LITMIR.BIZ

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They can probably chop me one down then and there.’ He grinned. ‘And I’ll take my axe, just in case.’

      ‘Lucas Alexander you will do no such thing!’ Felicia said. ‘The last thing this party needs is you showing up missing a few fingers.’

      Just as he’d expected. ‘I’ll tell you what, then. I’ll take Dory with me. She can make sure I don’t get too axe-happy.’

      ‘Dory?’ Felicia said, just as Dory said, ‘Me?’

      Felicia’s gaze swung over to Dory. ‘Of course, I’d love to help,’ Dory said, just as Lucas had known she would. After all, she was still trying to get into their good books, for some reason. Possibly a pay rise, for all he knew.

      ‘Well… if you’re sure,’ Felicia said, frowning slightly.

      ‘You don’t seem very sure,’ Lucas pointed out.

      ‘She’s probably remembering the last time you chose the tree. We ended up with that miserable thing that shed needles by the bucketload.’ Patrick folded his newspaper. ‘However, under the circumstances, I recommend that you let them get on with it, Felicia. Tyler too, if he ever surfaces. They can even decorate it, which should keep them out of your way for the day.’

      ‘You know we’re not actually children, right?’ Lucas asked even though, right then, he almost felt like one. How many years had it been since he last chose and decorated the Alexander family tree on Christmas Eve?

      ‘At Christmas time, we’re all children,’ Tyler announced, walking in and dropping a kiss on the top of Dory’s head. She jumped at the contact, which gave Lucas a strange moment of satisfaction.

      ‘So you’ll be coming to fetch the tree too?’ Lucas asked, praying Tyler would say no. How was he supposed to get the truth out of Dory if her supposed boyfriend was there?

      ‘Tree? God no.’ Tyler grabbed a croissant. ‘I’ve got work to do.’

      ‘On Christmas Eve?’ Dory asked. ‘But you said…’

      ‘Sorry, honey.’ Tyler didn’t sound very apologetic, Lucas thought. And had Dory actually flinched at the endearment? God, how had he not figured out what a sham their relationship was before this? ‘Something came up.’

      ‘Is that what your phone was ringing about this morning?’ Dory asked. ‘Someone seemed very eager to get hold of you.’

      Something in the way she said it, the slight edge in her voice that he hadn’t heard before, told Lucas there was something more than work going on here. And he was more determined than ever to find out exactly what.

      Gulping down the last mouthful of his coffee, Lucas got to his feet. ‘Come on, then. If it’s just the two of us, we’d better get to work.’

      Dory gave him a tight smile and pushed her empty plate away. Had she even managed any breakfast? ‘We better had,’ she said. ‘Not long to go now, after all.’

      ***

      There was no reason for her to be nervous about being alone with Lucas; intellectually, Dory knew that. They’d spent a large portion of the previous evening just the two of them and some cake. This wasn’t new, it wasn’t weird. He was Tyler’s brother, and Lucas still believed that she was his prospective future sister-in-law.

      At least, she hoped he did.

      That was why she was nervous, she decided, as she climbed into the passenger seat of Lucas’s four-by-four: her own paranoia about what she might have said the night before and what Lucas might have inferred. Why was it so impossible to remember the exact wording she’d used, after the event? Had she told Lucas about the deal before or after he asked about the photos?

      Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. There was also this morning’s discovery. It was one thing to lie to Lucas about her relationship with Tyler when all that was at stake was her job and her trip home. Quite another thing now she knew that Tyler was sleeping with Lucas’s ex-wife.

      What if Lucas went and looked again at the photos? Would he recognise Cheryl? They’d been married, for heaven’s sake. He must have more than a passing familiarity with her shape and form. But would it be enough to identify her as the shadowed and hidden woman in the photos? Or would it simply never cross Lucas’s mind that his brother would betray him that way?

      She hoped not. She hoped that Lucas never had to find out, never had to be hurt like that. Yes, perhaps there was an argument for telling him the truth, but why, when it could only cause him pain? Surely it was much better to get Tyler to stop the craziness and for them all to move on. If Tyler wasn’t dating Cheryl then he wouldn’t need Dory as a pretend girlfriend, and everything could go back to normal.

      Now she just had to convince Tyler of the plan.

      ‘You’re applying far too much thought to the purchase of a Christmas tree,’ Lucas said, as they turned off the drive to Midfield House and on to the main road. ‘Unless there’s something else on your mind you want to discuss.’

      ‘No,’ Dory said, too quickly. ‘Just… you know. The tree.’

      ‘Right.’ Somehow, she got the impression that Lucas didn’t believe her.

      ‘So, how far away is this Christmas tree farm?’ she asked. Outside the car window, grey and muted-green scenery passed by, edged with a sparkling frost.

      ‘Not far,’ Lucas said. ‘But the road’s a bit windy. There’s ginger chews in the glovebox if you need them.’ She glanced over at him and he shrugged. ‘Freya had some in the pantry. I grabbed them while you were getting your scarf and gloves. They’re supposed to be good for motion sickness.’

      ‘Thanks,’ Dory said, feeling somehow guiltier than ever.

      The car left the main road for a narrower one, a thoroughfare to nowhere that grew thinner and windier as they rose up into the hills. After ten minutes of climbing, Dory reached for the ginger chews, surprised to realise that they really did help.

      ‘I’ll have to get some of these for the plane home,’ she mumbled.

      ‘Take those,’ Lucas said. ‘I won’t need them.’

      Dory nodded, but left them in the glovebox, for the journey home.

      Eventually, about ten minutes after Dory felt her ears pop, Lucas turned off the track into a muddy space that appeared to be used as a car park. There were only a couple of other cars there – Dory assumed that most people had put up their trees before the last moment. But a bored-looking Santa stood by a wooden shed with a price board, and there was a small stack of trees wrapped in green netting beside him.

      Jumping down from the car, Dory followed Lucas over to the shed, her boots slipping on the mud where the ice had melted. As she slid into place beside him, Lucas grabbed her arm, keeping her upright, and too, too close. The heat of his body warmed her through their clothes, and Dory stepped away quickly. The last thing she needed right now was the confused feelings Lucas’s closeness prompted.

      Lucas, meanwhile, seemed utterly oblivious to the fact he’d touched her at all. Damn him.

      ‘Eight foot?’ Santa asked, shaking his head at Lucas’s question. ‘They’ve all gone, last week. Might be some left out in the forest, I guess.’ He turned and hollered behind him. ‘Evie?’

      Dory hid a grin as a grumpy teenager in an elf outfit trotted out from behind the shed. The girl’s expression brightened when she spotted Lucas.

      ‘Whadda ya need, Santa?’ Evie asked, looking up at Lucas through her lashes.

      ‘These folks need an eight-footer. Want to take them out into the woods, see if you can find one?’

      ‘Sure thing,’ Evie said, spinning towards the trees so fast that the bell on her hat jingled. ‘Just follow me.’

      ‘See?’ Lucas whispered as they walked into

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