A Christmas Knight

Tyler was busy drawing a picture of Polo when the roadside rescue people arrived.

‘He’ll be fine in here with me,’ Bea said, ruffling Tyler’s hair. ‘He knows where you are if he needs you—right, Ty?’

He smiled at her. ‘Right.’

When the mechanic had hooked up the diagnostic computer, Dominic came over. In faded jeans, riding boots, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and no tie, he looked incredibly touchable. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘Spark plugs,’ the mechanic said. ‘Two of them. The problem is, they’ll need specialist equipment to get them out—they’re not a standard size and I don’t have the right equipment to sort it out here. The manufacturer changed them on this particular model,’ he said, rolling his eyes. ‘It’s not like the old days, when spark plugs were the same on every car. If just one had gone, I could’ve disengaged it for you and you would’ve been safe to get home or to the garage, but with two gone it’s not safe to do that, I’m afraid. If you ring the main dealer now, they’ll still be there,’ he suggested, ‘and they’ll book you in so I can put your car on the back of the tow truck, and all you have to do is drop your keys through the door in an envelope.’

‘Would you be able to drop us home afterwards?’ she asked.

‘Sorry, love. It’s not covered by your policy. I would’ve bent the rules for you, given that you’ve got a little one, but I’ve got another callout waiting,’ he said.

‘Fair enough. I can call a taxi.’

The dealer’s service department was just about to close, but they duly booked her in for the next morning and asked her to drop the keys through their door.

She was about to arrange for a taxi to meet them at the garage when Dominic laid a hand on his arm. ‘Don’t worry about calling a taxi. I’ll follow you to the garage and drop you and Ty home.’

‘I can’t impose on you like that.’

He shrugged. ‘From what Tyler tells me, you don’t live that far from me. And I’m finished here for this evening anyway.’

‘Actually, I can drop the keys through the letterbox for you at the dealer’s,’ the mechanic added, ‘if that saves a bit of time.’

‘And it means you’ll get home quicker—Tyler’s routine won’t be thrown out so much,’ Dominic said.

That was the clincher. Ty. Although he coped much better with change nowadays than he had as a small child, it would still throw him. Routine was really, really important to him, and Louisa tried hard to stick to it. ‘Thank you. Both of you. That’s really kind.’

Louisa clearly wasn’t used to leaning on anyone, Dominic thought, so she must’ve been a single parent for quite a while now. And she’d been adamant about Ty’s father not being part of his life. Whatever had happened between them, it had obviously hurt her badly. Not that he could ask. It would be way too tactless.

When he pulled up outside the little terraced house they were renting, Louisa said, ‘Would you like to come in and stay for dinner? It’s nothing special—just pasta, garlic bread and salad—but you’d be very welcome.’

Tempting. So very, very tempting. He was about to say no when Tyler added, ‘If you don’t, then Mum will have to buy you flowers to say thank you for helping, and boys don’t really like flowers so she’ll fuss about it.’

He couldn’t help laughing. ‘OK, then, thanks. I have to admit, it’ll be nice to have home-cooked food for a change.’