Jacob knelt in front of her. ‘And who might Fraser be?’
Freya tossed her red hair over her shoulder. ‘My friend,’ she said matter-of-factly.
Bonnie suppressed a laugh. ‘Welcome to my world, Jacob. Or rather the world of little girls—a new best friend every day. I just try and keep up.’
Jacob folded his arms across his chest and did his best to look severe. ‘Fraser, eh? Well, if he’s there you’ll need to point him out. I’d like to meet this Fraser.’
Freya giggled. ‘Can I get my picture with Santa?’
Bonnie nodded and bent to straighten Freya’s hat. ‘Yes, it’s all arranged. Now, are you ready?’
She jumped up and down. ‘I’ve been ready for hours, Mum. Let’s go!’
* * *
It was the perfect afternoon. Cold without being too cold. A light dusting of snow everywhere. By three o’clock it was already getting dark.
Freya’s little hand was in Jacob’s. It was surprising how comfortable it felt. How comfortable he felt doing this. Bonnie had a cream woollen hat pulled over her auburn hair and a thick green wool coat. She looked perfect. Like something from a Christmas card.
He swung Freya up into his arms. ‘Come on. Let’s go and visit Santa and the reindeers. It won’t be long until the lights get switched on.’
The prepaid tickets were the godsend. Thank goodness for one of the midwives in the special care unit. She’d mentioned buying the tickets last year and not having to wait in the freezing cold for hours with her young kids.
Freya only had to wait five minutes before she was able to jump on Santa’s knee and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She counted off things on her finger. ‘I’d like a new baby doll, one that can eat and poop. I like to change nappies,’ she said proudly.
Santa nodded in amusement. ‘I think that can be arranged,’ he said, nodding towards Bonnie.
She was leaning against Jacob. ‘Thank goodness it isn’t Christmas Eve,’ she said. ‘Last year Freya announced she wanted some board game when we visited Santa on Christmas Eve. It was the first time she’d mentioned it at all. And, of course, it was after five o’clock on Christmas Eve.’
He wrapped his arm around her waist. It was so easy to do that. ‘What did you do?’
She shook her head. ‘What do you think I did? I panicked!’
He watched Freya. She was saying to Santa Claus, ‘We really need a house too. We’ve just moved down from Scotland and we still haven’t found somewhere else to stay.’ She looked up into the air. ‘I mean, the house we’re staying in right now is perfect. So, if we could have one just like it, that would be great.’
‘You like where you stay?’ Santa asked.
Freya sighed. ‘It’s the most beautiful house in the world.’
Something twisted inside Jacob. He’d always loved his house—even if he hadn’t really made his mark on it. But to hear someone else say those words out loud? Say that they loved his house—that was special. It almost made him feel warm inside.
And for the strangest reason, it didn’t send him into a mad panic. He wanted Bonnie and Freya to feel welcome in his home. He liked having them around.
Bonnie shifted a little as if she were uncomfortable.
‘But it could be more perfect.’
Jacob turned at the sound of Freya’s voice. She had his full attention.
‘What would make it perfect, then?’ asked Santa.
‘A dog,’ Freya said quickly.
Jacob burst out laughing. ‘She doesn’t seem to be letting this one go, does she?’
Bonnie laughed too. ‘I’ll have to buy her a stuffed one for Christmas. Or maybe one of those ones that bark? There’s no way we could deal with a real dog. Not with me working full-time. It just wouldn’t be fair.’
Jacob nodded. ‘You’re right. I’ve always considered getting a dog, but even with all the dog-walking companies, it just didn’t seem fair to leave a dog by itself all day.’
She looked surprised. ‘You’ve thought about getting a dog?’
‘Of course.’ He winked. ‘I’ve heard they’re not as complicated as women, or...’ he looked over at Freya ‘...five-year-olds!’
Bonnie laughed as Freya jumped down from Santa’s lap and held out her hand towards him. ‘Thanks, Santa, I’ll let you know if I get what I asked for.’
Santa looked a little surprised and shot Bonnie and Jacob a smile as he shook Freya’s outstretched hand. ‘This is a very astute little girl. Merry Christmas to you all.’
They walked outside towards the reindeer pen and Bonnie pulled the bag of food they’d been given from her bag. One of the staff showed Freya how to hold the food in her hand and she screamed as a reindeer named Vixen slobbered all over her hand.
Without even thinking about it, Jacob stuck his hand in Bonnie’s bag and pulled out the wipes that were sticking out, grabbing one out and wiping Freya’s hand.
‘Jacob?’ He knelt down in front of her. ‘Why don’t the reindeers have red noses? Aren’t they supposed to?’
He smiled. He loved the way Freya’s mind worked. Her endless questions. Her five-year-old’s logic. And her complete and utter belief in all things Christmas. This morning she’d shown him a website they’d been shown at school that would plot Santa’s journey all the way around the world on Christmas Eve. They’d even been able to input the house address to let Santa know where they were.
He whispered in her ear. ‘You’ve got to remember. It’s not Christmas Eve yet. They don’t fly until Christmas Eve, so they don’t need their red noses until then.’
He could almost hear her thinking out loud. Finally she gave a little nod. ‘Now I understand.’
His phone rang and he stood up and pulled it from his back pocket, looking to see who was calling. He glanced towards Bonnie and Freya and walked off to the side.
* * *
Bonnie looked up. It must be a work call. Jacob obviously didn’t want to discuss a patient around them and that was fine.
Freya was still excited. In a few minutes’ time it would be time for the countdown and switch-on of the Christmas lights. Bonnie held out her hand. ‘Come on. The lights will be on in a few minutes. Let’s find somewhere good to stand.’
The smells from the street vendors were wafting all around them. Roasting chestnuts, hot chocolate and mulled wine. The rich pine scents from the wreaths outside the nearby florist were mixing in with other aromas. Holly was intertwined amongst them and mistletoe hung from the door of the shop. Should she buy some?
Jacob was still talking. He looked worried; there were deep furrows across his brow. She crossed her fingers that there were no problems on the labour ward.
He caught her eye and turned away. Something twisted inside.
Now she was being stupid.
This was simple. This was just a nice day out between work colleagues—housemates. Because if she took that kiss out of the equation, there really wasn’t anything else between them—was there?
In theory, no. But that wasn’t the way she was feeling inside. And everything about that made her uncomfortable. After the nightmare of her ex-husband she’d vowed not to expose herself or Freya to anything like that again. She didn’t need the hassle of the conflict.
Bonnie Reid fully intended to be a man-free zone. So what had gone wrong?
She hadn’t even lasted a day. They’d moved in with Jacob their first day. How ridiculous was that?
From the initial grumpy meeting, Jacob had seemed to chill. She’d been nervous about staying there with Freya; the first few days she’d scoured the Internet for somewhere else.
But it was almost as if, after the first few days, he wasn’t really in a hurry for them to move out. Anywhere she showed him he always had a reason for them not to move there. Too far out.
Too rough. Not near a good school. And while it was helpful and informative, it wasn’t actually inspiring her to move elsewhere.
She and Freya were getting a little too comfortable in Jacob’s lovely house. It was almost starting to feel like home.
Jacob put the phone back in his pocket and spun around to face them. He walked over, picked up Freya and put her on his shoulders. ‘This is where you’ll get the best view,’ he said, and she squealed with happiness as he swung her up.