His Little Christmas Miracle

She was a different person.

She was a mother. A mother with a secret.

The lift doors slid open but Jess didn’t move. Lucas was in her way but even so she didn’t think she was capable of movement. She needed the wall to support her. Her legs were shaking. Her hands were shaking. She knew her reaction was a result of the adrenalin that was coursing through her system. Adrenalin that was produced from a combination of attraction and fear. Why had he come back? And what would his presence mean to her? And to Lily?

‘Mr White.’ A hotel staff member approached them. Lucas had his back to the doors but he turned at the sound of his name and stepped out of the elevator. ‘Mr Bertillon is nearly back at the lodge. He’s only a minute or two away. What would you like me to do?’

‘I’ll meet him here. Can you organise a car to be waiting out the front? We need to get him down the mountain to the hospital asap.’

Jess pushed off the wall and forced her legs to move. One step at a time, she could do this. Lucas turned back to face her as she stepped into the lobby. ‘Have you got time for a coffee? Can you wait while I sort this out?’ Jess shook her head. ‘I have to get back to the medical centre,’ she lied. She had no idea how to deal with the situation. With Lucas. She had to get away. She needed time to process what had just happened. To process the fact that Lucas was here.

‘Of course. Another time, then.’ He put a hand on her arm and it felt as though her skin might burst into flames at his touch. Her pulse throbbed. Her throat was dry. ‘We’ll catch up later,’ he said.

Jess dropped the medical bag off at the clinic before trudging through the snow back to her apartment. Seeing Lucas had left her shaky and confused and she used the few minutes she had to herself to try to sort out her feelings.

He said they’d catch up later. What would he want? She definitely wasn’t the naive teenager from seven years ago. She wasn’t the person he would remember.

What would she do? She needed to work out what to tell him. How to tell him.

She shook her head. This was all too much.

She’d have to try to avoid him. Just for a while, just until she worked out what having all three of them in the same place would mean for her and Lily. Just until she solved this dilemma.

Seven years ago she’d fallen in love. Or she’d thought she had. Seven years on she had convinced herself that maybe it had just been a bad case of teenage hormones. Lust. A holiday romance. But seeing him today had reinforced that she’d never got over him. How could she when she was reminded of him every day?

She knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid him for ever. Moose River wasn’t big enough for that. They were bound to bump into each other. But even if avoidance was a possibility she suspected she wouldn’t be able to resist him completely. Curiosity would get the better of her. She’d been thinking about him for seven years. She would have to fill in the gaps. But as to exactly what she would tell him, that decision could wait.

She opened her apartment door and was almost knocked over by an excited Lily.

‘Mum, where have you been? Kristie is here. We’ve been waiting for you for ages.’