by Kate Hardy
Jamie just looked at her, unable to think of a way to counteract anything she said.
‘Oh, though I do have one regulation for next weekend,’ she said with a smile. ‘You’re taking Sienna to see Father Christmas.’
‘Right.’ This was the first he’d heard of it.
She gave him the cheekiest grin. ‘I’ve booked it and paid for it—I’ve got a time slot and everything. So that will soothe your soul about sticking to regulations.’
‘Now you’re mocking me.’
She walked over to him and kissed him lightly. ‘I am. Because you’re being pompous and you deserve to be mocked for that.’
And the touch of her mouth did more to silence him than anything she’d said.
Her phone beeped to signal an incoming text. She glanced at the screen, grinned, and handed the phone to him. ‘Righty. Read this.’
The sender turned out to be his mother.
Oh, how sweet!
Gwen followed it up with a second message.
Twinkle, Twinkle. That was Jamie’s favourite song at that age.
Jamie stared at the words, open-mouthed. ‘Are you sure we’re not in a parallel universe? How would she even know that? I don’t remember my parents ever coming to school concerts when I was small. They were always working.’ Just like he was, he thought with a twinge of guilt.
‘But I bet they had a video camera—right from when they were really new on the market and hideously expensive,’ Sienna said. ‘And my guess is your dad taught your nanny how to use it and got her to film you and your sisters at all the things he and your mum didn’t manage to get to.’
Now he thought about it, Jamie could remember their nanny using an expensive camera. But even so. ‘My mother...’ He blew out a breath. ‘That text can’t possibly be from her.’ It didn’t sound like her. Fond. Warm. Loving. Soft. That wasn’t his mother at all.
‘It is. Call her and talk to her, if you like. And, while you’re at it, ask her to come to the nursery school Christmas concert. I bet you she’ll say yes.’
He shook his head. ‘She’ll be too busy at work.’
‘Ask her,’ Sophie said again.
Another message came in. He looked at the screen. ‘You’ve got a text from Rose.’ Fran’s mother.
‘Read it to me,’ she said.
There was a lump in his throat making him croak as he read the words. ‘It says, “She looks just like my Frannie. Thank you, Sophie.” And there are three kisses.’
‘I know you think you have to do this all on your own, with the support of a nanny—but you don’t,’ she said softly. ‘It’s coming up to Christmas. Give everyone a chance, Jamie.’
He scowled at her. ‘I suppose you’re going to suggest now I have everyone here for Christmas.’
‘That’s an even more brilliant idea than coming to spend Christmas with my family,’ she said. ‘Let me know the guest list and I’ll send the invites out for you tomorrow.’
‘Hang on. This is going way too fast for me, Sophie,’ he said, panic flooding through him at the idea.
‘Okay. I’ll back off. Maybe not a big gathering at your house this year. But you still need to invite both the grannies to the nursery school Christmas concert. And Cindy. And me, even though I’ll be officially not needed by then.’
Jamie rather thought he’d still be needing her. But he didn’t know how to tell her. So instead he said, ‘My turn to be bossy. Come and have lunch with me on Wednesday.’
‘Since when do you have a lunch break?’
‘You had lunch with me when we talked about a temporary transfer for Georgia and Lily,’ he pointed out.
‘So this is a business lunch?’
‘Personal,’ he said.
She smiled, and butterflies started dancing in her stomach. ‘I still think this is a bad idea. But okay. It’s a...’
‘It’s a date,’ he said softly. He drew her hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss in the palm. ‘You and me. I’ll pick you up from your office. You can tell everyone it’s business, if you like. But I’m telling you now there will be hand-holding involved. And I intend to make sure there’s some mistletoe around.’
‘Like this?’ She sketched some in the air with her fingertip.
What else could he do but kiss her?
And she was gratifyingly flushed by the time he broke the kiss. ‘Well, Ms Firth.’
‘Well, Mr Wallis.’ Her voice was gratifyingly husky, too.
‘Oh, and while I remember—I can’t come over to look after Sienna tomorrow.’
He frowned. ‘Why not?’
‘I have a small problem. To be more accurate, a small four-footed and waggy-tailed problem,’ she said.
He blinked. ‘You have a dog?’ Yet she’d never mentioned a pet before.
‘Just for tomorrow,’ she explained. ‘I’m puppy-sitting for my friend so she can do her Christmas shopping—so if you need me to look after Sienna you’re going to have to bring her to my place.’ She paused. ‘You can work there, if you like. My kitchen table functions very well as a desk.’
It sounded seriously domestic. Something that should have had him running for cover. But the idea was too irresistible to turn down. ‘Okay.’
‘And Mandy was asking if Sienna can come for lunch and play with Hattie on Sunday afternoon.’
Given that Sophie was being so accommodating, he thought that he really ought to do the same. ‘Sure.’
‘Great.’ She stole another kiss. ‘Right. We both have work to do. See you tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow.’ And he was really looking forward to it.
* * *
On Saturday, at Sophie’s flat, Jamie felt as if he’d just stepped into a hug. The place was warm and comfortable, and she had photographs everywhere. The mantelpiece was full of graduation and wedding photographs, plus pictures of children he assumed were Hattie and Sam, and a picture of her and Eva at the Eiffel Tower. There were hand-drawn cards on the mantelpiece, and childish artwork held to the outside of her fridge with magnets.
Sophie Firth was clearly much loved. And he could see why.
‘Meet Archie,’ she said.
The liver and white springer spaniel wriggled in her arms, clearly desperate to get down and start bouncing about.
‘Are you ready for this, Sienna? He’s very lively. And very lovely,’ she said with a smile.
‘Yay!’ Sienna said.
Sophie knelt on the floor and let the pup down. He bounced about, his tail a wagging blur and his soft paws scrabbling everywhere, then leapt onto Sienna’s lap and proceeded to wash her face with his tongue, much to her joy.
‘I love him!’ Sienna said.
‘He’ll calm down in a minute. Libby, my friend who owns him, says he does tricks. Shall we see if he’ll do them for us?’
Sienna nodded and cuddled the puppy.
‘Coffee?’ Sophie said to Jamie.
‘I’ll make it.’
She shook her head. ‘Get yourself settled at the table. I don’t have a posh coffee maker like yours, but I promise it’s decent coffee.’
She made coffee for them and poured a glass of milk for Sienna; although Jamie was officially supposed to be working at his laptop, he couldn’t help watching Sophie as she showed Sienna how to get Archie to sit and hold up one paw for treats.
It wasn’t that maybe he could fall in love with Sophie Firth.
He already had.
That innate warmth and kindness, the sweetness of her mouth—she was adorable. Even when she was being bossy, it wasn’t like the way his mother took over things; she had a way of making it feel as if you’d been the one to make the suggestion in the first place.
And there was a strong bond between Sophie and his daughter.
For the first time in two years, he could see the future—and he liked what he saw. A future full of laughter and love and real happiness.
He knew he didn’t deserve it.
But for Sienna’s sake—and Sophie’s—he’d work for it.
Sophie and Sienna took the pup out for a walk, once Sophie had finished her milk. ‘We can only take him out for a little while,’ Sophie explained, ‘because he’s still a baby. Libby says it’s five minutes’ walk for each month of the pup’s age, so that’s fifteen minutes of walking and I’ll have to carry him after that.’
‘Will you come with us, Daddy?’ Sienna asked.
He was supposed to be working.
But the sun was shining. How could he resist his daughter’s entreaties—or the big amber eyes of the spaniel? ‘Sure,’ he said. And Sophie’s smile made him feel warm all over.
In the end, he was the one who ended up carrying the pup—who’d curled up and gone to sleep next to the park bench while Sienna was playing on the swings—and Sophie held Sienna’s hand as the little girl skipped back to Sophie’s flat.
Sophie made toasted cheese and ham sandwiches for lunch, and Archie had a tiny piece of ham along with his kibble, sitting nicely and putting his paw up to ask for a treat.
How could Jamie be anything but charmed?
Even when the pup had a couple of accidents on the kitchen floor by the back door, Sophie was good-natured about it. ‘He’s just a baby. And my kitchen floor isn’t carpet. All I need is a mop and some disinfectant. The floor’ll dry quickly enough.’
Later in the afternoon, when Sienna had talked Jamie into watching a princess movie in the living room with them, the pup was quiet and Jamie assumed he’d fallen asleep next to Sophie’s feet. But then Sophie went into the kitchen to make a drink and came back looking absolutely horrified.
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked.
‘You know all those memes where they say silence is golden—unless you have a pup, in which case silence is really, really suspicious?’
No, he didn’t. He wasn’t quite sure what a meme was, but the whole thing about a quiet pup being suspicious sounded like a warning. ‘What’s he done?’
‘Your shoe,’ Sophie said, looking guilty, and handed it to him. ‘He’s chewed it. Um, quite badly.’
Both ends of the lace had been bitten off to the point where it was unusable, and the pup had chewed all round the inner edge of the shoe. The tongue beneath the laces was particularly badly savaged. No way was he going to be able to repair them.
‘I should’ve kept a closer eye on him,’ she said, biting her lip.
‘Hey—I was here, too,’ he said. ‘I thought he was asleep. It isn’t your fault.’
‘Are you going to be able to drive home?’
‘If you can lend me a lace to keep me going,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think I’ll be wearing those shoes again after that.’
‘I’ll replace them.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s fine. And it’s a good lesson to learn: never leave shoes around within a puppy’s reach.’
Sophie carried the dog over to a cupboard in the living room and searched one-handed in a drawer. ‘I don’t have any laces,’ she said. ‘But I think I can do something with elastic bands.’
‘Thanks,’ he said.
When the film ended, he said, ‘We need to go home now, Sienna.’
The little girl shook her head. ‘I want to stay with Sophie and Archie.’
‘Not today,’ he said. ‘We can maybe come and visit another time.’
‘But Archie won’t be here.’ Her lower lip wobbled.
‘Maybe we can go and see him together at my friend Libby’s house, another day,’ Sophie suggested.
‘Can we, Daddy?’ Sienna asked. ‘Please?’
‘Yes, darling. But we need to let Sophie get on.’
‘Bye, Sophie.’ The little girl hugged her. ‘Thank you for having me. Love you.’
Sophie hugged her back. ‘It was a pleasure and I love you, too.’
Archie, not to be outdone, licked Sienna’s face.
‘And I love you, too, Archie.’ Sienna kissed the pup’s nose.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, just after lunch, and we’ll go and play with Hattie,’ Sophie said. ‘I’ll just fix Daddy’s shoe before you go.’
She did something complicated with the elastic bands, and to his surprise they actually held his shoe on his foot.
‘I really am sorry about the shoes,’ she said.
‘It’s fine. It’s not as if they were brand new.’ He smiled at her. ‘See you tomorrow. And thank you for today. It’s been great.’ It shocked him how much he’d enjoyed it. Even though Sophie’s flat was tiny, it was warm and welcoming and he’d felt completely at home.
This was all going way too fast. Scarily so.
But he didn’t think he wanted to stop it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SOPHIE WAS HALFWAY to Mandy’s house with Sienna in the car seat on Sunday when her phone rang. She switched it through to the hands-free system on the car. ‘Hello?’
‘Soph, it’s Mandy. Sorry, I meant to ring you earlier. Sam’s gone down with a rotten cold and he’s running a temperature.’
‘Ah. So we need to reschedule the play date?’ Sophie asked.
‘Sort of,’ Mandy said. ‘Will’s going to look after Sam for me. I thought maybe we could take the girls swimming instead.’
‘Hang on a tick. Would you like to go swimming, Sienna?’ Sophie asked.
‘I’ve never been swimming,’ the little girl said.
Sophie glanced at her in surprise. Given that Jamie owned several resorts, all of which had a pool... Surely he’d visited them with Sienna and let her enjoy the children’s activities?
‘Sienna’s the same size as Hattie and she’s got two costumes, so Sienna can borrow one,’ Mandy said. ‘And you can borrow a costume from me, Sophie. We’ve got spare swimming towels and spare armbands, too. Would you like to go swimming, Sienna?’
‘Yes, please!’ Sienna said, and it was settled.
At Mandy’s house, they moved Sienna’s car seat to the back and fixed Hattie’s next to it, and the two little girls chattered all the way to the sports centre.
But Sienna clung to Sophie’s hand on the way from the changing rooms to the pool, clearly nervous.
‘It’ll be fine, Sienna,’ Sophie reassured her. ‘We’re going in the little pool, and it isn’t very deep. I promise I won’t let you go under the water. We’re just going to sit and play.’
It took a little while for Sienna to relax, but once she’d overcome her initial nervousness of the water she started copying Hattie, the two little girls had a wonderful time in the pool.
‘This is the perfect Sunday afternoon,’ Mandy said with a smile, and Sophie had to agree.
* * *
Jamie glanced at his watch. It was nearly four in the afternoon and it was starting to get dark. Plus it had been raining steadily for the last hour, so they couldn’t have been at the park. Surely Sophie should have brought Sienna back by now?
Feeling twitchy, he was about to call Sophie’s mobile phone when he heard the sound of car tyres on gravel.
Sienna rushed to find him as soon as the front door opened. ‘Daddy, Daddy, guess what? Me and Hattie went swimming!’
It felt as if his blood was roaring through his ears.
Swimming.
Fran had died, swimming. She’d died in the ocean and he hadn’t been with her. Guilt slammed into him. And the woman he’d been considering bringing into his life, into Fran’s place, had taken his daughter swimming.
She’d really overstepped the mark—and so had he.
He wasn’t going to yell at her in front of Sienna. But he
couldn’t just let this go.
‘Darling, can you go upstairs and draw me a picture?’ he asked once he’d greeted his daughter with a kiss.
‘Yes, Daddy.’ Sienna beamed at him and skipped up the stairs.
‘Kitchen. Now,’ he mouthed at Sophie.
She frowned, but followed him in there.
‘Close the door,’ he said, his voice clipped.
Her frown deepened. ‘Jamie? What’s going on?’
‘I need to talk to you and I don’t want Sienna to hear any of this,’ he said, keeping his voice low.
She closed the door. ‘I don’t understand. What’s the problem?’
‘You took Sienna swimming.’
‘Because Sam had a rotten cold and Mandy didn’t want Sienna to pick it up. She called me when I was about halfway to their house and suggested we could go swimming instead. Sienna said she’d love to go when we asked her, so Mandy lent us both costumes and towels plus some armbands for Sienna.’
‘You took Sienna swimming,’ he repeated.
‘Which is a perfectly normal thing to do with a small child,’ Sophie protested. ‘The pool’s not far from Mandy’s house, there are lifeguards, and actually there’s a very shallow pool especially for little ones, so she wasn’t in any danger of teenagers splashing her or bumping into her by accident.’
She really wasn’t listening. Did he have to tell her in words of one syllable? ‘I don’t want her swimming, and you had no right to take her without asking.’
‘You left her in my charge,’ she reminded him. ‘You were in a meeting, so I didn’t get the chance to ask your permission. And I don’t see why swimming is such a big problem for you. It’s a life skill Sienna’s going to need when she’s older and she’ll have swimming lessons at junior school, so it’s a good idea to start getting her used to the water now.’
He clenched his teeth. ‘Fran died because she went swimming.’
