LITMIR.BIZ

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to disbelieve her, but not entirely able to swallow it all either. I knew she was right about the first part. Honestly? I did want it all. But whether I could actually achieve it, the thing she was so sure of, was another matter.

      ‘Right,’ she said, patting my hands and turning to her brother. ‘I’ll get the kids’ suits, even though Lily will go out for less than five minutes probably. In the meantime, Katie’s going to come downstairs. She’s been cooped up here enough.’

      I tightened the belt on my dressing gown but Janey was already pulling a white throw off the chair that Michael had been sat in earlier. She handed it to him.

      ‘Here you go.’

      Michael draped it around my shoulders.

      ‘I’m OK. Really, I’m quite warm en…Argh! No, put me down. For goodness’ sake, I can walk down the stairs! Michael put me down. Please!’

      He grinned down at me as he made his way towards the top of the stairs. Janey was following us, two small bright snowsuits over her arm.

      ‘Janey, please tell him to put me down!’ I said, pleading with her. ‘He listens to you.’

      Janey grinned in the same manner as her brother had. ‘Off you go Mikey.’

      ‘Urgh!’ I let my head fall to the side, bumping against his broad chest. I could feel the laughter in it. ‘It’s not funny,’ I stated.

      ‘Yeah, it is.’

      ‘No, it’s embarrassing. Look, we’re at the bottom now. Please, I can walk fine. Please put me down.’

      Michael, predictably, ignored me and entered the living room where the kids and Patrick looked up.

      ‘Ooooh!’ Lily’s face was all excitement and giggles. ‘Uncle Mikey, you look like when the Prince picks up his Princess after they’ve got married!’

      I saw Janey and Patrick exchange a look and for a moment nobody said anything. Janey had mentioned before that marriage and Michael weren’t generally topics that went well together as conversation starters, and even when brought up by the kids, it was evident the subject caused him tension. But pressed up against his chest, held in his arms, I had to admit, I didn’t feel any tensing at all.

      Michael looked down at me. The throw was wrapped around me but some of it trailed over his arm, looking to Lily at least, enough like a wedding dress train to prompt the comment.

      ‘Ah, Lily, I think our Katie here is far too wise to marry me.’

      Lily looked up at me as Michael, finally, let me down and held my arm gently as I got comfy on the sofa.

      ‘Don’t you like Uncle Mikey?’ She blinked.

      ‘Oh…I…yes, of course, Lily. He’s very…nice.’

      From the corner of my eye, I saw Michael smother a laugh. I gave a look around, pleading with my eyes for some help. All I got were grins in return. Great.

      ‘Uncle Mikey picked me up from school once and I heard one of the other mummies saying that she thought he was sixty.’

      Patrick gave a snort of laughter.

      ‘Oh,’ I said, floundering for a moment. There was no doubt in my mind that the mummy in question had actually described Lily’s uncle as ‘sexy’, but if I said that, I knew the very next question would be, ‘What does “sexy” mean?’ I might be feeling better but I definitely wasn’t up to that. Thankfully Michael stepped in.

      ‘Must have been a rough night. Looking older than my years.’ He winked at me. ‘Right, who’s up for snowman building!’

      Janey and I sat quietly, watching through the glass doors as the men, Pilot and little Lily began on their quest. Lily lasted just over ten minutes before opting for the warmth of the house but the boys stayed out and the snowman building, inevitably, descended into a snowball fight. We watched for a while, laughing as Patrick and Joey ganged up on Mikey and then we left them to it. Janey lent me a book and quietly started reading another to Lily.

      ***

      ‘Well, you look healthier than you did a few days ago,’ Michael declared as he entered the room, rubbing his hair with a towel having now showered to warm up after tea. He disappeared for a moment to hang the towel up to dry in the utility and then flopped down on the sofa next to me. The citrusy scent of his shower gel drifted towards me.

      ‘I feel miles better, thanks.’

      He leaned in a little. ‘You had me worried there for a moment.’

      I looked round. His face was close and I could see he wasn’t joking. His gaze held my eyes until it, momentarily, dropped to my mouth. I felt myself swallow and force a smile, sitting myself back a little. His eyes were back on mine. In fact, the glance he’d given to my lips was so brief…Was I imagining things? Let’s face it. I’d been pretty out of it there for a while and although I felt much better, I knew I wasn’t entirely back up to speed yet. And this weekend, being surrounded by so much care and, well, love, it was easy to get carried away. Luckily I hadn’t got too carried away. Because if I had, I might have just made yet another faux pas with this particular client.

      ‘Don’t be silly. Just a little bug,’ I replied lightly, trying to distract myself from the disturbing knowledge that Michael O’Farrell most definitely had the most tempting mouth I’d ever seen. I pulled myself back and caught sight of his face. Worried that I had sounded far more dismissive of his concern than I’d meant to, I added, ‘But thank you. For everything you’ve done.’

      ‘Apart from the carrying down the stairs.’ That hint of smile played around the edges of his lips.

      ‘Apart from that. Did you have fun out there?’ I nodded towards the window.

      He smiled widely. Relaxed. ‘I did.’

      ‘Good.’

      I read another page of my book, or at least tried to, as Michael leant forward and grabbed his own from the coffee table.

      ‘Do you often spend the weekends round here?’

      He slid me a sideways glance and shook his head.

      ‘Oh. Well, it’s clearly something everyone loves when you do.’

      ‘It’s mutual.’

      ‘Oh come on. Admit it,’ Patrick laughed, taking a chair opposite and pulling Janey gently down onto his lap. ‘You just didn’t trust us to look after Katie well enough. He’s got a little of the control freak about him, don’t you, Mikey?’

      ‘I’ve absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.’

      ‘It’s all right,’ I laughed. ‘I’ll be fine to finish the house off. Although there’s really not much left to do. Which is just as well as it’s only a week away now.’

      ‘I hope you have a tree on order. The kids will refuse to come in if there’s no tree for presents,’ Janey added.

      Michael shot me a panicked look that told me he’d completely forgotten about getting a tree.

      ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, moving my hand and squeezing his gently, out of sight of the others ‘It’s all in hand. I suggested to Michael that it was probably better to get the house finished before getting anything like that so that he could easily see the best place for it.’

      ‘Great!’ Janey smiled. ‘I can’t remember the last time that house saw a Christmas tree.’

      ‘Don’t worry. I know a great place,’ I whispered as Janey and Patrick began talking between themselves.

      ‘You’re a lifesaver. I don’t know how she does it, but my sister always manages to catch me on the hop.’

      ‘Probably just because she knows you so well.’

      He gave an eyebrow shrug of concession.

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