‘Don’t eat too many, you’ll be sick,’ Stella said absently. ‘Talking of which, what’s the matter with Posy?’
‘I don’t know.’ Daniel frowned as he pulled out a pad of coloured paper. ‘I think she’s starting a cold. It’s winter. I’ll go and check on her in a minute. How long does she normally sleep, Alfie?’
‘A whole film.’
‘How long is a whole film?’ Daniel looked at Stella. ‘An hour and a half? She’s had about that.’
‘I’ll go and look. You make the paper chains with Alfie.’
She took the stairs to Posy’s pretty pink bedroom, opened the stairgate and stared down at the sleeping toddler. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was noisy. Frowning, Stella rested her hand against the child’s forehead. ‘You’re burning up,’ she murmured softly, removing the covers and smoothing Posy’s damp curls away from her face.
She felt a flash of exasperation with life. Why did Posy have to become ill when her dad was away? Daniel was already struggling.
Careful not to wake the sleeping child, she sat down on the pretty little window seat and stared out at the snow-covered trees and the white carpet that now covered the lawn. The children’s swing was covered in several inches of snow and Alfie’s tractor had been abandoned under one of the apple trees.
Family life, Stella thought with a pang, wondering if she’d ever have that. It was the simple things that were so precious. The simple things that so many people took for granted. When she’d been growing up, she’d always taken for granted that she’d marry and have children. That she’d give her own children the life she’d enjoyed as a child. It was what she’d wanted. It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d fall in love with a man who wouldn’t want all that.
But life didn’t always hand out what you wanted, did it? And she wasn’t the sort of woman who would have children without a man she loved.
Old-fashioned, she thought to herself, picking up a couple of stuffed toys that were lying abandoned on the floor. She was old-fashioned. She wanted a man who loved her and she wanted to have his children.
But not any man.
She wanted Daniel. And she wanted Daniel’s children.
Cross with herself, Stella put the toys into the basket along with others. It was time to be realistic. She needed to be proactive. She needed to get out there and date other men and stop comparing them to Daniel.
‘How is she?’ He stood in the doorway, a frown in his eyes as he looked at the little girl. ‘Her breathing is noisy.’
‘She has a temperature. When she wakes up, we’ll give her something.’
Daniel rubbed his fingers over his temple. ‘If she’s ill, she’s going to want her dad.’
‘She’ll be fine with you.’
‘No, she won’t.’ His jaw was tight. ‘I have no idea how to comfort a sick child.’
‘Daniel, you do it every day of your working life.’
‘No. I sort out the medical problems. I don’t know anything about the other stuff. You obviously haven’t seen how many mistakes I’ve made today.’
Stella looked at his taut, handsome face. ‘What I’ve seen is a man doing his best in difficult circumstances.’
‘My paper chain just came unglued.’
‘But you made it,’ Stella said softly. ‘That’s what’s important. And if Posy is ill, you’re the man to care for her. I’ve seen you in the department with kids. You’re good. Very reassuring.’
He ran his hand over the back of his neck. ‘That’s because I know what I’m doing,’ he gritted, ‘not because I’m any good with kids. What if Patrick comes back and both of them are traumatised?’
?
?Is that what happened to you?’ She asked the question without thinking and immediately regretted it because his shoulders tensed and his ice-blue eyes were shuttered.
‘When Posy wakes up, call me,’ he said tersely. ‘I don’t know anything about cooking pancakes or preparing for Christmas but you’re right—I do know how to examine a sick child.’
Without giving her time to reply, he turned and walked away, leaving her question hanging in the air between them.
Posy grew worse as the day progressed. She was fractious, her nose was streaming and she developed a dry, barking cough.