Kate Hardy - Christmas Bride For The Boss

‘You said you had siblings. Can’t they pitch in and help?’

‘They live too far away.’

‘What about your parents?’

Absolutely not. His parents had never been hands-on when he and his sisters had been tiny. They’d always been focused on the business. Until the next generation was old enough to have their lives organised—and that was one of the reasons why his sisters had moved to Cumbria and Cornwall respectively. Gwen Wallis had tried to run their lives in the same way she ran her business. Not wanting to explain that, he shook his head.

‘I apologise if I’ve just trampled on a sore spot,’ she said softly. ‘That wasn’t my intention.’

It sounded as if she thought his parents were elderly and frail, or had passed away. That wasn’t the case but it was too complicated to put into words. ‘It’s fine,’ he said. ‘So you do weekends?’

‘Two half days or one full,’ she repeated.

He wasn’t sure whether to be more exasperated or admiring. She wasn’t budging. Then again, she was already making a big compromise—giving up a large chunk of her working week and meaning that she’d be running two jobs at the same time.

Admiring, he decided. Sophie Firth had a good work ethic—and she’d thought on her feet to come up with a solution that would benefit them both.

This was crisis management. Good crisis management. She’d seen the problem, come up with a solution and seen where the gaps were. It was the best proof she could have given him that she was good at her job, and investing in her business would be a sound decision on his part.

‘Obviously I need to check out your references with the nursery school,’ he said.

‘And talk to Eva—you know her, and she’s known me since our first day at university. She can give you a personal reference.’ She took out her phone and handed it to him. ‘Just so you can be sure I’m not calling her while you’re otherwise occupied and priming her on what to say.’

He really liked how quick she was. The way she thought. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was fighting for the survival of her own business, he’d be tempted to offer her a job as a project manager on his team.

‘All right. If your references check out, you’ve got a deal.’

* * *

She’d done it. Sophie knew that Anna and Eva would give her a good reference.

But her conscience couldn’t quite leave it there.

‘Two caveats,’ she said.

‘Which are?’

‘Firstly, you’ll be strictly a sleeping partner in Plans & Planes, and you don’t interfere in the way I run things.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘What if I can see where you can make improvements to the business?’

‘You can make suggestions, but you don’t interfere,’ she said. ‘Though that’s not the deal-breaker.’

He looked intrigued. ‘What is?’

‘Your daughter gets the final say.’

He frowned. ‘How do you mean?’

‘She meets me. We spend some time together. And then you ask her—and not in front of me—if she’d like me to look after her while her nanny gets better. If she says no, then it’s a no.’

He nodded. ‘That’s fair. And it also tells me you’re the right person for the job, because you’re putting her needs first.’

But why wasn’t he? Sophie wondered. Yes, he had a business to run—but it was much bigger than hers. He could delegate a lot of his work. Why didn’t he take the time off to look after his daughter?

Given that she’d already made a gaffe about his parents, this wasn’t something she could ask directly. She’d need to be tactful.

‘Okay. I’ll talk to Eva and your parents’ neighbour. Can you give me the numbers?’ he asked.

He didn’t know Eva’s number? Well, maybe Fran—as Eva’s cousin—would have been the one to stay in touch. ‘You’re probably best to call her at Plans & Planes.’ She gave him the office number. ‘Failing that, this is her mobile.’

He wrote the numbers down as she dictated them. ‘Thank you.’

* * *

Anna Harris confirmed everything Sophie had told him.

‘She worked for me during sixth form—two hours at the end of the school day, plus Wednesday afternoons. The kids loved her. I did try to persuade her to do her degree in early years education, but her heart was set on doing English.’ Anna paused. ‘I thought she was running her own business?’

‘She is. She’s, um, doing me a favour,’ Jamie admitted.

‘Ah. Typical Sophie. Of course you’re right to check her out, but I have no hesitation in recommending her.’

‘Thank you,’ Jamie said.

It almost felt superfluous to check her out with Eva as well, but he wanted to be sure. For Sienna’s sake. Because he did love his daughter, even if he kept himself at a distance. He wanted the best for her.

Only, the best meant not him.

He dialled Eva’s number.

‘Good morning. Plans & Planes, Mara speaking,’ the woman on the other end of the phone said, sounding cheerful and welcoming.

Mara was Eva’s second in command, according to Sophie. If her business acumen was as good as her phone manner, it boded well for the company, he thought. ‘Good morning. May I speak to Eva?’ Jamie asked.

‘May I ask who’s calling?’

‘Jamie Wallis.’

‘Oh!’ For a second, Mara sounded flustered. Clearly she not only knew who he was, she also knew how important he could be to the future of the firm—and that Sophie was meant to be schmoozing him right now. ‘I’ll just put you through, Mr Wallis,’ she said.

Eva answered, seconds later.

‘How are you, Eva?’ he asked.

‘Fine, thanks, Jamie. And you?’

‘Fine, fine.’

‘Um, aren’t you in a meeting with Sophie right now?’ She sounded worried.

‘Loo break,’ he fibbed. Because explaining their deal would take too much time.

‘Oh. Right.’

‘Eva. Look, I know I haven’t seen you for a while—’

‘That’s OK,’ she cut in. ‘Everyone understands.’

He mentally filled in the rest of it: how difficult things must have been since Fran died, and how it’s harder to stay in touch with people who aren’t in the immediate family circle. It was true, but he was guiltily aware that he often hid behind his circumstances.

‘Thank you. I just wanted to ask you a couple of things,’ he said. ‘Would you mind?’

‘Of course,’ she said.

‘You’ve known Sophie how long?’

‘Eleven years. Since we met on the first day at university.’

‘And you’ve been in business together for five years.’

‘We’d still be in business together for the next fifty years, if Aidan hadn’t been headhunted,’ Eva said. ‘But it’s just not doable to run my half of the business from a different continent and a very different time zone, and it’s not fair of me to dump all the work on Sophie and still expect to mop up half the profits.’

Good points, he thought. ‘So you’d say Sophie was reliable and trustworthy?’

‘Absolutely.’ Eva’s voice was firm with conviction.

And now the crunch question. ‘And she’s good with kids?’

‘Yes. She babysits her niece and nephew all the time. Why?’

‘Idle curiosity,’ he fibbed.

But there was one little thing that was bothering him. He knew he was being a bit underhand, but he consoled himself that this was the quickest way to get the last bit of information he wanted. And wasn’t all meant to be fair in love, war and business? ‘And I’ve worked out for myself that she’s kind-hearted. It was nice of her, wasn’t it, to help her family with the money?’ It was an educated guess; Sophie had only said she’d lent the money to someone she loved, but she’d also asked if he would help his siblings if they needed it. Which made him pretty sure she’d lent the money to one of her siblings.