The Wish. Alex Brown

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ no!’ Holly pulled a face at him. ‘Unless you want my levels to rocket through the roof. Dad, what are you like?’ she laughed.

      ‘Oops, sorry.’ Sam smarted, instantly remembering the early mistakes he had made, when he had inadvertently bought her a can of Coke at the May Fair once, without realising it wasn’t sugar-free. Chrissie had intervened just in time by swiping it from him as he handed it to their eleven-year-old daughter, whose face had lit up like a Christmas tree. Holly had still been getting to grips with managing her diabetes, and accepting that she couldn’t have the treats that she had been used to, so ended up crying and shouting at Chrissie for being mean and ‘ruining her whole day.’ Chrissie had got irritated with him for not concentrating properly, and the incident had put them all in a bad mood that afternoon. He realised now that it must have been hard for Chrissie … she was only trying to do her best by Holly. No wonder she had walked off in a huff when he had suggested she lighten up. Dolly was right … he had to look at what went wrong and work out how to fix it. He turned to Holly. ‘Milk or water, what would you prefer, love?’

      ‘Daaad, I’m not a five year old,’ Holly huffed, slipping her patent pink satchel off her shoulder and down onto the tiled floor. ‘I do know how to choose a drink all by myself.’

      ‘Your dad just cares, that’s all,’ Dolly appeased, giving Sam a sympathetic smile.

      ‘Sorry, Dad,’ Holly said, grinning sweetly, and then, ‘I’ll just have water, please.’

      ‘No worries, sweetheart. So, how are you? And how is Mum?’ Sam asked, and then quickly added, ‘Did she have a nice evening out after I came to see you?’

      ‘Mmm-hmm,’ Holly responded noncommittally, avoiding eye contact as she took the glass of water from Dolly. ‘Mum is good. She asked me to bring you these.’ Holly knelt down to her satchel and pulled out a lovely, gift-wrapped box covered in navy tissue with a red ribbon wrapped around.

      ‘Wow,’ Sam took the box, puzzled at this seeming change of heart. Chrissie sending gifts? What had brought this on? Sam felt confused, but tried to keep an open mind as he undid the ribbon and then unwrapped the tissue paper. ‘Very nice,’ he said, on seeing the logo on the box.

      ‘That’s right, salted caramel truffles, she went all the way to Market Briar to buy them specially,’ Holly said, nervously not drawing breath and wishing she’d bought that primer in Boots when she’d been there earlier – the one that is supposed to stop your face from going all red and blotchy.

      ‘Did she really?’ Sam’s heart lifted a little as this was quite a big olive branch. Expensive truffles were more Chrissie’s kind of thing than his. Not that he was complaining. He liked chocolate, but a bog-standard bar of Dairy Milk would have been just as welcome.

      ‘Yes, that’s right, Dad.’ Holly grinned, her heart swelling now as she got into the swing of things, figuring her fibs were for a good cause, after all. ‘She must have remembered when you bought them for her on Valentine’s Day that time,’ she eyed him, hoping he’d get it, ‘do you remember?’ He nodded. ‘So romantic,’ she added for good measure.

      Sam smiled. Maybe Dolly was right, and there wasn’t another man. Maybe Chrissie was just meeting a friend after all, and actually did want to sort things out. And she had every right to be angry and disappointed with him after the way things had unravelled over the last year.

      ‘And she said that she’s really sorry for being so horrible to you.’ Holly drank some more of the water, before wiping her lips on the back of her hand. In for a penny, in for pound … that’s what Granny Dolly would say if she knew what I was trying to do right now. And she grinned some more, marvelling at how well her ‘Get Mum and Dad Back Together in Time for My Birthday’ plan was going. The wish was going to come true. At this rate Mum and Dad would be back together in no time at all!

      ‘Here.’ Dolly handed her a piece of kitchen roll and then turned to Sam. ‘Well, that’s very thoughtful. How about you drop Holly back home later and then you can thank Chrissie in person?’

      ‘Good idea,’ Sam nodded, suddenly feeling better than he had in ages.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QODaHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0i aHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1w PSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bXBNTTpPcmlnaW5hbERvY3VtZW50SUQ9 InhtcC5kaWQ6Q0VGMkE2RDQwRTIwNjgxMTgwODM4NDUzQjI0MUIyOTkiIHhtcE1NOkRvY3VtZW50 SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6OEYyMTZCOUVDRDdCMTFFOTlCQkQ4QjRGMUVGMEU5QTQiIHhtcE1NOkluc3Rh bmNlSUQ9InhtcC5paWQ6OEYyMTZCOURDRDdCMTFFOTlCQkQ4QjRGMUVGMEU5QTQiIHhtcDpDcmVh dG9yVG9vbD0iQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNS4xIE1hY2ludG9zaCI+IDx4bXBNTTpEZXJpdmVk RnJvbSBzdFJlZjppbnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOjdDNEZENERDNjEyNjY4MTE4OEM2QzhCNDQx NDM4REUxIiBzdFJlZjpkb2N1bWVudElEPSJhZG9iZTpkb2NpZDpwaG90b3Nob3A6YjgxOTlmNTUt MDU5Yi03YzRmLTg4YzctZDk0NjhjMDhiNTYzIi8+IDwvcmRmOkRlc2NyaXB0aW9uPiA8L3JkZjpS REY+IDwveDp4bXBtZXRhPiA8P3hwYWNrZXQgZW5kPSJyIj8+/+IMWElDQ19QUk9GSUxFAAEBAAAM SExpbm8CEAAAbW50clJHQiBYWVogB84AAgAJAAYAMQAAYWNzcE1TRlQAAAAASUVDIHNSR0IAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAEAAPbWAAEAAAAA0y1IUCAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARY3BydAAAAVAAAAAzZGVzYwAAAYQAAABsd3RwdAAAAfAAAAAUYmtwdAAA AgQAAAAUclhZWgAAAhgAAAAUZ1hZWgAAAiwAAAAUYlhZWgAAAkAAAAAUZG1uZAAAAlQAAABwZG1k ZAAAAsQAAACIdnVlZAAAA0wAAACGdmlldwAAA9QAAAAkbHVtaQAAA/gAAAAUbWVhcwAABAwAAAAk dGVjaAAABDAAAAAMclRSQwAABDwAAAgMZ1RSQwAABDwAAAgMYlRSQwAABDwAAAgMdGV4dAAAAABD b3B5cmlnaHQgKGMpIDE5OTggSGV3bGV0dC1QYWNrYXJkIENvbXBhbnkAAGRlc2MAAAAAAAAAEnNS R0IgSUVDNjE5NjYtMi4xAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASc1JHQiBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFhZWiAAAAAAAADzUQABAAAAARbM WFlaIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABYWVogAAAAAAAAb6IAADj1AAADkFhZWiAAAAAAAABimQAAt4UA ABjaWFlaIAAAAAAAACSgAAAPhAAAts9kZXNjAAAAAAAAABZJRUMgaHR0cDovL3d3dy5pZWMuY2gA AAAAAAAAAAAAABZJRUMgaHR0cDovL3d3dy5pZWMuY2gAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZGVzYwAAAAAAAAAuSUVDIDYxOTY2LTIuMSBEZWZhdWx0IFJH QiBjb2xvdXIgc3BhY2UgLSBzUkdCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAuSUVDIDYxOTY2LTIuMSBEZWZhdWx0IFJH QiBjb2xvdXIgc3BhY2UgLSBzUkdCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGRlc2MAAAAAAAAALFJl ZmVyZW5jZSBWaWV3aW5nIENvbmRpdGlvbiBpbiBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEAAAAAAAAAAAAAACxSZWZl cmVuY2UgVmlld2luZyBDb25kaXRpb24gaW4gSUVDNjE5NjYtMi4xAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAB2aWV3AAAAAAATpP4AFF8uABDPFAAD7cwABBMLAANcngAAAAFYWVogAAAAAABMCVYA UAAAAFcf521lYXMAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKPAAAAAnNpZyAAAAAAQ1JUIGN1 cnYAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAUACgAPABQAGQAeACMAKAAtADIANwA7AEAARQBKAE8AVABZAF4AYwBoAG0A cgB3AHwAgQCGAIsAkACVAJoAnwCkAKkArgCyALcAvADBAMYAywDQANUA2wDgAOUA6wDwAPYA+wEB AQcBDQETARkBHwElASsBMgE4AT4BRQFMAVIBWQFgAWcBbgF1AXwBgwGLAZIBmgG СКАЧАТЬ