Laura Iding - Snowbound With The Single Dad

‘I’ll have a light caramel latte with two shots and a piece of the banana and nut loaf, please.’ The words were automatic. She was used to ordering in one of these coffee shops—she didn’t need to think twice.

He seemed pleased. Pleased that she didn’t spend forever fretting over what to eat and drink. Patience had never been Callum’s strong point.

They waited a few minutes while the barista made their coffee. ‘How did you manage to wangle a franchise in here?’ she said. ‘I didn’t think it would be allowed.’

He pointed to a sign near the door. ‘Neither did we, but the coffee was getting worse and worse and tempers were fraying. They asked what we wanted and we told them. The profits from this franchise don’t go back into the overall company. We have a ballot every year to decide which charity to support.’

He gave a little shrug. ‘It works in our favour and in theirs. We get to support the charity of our choice, and they get to put us on their website talking about their contributions to charity. It’s good publicity for them.’ She smiled at the poster supporting research into Alzheimer’s disease. ‘Why did you pick that one?’

He picked up the tray and carried it over to a vacant table. ‘We get lots of accidental house fires started by older people with memory problems—putting things in the oven or on the hob and forgetting about them. Some have early signs of Alzheimer’s. We often go out and do community safety visits and fit fire alarms for anyone referred to us. It seemed a natural pick.’ His voice lowered and she could sense the sadness in it. ‘It caused us three fatalities last year.’

They sat down and Jess sipped her coffee. It was just as good as it was in every shop in the country. ‘I think it’s a great idea. I wonder if the hospital would consider it? The hospital kitchens are great, but the staff canteen is run by an outside firm. It’s nowhere near as good as this.’

‘I can give you some details if you want.’

‘That would be perfect.’ She leaned back in her chair. ‘You could quickly make me the most popular woman in the hospital.’

‘I’m sure you’re that already.’ His voice was low and he was looking up at her from over the top of his steaming cup of coffee.

She couldn’t help the little upturn at the corners of her lips. When had the last time been that she’d had a man flatter her? It had been so long ago she couldn’t remember.

Sure, there had been the odd unwanted leering comment, the kind that made your stomach turn—and not in a good way.

But this was different. It hadn’t been invited. Or expected.

It was just—well, a nice comment. The kind that sent a little rosy glow all through you. Something she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

It was kind of weird how she felt about all this. That first glimpse of Callum on the riverbank had been a total shock. And the way her body had reacted—her natural instinct—had been even more of a shock.

Because her natural instinctive response to Callum had been very physical. It hadn’t helped that they’d been thrust together—in more ways than one—and parts of her body that had seemed dead had suddenly sparked into life.

It was taking time to get her head around all this.

And, to be frank, she was struggling.

In a way she wished she could be that naïve seventeen-year-old again, thinking that her heart was breaking as she left her first love behind.

If only she’d known then what she knew now.

That wasn’t the thing that broke your heart. Not even close.

But all her memories of Callum were good. They were safe. Even if they came with a heavy dose of passion and teenage angst.

She didn’t feel afraid around Callum. And she liked the way he was looking at her. It made her feel as if she was finally worth looking at again.

Pauline’s words echoed around her head. A world of possibilities .

‘Callum, I need to speak to you about something.’

The words jerked Jess out of her daydream. A well-stacked blonde was directly in her line of vision, her boobs inches from Callum’s nose. Were those real?

‘We need to talk about the meeting tomorrow at city headquarters. I need to give you a report to review before you go.’

Strange things were happening to Jess. The hackles had just gone up at the back of her neck and she felt an intense dislike for this extremely pretty and apparently efficient blonde. What on earth was wrong with her? She was never like this.

‘Hi, Lynn. I’m actually in the middle of something right now.’

‘What?’ She glanced over at Jessica—whom she’d completely ignored—with renewed interest. ‘Well, I’ll let you finish up. But I’ll need to see you in five.’

She turned to sweep away. Jess felt a smile sneak across her face as she realised Callum hadn’t stared once at the boobs on display.

‘Actually, I’ll be a bit longer than that.’ He gave a wave of his hand. ‘I’ll come and find you later.’

Lynn shot him a look of surprise, but Callum wasn’t even looking at her any more. His attention was completely on Jessica.

Jess’s heart gave a little flutter. She’d just recognised the sensation she’d felt a few seconds ago on Lynn’s approach. Jealousy.

It was almost as if she’d landed in the middle of the icy-cold Clyde again, with the freezing water sweeping over her skin.

There was something very strange about all this. Being around Callum was making her feel again, something she thought would never happen. She’d been switched off for so long that she wasn’t recognising everything straight away.

This was dangerous territory. She would have to take baby steps.

But all of a sudden it didn’t seem quite so scary.

She gave Callum a little smile. ‘So, tell me more about uni.’

She had to start somewhere and it was as good a place as any.

‘Daddy, I don’t feel good.’

Callum was sleeping but the little voice jerked him straight out of the weird dream that was circulating around his brain. Jessica dressed in a clown suit. Where did these things come from?

Yesterday had been fun. They’d spent most of the time together reminiscing. Talking about their past seemed to relax Jess. And he liked her like that.

He also liked the fact he was spending time with someone he trusted. Someone he didn’t need to feel wary around. Somebody who wouldn’t let him down.

But right now his paternal radar was instantly on alert. Drew was standing in the doorway, his eyes heavy with sleep and his hand rubbing his stomach. This was the second day he hadn’t felt great. The second night Callum had put his dinner untouched into the bin.

Over the last two weeks Drew’s symptoms seemed to flare up and then die down again.

He lifted up the corner of his duvet. ‘Come over here so I can see you.’

Drew scuttled across the room and straight under the cover next to his dad. Callum pressed his hand to his head. He didn’t feel warm—no obvious temperature. ‘What’s wrong, big guy? Do you feel sick?’

According to Drew’s primary teacher half the class were off with a sickness bug. Maybe some of them had even ended up in Jessica’s hospital. Rumours were circulating that it was norovirus.

Just what he needed. He still had the accident report to complete and there had been another incident at work today that would need to be followed up.

‘Not sick, Daddy. Just a rumbly tummy.’

‘Are you hungry? Is your tummy rumbling because you didn’t eat any dinner?’ He glanced at the clock. Two a.m. ‘Do you want Dad to make you some toast?’ It wasn’t an ideal situation but if it settled Drew and got him back to sleep quickly, he could live with it.

Drew lay back against the pillows. ‘No. Not hungry.’ He moved a little closer. ‘Just rub my tummy, Daddy, that will make it better.’