Read Online One Wish In Manhattan (A Christmas Story) by Mandy Baggot - Free Book Online Page A

Kremes,’ Hayley bit back.
    ‘Hey, it’s OK. She’s just excited,’ Dean said, sitting forward on the seat. ‘I’ll look after her.’
    Hayley let out a sigh. Why was she so jumpy? The guy from airport immigration had set her on edge like he was a mind reader, privy to her innermost thoughts. He’d asked a million questions – who she was visiting, how long for, her plans for the holidays – and then Dean had been there. Calm, confident, gorgeous Dean, who she loved with all her heart but who just seemed to do everything a whole lot better than she did. Including managing her daughter. Her parenting skills were all she had since fashion dreams had been given up. She thought she was doing OK but Dean, clever, industry-led Dean, was just such a natural with his niece. And Angel adored him, bonding again immediately. Was this because a male figure in her life was a novelty? Or because it was something she craved? Would this be what it would be like with her father in her life?
    Angel opened the car door, slipping out and stepping up to the metal and wire barrier. Hayley heard the ‘wow’ before her daughter’s feet even hit the snow-covered tarmac. She followed Dean and Angel out of the car and joined them at the edge of the bridge.
    And there was that view. Straight out of the movies. A scene so well-known but so completely different when you saw it for real, when it was that close.
    High-rise buildings towered up from the banks of the Hudson River, shards of light bouncing off the water, reflecting in the ripples of the tide. Squares of yellow and rectangles of orange and white lights came from the tall, slim blocks across the river. Firm, foreboding but somehow also welcoming. Snow speckled the view, large, slow-moving flakes drifting in the breeze.
    ‘Which is the highest building, Uncle Dean?’
    Hayley looked to Angel. She had her feet up on the first rung of the metalwork, leaning out, but her brother was directly behind her, his body close, his arms holding Angel steady. Snowflakes were settling on their hair. There were moments, like this one, where she saw elements of Michel in her daughter. It was something about her profile, the shape of her nose and definitely her eyes. Hayley continued to watch Angel with Dean. One night ten years ago had never mattered more than it did now.
    ‘That’s the One World Trade Centre. It stands at one thousand seven hundred and seventy six feet and has a hundred and four floors.’
    ‘Wow,’ Angel said.
    ‘See, it’s there,’ Dean said, pointing across the water.
    ‘How many steps does it have?’ Hayley asked.
    ‘I don’t know that, but I do know it has elevators,’ Dean responded, grinning at her.
    ‘Mum didn’t really want to know. She was trying to be funny,’ Angel told him.
    ‘I know, Angel. She did it all the time when we were growing up.’ He tickled Angel’s ribs until she had to jump back down onto the road. ‘So, are you hungry?’
    ‘I am. We had chicken on the plane but that was hours ago,’ Angel answered.
    ‘How about Chinese? I know this great little restaurant,’ Dean suggested.
    ‘Oh, we don’t need to go out anywhere,’ Hayley began.
    ‘My treat,’ Dean said.
    ‘Yes!’ Angel did an air pump.
    ‘Well, why don’t you hop back in the car and we’ll go and get us some dim sum and fortune cookies,’ Dean said, opening the door for Angel.
    Once the excited nine-year-old was back in the car Hayley let out a sigh that had her shoulders rolling. She clutched hold of the ironwork of the bridge but quickly let go as her fingers froze.
    ‘Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?’ Dean asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
    She hadn’t known her brother was so close. The comfort almost brought tears to her eyes and she realised in that moment just how much she missed him. He’d been here, in New York, since she was seventeen and only now did she grasp just how much that had challenged her. He was her big brother, the only one who