Once Upon a Christmas

Why had she chosen to tell the whole pub? Didn’t she know that all the guys lusted after her? That with her long silken blonde hair and her fabulous curvy body, she couldn’t walk across a room without stopping conversations? And he felt every bit as protective towards her as he knew her brothers did.

And now some sleazy guy would come along and take advantage of her, and she was so trusting and inexperienced with men she wouldn’t even notice until it was too late.

Jack reversed the car out of its space, crunching the gears viciously. Well, not while he was available to prevent it happening.

She’d become pregnant in her second year at medical school and neither he nor her brothers had been around to sort the guy out. Damn it, she hadn’t even told them who he was. Just mumbled something about the whole thing being a mistake and refused to even discuss it even though Tom and Oliver had pumped her for hours.

Well, there wasn’t going to be another mistake, Jack thought grimly, his strong hands tightening on the wheel. Because now there was Lizzie’s happiness to think of, too. No one was going to hurt either one of his girls.

From now on, if any guy so much as looked at Bryony the wrong way, if there was even a scent of someone messing her around, he’d step in and floor them.

Satisfied that he was back in control of the situation, he stopped trying to pulverise his precious car and slowed his pace.

All he needed to do now was plan. He needed to know exactly whom she was dating so that he could issue a warning.

Bryony let herself into the house and found her mother in the kitchen. ‘Is she asleep?’

‘Fast asleep.’ Her mother dried her hands on a towel. ‘You’re back early, darling. Is something wrong?’

‘No.’ Bryony unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and tossed it onto the chair. Her coat followed.

‘Bryony, I’m your mother. I can tell when something is wrong.’

Bryony glared at her, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. ‘Jack Rothwell, that’s what’s wrong!’

‘Ah.’ Her mother gave a smile and turned to put the kettle on. ‘Tea?’

‘I suppose so.’ Bryony slumped into the nearest chair and sighed. ‘He is the most infuriating man.’

‘Is he?’

‘You know he is.’

Her mother reached for the tea bags. ‘I know that you two have been very close for almost the whole of your lives,’ she said mildly. ‘I’m sure that whatever it is you’ve quarrelled about will go away.’

‘The man dates every woman on the planet,’ Bryony said, still outraged by his attitude, ‘but when I announce that I’m going to start going out with men, he’s suddenly disapproving. And he had the nerve to lecture me on my responsibilities to Lizzie!’

‘Did he?’ Her mother looked thoughtful. ‘That’s very interesting.’

‘Interesting?’ Bryony shot her mother an incredulous look. ‘Irritating, you mean. And hypocritical. How many girlfriends has Jack Rothwell had since I first met him?’

Her mother poured the tea. ‘Quite a few, I should think.’

‘Half the planet,’ Bryony said flatly. ‘He certainly isn’t in a position to lecture me about morals.’

‘I imagine he thought he was protecting Lizzie.’

Bryony stared at her. ‘From what?’

Her mother put two mugs on the table and sat down opposite her. ‘Jack hasn’t had a very positive experience of marriage, sweetheart.’

‘You mean because of his parents?’

Her mother’s mouth tightened with disapproval. ‘Well, you know my opinion on that. They were grown-ups. He was a child. They should have sorted out their differences amicably. After his father walked out, Jack spent most of his childhood at our house and I don’t think his mother even noticed he wasn’t at home. She was too busy enjoying herself to remember that she had a child.’

Bryony bit her lip, suddenly realising why Jack might have been so sensitive about her dating. ‘But I wouldn’t do that. That isn’t what this is about.’

‘I know. But you understand Jack better than anyone,’ her mother said calmly. ‘He wasn’t thinking about you, darling. He was thinking about his own experiences.’

Bryony bit her lip. ‘Do you think I should start dating, Mum?’

‘Certainly I think you should date,’ her mother replied calmly. ‘I’ve always thought you should date, but you’ve always been too crazy about Jack to notice anyone else.’

Bryony stared at her, opened her mouth to deny it and then caught the look in her mother’s eye and closed it again. ‘You know that?’

‘I’m your mother. Of course I know that.’

‘He doesn’t notice me.’

‘You’re a huge part of Jack’s life,’ her mother said mildly. ‘He virtually lives here. But that’s going to have to change if you really are going to date other men.’

Bryony curled her hands round her mug. ‘But I don’t want it to change my friendship with Jack.’

‘One day you’ll get married again,’ her mother said quietly, ‘and I can’t see any man wanting to see Jack lounging in your kitchen every time he comes home from work. Of course your friendship is going to change.’

Bryony stared into her mug, a hollow feeling inside her. She didn’t want things to change. Despite their row, she couldn’t imagine not having Jack in her life.

But she couldn’t carry on the way she was now, for Lizzie’s sake.

‘Then I suppose I’ll just have to get used to that,’ she said, raising her mug in the air. ‘Cheers. To my future.’

Her mother lifted her mug in response. ‘May it turn out the way you want it to,’ she said cryptically, and Bryony let out a long breath.

She wasn’t really sure what she wanted.

But she knew Lizzie needed a daddy.

The next morning she was woken by her pager.

‘Is that a callout?’ Lizzie was by her bed in a flash, her eyes huge. ‘Is someone in trouble on the mountain?’

Bryony picked up her pager and was reading the message when the phone rang. Lizzie grabbed it immediately.

‘Hunter household, Elizabeth Hunter speaking,’ she said formally, the angle of her chin suggesting that she was very proud of herself. She listened for a moment and then a smile spread across her face. ‘Hello, Jack! Yes, Mummy’s right here … I’ll tell her. Will I see you later?’

Bryony pulled on her clothes and sprinted to the bathroom to clean her teeth. By the time she’d finished, Lizzie was off the phone.

‘There’s a party of Duke of Edinburgh Award boys overdue,’ she said importantly. ‘They’re sending out the whole team but Sean wants you and Jack to be an advance party. Jack is picking you up in five minutes.’