Christmas Bride for the Boss

by Kate Hardy

  ‘No. I brokered a few agreements instead—a few compromises, so the bride got her happy day and the ones who were being difficult agreed to put their differences aside and be polite to each other for the wedding and the reception.’

  Typical Sophie, he was beginning to realise. Fixing things quietly and sensibly, without a fuss.

  Was that what she was doing with him and Sienna?

  ‘But it made me think. Some people have difficult families, and others are maybe missing loved ones and would find it hard to have a traditional wedding in England without them. Having a wedding abroad would solve all those problems. So I looked into it, and found out what paperwork you need in each of a dozen different countries, how much time you need to allow for arrangements, and who to contact. Between us, Eva and I have the admin, the venues, cakes, flowers and dresses sorted.’ She lifted a shoulder. ‘It’s just a shame that Eva’s not going to be here to help launch the new service.’

  ‘And you arrange the honeymoon as well?’

  ‘And the hen night and stag night, if that’s what my clients want.’

  While she was talking about the project, Sophie was really glowing, Jamie thought. She was clearly one of these people who liked being able to wave a magic wand for people and make things better.

  She was already making a difference to himself and Sienna—something he hadn’t expected and was incredibly grateful for, even if at the same time it made him a bit antsy.

  She glanced at her watch. ‘Sorry. I tend to get a bit carried away when I talk about my pet project.’

  ‘That’s okay.’ He’d enjoyed seeing her all animated. Though he couldn’t help wondering why she was single. She was beautiful, she was nice, and she had an enormous heart. Why hadn’t someone snapped her up years ago?

  ‘I guess we ought to be getting back,’ she said. ‘But one last thing before we go—Cindy.’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘If I were her,’ she said carefully, ‘I’d be worried sick about Sienna.’

  ‘I’ve already spoken to Cindy. She knows Sienna’s in good hands, her job is still there when she’s ready to come back to it, and I’m still paying her full salary so she’s not struggling financially.’

  ‘That isn’t the same as seeing Sienna for herself,’ Sophie said. ‘And I’ve been thinking about this from Sienna’s point of view. Please don’t think I’m trying to trample on a sore spot, but her mum didn’t come back from a holiday. And now her long-term nanny hasn’t come back from a holiday. I think she needs to see Cindy for herself, so she knows it really is a broken leg and you’re not trying to break bad news to her gently.’

  That had never occurred to him, and it felt like a punch in the stomach. ‘I...’ He blew out a breath. ‘Yes. You’re right.’

  ‘So would you mind talking to Cindy and asking her to call me, so I can arrange to take Sienna over to see her?’

  How could he possibly say no to that? ‘Sure.’

  ‘Good.’ She smiled at him. ‘I’ll see you this evening. We have fajitas for dinner tonight.’

  He frowned. ‘Fajitas. Are you sure Sienna—’

  ‘Yes. I won’t make them overly spicy. They’re one of Hattie’s favourites, and she’ll love them,’ Sophie reassured him. ‘I’ll walk back to the office with you because I need to talk to Karen. Thank you for lunch.’

  ‘Pleasure.’ And, to his surprise, he found it was. He hadn’t just been polite. It was the first time since Fran had died that he’d had lunch on his own with a woman who wasn’t related to him or doing business with him. This wasn’t officially a date—but it wasn’t entirely a business meeting, either.

  And that evening, when Jamie went home, it actually felt like coming home. He found himself looking forward to Sienna running to greet him, to the scent of home-made food—to the sheer warmth of the place, something that had been missing for far too long. At the same time, it threw him; it made him feel less in control.

  He washed his hands under Sienna’s directions, then walked hand in hand with her into the kitchen, where Sophie was busy at the stove. ‘What can I do to help?’

  ‘Sit and enjoy,’ Sophie said, putting the serving dishes in the middle of the table.

  Without a word to Sophie, he helped Sienna load her tortilla with lightly spiced chicken, peppers, onion, salsa and guacamole. Sophie’s smile said she’d noticed and approved.

  It had been a long, long time since he’d found himself enjoying a family meal—and it was all thanks to Sophie. So, he thought, was the sparkle in his daughter’s eyes.

  Maybe he could do this.

  Maybe he could be a dad.

  Maybe he could be the family his daughter deserved.

  ‘So how was your day?’ he asked Sienna, and was treated to a blow-by-blow account of her day at nursery and helping Sophie mix the spices for the chicken. It shocked him a little, because he’d never heard so many words from her in one go.

  ‘And we’re going to see Cindy on Saturday,’ Sienna finished, beaming. ‘We’re going to make her a special card and a cake.’

  Clearly Cindy had returned Sophie’s call. ‘That sounds good,’ he said.

  When they’d finished dinner, Sophie said, ‘Bathtime now, Sienna.’

  Dread coursed through him. Sophie had let him off the previous evening. Was she going to make him do bathtime tonight?

  ‘And Daddy will need to wash your hair,’ Sophie added.

  He felt sick. But, short of telling her the truth about how he felt and why, he had no choice but to get on with it.

  ‘Remember to put a facecloth over your eyes, Sienna, so you don’t get any shampoo in them,’ Sophie said.

  He hadn’t even considered that. What kind of rubbish father did that make him?

  Gritting his teeth and trying not to let his tension show, for Sienna’s sake, he took his daughter up to the bathroom. He ran a shallow bath—though at least tonight she didn’t call him on it. Rinse, lather, rinse, lather, he told himself. And he managed it—thankfully because Sienna had a facecloth over her eyes she couldn’t see the pain in his face when he looked at her wet curls. But he managed to dry her off, comb out the tangles and dry her hair. And when he’d finished the bedtime story, she wrapped her arms round his neck.

  ‘Love you, Daddy.’

  ‘Love you, too.’ And he hoped she couldn’t hear the crack in his voice.

  * * *

  ‘Thank you,’ he said to Sophie when he’d settled Sienna to bed and come downstairs again.

  ‘Just doing my job,’ she said.

  ‘Since you won’t let me pay you for looking after her,’ he said softly, ‘you’re doing me a favour rather than it being a job.’

  ‘It’s not about the money,’ she said, flapping a dismissive hand. ‘It’s a quid pro quo. You need help; so do I. We’re simply helping each other out.’

  ‘All I’ve done is set the legal wheels in motion to buy out Eva’s share.’

  ‘And lent me two members of staff.’

  ‘Karen tells me you’re insisting on paying them, so that doesn’t count.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ she said.

  ‘Actually, it’s not. I feel as if I’m taking unfair advantage of you,’ he countered.

  She gave a hollow laugh. ‘Trust me, you’re not.’

  That laugh alerted him. ‘Sounds like experience talking.’

  She looked away. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘I think it does,’ he said softly. ‘Come and sit down. Talk to me.’

  She shook her head. ‘It’s the proverbial hill of beans that doesn’t matter.’

  ‘Casablanca,’ he said.

  ‘Yes. Not that it was a Rick and Ilsa thing in my case,’ she added dryly. ‘Let’s just say where business is concerned, I’m a good judge of
character—but where my love life’s concerned, I’m not so good.’

  So who had taken advantage of her? he wondered. Whatever had happened had clearly hurt her deeply.

  But she was already gathering her belongings. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  ‘See you tomorrow,’ he echoed.

  And how strange that the light seemed to dim when she closed the door behind her.

  * * *

  The rest of the week followed a similar pattern for Sophie: picking up Sienna, dropping her at nursery, cramming in as much work as she could before nursery pick-up, then making dinner for the three of them. Jamie was clearly getting more used to the bedtime routine, doing bathtime and story time with a bit less reluctance, and Sophie loved the fact that he and Sienna were getting closer.

  On Saturday morning, she’d agreed that Jamie could spend the morning in the office while she and Sienna went to see Cindy. They made a cake first thing and decorated it with pink sugar hearts, butterflies and sparkly sprinkles. Sienna had made a get well soon card, the night before, and Sophie had helped her to write the words inside.

  Cindy buzzed them in through the intercom, and Sienna practically ran inside to hug the woman sitting in the chair with a cast on her leg and crutches propped up beside her. ‘Cindy!’

  ‘Oh, sweetie, I’ve missed you!’ Cindy said, holding the little girl tightly.

  ‘I missed you, too. Daddy said you broke your leg.’

  ‘I fell over on my skis,’ Cindy explained, ‘and it’s going to take a few weeks for my leg to get better. That’s why the doctor put the big plaster on it.’ She gestured to her cast.

  ‘Sophie’s looking after me until your leg’s better,’ Sienna said. ‘And we made you a cake.’

  Cindy blinked in surprise. ‘You did cooking?’

  ‘Me and Sophie cook tea every night, and Daddy eats it all up, every little bit.’

  Cindy raised an eyebrow at Sophie. ‘Really?’

  ‘Really,’ Sophie confirmed with a smile. ‘Nice to meet you at last, Cindy.’

  ‘And you, Sophie.’ Cindy shook her hand.

  ‘When you rang, you said there was a park nearby,’ Sophie said. ‘Maybe I could push you there in your wheelchair, so you can get some fresh air and Sienna can run around and go on the slide, and work up an appetite for a slice of that cake.’ And it also meant she’d be able to talk to Cindy privately without Sienna overhearing.

  ‘Sounds good,’ Cindy said, clearly guessing exactly what Sophie meant.

  ‘I made you a card, too,’ Sienna said, shoving it into Cindy’s hand.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ Cindy said when she opened it. ‘A rainbow and a dog. That’s lovely. And your writing’s very neat.’

  ‘Sophie helped me,’ Sienna confided in a loud whisper. ‘Sophie’s really kind.’

  Cindy gave Sophie an appraising look, and nodded. ‘That’s good. Shall we go to the park? You can help Sophie push my chair.’

  ‘Yay!’ Sienna said.

  Once they were at the park and seated where they could see Sienna playing on the slide and the swings, Cindy turned to Sophie. ‘I can already see the change in her. You’re good for her. And I’m so glad you brought her over to see me. I was worrying about her having a string of temps.’

  ‘Jamie was pretty insistent that he wanted continuity,’ Sophie said. ‘The agency let him down. Apparently everyone on their books was either already on an assignment or had gone down with that virus that’s doing the rounds. Jamie was pretty angry about it.’

  ‘So how do you know Mr Wallis, exactly?’ Cindy asked.

  ‘I co-own a business with Fran’s cousin, Eva. Eva’s fiancé has been headhunted, so she needs me to buy her out. I needed someone to invest, and Jamie needed a nanny,’ Sophie explained. ‘Although I’m not a qualified nanny, I had a part-time job in our neighbour’s nursery school during sixth form. I have a niece who’s the same age as Sienna and a nephew two years younger, and I’m a very hands-on aunt. Plus my sister-in-law’s a health visitor, so I can ask her anything I need to. So this a kind of quid pro quo. I’m looking after Sienna, and Jamie’s buying into my company.’

  ‘I see,’ Cindy said.

  ‘I have to say, you’re not what I was expecting,’ Sophie said. ‘Not after reading that file.’

  Cindy groaned. ‘The rules.’

  ‘Which I’m guessing are Jamie’s rather than yours.’

  ‘I just wrote Sienna’s routine down.’ Cindy sighed. ‘It’s not what I want it to be. It just kind of evolved, and Mr Wallis is a bit set in his ways. But from the sound of things you’re not sticking to it.’

  ‘No, I’m not,’ Sophie agreed. ‘I guess the difference is I’m not actually working for him, so I can call things as I see them without any worry that I’m going to lose my job.’

  ‘It’s not so much losing my job I worry about,’ Cindy said, ‘as not being able to look after Sienna any more. I’ve looked after her since she was a baby.’

  And she clearly loved the little girl dearly, Sophie thought. ‘So you knew her mum, then. What was Fran like?’

  ‘Lovely—a real dynamo, but she always made time for Sienna. Mr Wallis was different when she was around. He wasn’t quite so much of a workaholic because she could always get him to stop and smell the roses.’

  ‘Hang on. He still makes you call him Mr Wallis after four years?’ Sophie checked.

  ‘Fran was the one I saw most of,’ Cindy said, ‘and Mr Wallis was always more formal with me. Though don’t get me wrong. I have a lot of respect for him, He’s a fair employer and he lets me take my holiday to suit me.’ She gestured to her leg. ‘And he’s still paying me, even though I can’t work.’

  Money isn’t everything, Sophie thought. ‘Just he’s totally buttoned up.’

  ‘Losing your wife at such a young age is hard.’

  ‘But it doesn’t give you a good excuse to avoid your daughter and make your nanny look after her all the time,’ Sophie said quietly.

  ‘I think,’ Cindy said, ‘it’s because Sienna’s the spitting image of her mum and he finds it hard to cope. Every time he sees Sienna it must remind him of Fran and what he’s lost, and he kind of buries himself in work to help him cope. Plus Fran once let it slip that he was pretty much brought up by nannies as well, in a house where children were meant to be seen and not heard.’

  ‘So I’m also guessing he doesn’t see much of Fran’s family?’

  ‘They live in Norfolk.’

  ‘That’s only a couple of hours’ drive away. If he didn’t want to make a weekend of it, he could still let her see her grandparents for the day.’ She paused. ‘Are you in contact with them?’

  Cindy looked wary. ‘Why?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to march over to Jamie and blab,’ Sophie said. ‘My dad was a workaholic who died young, so I kind of know what it’s like to be in Sienna’s shoes. And I think she needs her extended family.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Cindy said.

  ‘So I was thinking, sending them bits of Sienna’s artwork and the odd photograph might be a way of starting to bridge the gap.’

  ‘We’re there already,’ Cindy said. ‘On my phone, I have addresses, phone numbers and email addresses—which I could accidentally copy to you while I update the grandmas on what’s happening with Sienna.’

  ‘Accidentally sounds perfect,’ Sophie said with a smile. ‘And that means they’ll know to expect contact from me, too.’

  ‘So you’ve actually got him eating dinner with Sienna?’

  ‘And doing the bedtime story. He’s done bathtime for the last three nights, too.’

  ‘You,’ Cindy said with a grin, ‘are either a genius or you own a real magic wand.’

  Sophie smiled. ‘I’m just bossier than his mother.’

&nb
sp; Cindy laughed. ‘Now that I don’t believe. When you send Mrs Wallis photos and artwork, be prepared for a tide of advice and a bit of criticism in return.’ She looked at Sophie. ‘Though if you’ve achieved dinner, bath and bedtime story in a week, you might just be a match for her.’

  ‘I’ll keep you posted with how things go,’ Sophie said. ‘And we’re going to a firework display tonight.’

  ‘Just you and Sienna?’

  ‘No. All three of us.’

  ‘You definitely have a magic wand,’ Cindy said. She smiled. ‘Next you’ll be telling me you’ve got him to do messy stuff.’

  ‘That,’ Sophie said, ‘is an excellent idea. We’ll start with glitter, I think.’

  Cindy’s smile widened. ‘Now I know Sienna’s in good hands.’

  ‘She is,’ Sophie promised.

  * * *

  That evening, they walked to the firework display at the local infants’ school. Sienna was all wide-eyed and excited. ‘We’re seeing real fireworks, Daddy?’

  ‘Yes, we are.’ He masked his expression of pain almost instantly, but Sophie had seen it. What was so bad about fireworks? But now wasn’t the time or the place to ask.

  They wandered round the stalls together, each holding one of Sienna’s hands. At the stall selling glow-sticks, necklaces and wands, he bought one of everything for his daughter.

  ‘You and Sophie need to have a necklace, too,’ she insisted.

  ‘These are on me,’ Sophie said with a grin. She cracked the stick and curved it round, fixing it with the connector at the back of Jamie’s neck.

  ‘It’s pink, just like mine!’ Sienna said in delight.

  He cracked the stick of Sophie’s necklace and sorted out her connector, and Sophie was very aware of the way her skin tingled when his fingertips brushed against her. ‘Yellow. You look as if your halo’s slipped,’ he murmured in her ear, and the tingle spread down her spine.

  In another life...

  But they were strictly business associates, she reminded herself.

  ‘We need to take pictures to send to Cindy.’ And to the grandmothers, she thought. Jamie duly crouched down to be on Sienna’s level, and Sophie took a couple of shots on her camera.