Both kids nodded, Peg with a slight look of irritation.
They threw on their dressing gowns and padded into the sitting room, where the Christmas tree lights were on and a fire roared in the grate. Claudia must have been up early – if she had slept at all. Peg bent down and gathered two little square boxes from under the tree; each had an oversized label attached to it, one saying ‘Peg’ and the other ‘Max’.
Peg shook hers beside her ear and heard a faint tinkling. ‘Who are these from, Mummy?’
Poppy turned the box over in her hand. ‘I haven’t a clue, darling.’ She looked at the label: it was Claudia’s handwriting. ‘Put them back under the tree and we’ll wait for Granny Claudia.’
‘No, it’s okay, Poppy, they can open those now.’ Claudia’s voice came from the kitchen. She beamed. ‘Happy Christmas, my loves!’
‘Happy Christmas! You’re up early! Are you okay?’
‘I’m more than fine.’ Claudia enveloped Poppy in a hug and as she pulled away from her, took the scrunchie from her hair, allowing it to fall in a coppery curtain against her neck. ‘You have beautiful hair, Poppy, you should show it off more.’
Poppy smiled, embarrassed, and tucked the loose tendrils behind her ears.
‘Can we open these now then?’ Peg shook the little box; the suspense was nearly killing her.
‘Yes!’ Claudia clapped. ‘Open them right now!’
Peg tore the paper to reveal a little brown box, then did the same for Max. She lifted the lid to reveal a shiny bell, the kind that sat snugly on handlebars. Peg stared at Max, dying to speak, but knowing she mustn’t blow the surprise. ‘Oh, a bell! That’s lovely, thank you very much, Granny Claudia.’ She smiled sweetly.
‘Yougranicordiya!’ Max grinned.
Peg gave a small cough, as if waiting to be led to her shiny new bike or scooter. She hoped it was a scooter, with silver wheels and a blue sticker and rubber foot pads, the same as Jade McKeever’s.
Poppy stared at Claudia, slightly puzzled by the little gift. Although mentally two steps behind her daughter, she was starting to suspect there was more to this present than met the eye.
‘It’s going to be a chilly old day, who thinks we might need to fetch more logs from the garage?’
Peg nearly burst with anticipation. ‘I definitely think we need more logs!’ She jumped up and down on the spot.
Poppy shook her head, trying to keep up.
‘What about you, Maxy, do you think we need more logs?’
He nodded vigorously.
‘Be a dear, Poppy, take them out for me while I make some tea.’ Claudia sniffed.
‘Sure.’ Poppy opened the side door and gasped as the wave of cold air filled her lungs. There had been a fresh fall of snow in the night and the garden looked like a winter wonderland. The birdbath, lights and wicker chairs had all been sprinkled with a powdery dusting. It was quite beautiful.
Poppy lifted Max as they approached the garage. Peg raised the latch and pushed open the side door. No one moved for a second or two, each paralysed with shock and surprise. Then the surge of adrenalin hit. Peg screamed and then she cried, unable to stop the sobs that built in her chest and escaped loudly. Poppy gasped as the tears rolled down her own face, and Max wriggled to the ground and toddled across the room.
It wasn’t new bikes or scooters that waited for Peg and Max in the garage. There in the soft lamplight, with a tartan blanket over his legs and cocooned in the moth-eaten armchair that had never quite made it to the tip, with sand in his boots and dust on his uniform, sat their daddy.
Mart stood and rushed forward, crushing Poppy to him and with his spare arm around Peg as Max clung to his leg.
‘I heard my girl needed me,’ he whispered into her hair.
‘She did.’ Poppy placed her mouth against his cheek, inhaling the scent of him, confirming he was real.
‘I’ll always come when you need me, you know that.’ Mart kissed her on the mouth and then bent down to lift his children, one in each arm. They stood just like that for a minute or so, happy to be reunited, a little family.
As they made their way back inside the house, Claudia stood at the back door, simultaneously crying and laughing. She hurried over to Poppy. ‘I couldn’t tell you. He swore me to secrecy!’
Poppy wrapped her in a hug, too emotional to speak. She stared at her husband, propped against the sink, holding a mug of tea between his palms. She shook her head, unable to take it in. He was in the kitchen! He had come home!
‘How, Mart?’ she eventually managed.
‘They told me a few weeks ago that they might cut our tour short. I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t happen – you know how these things work.’
She nodded. She knew, better than most.
Mart continued. ‘I wasn’t sure if I could get back, even when they did cut the tour. I didn’t want to raise your hopes, or mine. I only knew for certain I was coming home when they confirmed there was a seat for me on a helicopter and then a plane and then another plane. It all happened very fast. I can’t tell you how happy I was to touch down at Brize.’
Poppy smiled at him, sharing recollections of the place that held such strong memories for them both. It meant home, safety.
‘When did you get here?’
‘About four this morning. Claudia waited up for me. I kipped on the sofa until we heard you all.’
‘Do you have to go back?’ Poppy chewed her lip, hardly daring to ask.
‘No, that’s it. Back in Larkhill now – you’re stuck with me.’ He squeezed his wife’s hand.
Peg hugged her dad tightly around his middle. ‘I missed you.’
‘I missed you too. You’ve grown, you both have!’
‘I’m going to try and be register monitor next term, Dad.’
‘That sounds good.’ He smiled.
‘Can I get a pet? I would really like a guinea pig called Toffee.’
Mart laughed. ‘Well, I don’t see why not.’
Poppy sighed and rolled her eyes at Claudia.
Peg reached up and pulled her dad’s neck forward until his ear was level with her mouth, so that he alone could hear her whisper. ‘I prayed and wished you home to me, Daddy, and it worked, didn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ he whispered back, looking from her to his wife and son, smiling. ‘It worked.’
We hope you enjoyed this collection!
Amanda Prowse’s next book is coming in spring 2018
For more information, click the following links
About Amanda Prowse
About No Greater Love
About No Greater Courage
Also by Amanda Prowse
From the Editor of this Book
An invitation from the Publisher
About Amanda Prowse
AMANDA PROWSE has always loved crafting short stories and scribbling notes for potential books. Her first novel, Poppy Day, was self-published in October 2011 and achieved a number one spot in the eBook charts. She was then signed up by publishers Head of Zeus. Perfect Daughter became a number one bestseller in 2015.
Amanda lives in Bristol with her husband and two sons. She has now published several novels and short stories.
Find me on Twitter
Find me on Facebook
Visit my website
About No Greater Love
Amanda Prowse’s No Greater Love sequence is a series of contemporary stories with love at their core. They feature characters whose histories interweave through the generations: ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things for love. They are stories to keep you from switching off the bedside lamp at night, stories to remember long after the final page is turned…
Find out More
Find out more
Find out more
Find out More
Find out more
Find out more
Find out more
SHORT STORIES
Find out More
&nbs
p; Find out more
Find out more
Find out more
Visit Head of Zeus now
About No Greater Courage
Amanda Prowse’s No Greater Courage sequence stars women who have to find the strength to overcome adversity. The thread that runs through these novels is that they all feature extraordinary women who have to dig deep and find resilience they didn’t know they had, just to survive. They are not wealthy, stunning or massively successful, they are instead ordinary women who, when it comes to it, will do all they can to fight for what’s best for their family. Women like you and me…
Find out More
Find out more
Find out more
Find out more
Visit Head of Zeus now
Also by Amanda Prowse
Find out more
Find out more
Find out more
Visit Head of Zeus now
From the Editor of this Book
If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy reading these novels recommended by the editor.
Find out more
Find out More
Find out more
Visit Head of Zeus now
An Invitation from the Publisher
We hope you enjoyed this book. We are an independent publisher dedicated to discovering brilliant books, new authors and great storytelling. Please join us at www.headofzeus.com and become part of our community of book-lovers.
We will keep you up to date with our latest books, author blogs, special previews, tempting offers, chances to win signed editions and much more.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Visit Head of Zeus now
Find us on Twitter
Find us on Facebook
Find us on BookGrail
Something Quite Beautiful
The Game
A Christmas Wish
Ten Pound Ticket
First published in the UK in 2013 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Amanda Prowse, 2013
Imogen’s Baby
First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Amanda Prowse, 2015
Miss Potterton’s Birthday Tea
First published in the UK in 2016 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Amanda Prowse, 2016
This collection, Stories from the Heart
Copyright © Amanda Prowse, 2017
The moral right of Amanda Prowse to be identified as the author of these works has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
These are a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786694751
Head of Zeus Ltd
First Floor East
5–8 Hardwick Street
London EC1R 4RG
www.headofzeus.com
Stories From The Heart Page 36
