Not Just for Christmas

Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

M aybe Lewis should be concerned about letting standards slip, given he was probably going to be late to meet the guests at the minibus. It would only be a couple of minutes though, and riding the carousel with Erin felt like a good reason to let standards slip a little.

There was a moment when he’d worried it might be awkward to share the horse, but then Erin pulled his arms around her waist and all the awkwardness vanished.

Her hair tickled his cheek, and he caught the citrusy scent of her shampoo. The feel of her pressed against him stirred something primal in him which he hadn’t felt for a long time.

When she turned back to him with her radiant, unbridled smile all he could think of was how it would feel to catch her lips in a kiss.

“I feel like a kid again,” she said, eyes dancing with joy.

The ride slowed and he suppressed the urge to kiss her. Before he knew it, they were alighting the horse and her body was no longer pressed against his. He missed it immediately.

“We better hurry,” she said, leading the way through the crowd towards the car park .

“It’s okay.” He felt more relaxed than he’d felt in a long time. “It’s not as though they can go anywhere without us.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She pushed her hair off her face as she turned to him. “You’re always so conscientious that I assumed you wouldn’t want to be late.”

“They’ve probably all been on the mulled wine and won’t even notice. But I don’t think being a few minutes late is the end of the world, anyway.”

When the crowd became denser, he took the opportunity to reach for her hand, keeping tight hold of it as he shouldered his way through the knot of people mingling around the Christmas market.

When the crowd thinned he relaxed his fingers slightly, then waited to see if she’d pull away. His heart fluttered when she kept her fingers firmly entwined with his.

The walk to the car park wasn’t long enough and there were only a few minutes before they broke apart to approach the bus. The other guests were all in high spirits and chatting amongst themselves. As he’d suspected, no one was put out at having to wait, and they filed onto the bus without comment.

“I loved the palace,” Erin said, craning her neck to look back at it as Lewis manoeuvred the minibus out of the car park.

“It certainly has the wow factor,” he said idly. Really, it had been watching her face as she’d taken it all in that had delighted him the most.

“I’m so impressed by the itinerary so far. The activities you picked are perfect.”

“It was a group effort,” he said. “But thanks. It seems the other guests are happy with it, too.” He glanced in the rear-view mirror to see them all leaning over their seats as they engaged in a group discussion about the light show over the lake.

“I’m looking forward to ice skating,” Erin said, drawing his attention again. “Although, I suppose when I end up with a bruised bum, I might not be so enthusiastic about the itinerary. ”

“Can’t you skate?”

“No.” She eyed him suspiciously. “You said that with the tone of someone who can skate.”

“I do okay,” he said. “Well enough that I don’t tend to worry about bruising my bum.”

She chuckled and pressed her head back into the seat, looking as though she might have a nap on the drive back. At intervals, his gaze flicked to her peaceful features and her golden lashes resting against pale skin.

It was funny to think that he’d only known her a matter of days. He felt as though he’d known her far longer, and spending time with her was fast becoming his favourite thing to do.

Once he’d delivered the guests back to the hotel for dinner, Lewis had a list of things to do before the ice-skating trip. It felt like a race against the clock as he went to fill the bus with diesel and then nipped into the office to make sure everything was in order for the upcoming hotel bookings. After that, he went to the kitchen to check in with the chef and make sure there were no issues back there. As usual, Warren had everything in hand and even insisted on feeding Lewis, despite still being in the middle of the dinner rush for the guests.

By the time he was heading to the lounge, where the group was waiting to go ice skating, Ivy had just arrived for her shift.

“I was on time,” she told him proudly.

“Well done!” She often arrived a few minutes late, but she was otherwise so efficient that the staff were happy to cover for her until she arrived. “I’m off out again,” he said, pointing a thumb at the waiting group.

“Have a good time,” she said. He was turning away from her when he caught the flash of nerves in her features.

“What’s wrong?” he asked .

“Nothing.” Her voice was excessively cheery. “Why would anything be wrong?”

“You seem nervous.”

“Nope. Everything is fine here. Off you go.”

He stared at her, trying to figure out what was going on, when he caught a shuffling noise from somewhere around her feet.

After holding her gaze for a moment, he stepped towards the desk and peered over it.

“Sorry,” Ivy whispered, her voice strained.

Lewis leaned further over the desk to catch the eye of the little girl sitting by Ivy’s legs. “Hi, Poppy.”

“Hi, Lewis.” She lifted her gaze. “Do I have to keep hiding, Mummy?”

“No,” Ivy replied. “You can come out.”

“Were you intending to hide her down there for your entire shift?” Lewis asked.

“No.” Ivy grimaced. “Just until you left.”

That stung. “Why?” he asked accusingly.

“Because you’ll try to fix this, like you always need to fix everything. But I will figure this out. It’s fine.”

“What happened?” he asked quietly.

“I had a minor problem with childcare, but I’ll call around and find someone to pick her up.”

“I have to go to bed early tonight,” Poppy said, walking around the desk and looking up at Lewis with her adorable big brown eyes. “If I’m not in bed, Santa won’t come.”

He smiled and rested a reassuring hand on her messy brown hair.

“I thought you were staying at your mum’s tonight,” he said to Ivy. He’d specifically asked if she needed the night off and she’d said it was fine because they were staying with her mum and Poppy would be more than happy with grandma putting her to bed .

“Dad’s not doing great,” she said quietly. “Mum had to go over to the care home.”

“Is he okay?”

Her nod had a manic edge to it. “He’ll be fine.”

Lewis sighed, thinking of how hard it was for Ivy and her mum to watch her dad’s slow deterioration with dementia.

“Can you call around the staff and find someone to cover for you here?” he said eventually.

“I tried, but it’s Christmas Eve. Everyone has plans. Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”

Lewis looked down at little Poppy and felt his chest constrict at the innocence in her eyes. He ran his hand over her hair, trying to come up with a plan that would keep the magic of Christmas alive for her and wouldn’t involve her sleeping in the hotel lounge, surrounded by slightly boozed up guests, until Ivy’s shift ended. The problem was there weren’t enough staff working for Ivy to go home.

“Mum might pick her up once Dad is settled again,” Ivy said. “I just didn’t want her to feel that pressure on top of everything.”

“Of course not,” Lewis mused while his brain whirred.

“Don’t look like that,” Ivy said. “You look as though you’re trying to figure out how to solve this, but I don’t need you to. All I need you to do is go and have fun.”

“Where are you going?” Poppy asked him.

He hesitated for a moment. “I’m going ice skating. Would you like to come?”

“Lewis!” Ivy growled, but he only shrugged. He didn’t see why it was a problem. In fact, it seemed like the perfect solution.

Poppy bounced on her toes. “Can I, Mummy? Can I? Please!”

“No.” Ivy glared at Lewis. “You’re working. You can’t look after Poppy as well. She’ll be fine here. I’ll give her a colouring book and some crayons.”

“I don’t want to do drawing again, Mummy,” Poppy whined.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” Lewis said. “I’ll take her with me and when we get back you can take her home.”

“I’m down to work until eleven.”

“I know. I’ll cover for you.”

Ivy massaged the creases on her forehead. “I don’t need you to rescue me, you know?”

“I realise that. Now can we skip to the part where you give me your car key so I can get Poppy’s booster seat?”

“Can I really come ice skating?” Poppy asked.

“Yes.” He scooped her into his arms and gave her a quick squeeze. “Where’s her coat?” he asked when Ivy handed over the car key.

Ivy reached under the desk and retrieved a purple puffer jacket. “Her hat and scarf are in the arm and the gloves are in the pockets.”

“Perfect.” Lewis wiggled his eyebrows at Poppy. “Let’s go skating!”

She giggled and waved goodbye to her mummy.

“Lewis?” Ivy called as he turned to move away.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” she said, eyes brimming with emotion.

“Bye, Mummy!” Poppy called as Lewis turned to the guests, who were happily chatting away in the lounge.

All except Erin, who was standing alone and had her eyes fixed on him. Her expression was unreadable, but he had the impression she’d been following his conversation with Ivy and couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious.

He cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Your chariot awaits,” he told them with a wide smile.