The Consultant's Christmas Proposal. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ sighed. ‘You’re probably right.’

      ‘No “probably” about it. I couldn’t cope all on my own either. This needs teamwork.’

      She chuckled, obviously picking up on the fact that he was deliberately imitating her management style. ‘All right, all right. Thank you. I accept. But don’t tell anyone we’re living together, will you?’

      Why? Had she met someone?

      ‘Or it’ll ruin my reputation,’ she added.

      It was only then that Toby realised he was holding his breath. He grinned—more from relief that she wasn’t about to embark on another romantic disaster than in reaction to her teasing. ‘Ha, more like it’ll ruin mine. You’re the one who has strings of men and never gives any of them a third date!’

      ‘Yeah, and you’re the one who doesn’t date at all.’

      ‘Too busy with me job, luv,’ he fenced, in his best fake Yorkshire accent. Yet another lie. But how could he tell her the truth? There was only one woman he wanted. And he was waiting patiently until she realised that he was the one she’d been looking for all her life.

      It was just taking a bit longer than he’d hoped.

      ‘Thanks for coming.’ Lydia’s eyes were puffy and red. ‘I know he’s in the best place but…’

      ‘But you want to be there with him,’ Saskia said, hugging her. ‘Of course you do.’

      ‘And I can’t go.’ Lydia’s face was anguished. ‘I can’t drag Helena and Billy halfway across the world in the middle of the night—or even tomorrow morning. It wouldn’t be fair on them. And I can’t leave them. Not my babies.’

      ‘Superwoman here said you’d say that,’ Toby said dryly. ‘And she’s got a plan.’

      ‘Yep. You go to Paul: we’ll look after the kids,’ Saskia said.

      ‘But…Saskia, I can’t expect you to do that! You’re both working full time. Even if the nursery can have the kids for the extra hours, it’s—I can’t ask you to do that.’

      ‘We’re offering,’ Toby said.

      Lydia explained what they’d discussed in the car. ‘They’ll be perfectly safe with us.’

      ‘But I’ve never been away from Helena before. Not for a whole night, let alone however long I’ll be in Vancouver! And I’ve only been away from Billy for a couple of nights.’

      ‘On your anniversary, when Paul swept you away for a romantic weekend and I babysat,’ Saskia reminded her. ‘Lyd, you can’t be in two places at once. If you stay here, you’ll get yourself in a state about Paul. If you go to Vancouver, at least you know you don’t have to worry about the kids because they’ll be with us. Toby gets to play with a train set all evening, I get to sing nursery rhymes…’ She spread her hands. ‘So everyone’s happy. Helena’s too young to know what’s going on, and Billy’s going to get spoiled rotten. You can ring him every day so he gets to talk to you, I’ll get him to draw pictures to send to you, and Toby and I will text you several times a day.’

      Lydia bit her lip. ‘Thanks. And I love you for offering. But I can’t.’ She raked a hand through her hair. ‘It’s six weeks till Christmas. I haven’t even started my shopping or thought about writing cards or—’

      ‘Easy. Write a list on the plane, then fax it to me when you get to Vancouver,’ Saskia said. ‘And, no, it’s not going to be a hassle. I can get most of it through the Internet.’ She grinned. ‘And I love spending other people’s money.’

      ‘There’s no point in arguing with her, Lyd. You know she’s got an answer for everything,’ Toby said, smiling to take the sting from his words.

      ‘Are you sure?’ Lydia asked.

      ‘Sure,’ Toby said. ‘And you’ll be back home in time to do the tree with Billy. Now, go and pack. Saskia’ll book your ticket. Where’s your passport?’

      ‘Uh—I dunno, somewhere in the filing cabinet.’

      ‘GPs. They’re so hopeless with paperwork,’ Saskia teased. To her relief, it made Lydia give her the glimmer of a smile.

      ‘I don’t know how to thank you both,’ Lydia said.

      ‘Chocolate,’ Toby said in a stage whisper. ‘Now go and pack.’

      ‘I’m sorry I ruined your dinner out,’ Lydia said when Saskia came up to tell her everything was booked.

      ‘Hey, no worries. It’s not as if it was a hot date. Only Toby.’

      ‘Only? Saskia, this is our best friend you’re dismissing.’

      ‘I’m not dismissing him.’ Saskia shook her head impatiently. ‘You know I adore Tobe. But he’s not my man.’

      ‘Pity. You two would be good together.’

      Saskia scoffed. ‘Forget it, Lyd. I value him too much to ruin our friendship like that.’

      ‘Maybe it wouldn’t be ruining it,’ Lydia suggested quietly.

      ‘Yes, it would. Stop matchmaking. I’m not cut out for marriage, and you know it. Anyway, I’m busy with my career.’ Just as her parents had been. Saskia knew she’d been an accident, and not a happy one at that. Yes, she’d had enough freedom as a teenager to make all her friends envious—but she’d also grown up realising that her parents should never have got married, let alone had children. She’d learned from their mistakes, and marriage was definitely not for her.

      As for the children part…Two months ago, she’d discovered that was going to be out of the question, too. Not that she’d bothered Lydia or Toby with that choice piece of information yet. She was still thinking about it, mulling over her options. Besides, Lyd was busy with her family, and Toby—well, she needed to sort his life out before she sorted hers. Find him a woman who’d give him the love and cherishing he deserved, because he sure as hell wasn’t going to find one for himself. Toby never dated. And considering he’d told her on her twenty-first birthday—when they’d both drunk far too much champagne—that he wanted to get married and have six kids, the big noisy family he hadn’t had as a child…

      Ah. She’d sort her friends’ lives out. And then maybe her own might miraculously fall into place while she wasn’t looking.

      ‘Right. I’m taking notes.’ She waved her electronic organiser at Lydia. ‘Helena’s routine I pretty much know anyway.’ Saskia was a frequent enough visitor to the Osbourne household to know when the baby was fed and had naps. ‘You’ve got baby food in the freezer?’

      ‘Frozen in ice cubes. She’s on two cubes of savoury followed by two sweet or fromage frais. They’re all labelled, and she’s had them all before so you don’t have to worry about her having a bad reaction to new food. There are pots of fromage frais in the fridge.’ Lydia grimaced as she shut her case. ‘One thing, Billy’s decided he’s eating nothing but chicken nuggets.’

      ‘Ha. Aunty Saskia will have him on fajitas with extra jalapeños by the time you СКАЧАТЬ