Текст книги "Christmas at Lilac Cottage"

Автор книги: Holly Martin

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Chapter Seventeen

Henry was just sitting down to breakfast when Daisy emerged. She was up much earlier than normal but he knew she was a bit nervous about popping into her new school later that afternoon. Her theory was that everyone was breaking up for Christmas and would be in a good mood and probably much more open to having a new girl appear amongst them.

‘Good night last night?’ Daisy asked.

He smiled as he remembered the disaster which was the car sex. ‘Yes, it was fun.’

Daisy sat down and frowned and he wondered what was bothering her. ‘Do you like Penny?’

Oh crap. He didn’t want to lie to her but he didn’t want to allude to anything either.

‘Yes I do.’

‘I don’t know whether I should tell you this or not but I think you should know. I think her date with Fabio last night went very well.’

Henry frowned in confusion and then remembered that Daisy genuinely believed that that was where Penny had gone the night before. He would just tell her they were joking around and that he’d had dinner with her and Maggie and Daniel.

‘I heard her when she came in.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I heard you come back and go to your room and shortly after she must have come back, with Fabio.’

Henry felt himself go very still.

‘What did you hear?’

‘Dad, I heard her having sex. It was so embarrassing, but it was very obvious she was enjoying herself. And Fabio was grunting away and moaning too.’

Henry stared at her in shock. There had never been a time in his life that he had been more embarrassed than he was now. He had no words with which to fill the silence, there was nothing he could say at all.

‘They were at it for ages and then when they stopped, they started again half hour later, the man has amazing stamina. He clearly is an Italian stallion.’

It couldn’t get any worse. His daughter had heard him having sex. She had heard him groaning, moaning, panting and shouting out when he had orgasmed. Twice.

He stood up and moved to the toaster, putting in her favourite crumpets and then flicking on the kettle so she wouldn’t have to see his face which he was sure was burning red.

‘I’m sorry, Dad.’

Henry shrugged, still with no words to say.

‘Do you want jam on your crumpets?’ he finally said, hoping with everything he had that would be the end of it.

Penny knocked softly on the connecting door, which felt a bit weird considering what she had got up to the night before with her friendly neighbour. There was no answer so she popped her head around the door. There was a noise in the kitchen so she followed it. She smiled when she saw Daisy dancing around as she tidied up, listening to her iPod and singing along, by the sounds of it, to Ed Sheeran.

She walked in and tapped her on the shoulder. Daisy smiled at her and removed her headphones.

‘Hey, I just wanted to wish you good luck today at school. They are going to love you, I promise you that.’

‘Aw thanks,’ Daisy said, throwing her arms around her and hugging her tight. Penny smiled with love for her and hugged her back. ‘I am a bit nervous, but I’m only there for a few hours. I think the worst day will be the first one after Christmas, when they’ll all be staring at me like I’m an animal in a zoo.’

‘You should totally learn to balance a ball on your nose then, that will give them something to talk about.’

Daisy laughed. ‘I’m so excited that Mr Cartwright is going to be my form teacher too, he is so cool.’

‘You will love him, but I bet all the children are going to be cool too.’

Daisy moved back to the table as she wiped it down with a cloth, capturing the crumbs with her hand.

‘So… good date last night?’

Penny stared at her in confusion for a second before she realised what Daisy meant. She felt bad for leading her to believe she was going out with Fabio when she had only been joking with Henry about going out with him.

‘Oh honey, I was only messing around. I didn’t really go out with Fabio. I went for dinner round my friend Maggie’s place. Weirdly, her husband Daniel had invited your dad too and we didn’t know the other was going…’ She trailed off as Henry appeared in the doorway behind Daisy and started gesturing frantically.

‘You went to dinner with Dad?’ Daisy asked in confusion.

Henry was still waving his arms around but Penny had no idea what he was trying to say. ‘Erm, yes.’

‘He didn’t say when I saw him this morning.’

‘Maybe your dad thought that you might think it was a double date, when it definitely wasn’t. It was just weird that Maggie invited me and Daniel invited your dad and they didn’t know.’

‘But… I heard you last night.’

‘You heard me?’

Daisy blushed. ‘Having sex.’

Oh god. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no.

‘I told Dad I heard you and Fabio… at it last night and he seemed really upset.’

Henry had given up gesturing now.

What could she say to rescue this scenario? That Fabio had come round for a late-night booty call? That she’d had incredible sex with Daisy’s dad and all the grunts and moans were in fact him? There was nothing that she could say that would make this horrible situation any better. Suddenly she had a brainwave. It wasn’t the best idea, hell it was probably the worst idea in the history of all ideas, but it was the only thing she had.

‘I wasn’t having sex, Daisy.’

‘But I heard you.’

Penny worked her tongue around her mouth trying to create some moisture. ‘I was watching porn.’

Daisy stared at her in horror. Henry stumbled out of the room, backwards, gripping his mouth really hard so Daisy wouldn’t hear him laugh. The clock ticked on the kitchen wall and no one said anything. Penny hadn’t wanted Daisy to think that she was sleeping around, especially if she and Henry were going to come out the couple closet in a week or so. She wanted Daisy to know that she was serious about her dad and that he wasn’t just a fling to her. But surely this was worse than Fabio coming round for a late-night booty call and now any respect that Daisy had for her had gone.

‘You were watching porn?’

‘Well no, not really. I put the telly on in the bedroom and fell asleep. I woke up an hour later and this couple were at it like rabbits on the screen, shouting and moaning and he was grabbing her breasts. They were sweaty and oily and…’ Oh god, she was talking about porn with a sixteen year old. ‘It was quite disgusting.’ No, not disgusting, she didn’t want Daisy to think that there was anything wrong or dirty about sex. ‘I mean, not disgusting, sex isn’t disgusting with two people that love each other, it’s beautiful.’ Penny heard a whimper of laughter from the other room. ‘But the oily couples were a bit disgusting, couple, just one couple, it wasn’t an orgy. Porn films always seem to grease their couples up to make them look all shiny, I don’t know how sex is possible when they are so slippery, surely the man would just slip straight off the woman and the sheets must be covered in it afterwards. The oil I mean not…it.’ She had to stop talking but the nerves had completely disengaged her mouth from her brain now. ‘I just don’t get why porn films think that’s attractive but they all seem to have these glossed, shiny bodies. Not that I’ve watched a lot of porn, you understand. I mean I haven’t watched any. I never watch it. But I’ve seen it. Accidentally. Late at night it’s been on. The soft stuff, not hard core porn obviously. Just, you know, a lot of moaning and repair men turning up to fix a leaky washing machine and the couple end up doing it on the kitchen floor. That kind of stuff. That I never watch. Ever. But yes, it was on when I woke up and I turned it off immediately because it was disgusting, erm, the oiliness that is.’

Silence again, punctuated by tiny whimpers coming from the other room.

‘So, I need to go and walk Bernard.’

Daisy nodded, numbly.

‘Good luck for, erm…later.’

Still no words from Daisy and Henry clearly wasn’t going to help her out.

‘I thought perhaps we could go Christmas tree shopping later, you guys need a tree and we could go and pick one and then you and your dad can decorate it.’

Daisy nodded again and Penny walked out, flashing an evil glare at Henry as she left who was biting into a cushion to try to stop the laughter from spilling out.

Penny saw Henry pull back up onto the drive later, after he had dropped Daisy off at school. She hadn’t seen him all morning, which she was thankful for. She had never been more embarrassed in her life.

He walked round the back of the house and grinned when he saw her, letting himself into her kitchen.

‘Hi,’ he said.

‘I hate you.’

He burst out laughing. ‘What did you want me to do?’

‘You could have helped me.’

‘You were doing fine on your own.’

She laughed with embarrassment. ‘I talked to your daughter about porn.’

‘Well yes, probably not your finest moment, but I haven’t laughed like that in forever.’

‘I’ve probably scarred her for life.’

‘I doubt it, she’s a hardy sort. Besides, she does know about sex, it’s not like she leads a sheltered existence. I’ve made sure I’ve talked to her about all that. I don’t want her to end up pregnant at sixteen like her mum did.’

‘She thinks I watch porn.’

‘Oh no, I think she’s very clear that you find porn disgusting.’

She couldn’t stop laughing. ‘Did she say anything to you after?’

‘No, she was probably too traumatised to say anything.’

Penny took a swipe at him and he ducked out the way, laughing loudly.

‘It’s not funny.’

‘It really is.’ He caught her by the waist and tried to kiss her on the forehead but he was laughing too much.

‘Stop laughing.’ Though Penny was laughing so hard, tears were running down her cheeks. ‘You do realise we’ll never be able to have sex again whilst she’s in the house.’

‘Oh, I don’t know about that, you’re just going to have to work really hard at being extra quiet.’

‘Me?’ Penny laughed incredulously. ‘You’re very vocal. You shout a lot.’

‘You scream, that’s probably scarred her more than anything.’

‘Oh god. We can do it quietly, can’t we?’

‘Yes, I’m sure we can and there’ll be times when she isn’t here and we can be as noisy as we like. So let’s make the most of it now.’

She laughed.

He shuffled her back against the table and kissed her hard. She quickly realised he wasn’t joking as he lifted her onto the table and attacked her clothes with great relish.

Suddenly a movement caught her eye over his shoulder and Penny stared in horror into the eyes of another woman.

‘Henry, stop.’

‘Not likely.’

‘There’s someone outside.’

Henry whirled around, protecting her half-naked body from view. Thankfully it was only the top half that was undressed and she still had her bra on but it was quite obvious this woman had seen what they were doing.

Henry laughed nervously. ‘That’s my sister, Anna.’

‘Shit.’

Anna was frozen to the spot, staring at them both.

Henry looked back at Penny and smiled shyly. ‘Why don’t you put your clothes back on and meet us next door for a coffee? I’m sure she will be delighted to meet you at last. Daisy has told her all about you.’

Henry turned back to Anna, still protecting Penny from being seen and pointed to his house. Anna walked off, clearly not happy.

‘She doesn’t look delighted to meet me,’ Penny said.

‘Anna’s lovely. I love her to bits and she’s helped out so much with Daisy over the years. But occasionally she can be a right judgemental pain in the ass.’

‘Well, as first impressions go, this isn’t a good one,’ Penny muttered, yanking her top back over her head. ‘Coupled with what Daisy will undoubtedly tell her about me watching porn, I’m going to go down a storm at family events.’

Henry kissed her briefly on the lips. ‘She will love you, just like I do.’

He ran off through the connecting door before Penny could say anything. She stared at the door as it closed.

Did he just say he loved her?

Chapter Eighteen

‘I just thought I’d come round and see your new place, I didn’t realise I’d be interrupting anything,’ Anna said, slamming her bag down on the counter and standing with her hands on her hips.

Henry sighed. It was clear that today was judgemental ass day.

He heard the connecting door open and he hated that Penny was going to get a mouthful of abuse too.

Penny came into the kitchen slowly and he reached out a hand for her. Pulling her into his side, he wrapped his arm round her waist and placed a kiss on her forehead.

‘Penny, this is my sister Anna. Anna, this is my girlfriend Penny.’

Penny smiled. ‘Hi.’

‘Girlfriend?’ Anna deliberately ignored Penny. ‘You’ve known her less than a week. What kind of example is that to set to Daisy?’

‘Daisy doesn’t know,’ Henry said quietly and he watched Anna’s face turn from indignation to anger.

‘She doesn’t know? You’re sneaking around behind her back, lying to her?’

Henry bit his lip. He hated lying to Daisy and he questioned himself every day over that decision. But he could hardly tell Daisy that he had jumped into bed with his neighbour just two days after she had specifically asked him not to date her. She was happy now and he wanted to keep her that way at least until Christmas. Was that so bad? He hadn’t come to White Cliff Bay looking for a serious relationship, in fact any kind of relationship was supposed to be off the table. But then he had met Penny and everything had changed. Nothing seemed to make sense about Penny, he had fallen hard very quickly and nothing had ever felt like this before.

‘It’s just for a few days, until she’s more settled and gets used to seeing us together, at least platonically. We’ll tell her then.’

Penny leaned into him and he held her tighter, but surprisingly she was stroking his back trying to offer him support when really he thought it should be the other way round.

‘It didn’t take you long to get settled. You’ve been here just a few days and you’re sleeping together already.’ Anna turned her attention to Penny. ‘Did you just open your legs to him on the first night?’

‘Anna!’ Henry said, forcefully. There was no way he was standing for that. ‘I won’t let you speak to Penny like that.’

‘It’s OK,’ Penny said. ‘I know how it looks, neither of us expected it to happen. But we have something really special.’

‘Please! This isn’t serious for Henry, this is all about his inability to keep it in his pants. He has never been in love, never had a girlfriend that lasted longer than a few months. You’ll be no different. Why do you think he hasn’t told Daisy yet? Because he knows that it’s not going to last.’

‘This is serious.’ He could feel himself getting really angry and Penny’s hand squeezed his, probably to try to get him to calm down. God, the last thing he wanted was for Anna to give Penny reason to doubt their relationship. ‘I am very serious about Penny. I adore her and Daisy does too. I’m not keeping it a secret from Daisy because I don’t think it will last. I just didn’t want to upset her.’

‘Then why do it at all? You promised me and her that you wouldn’t be getting involved with anyone ever again.’

‘That was a rash statement and you know that. You can’t expect me to not have a relationship ever again because I made one terrible mistake with Emily.’

‘I can expect you not to get involved with the type of person who lets you shag them across the breakfast table in the middle of the day.’

Penny let out a bark of a laugh and Henry looked down at her in confusion.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m not worthy enough for him because we were about to have sex on the kitchen table? In my own home? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You have no idea what kind of relationship me and Henry have—’

‘I don’t care about what kind of relationship you and my brother have. I care about Daisy and how this will affect her.’

‘I care about her too,’ Penny said indignantly.

If Henry had thought that Penny was going to be shy when she met Anna for the first time, he had clearly been mistaken. He tried to suppress a smile; he liked this fiery side to her. He hadn’t seen it very often but she certainly knew how to stand up for herself.

‘Bullshit. You’re clearly using her to get to Henry. She adores you, you’re all she’s spoken about for the last week, and when all this comes to an end, which it undoubtedly will, you will drop her like a hot potato. Do you have any idea how much that will hurt her?’

‘I have no intention of ever doing anything to hurt Daisy. I really like her and if this thing between me and Henry comes to an end, that absolutely won’t affect my relationship with her. If Henry moves out and never wants to speak to me again, she can still come up here every day and practise her ice carving. I like working with her, she’s brilliant and funny and I thought that long before I was involved with Henry. I’ve already offered her a job, I have way too many carving jobs for me to do alone and she shows a real talent for this kind of thing.’

‘What sort of person befriends a sixteen-year-old girl?’

Penny went very still next to him. ‘What are you suggesting, that I’m some kind of pervert?’

Anna quickly back-pedalled. ‘No, I didn’t mean that, I just meant that it’s a bit weird.’

‘Why is it weird?’ Henry said, angrily.

‘Well…’

‘You’ve made a snap judgement based on the fact that you saw me and Henry about to have sex and you’ve come into my house and accused me of the most disgusting things. How dare you, you don’t even know me. Now I suggest you get out of my house now because you’re certainly not welcome any more.’

‘Legally darling, you don’t have a leg to stand on there. You can’t dictate which visitors Henry has in his home.’

‘Penny’s right,’ Henry said. ‘I would never presume to tell you how to live your life and I don’t expect you to come in here and try to tell me how to live mine. Get out and don’t come back here unless you’re ready to apologise to Penny.’

Anna stared at him in shock for a moment, before she turned and grabbed her bag and stormed out.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Penny said, after she had gone.

‘What? No, you have nothing to be sorry for. She is very over-protective of Daisy, we both are, and she’s seen it go wrong for Daisy quite a few times before. But don’t apologise for her issues and her bloody judgemental attitude.’

Penny sighed. ‘I suck at first impressions.’

‘I don’t know about that, you pretty much captured me from the moment you opened the door with that huge endearing smile on your face.’

She smiled.

‘Come on, why don’t you bake a cake, that’ll make you feel better and I can help.’

‘I thought you wanted sex on my table.’

‘We can do that too.’

She laughed and she walked off back towards her kitchen. He sighed with relief as he watched her go.

She hadn’t seemed bothered by Anna saying it wouldn’t last between them. He just hoped with all his heart that she knew how much she meant to him.

‘She’s late,’ Henry said, looking at his watch for the seventeenth time in the last ten minutes.

Penny smiled with love for him and how protective he was of Daisy as he wore a hole in her kitchen floor with all his pacing.

‘She’s not late.’

‘School finished at half past three. It can’t be more than a half hour walk from there.’

‘Firstly, she’s probably talking to all the new friends she’s made and making plans to meet up with them all over the holiday. Secondly, it might take you half hour to walk from the town to our house, but it takes us lesser mortals a good forty-five minutes or more – we haven’t all got freakishly long legs like you. It’s twenty past four, I hardly think we need to call out the search and rescue just yet.’

‘It’s getting dark.’

She frowned with confusion.

‘Why are you worried? It’s not about her being out on her own, she’s done that tons of times before.’

He sighed and sat down at the table. ‘I just want to know that she got on OK today. What if she hated it? What if the kids were mean to her? I want this move to work for her. I don’t want her to regret her decision to move here.’

‘She is one of the most bubbly, friendliest girls I know, the other kids will love her, how can they not? Plus her hero, Mr Cartwright, is her form teacher, she is going to be over the moon about that for at least the next six months.’

‘You’re right, I know, there’s just a lot riding on her loving her new school. I want her to be happy here.’

‘She is and she will be, stop fretting.’

Henry nodded and then looked at his watch again.

The timer went off on the oven and Henry jumped.

Penny shook her head fondly as she went to the oven and pulled out the chicken and pepper mix needed to make fajitas. She gave it a good stir, covered it with foil and put it back in the oven, turning the temperature down low just to keep it warm. It hadn’t been discussed that they would have dinner together but that seemed to be the norm now. They had become domesticated very quickly and Penny loved it. But the doubt that was in her head, that doubt that had been gnawing away at her since she had seen Anna earlier that day, kept telling her not to get too involved too quickly because it would hurt all the more if it came to an end.

What if Daisy was miserable at school? Penny had known that something wasn’t right at Henry’s work after he had come home in a terrible state and she’d overheard him telling Daniel that he didn’t know if he would have a job after Christmas and he might not be able to stay in White Cliff Bay. What if they left? He certainly wouldn’t stay just for her, he hadn’t known her long enough for that. Where would that leave them?

She turned round and watched him as he tried to read the paper and surreptitiously look at his watch and the door every few moments. He wanted it to work too.

She passed Henry a block of cheese and a grater. ‘Grate this, it will keep you busy for a few minutes. And when she comes in don’t pounce on her, ask her but not as if it’s a matter of life and death.’

Henry nodded solemnly.

Almost right on cue, Daisy strolled through the back door as if it was the most natural thing in the world to pitch up in Penny’s kitchen after a day at school. Penny loved the ease Daisy had around her. She was smiling broadly, something which Penny saw Henry notice straightaway. He returned his attention to the cheese, sighing quietly with relief.

‘Hey honey, did you have a good day?’ Henry said, taking extra care not to let any worry or panic into his voice.

‘I had the best day ever, everyone was so nice. I made friends with two girls, Rebecca and Maisie, and we’re going to meet up between Christmas and New Year and Mr Cartwright is the coolest man ever and… I didn’t realise White Cliff Senior School and White Cliff College were on the same campus.’

Penny put the fajita chicken mix on the table with the tortillas and watched Daisy get very excited about the college, which seemed an odd thing to warrant so much excitement.

Penny sat down next to Daisy. ‘I’m so pleased you had a good day.’

‘I did,’ Daisy said, looking like she was about to burst from the excitement of it all. Henry was watching her with confusion too.

Daisy helped herself to a large portion of the chicken and suddenly leaned over and whispered in Penny’s ear. ‘I saw Josh again.’

Penny tried and failed to suppress a smile.

‘What?’ Henry asked.

‘Nothing,’ Daisy said at the same time as Penny.

Henry scowled as he looked between them.

Daisy leaned over again to whisper some more. ‘He asked me to the ball.’

Ah, the reason for the giddy excitement had been explained.

Penny whispered in her ear. ‘That’s so cool, how exciting.’

‘I know,’ Daisy whispered back. ‘I think I love him.’

Oh lord. How was she supposed to explain this one to Henry?

‘What?’ Henry said again, trying not to smile as he scowled at their secrets.

‘Nothing,’ Daisy giggled.

‘We’ll go shopping for a dress then,’ Penny whispered. ‘Sunday?’

Daisy nodded gleefully.

Penny tucked into her own fajita and glanced across at Henry who was pretending to glare across the table. That glare might turn out to be a real one once he found out his daughter was going out with the tattooed, shaven-headed boy he had mistaken for a burglar a few days before.

Josh was a sensitive, sweet boy but Penny doubted Henry would see it like that.

She would have to break it to him gently when he was in a good mood.

‘I’m going out for a bit, I won’t be long, I’m just popping up to Rebecca’s house,’ Daisy said, getting up from the kitchen table. Penny saw the grin that she had been suppressing for most of the dinner.

Henry frowned as he looked at the darkening skies outside. ‘Its nearly dark out and we were going to go tree shopping.’

‘We will, I’ll only be half hour, Rebecca only lives up the hill.’ Daisy gestured vaguely and Penny frowned. There was no house up the hill. Lilac Cottage was the last house on the very outskirts of White Cliff Bay. The next house was a good half hour drive away on the edge of Apple Hill. Daisy was lying, she could see it in her eyes. It seemed like Daisy had secrets of her own. Henry looked at her suspiciously too.

Before Henry could protest any further, Daisy threw her coat on and with a cheery wave she raced out the door.

‘She’s up to something,’ Henry said, as the door almost slammed back into its frame.

‘Maybe she’s just gone off to buy your Christmas present,’ Penny suggested, knowing that wasn’t it at all.

Henry scowled as he moved round the table towards her. ‘Talking of that, I need to go and finish her tree decoration. Will you be OK for half an hour?’

Penny nodded and he kissed her briefly before disappearing out the back door.

Doubt niggling in her mind, she opened the front door and stepped out onto the drive. At the bottom of the driveway stood the observation hut which was used by birdwatchers to keep an eye on the nesting cliff-dwelling birds, especially in the spring and summer months. It was also the place where some of the teenagers of the town used to hang out, especially teenage couples. She had used it herself in her youth to meet up with one or two boys. They’d sit, talk and listen to music. For her nothing further than a few kisses had happened in that hut but, with a small gas fire, gas lamps, a soft bench to lie on, it had been the place where several of her peers had lost their virginity. It was silhouetted against the pale twilight sky and, as she watched, flickering lights suddenly came on inside.

That’s where Daisy had gone. It was entirely possible that Daisy had gone there to meet up with her new friends Maisie and Rebecca. But that didn’t explain the two plates of cake crumbs and two glasses the night before. Her guess would be that Daisy was meeting up with Josh. Now, should she go down there and catch them in the act of doing lord knows what? Should she go and tell Henry that his daughter was currently lying in the aptly named ‘Love Shack’ with a seventeen-year-old tattooed thug, at least in his mind, or should she just pretend she knew nothing? Daisy was a sensible girl and any bridges that Penny had built with her would be destroyed if she marched straight into that hut now acting like an over-protective mum. Henry’s relationship with Daisy would be strained too if he found out and reacted in the way that Penny thought he would. And knowing Josh and his shy, sweet nature, they probably weren’t doing anything beyond holding hands. It was probably best to do nothing for now and get Daisy on her own later and maybe have a little word.

‘Come on, hurry, up, all the best trees will be gone,’ Daisy said as Penny tried to find a parking space at the tree farm that was big enough to hold her freezer van. Henry had had to help her deliver two ice carvings after dinner and it didn’t make sense to go back to the house to drop the van off. Plus as the van was so big it meant they could use it to stick the tree in the back.

‘I can’t just stick the van anywhere, plus they have hundreds of trees, I think there’ll be plenty of choice.’

‘There’ll only be little ones left.’

‘You can only really get a little one, the annexe is quite small.’

‘We always get the biggest, fattest tree we can find.’ Daisy bounced up and down in her seat like a small child. Penny loved her enthusiasm for life. ‘Will you get a tree?’

‘I’ll probably get a small one too.’

‘Noooo, you have all that space in front of the window. Or behind the sofa, you could get a massive one. I know, why don’t we get a shared one and we can all decorate it together.’

Penny parked the car and tried to dispel the huge lump of emotion that had lodged in her throat with that simple statement of togetherness from Daisy. She had accepted Penny into their little family so easily and readily.

Penny nodded. ‘OK.’

‘Yayyyy!’ Daisy bounced out the van and set off at a sprint towards the plethora of trees.

As soon as she was out of sight, Henry leaned across and kissed her sweetly.

‘She adores you,’ he whispered. ‘And I do too.’

He got out and lumbered across the grass after his daughter. Penny smiled as she watched him go. This was turning out to be the best Christmas ever.

She got out and walked across the grass. It was snowing lightly again and she looked up at the occasional star that shone through the cloud-filled sky as the soft flakes dusted her cheeks.

She caught up with Henry and had to shove her hands in her pockets so she wasn’t tempted to hold his hand.

The trees were stacked in size order and she watched as Daisy walked past the smaller ones and headed straight for the big ones at the end of the farm.

They reached the part that sold the biggest trees and, although all of these were way too big for the house, she didn’t have the heart to say anything, not when she had been inducted into their little decorating team. Daisy was going from tree to tree, feeling the needles, smelling them, looking at the labels. Penny had never bothered to look at the trees before, she had just bought the first smallest one she had seen and that was it.

‘Surely all the trees are the same,’ Penny said.

‘No, definitely not,’ Daisy said. ‘There’s three main types: a pine, a fir or a spruce. The spruce is generally rubbish. There are several different types of fir and pine trees and we want one that has a good needle retention, even without water. You want soft needles too and something that smells good. Generally we are looking for a Nordman or a Noble fir but I’d settle for a White Pine.’