A Very Lucky Christmas

by A Very Lucky Christmas (retail) (epub)

  ‘Great. I’ll pick you up in half an hour.’ He rang off, leaving her mystified, and slightly frantic because she only had thirty minutes to have a shower, wash and dry her hair, shave her legs, put some make-up on, find some-thing zooey to wear… arggh!

  By the time she’d rushed around like a total idiot, trying to make herself look as pretty as possible, she was all hot and bothered and felt as though she needed another shower. And all the while she kept thinking about his ex (girlfriend? wife? one-night stand?) and son, but she couldn’t seem to process the information.

  Noah was thirty-four, so of course he had history, but the subject of previous relationships hadn’t come up, and why would it. On a first date, you don’t say, “I’ll have a white wine and by the way I’ve had x amount of boyfriends”, but she could have assumed that something as significant as having a child might have entered the conversation at some point.

  The bell rang, and David went to answer it. She heard them talking shop, Noah’s version, as he asked her brother about his leg, then she trotted down the stairs and the two men shook hands and she was sitting in Noah’s car before she had a chance to think.

  She sneaked a quick look at him. He’d trimmed his beard so it was only a fraction more than stubble, and his lashes were even longer than she remembered them. His lips were firmly closed, and she noticed the tension around his jaw. Though his eyes were on the road, she could tell he was aware of her scrutiny.

  ‘You want to ask, so ask,’ he said, after the silence had stretched for several miles.

  Daisy thought carefully. Yes, she wanted to know everything about this mysterious Kate, like how they’d met, what she looked like, why they’d split up, how long had they been together, did he love her… But she hoped he’d told her about his son because he wanted their relationship to go somewhere. They had a connection, didn’t they? And the thought of her having two children herself, hadn’t put him off in the slightest.

  ‘What’s he like?’ she asked, genuinely wanting to know. She’d said that she wanted a man to open to her fully, that she wanted to know his heart and mind and soul. How could she do that if she didn’t get to know his child? She tried to imagine what this son of his looked like, picturing a boy of three or four, with Noah’s dark hair and bright blue eyes, and she wondered if he missed his father.

  Noah raised his eyebrows and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He’d clearly been expecting her to ask something else.

  ‘Connor?’ His face softened. ‘He’s smart, and funny, and loves sport. He’s got a wicked sense of humour, draws like Michelangelo, and is the tidiest kid I know. Seriously, he’s a bit anal, especially when it comes to his bedroom. I swear he’s had a body swap with an alien, because he’s not like any teenager I know. Oh, and he hates Ian, and wants to come and live with me.’

  Slow down, mister, what was that about a teenager? ‘How old is he?’ Daisy asked, cautiously.

  ‘Fifteen.’

  ‘Right…’ Mental arithmetic wasn’t her strong point, but she sure as hell was able to work out thirty-four minus fifteen.

  ‘Yes, I was young, we both were,’ Noah said.

  Gone were the images of a cute little boy, and in its place were pictures of a sullen stroppy teenager, with bum fluff on his face, acne, and limbs he hadn’t grown into yet, and—

  ‘Who is Ian?’ she asked.

  ‘Kate’s fiancé. They’re getting married in a month.’ Noah smiled wryly. ‘I’ve been invited to the wedding.’ He turned his head, taking his eyes off the road for a second. ‘You could come with me.’

  Daisy had no idea what to say.

  ‘Too soon?’ he asked.

  She shrugged.

  ‘Okay, no problem,’ Noah responded swiftly, and Daisy had the feeling she’d disappointed him.

  Tough. He’d have to deal with it. She liked him, she really liked him, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to meet his son’s mother just yet, and especially not at the woman’s own wedding. Besides, they’d only just met themselves, and this was only their third date.

  ‘We’re here,’ he said, as they pulled into the huge carpark at West Midlands Safari Park. He checked the time. ‘Fancy going around the safari park first.’

  ‘First? What happens after that?’

  ‘You’ll see.’ He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were sad.

  Chapter 30

  ‘Ooh!’ Daisy squealed as the eland stuck most of its massive head in through the window, and an incredibly long tongue waved about in the air. Finding nothing edible, the antelope licked its own nostrils instead. With difficulty, it extracted its spiral horns and backed away, turning its attention to the car behind them.

  Noah grimaced at the drool it left on the car door.

  ‘I can’t believe how big that thing is,’ Daisy said.

  ‘I think I can see something even bigger.’ Noah pointed to the enormous grey backside. It looked like a strange, squat tank.

  When it moved, Daisy realised what it was – a rhino.

  ‘Blimey! I hope it’s friendly,’ she proclaimed.

  ‘I think they’re used to people ogling them, but I wouldn’t want to be around if it decided it needed a bit of privacy. I don’t think my car would stand a chance.’

  Noah drove a 4x4 (‘I need to be able to get to work whatever the weather,’ he’d explained), and she had visions of how badly her own little rust-bucket would fare in an argument with such a beast. It didn’t bear thinking about!

  He glanced at his watch. The trail through the safari drive-through was understandably slow, as each vehicle moved at a snail’s pace, and she wondered if he needed to be in work soon.

  ‘Not until later,’ he said, when she asked him. ‘I’ve got the pub-closing shift, with its share of drunks and people off their faces.’

  So far they’d been on two dates (not counting the “meal” in the hospital staff canteen) and both of them had involved animals of some kind or another. She wondered if he was planning a visit to the local animal rescue centre next. Admittedly, all their dates had been during the day, and she supposed there was a limit to what you could do on a cold, January afternoon. Lunch in a decent pub might have been nice, though.

  They stared in awe at the small herd of majestic giraffes gliding past with their odd, swaying gait.

  ‘Ooh, a baby one,’ Daisy cried, pointing at a mini version. It was a fraction of its mother’s height, yet was still a whopping eight foot tall. ‘I wouldn’t want to feed that for a week!’ Its mother swivelled her long neck to stare at them with her liquid brown eyes, almost as if she’d heard.

  Daisy thought this was the best part, so far. She’d enjoyed seeing the lions, but they weren’t exactly the life and soul of the party, doing little else but lying around yawning, and though Elephant Valley had been impressive, she felt a little uneasy about such magnificent animals being enclosed, even though the area they lived in was a large one.

  She was having a lovely time, but every so often Noah’s revelation popped into her mind. What must it have been like to have a baby at such a young age, and just how close were Noah and the mysterious Kate? Not very, if the woman was marrying someone else, and Daisy was grateful for that snippet of information. She was still a teensy-weensy bit jealous, but she could easily imagine how much worse she would feel if his ex was single. And then, there was the big question of how Noah felt about Kate, and she wondered if he still loved her, or if he ever had done.

  Daisy was surprised at how she felt about it all. Now the shock had worn off a little, she knew she wanted to carry on seeing him. And she knew she had been somewhat unreasonable – Noah was an attractive, thirty-four-year-old man. He was bound to have had other women before her.

  ‘Have you ever been married?’ she asked suddenly.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Kate…?’

  ‘Was a year younger than me. We should have known better.’ He kept his gaze on the zebra, but Daisy could tell his mind was on the past. ‘We di
d know better, but we were in love,’ (ouch, that hurt), ‘and not as careful as we should have been, and accidents happen.’

  ‘You didn’t stay together?’

  He gave a wry smile. ‘It’s amazing how quickly the reality of an impending baby can knock the love right out of you, for her anyway,’ he said, and added, ‘and she didn’t want to. Our parents didn’t want us to. I was nineteen, I’d just finished my A-levels and jobs weren’t easy to come by. Believe me, I tried, but at that age I couldn’t earn enough to keep a pet rabbit, let alone a girlfriend and a baby. I would have given it a go, though, if that’s what she’d wanted.’

  ‘What happened then?’

  ‘She had Connor, then went back to school. I saw him as often as I could, and provided for him as best I could, but her parents made it clear they didn’t want me around much and neither did Kate. When the family moved to Brighton, it made seeing my son that much more difficult. Then I got my arse into gear, and decided to be a doctor. And here I am.’

  Daisy was about to ask him if he still loved her, but Noah checked his watch again and said, ‘Fancy a spot of lunch?’ making it clear the conversation was over.

  He’d already said he wasn’t due in work until later, so Daisy wondered if he was counting down the hours until he could reasonably take her home.

  Lunch consisted of a chicken and mango salad for her, and a burger with chips for him. Daisy had no idea why she had chosen a salad, especially since her mouth flooded with saliva when she saw Noah’s food, but she remembered her vow to lose some weight and go to the gym, so she supposed the salad was the best option.

  Another sneaky glance at his watch as they rose from the table, and Daisy assumed they’d head back to the car. Instead, he said, ‘We haven’t seen the meerkats yet.’

  Daisy loved meerkats! Who didn’t? They were glorious little balls of squeaky fur with agile noses. She marvelled at the one on sentry duty, just like in the documentaries. And when he, or she, had enough of watching for danger and decided to dig and forage instead, another one immediately took its place, searching the skies and making little chirruping noises to reassure the others. And the babies! – ooh, they were sooo cute, hardly bigger than the palm of her hand.

  But when Noah looked at his watch yet again, the mood was broken and Daisy asked crossly, ‘I know you don’t have to be at the hospital yet, but is there somewhere else you need to be?’

  ‘Yes, but not me – you.’ He took her by the hand and almost dragged her down a path, hesitated, looked at the sign posts, took another path, and stopped again, confused. Then he spotted what he was looking for.

  ‘There!’ he cried.

  Daisy looked but couldn’t see anything to get too excited about. They’d already walked through Lorikeet Landing and seen the flock of parrot-type birds flying above their heads. It had been quite spectacular but she wasn’t ready to see it again quite so soon. And the Land of the Dinosaurs, which was directly in front of them, was aimed more at children than their parents. That only left Reptile World.

  She’d not liked their visit to the Creepy Crawlies much – the size of some of the spiders would give her nightmares for months – and she suspected she mightn’t particularly like to see most of the creatures lurking in the reptile house either, suspecting, quite rightly as it happened, that snakes would be a major feature.

  But snakes weren’t the reason Noah had brought her here.

  They were met at the entrance by one of the park’s keepers, and Daisy was taken aback slightly when Noah walked up to the man and said, ‘I’m Noah Hartley, I’ve booked a VIP experience for my… er… girlfriend.’

  Daisy’s heart did a backflip, then a somersault, before it settled back down. Did he really call her his girlfriend? Did that mean she was, or was it just a figure of speech? Mind you, he could have simply called her his friend and be done with it.

  And what was a VIP experience anyway?

  ‘We don’t usually do those kinds of experiences in Reptile World for obvious reasons, but as this is such a special occasion, we’ve made an exception. Just the tortoises, you say?’ the keeper asked.

  Noah looked at Daisy, who was beginning to guess what was going on. ‘Unless you’d like to hold a snake or two, darling?’

  Darling? She shot him a quizzical look, and he leaned so close his lips touched her ear.

  ‘Go along with it,’ he whispered, pretending to nibble her neck, and sending shivers down her spine. ‘It was the only way I could get you in here. And do me a favour later, and say “yes”.’

  ‘I’m not going to hold any snake, no matter how often you ask,’ she said, firmly. No matter how much she might like the guy, there was no way she was handling one of those horrid things.

  ‘They won’t be the poisonous ones,’ the keeper informed her. ‘Just a boa and maybe a python. We’ve got a lovely big fella by the name of Kaa. Don’t worry, he won’t eat you. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to try holding him?’

  Daisy grimaced and wondered if she was supposed to say yes to this, but Noah shook his head and mouthed, ‘Not that.’

  So, what was she supposed to say yes to, if it wasn’t the offer of holding a snake?

  ‘Follow me,’ the keeper said, and Noah took her hand. He probably thought she might make a run for it, and she was sorely tempted. The smell in Reptile World was acrid and not at all pleasant, and after the freezing January air outside, it was also very warm and stuffy.

  ‘Here.’ The man stopped in front of a large glass window, and for a second Daisy thought it was empty. Then a movement caught her attention, and another, and more still, until she realised they were everywhere – tortoises! Loads of them, and one very big one indeed. It was larger than the footstool her nan used to put her feet on, to ease her bunions.

  ‘Come on, then,’ the man said, unlocking a door hidden in the shadows and off to the side. He held the door open, and beckoned her inside. Noah followed.

  The keeper walked over to the most enormous tortoise Daisy had ever seen, and gave it a friendly pat on the shell. ‘This here is Warren,’ he said, ‘an Aldabra Atoll giant tortoise from the Seychelles. He’s sixty-five years old. You can stroke him if you like. He won’t bite. Here, give him this, and he’ll be your friend forever. Follows me round like a puppy, he does, but not as lively, like.’ He laughed at his own joke.

  The keeper gave Daisy a bunch of leaves, and she took a tentative step towards the massive reptile, who elongated his neck in anticipation, his black button eyes staring right at her.

  She bent down and held the vegetation out to him. Warren chomped at it, and she watched in fascination, taking in every wrinkle and every fold, and marvelling at the sheer ancientness of him. Not only was he old in human years, but his species was old in earth years. His ancestors had walked alongside dinosaurs.

  ‘They’ve been around since the Triassic,’ the keeper said. ‘That’s about two hundred million years ago,’ and she listened, enthralled as the man talked.

  ‘That’s enough from me,’ he said after a while, and he picked up a small reptile, no bigger than a tennis ball and gave it to her to hold.

  It was really sweet, not magnificent and awe-inspiring like his giant cousin, but small and round and scared. The tortoise had pulled his head back into its shell, and Daisy held him up at head-level so she could see his cute little face peeking out. He reminded her of one of the old men in Gee-Gee’s home. After a while, when he realised she wasn’t going to eat him, he poked his head out.

  She was so engrossed in her new friend, she wasn’t paying any attention to either Noah or the keeper, until the keeper coughed loudly, and she looked away from the tortoise to see Noah down on one knee, with an awkward smile on his face.

  What was he doing down there? If he wasn’t careful he’d get tortoise poop all over his clean jeans.

  The keeper stepped forward to relieve her of her shelly charge, and Daisy caught a quick glimpse of Noah’s face over the other man’s shoulder. He was frow
ning and shaking his head, and mouthing, ‘Say yes.’ She frowned at him. What the hell was he playing at?

  As soon as the keeper stepped away from Daisy, Noah smiled and held out a box.

  The keeper removed a camera from his pocket and began taking photos. Daisy was about to ask him to stop (she wouldn’t have minded if she’d still been holding Percy, as she nicknamed the little fella), but taking photos of her on her own was downright weird.

  ‘Daisy Jones, will you marry me?’ Noah asked.

  Daisy, shocked, could only stand there, speechless.

  Noah flicked his eyes to the keeper and back again, a pleading look on his face, and she suddenly realised what he was doing and why.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, throwing herself at him so he was forced to jump to his feet to avoid being bowled over backwards. ‘If you try to hold me to that you’re a dead man,’ she hissed in his ear, wrapping her arms around him, and smiling for the camera.

  ‘That photo will look lovely in our gallery,’ the keeper said, snapping away, and Daisy couldn’t help but chuckle to herself – Noah Hartley was one mad, but very lovely, man.

  A round of applause had her stumbling out of his arms and staggering backwards. Seemed like they’d drawn quite an audience, and a crowd had gathered on the other side of the glass.

  ‘Put the ring on her finger, mate,’ a middle-aged woman called. ‘Do it properly.’ She was trying to corral three lively youngsters, who clearly wanted to enter the enclosures now they’d seen someone else do it. ‘You can play with a tortoise when you ask a girl to marry you,’ she said to the youngest boy, who was hanging off her arm, begging to have a go. ‘It’s this man’s turn today.’

  ‘Will you marry me, Nanny?’ the child asked. ‘Say yes, then I can pet a crocodile. Tortoises are too slow and silly.’

  Daisy felt like tossing Noah into the crocodile enclosure right at this very minute, and she hoped there was no one among the watchers who knew her. It would just be her luck…