Page 80 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

‘I had a job trying to keep a straight face when I saw her the other day and she asked me about it,’ Tobias continued. ‘It’s a good thing she had her kid with her; the kid kept saying she was hungry and distracting her. If it wasn’t for that, I might have given the game away. I told her it was in the post.’ He slapped his thigh and cried, ‘Ha! That old chestnut – but it’s usually the cheque’s in the post, not the blimmin’ invoice.’

Daniel froze; his mind had gone blank when he’d heard the words ‘her kid’.

Tobias downed the rest of his drink. ‘Are you OK, mate? You look a bit pale. What you need is another pint. Same again?’

Wordlessly Daniel handed him his empty glass. He had a feeling one pint wasn’t going to be enough. A pub’s worth of pints mightn’t be enough.

Maybe he’d misheard…?

Praying he was mistaken, he waited impatiently for Tobias to come back from the bar, and as soon as he was within earshot Daniel said, ‘Are you sure about Seren having a child?’

‘I’m not blind and I’m not deaf. She definitely had a kid with her. A girl. She called Seren mummy.’ Tobias shuddered. Daniel knew he wasn’t too keen on children and avoided them at all costs. ‘Didn’t you know? Aw, sorry, mate. I shouldn’t have said anything. I know how much Gina’s kid meant to you, but it didn’t occur to me that—’

‘How old?’ Daniel broke in, woodenly.

Tobias shrugged. ‘No idea. About this high.’ He held his hand up to his hip before he sat down and took a sip of his fresh pint.

Quite young, then. ‘Four, five, six?’ Daniel hazarded a guess.

‘There or thereabouts.’

Daniel screwed up his face. Did it matter how old Seren’s daughter was? The fact was that she had one and she hadn’t thought fit to tell him.

Suddenly everything fell into place: on several occasions when he’d either picked her up or dropped her off he’d got the impression he was being watched. Then there was that cardboard angel he’d noticed on the workbench in her shed when she’d shown him how to make a wreath, that had clearly been made by a child, and Seren had shoved it to the side when she’d realised he’d noticed it.

And what about the phone call she’d made from the pub when they were snowed in? Was that only two days ago? Suddenly it felt like a lifetime. As he’d returned to the table she’d ended the call, but not before he’d heard her say, ‘Give her a kiss from me and tell her I love her.’ She must have been talking about her daughter.

Not only that, but she’d never once invited him back to her place. It hadn’t occurred to him to think it odd because they’d always been out, or they’d gone to his. On looking back, it did seem a little strange, but he hadn’t thought so at the time – they’d only just reached the kissing stage – and if he’d thought about it at all, he’d have concluded that Seren might think that if she invited him to her house it might give him the impression that she wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

He snorted. They’d done that all right. Several times. And it had been marvellous and wonderful, and…

Unable to believe he’d been so stupid, he inhaled slowly and closed his eyes, leaning his head on the back of the padded bench and wishing he could turn the clock back.

When he opened them again, it was to see Tobias at the bar chatting to two young women, and a sharp stab of envy lanced him in the chest.

Why couldn’t he be more like Tobias – playing the field without a care in the world, and not bothering who he hurt in the process.

But that wasn’t him, that wasn’t who he was.

Even as he knew he’d have to end it with Seren, his heart bled. He understood the reasons why she hadn’t introduced him to her daughter – or he could guess – and he didn’t blame her. If he had a child, he would want to be careful who he let into his or her life, and he’d also want to be certain that person was going to stick around. But for Seren not totellhim?

If she had, he would have walked away— Maybe she’d suspected that he would? Had the very same thing happened to her in the past? Not every man wanted to have a ready-made family. How many men had shied away from her on learning that she had a child, without even bothering to get to know her?

To his shame, he realised he was in that category, but not because he disliked children or wouldn’t consider raising another man’s child – if he hadn’t become involved with Gina, then he would happily continue to date Seren knowing she had a daughter.

But not now. Not after what Amelia had gone through. Wasstillgoing through.

He couldn’t do that again, and especially not after today.

He wanted to be angry at Seren for deceiving him but he couldn’t, even though it might make dealing with it easier. Because no matter which way he cut it, his heart was breaking. He’d fallen passionately in love with her, and now he had to end it.

It was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.

---