Then Tom released her and Polly skipped away. Eve was left standing alone, the fantasy fading.
Chapter Four
Tom had thought Eve was a confident, self-assured businesswoman and nothing much would faze her. She had certainly handled the predicament with her car well. Yet there'd been a hint of vulnerability on her face when he came upon her in the sitting room, and earlier, after they towed her car home.
She must have sensed he didn't want her to go with them to choose the Christmas tree. Cutting and decorating the tree was a special father-daughter thing he'd wanted to do with Polly. But he regretted hurting Eve's feelings by leaving her out. He was determined to make her feel welcome.
"How's your laptop?" he asked with a smile as he passed her the basket of crusty bread to go with her soup.
"Dead, I'm afraid. Rather like my car."
"You can use my PC if you like. I'll show you the office after lunch."
"Thanks, but all my files are on the laptop. I can't work on another computer unless I access the backups on the company server. Trouble is, I so rarely need to do that, I've forgotten my password."
Tom shrugged. He wasn't going to push the issue. "So, are you seeing your family over Christmas?" In some ways he felt as though he knew Eve, but he didn't really know anything about her life. His gaze dropped to her left hand. No ring. A strange sensation shot through him as he digested that fact.
"I might see one of my brothers." She dug her phone from her pocket, found a photo, and handed the device across the table to him. In the picture, she stood between two men, both dark-haired like her. The likeness between the three of them was unmistakable, especially between Eve and one of the men.
"That's Connor and that's Ed," she said tapping the screen. "Ed's in Germany now, but Connor only lives about ten miles from me, near Bristol."
"Will you see your parents?" he asked, noticing she hadn't mentioned them.
Eve's eyes dropped to her bowl. "They died in a car accident eighteen months ago."
Tom laid his fingers on the back of her hand in silent support, sensing this was still very much an issue for her. "I'm sorry. What happened?"
"They were traveling home from vacation. The police think Dad fell asleep at the wheel. If only they'd spent the night at a hotel."
If only, if only. Tom had plenty of those of his own. If only he had paid more attention to Karen, his life might be different.
"So you don't have a partner?" he asked.
"Too busy." Eve's brisk tone indicated the topic was unwelcome. Tom wondered why a beautiful woman like Eve wasn't interested in a relationship. He decided it was none of his business.
Polly finished eating and started playing with her Barbie. Tom had abandoned his "no toys at the table" rule. He'd learned to pick his battles and not sweat the small stuff.
"Daddy," Polly said seriously, "is it all right if I comb Eve's hair now?"
Tom rubbed his temples. He'd thought he'd distracted his daughter from this hair-combing obsession. But he had to accept he couldn't prevent Polly from bonding with Eve. Polly seemed to have taken to their unexpected guest as though she had known her for years. "I think you'd better ask Eve, not me."
A grin flashed onto his daughter's face and he felt the joy right down to his toes.
"Can I, Eve?"
"Of course you can, sweetie. Not at the table, though. Let's move over near the woodstove."
Eve unfastened the clip on the back of her hair and the long, silky strands tumbled around her shoulders. Tom stared as she took the easy chair by the fire and twisted sideways for Polly to reach her head. His daughter started combing in long sweeps, the light gleaming off the dark waves. Eve's hair wasn't just pretty, it was beautiful, sensuous, and a gorgeous contrast to her porcelain skin. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed how beautiful she was the first moment he laid eyes on her. He must have been snow-blind.
He hovered, taking his time clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, watching Eve's delicate features as Polly combed her hair. Her dark brown gaze found him and something warm and intimate passed between them, an unspoken moment of shared pleasure that Polly was happy and everything was right with the world. The sort of mutual understanding he didn't think he'd ever shared with Karen.
He cleared his throat. "Better go out and feed the sheep. Then I need to get the chicken in the oven for dinner."
"Oh no, Tom. I'll prepare dinner. It's the least I can do since I'm imposing on your hospitality for another night."
He gave a halfhearted protest, but she insisted. "Okay, then. Thanks."
As he headed for the mudroom, the woman and girl started laughing together, a sound he hadn't heard in a long time. It was a good sound.
***
"Daddy!" Polly moaned as he pushed her plastic counter all the way down the longest snake on the snakes and ladders board. "That's not fair."
"Oh, yes it is, pumpkin. You landed on that square; you go down the snake."
Eve chuckled as she remembered her own games of snakes and ladders with her brothers. "Don't worry." She patted Polly's shoulder. "You're back at the start with me now. Girls stick together."
"Girls stick together," Polly chanted, her frown morphing into a grin.
"You have to let boys win," Eve said in a stage whisper. "Otherwise, they get grumpy."
"Hey, I'm winning fair and square. And I'm not grumpy," Tom retorted.
"See what I mean." Eve grinned at Polly and they both giggled. "Boys take games far too seriously."
"How d'you know about playing with boys?" Polly asked.
"I have two brothers." Eve quickly showed Polly the picture she'd shown Tom earlier.
"They aren't boys. They're old like Daddy."
Tom winced. "Thank you for that, sweetheart." He patted Polly on the head, muttering about females giving him gray hairs.
"They were boys once," Eve continued, "and they always wanted to win at everything. My oldest brother, Ed, was the worst. Sometimes Connor and I would gang up on him and cheat just to make him mad."
A few moments later, Tom had a winning throw and Polly jumped on him squealing. While Tom put Polly to bed, Eve rolled up the oversized vinyl snakes and ladders board and packed it away with the dice and counters.
They'd been sitting on the floor in front of the fire and she leaned back against a chair, staring at the golden flames licking the logs in the hearth. A sigh of contentment brushed over her lips. She hadn't been this happy since…since she was a child.
Memories raced back of winter evenings with her family. All gathered around a table playing a board game, or trimming the Christmas tree in the lounge at her parents' house. Past times she'd thought she would never recapture. But she could have that again if she had her own family. She'd been so focused on her career, she hadn't given a thought to what it would be like to have children. Now she'd had a taste of life with Tom and Polly, she realized she wanted that. Her brothers managed to combine a career with having a family. She could too.
Tom appeared at the door and rested a hand on the door frame. "Polly wants to say good night to you."
"Okay." Eve jumped up, her cheeks flushed from sitting in front of the fire.
It turned out Polly wanted more than just to say good night. She presented Eve with a book of fairy tales. "Will you read me a story?"
"Didn't Daddy read you one?"
"No," Polly said, as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
"Fibber." Eve tickled the child and she wriggled around, screaming with laughter. "Just a short one then."
Eve read Rapunzel and then tucked Polly in and kissed her forehead. The girl's thin arms came around Eve's neck and held her tight. "I wish you could stay," she whispered.
Eve's breath caught as it hit her just how much she wanted to stay. She might be here by accident, but it felt so comfortable, so right. Polly had already captured a corner of her heart. Eve had never before met a man she could imagine sharing her life with, yet after only two days, sh
e was growing attached to Tom.
She had never imagined in a million years she would fall for a farmer, but surprisingly, the two of them seemed to click, and he was certainly easy on the eye. The thought of leaving and never seeing him again left her choked up.
She nearly said, "So do I," but it wasn't fair to Tom to say anything to encourage Polly, even if the thought of staying with them was fast becoming her secret fantasy. "I have to work," she said instead, "and my job is too far away for me to live here."
Polly's bottom lip protruded.
"Time for sleep now." Eve gently extracted herself from Polly's arms, switched off the light, and headed for the door. She half expected to find Tom outside, listening in. But the hallway was empty.
She went downstairs. "I'm having a cup of coffee. Do you want one?" Tom called from the kitchen. She joined him, resting a hip against the table and watching as he warmed milk on the stove and prepared the coffee.
They carried their steaming mugs back to the sitting room and took seats in front of the fire. For long moments they sat in companionable silence, the logs popping and crackling in the grate, firelight dancing into the shadowy corners of the room.
Tom cradled his coffee mug in his large, capable hands, his brooding gaze moving from the fire to settle on her. "I owe you an apology," he said.
"No, you don't. If anything, I owe you an apology for imposing on you like this."
"Yes, I do. I'm sorry about Polly's tantrum over the hair-combing while we were trying to deal with your car."
"It's all right, Tom. No apology necessary. I have a niece who's Polly's age. I know what children are like." She hesitated, not wanting to ask leading questions, but desperate to know what had become of Polly's mother. "And it sounds as though you and Polly have had some challenges recently."
"Challenges? That's an understatement. My wife walked out on us. If she didn't want to be with me anymore, fine. I accepted that. But Karen made it perfectly clear she didn't want Polly either."
Shock streaked through Eve. How could a woman not want her own child? "Was she sick?" Eve asked, thinking that the only way Polly's mother could have abandoned her was if she had some kind of mental illness.
"I really don't know." Tom scrubbed a hand over his face. "I think maybe she was…is. She had postnatal depression. She had treatment and I thought she was okay, but she never bonded with Polly. She just wasn't interested in her. I made sure I earned enough so Karen didn't need to work and could stay home with Polly, but she didn't want to look after her. I had to hire a nanny to help."
"Maybe your wife didn't like being isolated out here."
Tom laughed without humor. "We lived near London! She had spas, health clubs, designer stores, everything she needed to keep her happy, right on her doorstep."
"You were a farmer near London?"
"Lord, no. I'm not a farmer. I was an investment banker. The farm's a hobby. Polly likes lambs so I keep a few sheep."
An investment banker? Eve imagined Tom in a suit, his hair clipped shorter. She found she could. Easily. No wonder he didn't have a Devon accent. "So why did you give up your job and come down here?" To live in the middle of nowhere.
"Work ruled my life. It had to stop. I wasn't going to hire someone to raise my own daughter. I jacked in the high-powered job before it gave me a heart attack and moved us down here. The air's clean, there's plenty of space for Polly to run around without me worrying she'll get run over, and we can spend time together. Karen might not have wanted Polly, but I intend to make damn sure my daughter never doubts that she's the center of my world. We've been here for three years now. We're happy. Just the two of us. I won't ever let a woman screw up my daughter's life again."
Tom's vehement tone left an uncomfortable aura of finality in its wake. If he saw women as potential threats to Polly's happiness, that explained why he had attempted to keep Eve at a distance.
She glanced down at her mug and bit her lip. She understood his caution, but it still hurt to think he put her in the same category as a woman who had walked out on her own daughter. Eve would never upset Polly on purpose, but as she considered the matter, she realized that simply getting to know the child and then leaving would upset her.
Her silly fantasy about staying with Tom and Polly was just that, a fantasy. Tom didn't want a woman in their life, and Eve might be able to combine a family and her career, but not living here on Dartmoor. Her Bristol office was three hours away—on a good day. There was no way she could commute that far to and from work each day.
She needed to draw a line under this experience, get back to civilization, and move on.
"I hope the snow melts tomorrow. I need to get to Plymouth for Monday. I have an important meeting with the senior partner of my firm. I'm hoping to be offered a partnership."
Tom smiled, looking a little contrite, as though he realized he might have come across harshly. "That's wonderful, Eve. Congratulations."
"I haven't got it yet. But if I do, I'll be the youngest partner in any accounting firm in the South West."
Eve rose to her feet, holding her empty mug. "Well, I think I'll call it a night. I'm bushed after all that shoveling." She headed for the kitchen and Tom followed.
"Look, I can keep your car until it's picked up by the salvage company. I have a four-wheel-drive pickup that will make it through most conditions with the snow chains. If you want to leave tomorrow, I'm sure I can get you down to Plymouth."
"That would be wonderful. It's no good me dawdling my life away out here when I've got work to do."
"That's settled then. We'll head off tomorrow. I can leave Polly with the Undys."
"Great!" Eve smiled, but it was an effort. Instead of the relief she should feel, her insides had clenched up tight with disappointment.
"Night," she said over her shoulder, and ran up the stairs before she said something she'd regret, like how much she'd miss him and Polly. She dashed into her bedroom, and leaned back against the closed door, her heart racing and tears pricking her eyes. Stupid, stupid. Just because she was starting to have feelings for Tom, didn't mean he felt the same way. He obviously didn't!
The sooner she got back to civilization and away from Tom and Polly, the better.
***
Eve was up early on Sunday morning and relieved to find the sky clear and the wind light. The temperature was low, but no fresh snow had fallen overnight. She packed once again and, wearing her now rather grubby sweatpants and top, she headed downstairs. The kitchen smelled of toast but no one was around.
She checked outside to find Tom shoveling away snow from in front of the double doors to the barn. He dragged the doors open and drove out a huge black pickup. "Grab some breakfast," he shouted when he noticed her at the door. "I need to put on the snow chains and take Polly next door to the Undys' cottage. Then we can get away."
As Eve was making a cup of tea and toasting some crusty bread under the grill, Polly wandered down, dressed in a pink fleece onesy patterned with fairies. "Hello," the little girl said and wrapped her arms around Eve's waist.
"Good morning, sweetie. You look snug."
"Daddy said I have to wear warm stuff 'cause Mrs. Undy's place is cold."
Eve attempted to check her toast but Polly wouldn't release her. Eve stroked the child's ruffled hair, sensing she was working up to something.
"I don't want you to go." Polly pressed her cheek against Eve's middle and clung as if she could hold her there forever. "I want you to be my mummy."
"Oh, Polly." Eve loosened the child's grip, quickly pulled out her blackened toast from the grill before it caught fire, then sat down and positioned Polly between her legs so they were face to face. "I'm going to let you in on a secret. I can't think of a little girl who I'd rather have as a daughter. You're smart and funny and very pretty. Your daddy is the luckiest daddy in the world to have you, but I can't be your mummy because I'm not married to your daddy."
Polly blinked her blue eyes fringed with blonde lashe
s. Little creases appeared on her forehead. "Marry Daddy then."
There was a noise outside. Eve's heart nearly jumped into her throat. It would be mortifying if Tom overheard this conversation. She stared towards the mudroom, but he didn't appear, thank heavens.
"I wish it were that simple, sweetie. But your Daddy doesn't love me. We've only just met."
"But I love you, and I've only just met you."
Eve pulled Polly close and pressed her cheek against the child's hair, pleasure and sorrow mingling inside her. When she could speak again, she drew back. "That's a lovely thing to say. I love you too, poppet. I promise I'll come and see you when I'm down this way again."
Eve pulled a business card out of her purse and wrote her private e-mail address on the back. "You'll have to ask your daddy, but if he agrees, you can e-mail me here, and I'll write back. Or you can call me on my mobile phone. The number's on here." She handed the card over. "Make sure you put it somewhere safe."
Polly stared at the e-mail address, then pushed the card in the pocket of her onesy.
The back door opened and Tom crashed around in the mudroom for a while before appearing in the doorway with a bottle of Pickle's milk in his hand. "Here you go, pumpkin. Feed that hungry lamb of yours quickly, then I'll walk you across to the Undys'."
"I want Eve to feed Pickle."
"You do?" Tom gazed from Eve to his daughter and back, surprise on his face. "You're honored, Eve," he said as Polly scampered across the kitchen to retrieve the bottle and proudly handed it over to her.
Eve sat in the hairy chair in front of the stove and held the bottle with both hands as Pickle latched on and suckled eagerly. "Gosh, he's strong. And hungry." Even in the two days she'd been here, he seemed to have grown. She laughed as the lamb nearly pulled the bottle out of her hands.
A Family for Christmas (Contemporary Romance Novella) Page 4