto. You two worked out a plan?’

  ‘I’m starving and I think Daisy must be too.’ His eyes moved from Faith’s to Daisy’s, and they softened so much as he looked at the little girl that it made Faith’s heart squeeze. ‘So we’ll go for some dinner, then back to my flat until Daddy can leave the hospital. Which might be tomorrow, so you can come for a sleepover. Is that okay with you, Daze?’

  Daisy nodded. ‘Faith can come with us for dinner, can’t she?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes, of course.’

  And they both turned to look at Faith, expectantly.

  Instinct told her to refuse. The more time she spent with Blake, the more effect he seemed to have on her equilibrium. She’d spent the last twenty-odd years avoiding family, except for her Gramps. Spent the last two years avoiding any meaningful intimate connection because she felt too damned frazzled and hurt. Too scared to let anyone really in. She’d become used to being on her own, for the most part.

  She liked it that way, because no one got hurt.

  Chapter 4

  But the way the girl was looking up at Faith with big hopeful eyes, she didn’t have the heart to say no. ‘Okay, dinner it is. But then I really do have to go back to work. I have poor Geri on overtime. I’m going to have to work double shifts to make up for it.’

  Blake shook his head. ‘But you’re the boss.’

  ‘And I don’t like to take my staff for granted.’ But one thing she’d learnt from Gramps was that spending time with people who made you smile was worth far more than profits. And Daisy was a cute kid who was going through a difficult time. Her mother had left her, and Faith knew exactly how that felt.

  Making the kid smile was important.

  She managed to get through dinner at the pancake house and two lots of cookies and cream ice cream, then a much quicker trip back to Portobello Road even though snow had coated the highways like a thick blanket. Thin flakes whirled through the air, muffling sounds.

  She watched Daisy’s face brighte
n as they got out of the car; as if she was looking at a new, wonderful world. Instead of being just dull grey stone, the buildings had been transformed by what looked like white velvet trimmings on the roofs, window ledges and steps. The pavement was a carpet of glistening white. Everywhere, snow twinkled jewel-bright in the glow of the street lamps.

  The little girl’s smile was magic at work; seeing something beautiful for the first time and relishing it as it happened, instead of Faith’s jaded reaction to the frigid, biting cold, imagining the dirty slush of tomorrow.

  Daisy’s shaky little fingers reached out and prodded some snow on a low brick wall outside Blake’s not-ready bar. ‘Blakey, can we make a snowman?’

  He’d wrapped a charcoal grey scarf round his throat and it had raised the sexy quota up three hundred notches. He scooped snow from the ground and tested it between his palms. ‘Not the right kind of snow, I’m afraid darling.’ He patted it into a ball and threw it gently at her, aiming for her feet and hitting with a soft plop on her toes. ‘Great for snowballs though.’

  Daisy’s toothy grin spread wide but her hands were empty. ‘How do I do that?’

  Faith scraped snow into her hands, formed it into a ball then gave it to her. ‘Like this…see, you get lots of snow in your hands and mould it into a ball. Then you take aim and throw it at him. Go on.’

  Daisy took hold of the snowball and held it until water started to drip through her fingers. ‘It’s melting.’

  ‘Quick, throw it before it goes completely.’

  Daisy raised her arm and threw the trickles towards Blake, who played along and pretended to slip in the snow so he wasn’t a moving target.

  ‘Missed him. I can’t hit him. I can’t do this.’ Daisy’s lip wobbled. She was clearly still recovering from the shock of her brother’s accident and a little frayed and tired. Faith’s heart squeezed tight. ‘Come here, poppet. Help me throw this one at him.’

  ‘Whoa. The big guns are out.’ He was halfway to the kerb now and hiding behind a wall. ‘No way.’

  ‘When his head comes up we’ll attack.’ Faith made six more balls and put them in a pile on the ground beside them. They crouched down beside the car. ‘Wait. Wait…any time now. Wait. He won’t stay there forever…NOW!’

  ‘Hey!’ He dodged their attempts, ducking back down behind the wall. Then he peered bit by bit from behind the wall, until they could see laughing eyes accentuated by those gorgeous glasses. ‘Two against one isn’t fair.’

  ‘Now! Gotcha!’ They fired snowballs at him in rapid succession until they were out of breath from laughing and dodging and making snowballs as quickly as they could.

  ‘Submit! Submit!’ Eventually he came out from behind the wall, brushing snow from his hair and shoulders. ‘Daisy Delacourte, you hit me!’

  ‘I think it was Faith.’ The little girl shook her head, giggling, all worry for her injured brother hopefully wiped.

  ‘No, it was definitely your snowball that made contact.’ Faith gave her a high-five. What did it matter if it was a teeny lie? The way Daisy’s smile lit up was worth it. It was infectious too. ‘My face hurts from laughing so hard.’

  ‘Monster! You hit me.’ Blake ran over and picked Daisy up, then swung her round and round until she screamed. Then he threw her onto his shoulder—the man had no right having such good-looking thighs and strong, broad shoulders—and strode on long legs towards the gin bar front door. ‘Right. Hot chocolate and then bed for you, missy.’

  ‘Okay, Blakey.’

  Faith watched the scene play out, her heart aching at the sight of him making his niece happy. Not wanting to intrude on their time, she called over, ‘I’ll get off home now.’

  But Daisy wriggled down from Blake’s arms. ‘No, not yet, please don’t go. Blakey makes the best hot chocolate in the world. You have to have some.’

  Faith slid him a sideways glance, shocked at how her breath was whipped away when he smiled. ‘I thought it was the best coffee?’

  His eyebrows rose. Cocky. ‘That too.’

  ‘Honestly. Is there anything you can’t do?’

  He pretended to think for a moment. ‘No. I’m pretty good at most things. Excellent at the things that matter.’

  His smile was not the kind he’d give to Daisy. It was a smile just for Faith, and she felt it keenly through her body. Then his gaze caught hers and she had no doubt he was referring to something x-rated. The caramel hue of his eyes was shot through with gold and something else. Something that stoked heat inside her.

  ‘I c-can’t. Pretty sure I’m needed over at the pub.’

  He looked over to The Duke. There was no one standing outside, which was hardly surprising, given the freezing temperatures. Through the windows they could see a couple of shadows. A couple, not many. Things didn’t tend to be too rushed mid-week in mid-December—most people wanted to get home and settled in front of Bake Off.

  ‘It doesn’t look too busy. I’m sure they can manage, and if they can’t they’ll call you. So, come for a hot chocolate and then we’ll let you go from our wicked clutches, okay?’

  ‘I…well…’ It would have been better to go right now, but there was a tug to these two that she just couldn’t resist. She tried to convince herself it was just innocent fun, and it had been so long since she’d played, she didn’t want it to end just yet. Tried to convince herself that he hadn’t just flirted with her and she hadn’t reacted with a full-on body flush. ‘One drink. Okay? Then I definitely have to go back to work.’

  He opened a door to the side of the white plastic building wrap and they trekked upstairs directly to his apartment. At the entrance he took her coat in unfailingly old-school gentleman style and indicated for her to walk through to the lounge.

  She stepped into warmth and…glitter.

  Her heart started to race and she squeezed her hands into tight fists. Glitter was on the Christmas cards strung along the walls, over wreaths of holly nailed to the doors, on presents stacked up on the large table in the kitchen. On the Santa stockings hanging from the fireplace. On the floor—although she guessed it wasn’t meant to be there too. It was as if someone had upended a huge tub of the stuff. Glitter. Everywhere.

  The air smelt of pine from the biggest real fir Christmas tree she’d ever seen; floor-to-ceiling branches with little white twinkling lights. She steadied herself against the onslaught to her senses and her immediate instinct to run. That wouldn’t be polite, and it was only damned decorations, for God’s sake.

  ‘Wow. This is a seriously Christmassy house.’

  ‘Do you like it?’ Innocent eyes blinked up at her.

  ‘Um…’

  It was like saturation therapy for phobias—first the hospital and now this. She was veering from one nightmare to another. She didn’t have the heart to tell Daisy what she really felt—trapped. Scared. Terminally panicked. Instead, she put her hand to her mouth and pretended she was simply overwhelmed by it all.

  Unfortunately she was, but not in the way the little girl wanted.

  Blake reappeared from the kitchen, looking casually sexy with a tea towel over one shoulder. Even in a domestic environment he looked seriously masculine. ‘Daisy and Freddie helped me last weekend. They reckon you can’t have Christmas without sparkle, and I agree.’

  Daisy’s chest puffed up. ‘We made all those stars,’ she said proudly, pointing to myriad cut-out stars of all sizes, covered in silver glitter and hanging from one side of the tree. In fact, all the decorations were at child height and mostly on the right-hand side. Clearly he’d let the kids have free range with decorating and hadn’t changed a thing they’d done.

  Her throat filled. ‘It’s amazing.’

  What he’d done was amazing. They weren’t even his kids and he’d let them do this to his house.

  If even a single man could do Christmas then she really did need to get a grip. She thought about her cold, bare flat and the drab-looking pub, and even though most of her wanted to keep them the way they were, she could
definitely see the magic of the season.

  She just didn’t feel it. She needed more than decorations to help her do that. She needed a flipping miracle.

  The hot chocolate was indeed the best in the world, made even more so by Daisy and Blake’s gentle teasing and laughter. Faith hadn’t realised how quiet her flat had been recently until she listened to the incessant friendly chatter of these two.

  It was just how she’d been with Gramps. Their place had always been filled with sound—the radio, music, voices. Now there was nothing. She was going to change that.

  Blake disappeared to sort out a bedroom for Daisy and that was the moment she should have left them to it, but the opportunity had come and gone, and now just leaving would make things awkward. So she took the chance to look more closely at her surroundings.

  His place was surprisingly large. He hadn’t given her a tour, but she guessed there must have been three, if not four, bedrooms. A lovely new kitchen with some of the butcher’s original white tiles on the walls, and dark wood bench tops. The lounge was large, Victorian-era like hers, with high ceilings and lots of light. Painted a soft white and with dark grey sofas and silver-grey curtains, it had a masculine feel that wasn’t sparse, just fresh and clean. She imagined it generally lacked a splash of colour, but Daisy’s bright red coat and pink backpack, and the lashings of glitter, more than made up for that.

  She wondered briefly what his bedroom was like, what his bed was like. No. Truthfully, she wondered what he would look like in bed. Would he still wear those cute glasses? Were his thighs as rock-solid as they felt? What was under that T-shirt? Those jeans?

  Geez, girlfriend—the guy had needed her help, that was all. The pull to him was entirely of her imagination. He was a good guy. A sexy-as-hell guy. And who wouldn’t be attracted by that? She’d get over it. She would.

  She was just about to have a peek at the books on his bookshelf when he came back into the room holding two glasses of wine. ‘Sorry about leaving you on your own, I’ve just been talking to Brad. Freddie’s sitting up in bed asking for Jelly Babies so he’s obviously feeling better.’