Read Online The Reluctant Elf (Kindle Single) by Michele Gorman - Free Book Online Page B

prises open the sandwich and licks it clean before throwing the spittle-slicked toast back on the plate.
    ‘I want another one.’
    Oliver levers his sandwich open. ‘Me, too. I like it!’
    Well at least they’ll get to eat something.
    ‘I’ll just go get the caviar,’ I say.
    ‘No need, it’s right there. In the sandwiches.’
    Amanda and Oliver are stuffing caviar sandwiches into their foul little mouths.
    ‘Wow, that’s impressive,’ says Hugo. ‘They’re usually very fussy eaters. It looks like we’ll need more sandwiches.’
    Sighing, I go to the kitchen to make a hundred quids' worth of caviar into sandwiches for greedy children.
    Rupert follows me.
    ‘Lottie, may I have a quiet word please?’
    ‘Listen, Rupert, that wasn’t what you—’
    ‘It’s about the stockings,’ he says.
    I’m not wearing stockings, so he can’t possibly take issue with my attire. Is he one of those sexist men who think women deserve what they get just because they’re not dressed in floor-length potato sacks?
    ‘Just what are you implying?’
    ‘I’m not implying anything. Your aunt told me she’d have stockings for the children’s gifts tonight. If you give them to me, please, I can put them in Prunella’s room.’
    Of course, it’s Christmas Eve. I have a stocking for Mabel too, easily portable gifts that I’ve carefully chosen over the past few months in anticipation of our visit. Father Christmas is leaving her big gifts at home for when we return.
    But I haven’t the faintest idea where Aunt Kate might have stashed the twins’ stockings. There weren’t any in the boxes of ornaments we found.
    I can’t even give him a pair of my socks. They wouldn’t be big enough.
    ‘I’ll just get them for you. Be right back!’
    ‘You can leave them in Prunella’s room. Thank you.’
    Upstairs I tear through all of Aunt Kate’s drawers but there isn’t even a leftover sock of Ivan’s, let alone any Christmas stockings.
    So I don’t really have any choice in the matter.
    ‘Danny?’ I call sweetly into the parlour. ‘Can I see you out here for a minute, please?’
     
    We throw ourselves, exhausted, on the sofas after everyone has retired to their rooms and Mabel is in bed. She wasn’t at all disappointed that the twins turned their noses up at the peanut butter. We gorged on the sweet and savoury sandwiches. The poor thing is probably upstairs now on a sugar high, trying to fall asleep so that Father Christmas can come.
    Music drifts quietly from the record player in the corner. Aunt Kate’s collection of classical music and operatic favourites fill an entire library shelf, giving us all the Callas, Carrera and Pavarotti we could want.
    ‘That went okay, considering,’ Danny says, rubbing his bare legs. He’ll have a cold drive home without his socks.
    ‘It could hardly have gone worse! It’s probably wrong to hate children, right?’
    ‘Not those children. They deserve a slap. Along with their parents.’
    ‘You did very well with them though. You’ve got a knack with kids.’
    ‘It helps to have your own.’
    ‘You miss her.’
    He nods. ‘I think about her all the time. I’d move to America if I could, but that’s not realistic. Without a way to work there legally, it would be a precarious way to live. I want to be a more stable influence in Phoebe’s life, not a less stable one. It has to stay like this for a while, but now that she’s getting older, she’ll soon get to stay with me during her holidays.’
    The joy in his face makes me grin too.
    ‘What about Mabel’s father?’ he asks. ‘Is he in the picture?’
    ‘No, he erased himself when I fell pregnant.’ I give him the short answer. After all I’ve known him for less than forty-eight hours, even if it feels a lot longer than that.
    ‘We’ve been okay, Mabel and I. We had my parents until three years ago, and Celine.’
    ‘Ah the mythical Celine you keep mentioning. She does sound incredible.’
    ‘She is. She’s part