Alison Roberts - Single Dad In Her Stocking / A Puppy And A Christmas Proposal

‘If they do get up, they’ll just be looking for comfort,’ Emma told him. ‘Cuddles. You could stay with them until they go back to sleep. Or let them share your bed.’

There was a hint of mischief in Emma’s eyes as she made that suggestion. As if she knew perfectly well that sharing a bed in order to comfort small children was a totally alien concept for Max. As if she was trying to lighten the atmosphere a little too, to defuse some of the tension of the evening. The idea that Emma might be at all concerned for his own wellbeing did make him feel rather a lot better, in fact.

‘Are you hungry?’ she asked. ‘There’s plenty of pie and chips left.’

‘And red sauce?’

The smile he received from Emma felt like a reward for what seemed like a major achievement in caring for the children for the first time. Glancing at his watch, Max was astonished at how much time had gone by. ‘It’s late,’ he said. ‘No wonder I’m starving.’

‘Let’s see if we can get Alice settled properly. Your dad should be back from taking Pirate for a walk by then and we can all have something to eat.’

James came back with the news that, while the snow had settled in places, it seemed to have stopped and the roads were still clear enough to be safe for Emma to drive back into Cheltenham in the morning.

‘And they’re very good about getting the snow ploughs out on our road first,’ he told her as they ate dinner together at the old table in the huge kitchen. ‘One of the perks of being the only local doctor.’

‘Do you do nights as well?’ Emma asked.

It was Max who shook his head. ‘Theoretically, that’s covered by an afterhours service from town,’ he told her. ‘In reality, though, Dad often gets called.’

‘I don’t mind,’ James said. ‘I’ve known these families for a long time. They trust me. Thanks for taking care of Terry today, Emma. Jenny’s still overanxious about his angina.’

‘It was a pleasure.’ Emma sounded as though she meant it.

James stood up to take his plate to the sink. ‘Might turn in,’ he said. ‘It’s been a big day.’ He snapped his fingers and Pirate jumped out of his basket near the Aga. ‘Can you look after the fire, Max?’

‘Of course. Sleep well, Dad.’

The huff of sound was doubtful and the words were an under-the-breath mutter as James left the room. ‘Let’s hope we all get some sleep.’

Emma stacked the dishes into the dishwasher but Max wouldn’t let her do anything else in the kitchen.

‘Maggie will be back in the morning. Being used as a housekeeper or a nanny is not part of your locum contract, you know.’

Emma shrugged. ‘They say that variety is the spice of life. To tell you the truth, I’ve never been in a house like this before and it’s amazing.’ Which it was. Every room she had seen in this old house was beautiful but her favourite so far had to be the kitchen, with its old range and the dresser with the antique china and an ancient scrubbed table that reminded her of outside terraces in Italy because it made her think of generations of extended family gathering to eat together. The time had flown, as well. They’d been so busy with dinner and baths and getting everybody settled into bed that Emma hadn’t had time to worry about how it could potentially be messing with her head and, in fact, now that she did have the time to think about it, she was confident that she could deal with it.

‘The children really haven’t been much trouble, have they?’ she said aloud. ‘And the way Ben tries so hard to help look after Tilly is just gorgeous.’

‘Mmm…’

The tone in that sound gave Emma’s heart a squeeze as she pushed the door of the dishwasher closed. It was a note of trepidation. Fear, almost.

She caught his gaze. ‘It’s going to be okay, Max,’ she said softly. ‘You’ll work things out. I know it feels huge and scary at the moment but just take it a day at a time. An hour at a time, if you need to.’

‘Is that your strategy for when you find yourself in totally unfamiliar surroundings in your locum work?’

Emma smiled. ‘Sometimes I’m taking it a second at a time. Oh…did you want some dessert? Ice cream, like the kids had, maybe?’

Max made another huff of sound. ‘I think I need something a bit stronger than ice cream. Do you fancy a small whisky?’

Emma wrinkled her nose. ‘I don’t do whisky. A glass of wine would be nice, though. White, if you have any.’

‘There’s usually something in the fridge. Or there’s rather a large wine cellar downstairs and it’s cold enough at this time of year to be perfectly drinkable.’

The thought of being in a house that had a large wine cellar was as surreal as every other surprise this day had thrown at her. ‘Just a small glass,’ she warned. ‘I’ve got a very early start tomorrow. I’ll need to leave at least an hour to get into Cheltenham in case there’s more snow in the night. More, if I need to put the chains on my tyres. And my shift starts at seven a.m., yes?’

‘You’re onto it.’ Max was heading towards a large fridge. ‘You sound like you could cope with anything, in fact.’

‘It’s part of what I like about locum work. You never quite know what’s round the next corner. I’ve been out to remote islands off Scotland in a boat. I did a stint with an air rescue service in Canada once too, and our agency specialises in insurance company work when an injured or ill traveller needs to get brought back home. I went out to an oil rig in a helicopter once.’

‘Sounds exciting.’

‘I love it. But it can be daunting as well. That’s how I know that sometimes you need to focus on just the next step in front of you and block out the big picture.’

‘I think I’d rather be on the way out to an oil rig than wondering what I’m going to do with unhappy children in the middle of the night.’

Emma took the glass of wine Max had poured for her. Her smile was one of both appreciation and, hopefully, some reassurance. The softening of his features and that hint of a smile told her that it seemed to have helped.

‘Come in by the fire for a minute. I need to make that safe for the night and the whisky’s in there too.’

And maybe he needed a bit more reassurance? Emma could provide that. For the sake of Max and his father. And those beautiful children. She’d been perfectly genuine when she’d told Max that the children hadn’t been any trouble to look after and she was quite hopeful that she wasn’t going to be kept awake tonight by ghosts from the past. Even when she had been helping Max bathe and dress the baby she had been able to keep that door in her own heart firmly closed. These children were like patients. Helping them was just an unexpected—and temporary—twist in her professional life.

It was no great hardship to take a few minutes to sit and sip an excellent wine in front of the fireplace, either. Despite the size of this impressive room, the flames created a flickering light and warmth that made the area directly in front of it seem homely. Almost intimate.

‘So how long have you been working as a locum?’ Max asked when they had chosen to sit at either end of the big couch rather than use the wing chairs.

‘A bit over four years, now.’ She had been offered bereavement leave but Emma had found she needed to get back to the job she loved so much, even though she’d been conscious of how hard it was going to be to work amongst young children and babies for a while. She’d learned to cope faster than she’d expected, however. She’d built those walls and kept going but some of the joy had gone and, as the months wore on, she’d known that if she wanted to move forward with her life and reclaim that joy, she needed to make some big changes. Hearing about someone’s exciting career as a locum had happened at just the right time.