Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“You’d kick out your sister and Danny?”
“Of course I wouldn’t. Don’t be so silly. This is as much their home as it is ours, but if being here with the memories is too much for Zara and is stopping her from being a parent, then it might be for the best.” I stepped away from her. “Something must change. For Danny’s sake.”
“I’m ready!” Danny zoomed back into the room with his dinosaur wellington boots on… and his coat inside out.
We laughed at him.
“I think not, Danny!” Mum said, walking over to him and ushering him through the door. “Your coat is inside out, and you’re not wearing nearly enough clothes for those cold temperatures. It’s snowing out there!”
“Uncle Tommy said it isn’t settling!”
“Not yet it’s not, but that doesn’t mean it’s not so cold that your fingers won’t fall off!”
“My fingers? Oh, no! I want to keep my fingers! I can’t play with my dinosaurs if I have no fingers!”
I coughed into the crook of my elbow to disguise my laugh and followed them out to get myself ready. By the time I was ready to leave, Danny was already waiting by the front door and was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Are you ready?” I asked. “We have just enough time to go and see Mumma with some lunch if you want.”
His face lit up. “Yes! She likes sandwiches. Can we get her a sandwich?”
“Of course.” I opened the door. “Careful, it might be a little slippery, and we don’t need another trip to the hospital, do we?”
He looked at me with wide eyes, shaking his head. “No. Not again.”
Danny slowly stepped down the huge, stone steps, using the railing to make sure he didn’t trip. When he made it onto the gravelled driveway, he turned to me with a grin. “Ta-da! Can I get in the car?”
I pulled my keys from my pocket and unlocked it. “Jump in. I’ll be there in two seconds.”
He sped off. “Bye, Nanny! See you later!”
“Be good!” Mum called after him, then she turned to me. “If he starts getting bored and messing around, call me and I’ll come and pick him up.”
“He’ll be fine. He loves helping with the trees, and I know there’s a delivery of decorations that need to be put out. He can help Mrs. O’Shea hang the baubles for a while.” I kissed Mum’s cheek. “Let me know if you want me to bring anything home with me.”
“Yes. Dinner. Heath isn’t here today, and I can’t be arsed to cook,” she muttered.
I laughed, touching her arm. “Text me when you’ve decided what you want.”
“Uncle Tommy! Come on!” Danny shouted from the car.
“That’s my cue.” I grinned at Mum. “See you later.”
***
“Thomas? There’s someone looking for coal outside.”
I cut off the netting machine and glanced up. “Thanks, Ryan. Did they say how much?”
He shook his head. “It’s weird. She looks familiar, though.”
That made me pause. “Familiar? How?”
“Like I’ve seen her before. Dark ginger hair. ‘Bout this tall.” He put his hand against his face, measuring her imaginary height. “Can’t place her, though. Weird.”
I dropped my chin. “Sylvie.”
“Oh, shit! Sylvie Harding!” Ryan laughed, recognition brightening his face. “That’s right. She’s back for Hazel’s wedding, isn’t she?”
“Grab this.” I sighed, tying off the netting of the tree before pushing it his way. “Unfortunately, she is. She’s planning it, too, that’s why she’s here so early.”
He side-eyed me. “Sounds like you’ve already run into one another.”
“Once, and that’s one too many times,” I ground out. “Can’t you get her the coal?”
He slid the tree off the machine. “Oh, no. Look at that. I’ve already grabbed this tree.”
I glared at him. “I’ll remember that. Do you know where Danny is?”
“Helping Mrs. O’Shea hang up the decorations on the display stand. She’s bribing him with jellybeans.”
I wished someone would bribe me with jellybeans to work.
What was I saying? I was an adult. If I wanted jellybeans, I could buy my own.
I was going to have to get this over and done with.
I walked out of the huge barn towards the front of the tree farm. Sylvie was standing in front of a display of full fir trees with her head dipped as she tapped away at her phone. Her gloves were trapped between her body and her forearm, and they matched her red hat and scarf.
And her lips.
I swallowed.
I’d been attracted to the damn woman since I was fourteen and woke up with a raging morning glory after she’d infected my dream, and the fact she hated me had made my idiot teenage self even more attracted to her.
It was just a fucking shame she’d grown up to be even more beautiful than she’d been then.
Sylvie glanced up at me with her light blue eyes, and a shimmer of annoyance flitted through her gaze. “I thought you’d have a lackey you could assign this to.”