A Family for Christmas (Contemporary Romance Novella) (4 page)

"Thanks for being so understanding."

Tom pulled off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm just a realist. Now, get in your car and let's see if the engine starts."

Eve's car was as dead as a doornail. While Tom towed it back to the farm, she couldn't even use the windshield wipers to see where she was going. The car squeaked and rattled as it bumped through the snow. Relief filled her when the vehicle finally came to a halt in the farmyard.

Tom unhitched her car and parked his tractor. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced at a small copse of fir trees behind the farmhouse. "We're going to choose a Christmas tree. Do you want to join us?" The flat tone of his voice warned her he'd only asked to be polite. This was obviously something he'd rather do alone with his daughter.

"No, I'm good, thanks. I'd rather go inside out of the cold." Eve gave a tentative smile and headed back to the house. The now familiar smell of wood smoke and cooking welcomed her as if she was coming home. Some of her tension leaked away as she trod up the creaky wooden stairs to the bedroom she had vacated only a few hours earlier.

She dumped her bags on the bed and the sound of laughter drew her to the window. Tom was sawing down a small pine tree while Polly danced around in the snow, brimming with excitement. Eve would have loved to be outside with them, but Tom needed time alone with his daughter—time without Eve there to confuse matters.

Unzipping her laptop bag, she sighed at the cracked screen. She pressed the power button and nothing happened. The computer was dead, just like her car. Work was her escape from emotional turmoil, but without her laptop, she couldn't even do that. In desperation, she pulled out her phone, checked her e-mails, and updated her calendar with the new time for her evaluation on Monday. Then she called the insurance company to report the damage to her car.

Unpacking, Eve hung up her business suit and examined her ruined shoes. The sound of Tom and Polly's happy voices echoed up the stairs as they brought the Christmas tree inside and discussed how they would decorate it.

A sudden flood of loneliness knocked the wind out of Eve. She cradled her phone in her hand and scrolled through photographs of her family last Christmas when they'd all met up at Ed's house. That had been a sad time, the first Christmas without her parents, but they'd all pulled together and supported each other. This past year both her brothers had grown distant, both busy with their own lives. Without their parents to anchor them together, she and her brothers were drifting apart.

Connor smiled up at her from the screen, his arm around her shoulders, their smiles so alike. A boy and a girl couldn't be identical twins, but the resemblance between them was uncanny. Everyone commented on the likeness. They had always been close and she missed him so much since he'd married Lilly. Eve selected Connor's phone number and dialed, listening to the ring tone. Her heart lifted at the sound of his voice.

"Hi, Con, it's me."

"Evie, how are you?"

"I've been better. I broke down in the middle of Dartmoor. In a blizzard."

"Are you stuck in your car now?"

"No. I was rescued by a farmer. I'm at his house. But my car's probably a total loss. Something crashed into it while it was on the edge of the road."

"You're not hurt are you?"

"No. Just a little off balance after the experience
.
So, how's Lilly?"

"She looks like someone's shoved a balloon up her shirt."

"Yes, well that would be you, Con. And I hope it's a baby, not a balloon."

He chuckled and she wished they could go back to how they used to be, friends with no tension between them.

"Miss you, Con. Will I see you at Christmas?"

His breath hissed down the phone. "I don't know. Lilly's blood pressure's up and down like a yo-yo, and she gets bad headaches. She doesn't like me leaving her when I'm not at work. It's probably not a good idea for you to visit at the moment."

"It's all right. Don't worry. I know it's difficult." They'd never actually talked about the fact that Lilly didn't like her, but it was understood. "I don't want to make life difficult for you."

"You're so understanding, Evie."

"Hmm, not really." Just a realist, as Tom had said earlier.

In the background, Lilly's voice called Connor's name. "Got to go," he said.

"I'll speak to you on Christmas day if not before, okay."

Then her brother was gone. Eve clutched the phone to her chest, wondering, not for the first time, what he saw in Lilly.

A knock sounded on Eve's bedroom door, pulling her out of her funk. "Come in."

Polly burst in, grinning. "Come and see the Christmas tree." She grabbed Eve's hand and tugged. "I saved you some things to put on it."

"Oh, Polly, that was sweet of you." Eve stooped and gave Polly a quick hug. It was hard to feel down when she had such a bright, bubbly little person for company.

Tom intercepted them at the bottom of the stairs. "Eve, I'm so sorry. I never offered you any lunch."

"It's okay. I won't go on Trip Advisor and leave your establishment a bad review."

He laughed. "I got so carried away with the Christmas tree that lunch went out of my head. I'm just warming up some soup. Do you fancy that?"

"Anything. I'm easy." She was relieved Tom seemed to be back to his easygoing, relaxed self. Obviously the drama with Polly was over for the moment.

Polly led Eve into a sitting room with a low-beamed ceiling and a huge inglenook fireplace. The Christmas tree stood in a pot in the corner. Multicolored lights blinked among its branches and shiny baubles, and bright tinsel gleamed against the dark green needles. "Look, Eve. Do you like it?"

"Beautiful. Did you decorate it?"

"Daddy put on the lights, but I did everything else." Polly grabbed a bag of chocolate decorations wrapped in colored foil and handed it over. "You can put these on. But they have to go high up or Noodle will eat them and make himself sick."

Eve hung the chocolates on the tree, stepped back to admire her handiwork, and bumped into Tom. His hands closed around her upper arms to catch her, his hard chest against her back. "Steady, there."

"Oops, sorry. Didn't hear you come in."

He didn't immediately release her, continuing to hold her arms in his firm, warm grip. For a fleeting moment, she sensed what it would be like to be intimate with this man, the strength and gentleness of him. A delicious shiver raced through Eve at his touch, his nearness. She'd had relationships with men, but they usually only lasted a few months. None of them ever excited her or seemed worth the trouble.

Tom was different.

"Come and eat your lunch," he whispered, his breath brushing her ear as though he was imparting a secret.

Polly chose that moment to throw herself at Eve and wrap her arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. For a few seconds, Eve was sandwiched between the two of them. This must be what it was like to have a family, not the jokey familiarity of having brothers, but the deep sense of belonging, the sense that she was the most important person in someone else's life—something she had never understood before. If this was how Connor felt about Lilly, she understood why he was willing to sideline their brother-sister relationship for it.

Then Tom released her and Polly skipped away. Eve was left standing alone, the fantasy fading.

Chapter Four

Tom had thought Eve was a confident, self-assured businesswoman and nothing much would faze her. She had certainly handled the predicament with her car well. Yet there'd been a hint of vulnerability on her face when he came upon her in the sitting room, and earlier, after they towed her car home.

She must have sensed he didn't want her to go with them to choose the Christmas tree. Cutting and decorating the tree was a special father-daughter thing he'd wanted to do with Polly. But he regretted hurting Eve's feelings by leaving her out. He was determined to make her feel welcome.

"How's your laptop?" he asked with a smile as he passed her the basket of crusty bread to go with her soup.

"Dead, I'm afraid. Rather like my car."

"You can use my PC if you like. I'll show you the office after lunch."

"Thanks, but all my files are on the laptop. I can't work on another computer unless I access the backups on the company server. Trouble is, I so rarely need to do that, I've forgotten my password."

Tom shrugged. He wasn't going to push the issue. "So, are you seeing your family over Christmas?" In some ways he felt as though he knew Eve, but he didn't really know anything about her life. His gaze dropped to her left hand.
No ring
. A strange sensation shot through him as he digested that fact.

"I might see one of my brothers." She dug her phone from her pocket, found a photo, and handed the device across the table to him. In the picture, she stood between two men, both dark-haired like her. The likeness between the three of them was unmistakable, especially between Eve and one of the men.

"That's Connor and that's Ed," she said tapping the screen. "Ed's in Germany now, but Connor only lives about ten miles from me, near Bristol."

"Will you see your parents?" he asked, noticing she hadn't mentioned them.

Eve's eyes dropped to her bowl. "They died in a car accident eighteen months ago."

Tom laid his fingers on the back of her hand in silent support, sensing this was still very much an issue for her. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"They were traveling home from vacation. The police think Dad fell asleep at the wheel. If only they'd spent the night at a hotel."

If only, if only. Tom had plenty of those of his own. If only he had paid more attention to Karen, his life might be different.

"So you don't have a partner?" he asked.

"Too busy." Eve's brisk tone indicated the topic was unwelcome. Tom wondered why a beautiful woman like Eve wasn't interested in a relationship. He decided it was none of his business.

Polly finished eating and started playing with her Barbie. Tom had abandoned his "no toys at the table" rule. He'd learned to pick his battles and not sweat the small stuff.

"Daddy," Polly said seriously, "is it all right if I comb Eve's hair now?"

Tom rubbed his temples. He'd thought he'd distracted his daughter from this hair-combing obsession. But he had to accept he couldn't prevent Polly from bonding with Eve. Polly seemed to have taken to their unexpected guest as though she had known her for years. "I think you'd better ask Eve, not me."

A grin flashed onto his daughter's face and he felt the joy right down to his toes.

"Can I, Eve?"

"Of course you can, sweetie. Not at the table, though. Let's move over near the woodstove."

Eve unfastened the clip on the back of her hair and the long, silky strands tumbled around her shoulders. Tom stared as she took the easy chair by the fire and twisted sideways for Polly to reach her head. His daughter started combing in long sweeps, the light gleaming off the dark waves. Eve's hair wasn't just pretty, it was beautiful, sensuous, and a gorgeous contrast to her porcelain skin. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed how beautiful she was the first moment he laid eyes on her. He must have been snow-blind.

He hovered, taking his time clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, watching Eve's delicate features as Polly combed her hair. Her dark brown gaze found him and something warm and intimate passed between them, an unspoken moment of shared pleasure that Polly was happy and everything was right with the world. The sort of mutual understanding he didn't think he'd ever shared with Karen.

He cleared his throat. "Better go out and feed the sheep. Then I need to get the chicken in the oven for dinner."

"Oh no, Tom. I'll prepare dinner. It's the least I can do since I'm imposing on your hospitality for another night."

He gave a halfhearted protest, but she insisted. "Okay, then. Thanks."

As he headed for the mudroom, the woman and girl started laughing together, a sound he hadn't heard in a long time. It was a good sound.

***

"Daddy!" Polly moaned as he pushed her plastic counter all the way down the longest snake on the snakes and ladders board. "That's not fair."

"Oh, yes it is, pumpkin. You landed on that square; you go down the snake."

Eve chuckled as she remembered her own games of snakes and ladders with her brothers. "Don't worry." She patted Polly's shoulder. "You're back at the start with me now. Girls stick together."

"Girls stick together," Polly chanted, her frown morphing into a grin.

"You have to let boys win," Eve said in a stage whisper. "Otherwise, they get grumpy."

"Hey, I'm winning fair and square. And I'm not grumpy," Tom retorted.

"See what I mean." Eve grinned at Polly and they both giggled. "Boys take games far too seriously."

"How d'you know about playing with boys?" Polly asked.

"I have two brothers." Eve quickly showed Polly the picture she'd shown Tom earlier.

"They aren't boys. They're old like Daddy."

Tom winced. "Thank you for that, sweetheart." He patted Polly on the head, muttering about females giving him gray hairs.

"They were boys once," Eve continued, "and they always wanted to win at everything. My oldest brother, Ed, was the worst. Sometimes Connor and I would gang up on him and cheat just to make him mad."

A few moments later, Tom had a winning throw and Polly jumped on him squealing. While Tom put Polly to bed, Eve rolled up the oversized vinyl snakes and ladders board and packed it away with the dice and counters.

They'd been sitting on the floor in front of the fire and she leaned back against a chair, staring at the golden flames licking the logs in the hearth. A sigh of contentment brushed over her lips. She hadn't been this happy since…since she was a child.

Memories raced back of winter evenings with her family. All gathered around a table playing a board game, or trimming the Christmas tree in the lounge at her parents' house. Past times she'd thought she would never recapture. But she could have that again if she had her own family. She'd been so focused on her career, she hadn't given a thought to what it would be like to have children. Now she'd had a taste of life with Tom and Polly, she realized she wanted that. Her brothers managed to combine a career with having a family. She could too.

Tom appeared at the door and rested a hand on the door frame. "Polly wants to say good night to you."

"Okay." Eve jumped up, her cheeks flushed from sitting in front of the fire.

It turned out Polly wanted more than just to say good night. She presented Eve with a book of fairy tales. "Will you read me a story?"

"Didn't Daddy read you one?"

"No," Polly said, as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

"Fibber." Eve tickled the child and she wriggled around, screaming with laughter. "Just a short one then."

Eve read Rapunzel and then tucked Polly in and kissed her forehead. The girl's thin arms came around Eve's neck and held her tight. "I wish you could stay," she whispered.

Eve's breath caught as it hit her just how much she wanted to stay. She might be here by accident, but it felt so comfortable, so right. Polly had already captured a corner of her heart. Eve had never before met a man she could imagine sharing her life with, yet after only two days, she was growing attached to Tom.

She had never imagined in a million years she would fall for a farmer, but surprisingly, the two of them seemed to click, and he was certainly easy on the eye. The thought of leaving and never seeing him again left her choked up.

She nearly said, "So do I," but it wasn't fair to Tom to say anything to encourage Polly, even if the thought of staying with them was fast becoming her secret fantasy. "I have to work," she said instead, "and my job is too far away for me to live here."

Polly's bottom lip protruded.

"Time for sleep now." Eve gently extracted herself from Polly's arms, switched off the light, and headed for the door. She half expected to find Tom outside, listening in. But the hallway was empty.

She went downstairs. "I'm having a cup of coffee. Do you want one?" Tom called from the kitchen. She joined him, resting a hip against the table and watching as he warmed milk on the stove and prepared the coffee.

They carried their steaming mugs back to the sitting room and took seats in front of the fire. For long moments they sat in companionable silence, the logs popping and crackling in the grate, firelight dancing into the shadowy corners of the room.

Tom cradled his coffee mug in his large, capable hands, his brooding gaze moving from the fire to settle on her. "I owe you an apology," he said.

"No, you don't. If anything, I owe you an apology for imposing on you like this."

"Yes, I do. I'm sorry about Polly's tantrum over the hair-combing while we were trying to deal with your car."

"It's all right, Tom. No apology necessary. I have a niece who's Polly's age. I know what children are like." She hesitated, not wanting to ask leading questions, but desperate to know what had become of Polly's mother. "And it sounds as though you and Polly have had some challenges recently."

"Challenges? That's an understatement. My wife walked out on us. If she didn't want to be with me anymore, fine. I accepted that. But Karen made it perfectly clear she didn't want Polly either."

Shock streaked through Eve. How could a woman not want her own child? "Was she sick?" Eve asked, thinking that the only way Polly's mother could have abandoned her was if she had some kind of mental illness.

"I really don't know." Tom scrubbed a hand over his face. "I think maybe she was…is. She had postnatal depression. She had treatment and I thought she was okay, but she never bonded with Polly. She just wasn't interested in her. I made sure I earned enough so Karen didn't need to work and could stay home with Polly, but she didn't want to look after her. I had to hire a nanny to help."

"Maybe your wife didn't like being isolated out here."

Tom laughed without humor. "We lived near London! She had spas, health clubs, designer stores, everything she needed to keep her happy, right on her doorstep."

"You were a farmer near London?"

"Lord, no. I'm not a farmer. I was an investment banker. The farm's a hobby. Polly likes lambs so I keep a few sheep."

An investment banker? Eve imagined Tom in a suit, his hair clipped shorter. She found she could. Easily. No wonder he didn't have a Devon accent. "So why did you give up your job and come down here?"
To live in the middle of nowhere
.

"Work ruled my life. It had to stop. I wasn't going to hire someone to raise my own daughter. I jacked in the high-powered job before it gave me a heart attack and moved us down here. The air's clean, there's plenty of space for Polly to run around without me worrying she'll get run over, and we can spend time together. Karen might not have wanted Polly, but I intend to make damn sure my daughter never doubts that she's the center of my world. We've been here for three years now. We're happy. Just the two of us. I won't ever let a woman screw up my daughter's life again."

Tom's vehement tone left an uncomfortable aura of finality in its wake. If he saw women as potential threats to Polly's happiness, that explained why he had attempted to keep Eve at a distance.

She glanced down at her mug and bit her lip. She understood his caution, but it still hurt to think he put her in the same category as a woman who had walked out on her own daughter. Eve would never upset Polly on purpose, but as she considered the matter, she realized that simply getting to know the child and then leaving would upset her.

Her silly fantasy about staying with Tom and Polly was just that, a fantasy. Tom didn't want a woman in their life, and Eve might be able to combine a family and her career, but not living here on Dartmoor. Her Bristol office was three hours away—on a good day. There was no way she could commute that far to and from work each day.

She needed to draw a line under this experience, get back to civilization, and move on.

"I hope the snow melts tomorrow. I need to get to Plymouth for Monday. I have an important meeting with the senior partner of my firm. I'm hoping to be offered a partnership."

Tom smiled, looking a little contrite, as though he realized he might have come across harshly. "That's wonderful, Eve. Congratulations."

"I haven't got it yet. But if I do, I'll be the youngest partner in any accounting firm in the South West."