Page 67 of All We Want for Christmas
‘No way can you stay here. I can’t be sure how safe the electrics are until at least tomorrow. Is there anywhere you can go?’
‘Friends?’ Lara prompted.
‘All the friends my age live with their parents or in house shares. There’s my Auntie Jane in Keswick, but that’s over an hour away and her flat is tiny. And before you ask, I am not staying with my ex! He lives with his brother and the place is pigsty. No way am I taking Esme there.’
‘It is very late,’ Lara said, then found herself blurting out, ‘You could always stay with me for the night, if you wanted to.’
Flynn stared at her in amazement.
‘Could I? You mean at the castle? Won’t they mind?’
Lara smiled. ‘I don’t liveinthe actual castle. I have a cottage in the grounds – opposite Flynn’s place, in fact. If you want, you and Esme are welcome to stay with me tonight. It’s not very big but it’s warm and dry.’
‘That’s very kind. Are you sure?’ Flynn said, wondering if Lara had offered because Molly might feel more comfortable staying with a woman than him.
‘I’d be very happy if Molly is.’
‘I think it’s a great idea.’
Esme wasn’t happy about being disturbed, and Lara was worried that her car seat wouldn’t tether to the old Land Rover’s rear seats, but Flynn and Molly managed to fix it and they set off, surrounded by cots, a highchair, a pack of nappies, and several bags of clothes and toys.
It was half-past eleven when Molly lifted a sleeping Esme from the car seat and followed Lara to her cottage while Flynn unloaded their stuff from the Land Rover.
Lara showed Molly her room and left her trying to settle Esme in her travel cot while she found fresh sheets.
Flynn had been on shuttle runs to the Land Rover with the rest of Esme’s paraphernalia and Lara opened the front door for him as he brought the last of it into the cottage. He put the bags down on the step and glanced over her shoulder, checking that Molly wasn’t listening.
‘Lara,’ he said in a low voice, ‘thank you for offering to have them. I was going to myself, but–– I wasn’t sure if she would feel comfortable if I suggested it. I’m her dad but she hardly knows me.’
‘She hardly knows me either, but I thought it might feel more natural – an all-girls-together kind of thing, like a sleepover …’ Lara grimaced. ‘I make it sound like we’re all ten! You know what I mean.’
Flynn smiled. ‘It’s a great solution. I can’t thank you enough.’ He looked as if he were about to hug her.
‘You don’t need to. I’m more than happy to help.’
‘I won’t disturb Molly if she’s settling Esme. Tell her Isaid goodnight to them both. See you tomorrow. It’ll have to be early: seven-thirty according to Molly?’
Lara smiled. ‘I think I’ll be lucky if I make it to six without waking up.’
‘Yeah. Look, I really am so grateful.’
‘Flynn. Stop being grateful.’ I don’t want you to feel guilty, she could have said. I don’t want you to try to compensate for a decision that must have felt impossible. That must still feel impossible. ‘Get some rest. I think you’re going to need it more than I do.’
Lara closed the door with an inner sigh before putting on a smile and carrying the things into the sitting room. Molly was in the kitchen pouring water into two mugs. ‘I managed to get Esme off to sleep and I found some teabags.’
‘Thanks,’ Lara said, getting milk from the fridge while trying to process that Flynn’s daughter – and granddaughter – were in her cottage, makinghera drink.
Molly dropped the used teabags in the bin and added a splash of milk to her tea before leaning against the worktop. ‘It must be incredible living by a castle. I’ve always wanted to stay here. Not under these circumstances, of course.’ She laughed nervously.
‘It’s nowhere near as exciting as you might think,’ said Lara, thinking that the past couple of months had been even more eventful than the previous eighteen. ‘Shall we take these in the sitting room? You must need to decompress a bit before you go to bed. It must have been a stressful day.’
Molly sat down on the sofa, which was to be Lara’s bed for the night.
‘My friend said you were nice,’ she said.
‘Your friend?’
‘Rachel. She’s a cleaner here. She needs the cash while she’s studying. We were at college together until I had to take a break to have Esme.’
