Correctly assuming that the children would be unsettled by their father leaving, he’d immediately arranged a trip.
Stella watched, suddenly confused. It wasn’t that he didn’t love the children, because he did. And it wasn’t that he wasn’t good with them, because he was.
He didn’t feel he’d be a good father. But why?
‘You’re looking very serious.’ Daniel was standing in front of her and she hadn’t even noticed. She was about to reply when she saw the wicked gleam in his eyes and then gasped as he lifted a huge lump of snow and stuffed it down the neck of her jumper.
‘Oh! You…’ Gasping at the sudden cold and trying to shake the snow out of her jumper, Stella shot him a warning glare. ‘I’ll get my own back.’
‘I can’t wait.’ He spread his arms wide, inviting her retaliation, and Stella gave him a slow smile.
‘It’s going to come when you least expect it.’
‘Sweetheart, I’m shivering with terror.’ He was teasing her now and the combination of
laughing blue eyes and rough, dark jaw made him impossibly sexy.
‘You will be shivering, Daniel,’ Stella promised, shaking the last of the snow from the inside of her jumper and trying to subdue the shivers in her own body. Shivers that had nothing to do with the cold. ‘Trust me. By the time I’ve finished, you’ll be shivering.’
Alfie danced on the spot, laughing and jumping to keep warm. ‘Can we go and choose our tree now?’
They walked along the path until they reached the clearing. A fire was burning in the centre and trees of various sizes had been piled together.
‘This one?’ Daniel strode up to the nearest tree but Alfie looked horrified.
‘Too small.’ He sprinted to the far end of the clearing and waved his arms madly. ‘This one.’
Daniel heaved it upright and stared at the top in disbelief. ‘This tree will never fit indoors.’
‘It’s perfect.’ Alfie caught his arm. ‘Can we have it, Uncle Daniel? Pleeease?’
Stella watched with amusement as Daniel made a valiant effort to resist Alfie’s superior persuasive technique.
‘Alfie, this is just too large for your house. It’s—’
‘If I can have this tree I’ll be so good,’ Alfie coaxed. His cheeks were pink with the cold and he was so excited he could barely stand still. ‘I’ll go to bed when you say, I’ll help with Posy and if you make any mistakes I won’t tell Dad.’
‘Done. That’s an offer too good to turn down.’ A smile in his eyes, Daniel dug his wallet out of his pocket. ‘Where do I pay?’
‘That man over there—but you have to carry the tree to the car.’
‘But that’s miles away. Don’t they deliver? I don’t suppose my brother wants his four-wheel drive full of pine needles.’
‘That’s the best bit,’ Alfie said happily. ‘The car smells like Christmas for months. Dad is always complaining.’
‘In that case, let’s go for it. Anything that winds my brother up is fine by me. And if I discover that he put a dent in my Porsche on the way to the airport, I’ll volunteer to transport everyone’s Christmas trees in his vehicle.’
Alfie giggled. ‘Dad would go demented.’
‘That’s the general idea.’ Daniel blew on his hands to warm them. ‘Come on, let’s get this tree home before we all freeze.’
How had he managed to land the job of decorating the house for Christmas?
What did he know about a family Christmas? Nothing.
Daniel manoeuvred the tree through the front door of Patrick’s barn and shifted it upright in the corner of the huge living room. ‘Here?’
He looked at the excitement in both the children’s faces and felt something shift inside him.