Chapter 58

Then at last it was Christmas morning. And Lara was in tears.

“I knew this would happen,” said Nettie with an air of long-suffering.

Lara wiped her eyes. Listening to The Snowman always had this effect on her. But usually she wasn’t wearing mascara.

“And I’m the one chopping onions,” Nettie marveled.

“You said you wanted to make the stuffing.” Lara, who had been tasked with wrapping bacon around tiny sausages, pushed up her sleeves. “I could have bought ready-made.”

“Mine’s miles better and you know it.” Nettie smiled at Don as he came into the kitchen with a bottle of cava.

“She’s right.” He popped the cork and topped up their glasses. “This lady’s the best cook in the world.”

And he was looking very well on it. In only a matter of weeks, good home cooking and no junk food whatsoever had trimmed fifteen pounds off Don. His eyes were brighter, there was color in his cheeks, and he was happier and healthier than Lara had ever seen him look before.

“Brrrr, it’s freezing out there.” Back from her visit to Joel’s parents, Evie came bursting into the kitchen. She would never become their daughter-in-law, but Ray and Bonnie had accepted that now and still loved her anyway. She had an extra glow about her too, these days. She and Ethan were a wonderful match for each other; sometimes you could just tell that a relationship was meant to last. Lara was thrilled for her, and glad they were taking things steadily. Evie was staying here for lunch at around two, while Ethan socialized with his guests at the Ellison, then later she would join him at the hotel.

“Ooh, thanks,” Evie exclaimed, accepting a glass of cava from Don.

“…Walking in a winter wonderland,” Don sang, admiring the view from the kitchen window. Last night a thin layer of snow had come to rest on Bath, with clear skies and sub-zero temperatures conspiring to cover it up with a sparkling topcoat of frost. Now the sky was blue and the sun had come out but the air outside was still so cold nothing was melting.

“Yay, Dad’s here!” Her ears attuned to the sound of his car, Gigi invalid-hobbled across the hall and waited in the open doorway for Flynn to make his way up the path. “Hello, Happy Christmas!” She let out a squeal of delight as he reached her. “I just realized I’ve never said Happy Christmas to my dad before!”

Lara, watching from the kitchen window, swallowed the lump in her throat. That was her fault too. Flynn was loaded down with bags of presents but he stopped and put them down on the snow-dusted gravel in order to wrap his arms around Gigi. From here she could no longer make out what was being said, but the bond between them was unmistakable.

They loved each other.

It also looked as if he was determined to play catch-up and shower his daughter with eighteen years’ worth of presents.

The next minute they appeared in the kitchen. Flynn greeted everyone, rubbing his cold hands together and looking so outdoorsy and handsome that Lara’s stomach did that familiar giddy dolphin dive with an extra swoop for Christmas. He was wearing a dark red lambswool sweater over a white shirt and charcoal wool trousers. He also smelled amazing. When it was her turn he said, “Hey, Happy Christmas,” and gave her a kiss on the cheek, less than an inch from her mouth.

Less than an inch. Imagine if she’d sneakily turned her head at just the right moment…

But no. Be sensible. Instead she said, “You too. How many presents have you bought Gigi?”

Flynn shrugged, unabashed. “Probably too many. Don’t tell me off.”

“Poor Annabel, having to work.”

“I know. Can I ask you something?”

Lara’s pulse quickened. The last time someone had uttered those words to her, it had been Gigi wanting to know if she was jealous of Annabel. Warily she said, “What?”

Flynn reached out and touched her cheeks. “Why have you got mascara all over here, here, and here?”

Bugger. And no one had bothered to tell her.

“Sorry, The Snowman made me cry.”

“Where is he, out in the back garden?” Amused, Flynn said, “Want me to go and rip his carrot nose off?”

Gigi reappeared next to them, her eyes shining. “Come on, put everything down, we’re all going through to the living room. Time to open the presents!”

***

Gigi had been spoiled, the living-room carpet was awash with wrapping paper and Flynn was the proud new owner of a computer mouse pad with a photo of his daughter on it.

“In case I forget what you look like.” He grinned at her, because she’d also given him tea towels printed with images of herself as well as a photo in a black lacquered frame of the two of them together.

Lara was embarrassed. Terrified at the prospect of being caught out not buying Flynn a Christmas present, she had got him a midnight-blue Ozwald Boateng shirt. While it was good that he’d been really pleased with it, he hadn’t offered her anything in return, which meant she was now left feeling more awkward than if she’d not bothered in the first place.

Then Gigi reached for the last two presents under the tree, resplendent in black and silver striped wrapping paper.

“Those are for your mum,” Flynn told her.

Lara exhaled with relief; there was nothing more mortifying than one-sided giving. Except he’d got her two, which meant she now owed him one. OK, don’t worry about it for the moment. Also, how exciting…

“You need to tell her now,” Gigi said matter-of-factly.

Flynn shook his head. “Let’s do the presents first.”

“Dad, no way, trust me.”

He looked discomfited. “But—”

“That wouldn’t work,” Gigi interrupted before he could protest. “Do it now.”

What was going on? Lara could hear Don, Nettie, and Evie out in the kitchen, singing along to “White Christmas” on the radio. She watched as Gigi and Flynn exchanged a long meaningful look. Finally Gigi said, “If you don’t tell her, I will.”

“Tell me what?” But in that split second she knew why Flynn was so reluctant to break what was clearly pretty momentous news. Oh God, and of course Gigi knew because he would already have discussed it with her. Inwardly trembling, Lara said, “Let me guess, it’s about Annabel.” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as weird and echoey as it felt; if she hadn’t already been sitting, her legs might have wobbled and given way. “You’ve got engaged…”

This was what Gigi had been preparing her for the other night, letting her know she’d missed her chance.

“Yes,” said Flynn. He paused and shook his head. “Well, no. I mean, yes, it’s about Annabel…”

“Honestly, you’re hopeless. Forget it,” Gigi interrupted when he faltered once more. “I’ll do it myself. OK, now listen.” She turned to address Lara. “Back in October, Dad met Annabel at the wine-tasting we told you about. They got chatting afterward and she told him she was dreading a work dinner where she was expected to take a boyfriend along with her, because she didn’t have one.”

Flynn joined in. “Then she said jokily, ‘Unless you’d like to do the honors.’ And it was on a night when I was free, so I said I would. Just to help her out.”

Lara wondered how much longer she was going to have to keep the this-is-so-interesting expression fixed to her face.

“So he did,” Gigi announced with relish.

“Lovely! Isn’t that romantic?” Lara’s valiant smile was starting to make her cheeks ache.

“And then he asked Annabel to return the favor.”

“Right.” Bemused, Lara said to Flynn, “What, you needed to take a partner along to some event?” Really, could they get the story told and finished? The last thing she wanted to hear was every last nauseating detail.

“I did. At Aqua,” said Flynn.

“Oh.” Bloody sodding Aqua. “So that’s why it’s your favorite restaurant.”

“Mum.” Gigi rolled her eyes. “Sometimes you’re quite clever. And other times you’re just amazingly, incredibly thick.” She hauled herself to her feet and looked at Flynn. “OK, my work here is done. She’s all yours now. Good luck.”

The door closed behind her and then it was just the two of them in the living room. Flynn raked his hair back from his forehead and said slowly, “Annabel isn’t my girlfriend. She never was. It was Gigi’s idea, she said maybe it would do the trick, make you change your mind about… you know, us.”

This was so much the opposite of what she’d been bracing herself to hear, Lara struggled to take the words in. It was like being six years old again, giddy with excitement on Christmas Eve as she put carrots and mince pies out ready for Santa and his reindeer. Until her father had whispered in her ear, “Santa isn’t real, you know. He’s just made up. I’m the one who has to pay for your presents.”

It was a moment she’d never shared with anyone. Even when her mum had carried on gaily chatting about Father Christmas and Rudolph, Lara had instinctively known her mother would be upset if she told her what she knew.

The memory had risen up from nowhere, a disorientating revelation that at the time had rocked her six-year-old world. Lara blinked; Flynn’s words might have the ability to rock but there was one all-important difference now. This time he was telling her something she did want to hear.

“I asked Gigi what she wanted for Christmas,” Flynn went on.

“So did I.” Her skin was zinging, the air in the room crackling with electricity. Or did it only feel that way?

“I’m guessing she gave us both the same answer.” He paused, watching her. “Well, anyway, there you go. Now you know the truth.”

“But… you took me shopping to help you choose presents for Annabel.”

“And I took them straight back to the shops the next day. That was Gigi’s idea too, to make you jealous.” Another pause. “Did it work?”

Go on. Be honest.

“Yes,” Lara said simply. “It did, it really did.”

“Well, that’s a good start. She said it would. I wasn’t so sure.”

It was still a struggle; one minute she’d been expecting an engagement announcement, the next she was being told that Annabel didn’t exist… well, she still existed but not in a girlfriendy way. “Can I ask something else? What about the silk dressing gown from Harvey Nicks?”

“It wasn’t from Annabel. Or Harvey Nichols. We ordered it off Amazon, express delivery.” Flynn smiled. “It only cost fifty pounds. Why, would you like one too?”

Actually, she probably would. Fifty pounds was a complete bargain for something that looked as if it had come from Harvey Nicks.

“So basically, this was quite a complicated plan,” said Lara.

“Sometimes you need a complicated plan. God knows, none of the other ones worked.”

“Oh? And what were they?”

“Telling you I liked you,” He started counting on his fingers. “Trying to seduce you. Telling you I no longer wanted to seduce you…”

Lara bit her lip at the memory of the last one, which had definitely made her feel a bit panicky.

“And this is the last resort,” said Flynn. “It’s up to you now. You know how I feel. You know what Gigi wants. And there are never going to be any rock-solid guarantees, but I really think we could be happy together for the rest of our lives and it would be a bloody tragedy if we didn’t even give it a try. So, yes or no?”

Yes or no? Yes or no? He was the father of her child and she’d never stopped loving him, not for a minute. She’d spent these last months saying no and convincing herself it was for the best.

But what if she’d been wrong?

Rising to her feet—God, her knees were jiddering—Lara took a clumsy couple of steps forward and said, “Yes, please.”