Rags To Riches Collection. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ Cade sent Nicola such a warm smile of thanks it curled her toes.

      ‘Nic?’

      What this time? She glanced down. ‘Yes?’

      ‘Do you think Mummy will come tomorrow?’

      Every adult in the room—Cade, Harry, Verity, Dee and her husband, Keith, who’d arrived earlier in the day—all stiffened. Nicola did her best to keep her body relaxed. Ella would unconsciously pick up on any tension she radiated and it would unsettle and upset her.

      Was this—seeing her mother—what Ella had pinned all her Christmas hopes on? The greyness of Cade’s skin, the haggard expression on his face, made her heart burn. Whatever anyone else in the room thought, she couldn’t lie to Ella. If seeing her mother was the child’s dearest wish, it would be hard getting her through tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be as bad as giving her hope that would go unfulfilled.

      She caressed the hair back from Ella’s brow. ‘Pumpkin, I haven’t spoken to your mummy, but I don’t think she’ll be able to make it tomorrow.’

      ‘The day after?’

      Nicola’s chest cramped. How could any woman turn her back on such a beautiful, loving child? Fran must have a heart of stone. She tried to keep her breathing steady. ‘We can keep our fingers crossed, but I really don’t know. I think she’d let us know if she was coming for a visit.’

      She watched as Ella digested her words. ‘Will you be here?’

      ‘I promise.’ She crossed her heart. ‘And we’re all going to have such fun tomorrow. I mean, you have your daddy and Holly here, and your grandma, Auntie Dee and Uncle Keith, not to mention Simon and Jamie, and Harry and me. That’s pretty lucky, don’t you think?’

      Ella thought about that for a moment and then she smiled. ‘Yes,’ she pronounced. ‘And you really, truly think Santa will come?’

      ‘I really, truly do.’

      Will you sing a Christmas carol?’ Ella whispered.

      Ella’s favourite was Silent Night, so Nicola started to sing it. One by one, the other adults joined in. Before the first verse was over, Cade rose to put Holly down. By the end of the song, Keith and Dee had taken a twin apiece and Cade returned to carefully lift Ella from Nicola’s arms.

      ‘I’ll be fine,’ he murmured when she made to rise too.

      She couldn’t read his eyes, but she subsided into her seat, sensing he wanted to be alone with his daughter, to stare down at her while she slept and to give thanks for her.

      Harry pushed out of her chair. ‘I’m off to bed.’

      ‘Nicola—’ Verity rose ‘—I suspect we’ve seen the last of Dee and Keith for the night.’

      Nicola grinned. The couple’s evident delight at seeing each other after ten days apart had been all too plain.

      ‘I also suspect that it will be a big day tomorrow.’

      ‘I expect you’re right on both counts.’

      ‘So I’m going to retire early.’

      ‘Sleep well.’

      Verity turned in the doorway. ‘I’m glad you’re spending Christmas with us this year.’

      She couldn’t mistake the older woman’s sincerity, and she had to swallow down an unexpected lump. ‘Thank you. I’m glad too.’

      When Cade returned, he glanced around and blinked.

      She laughed. ‘It seems the consensus was for turning in early.’

      He collapsed on the sofa beside her. ‘Fair enough.’

      She stared at him for a moment. ‘You okay?’

      ‘Sure, I...’

      ‘Ella’s question about her mum was a humdinger. It seemed to hit you all for six.’

      He shook his head. ‘It took me off guard. God knows why. I should’ve expected it, I suppose, but she stopped asking about Fran months ago.’

      It took an effort of will not to reach out and touch him. Every atom of her being begged her to, her mouth drying at the memory of the lean hard feel of him. Her fingers curled, her blood quickened, her lips parted to drag in a ragged breath.

      He turned, his eyes flashing. ‘Why the hell couldn’t you just lie to her?’ His hands clenched. ‘Why couldn’t you have left her with a tiny shard of hope?’

      She flinched at his vehemence...and the direction her thoughts had taken. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. She dragged in a breath and tried to gather her wits. ‘Do you...do you think there is any hope?’ Had she read that wrong? A heavy weight settled in the pit of Nicola’s stomach. Would Fran come back and claim her family?

      ‘No!’ He stabbed a finger at her. ‘But that’s not the point. Ella is just a child, a little girl. It was cruel to...’

      Maybe it was his own hope Cade was trying to keep alive, not Ella’s. A chill travelled up her backbone. Her chest throbbed. She couldn’t speak.

      His eyes blazed. ‘You could have invented something, fibbed a little. She would’ve forgotten all about it tomorrow in the Christmas excitement.’

      Her chin shot up. ‘I will not lie to your daughter—not today, not tomorrow, not ever! I know what it’s like to ache for something on Christmas Day. It’s a day of miracles, right?’ Her hands fisted. ‘And I remember the crushing disappointment that came at day’s end when I realised my wish wasn’t going to come true. I will not put Ella through that. That would be cruel.’

      His mouth opened and closed, and then he sank back against the sofa cushions and he dragged a hand down his face, swore softly. Neither of them spoke for a while. The Christmas tree twinkled benignly in the corner. ‘What did you hope for?’ he finally asked.

      She’d expected him to continue arguing with her. His unexpected question took her back to a time of vulnerability and disappointment. It took her a moment before she could speak. ‘Usually I just hoped that the spirit of the day would infect my parents and that they’d unbend enough to...to play with me.’

      He stared and she found herself continuing. ‘I didn’t lack for presents; it was just...I was always told that I was luckier than most little girls and to go play on my own.’ She shrugged. ‘One year I wished with all my might for a rowdy Christmas dinner with lots of crackers to pop and the reading out of corny jokes followed by the singing of Christmas carols.’

      That hadn’t happened either.

      She sensed the exact moment the fight left Cade’s body. She bit back a sigh. ‘Look, I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. It’s just that, as a child, I knew what it was like to hope for the impossible and not get it—to not even realise it was impossible in the first place. Telling Ella that her mother might show up is only setting her up for unnecessary heartbreak because, believe me, come tomorrow she won’t have forgotten. She’d spend the day waiting for it to happen, СКАЧАТЬ