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It had been over a week now. Eight days since they’d found Jamie and offered to care for him, while the search for his mother went on behind the scenes. Even the social services lady was starting to look at them with that gleam in her eye that told Liam she was getting ideas.
But Alice wasn’t, he knew that. She’d been very careful to maintain every boundary they’d put up—bubbles notwithstanding. She might be letting him help out more since that night, but that was all about Jamie. She wasn’t letting him in on her feelings, her thoughts. She’d clammed up completely after her confession about her husband’s abuse, and nothing he tried seemed to change that. He’d attempted to draw her out further on her marriage, tried to figure out what question he should have asked but hadn’t, but she’d stonewalled him, or changed the conversation to Jamie’s well-being. Her past relationships were clearly off limits, and the only things she was interested in discussing were Jamie and Thornwood. It was as if she wanted him to believe that she’d arrived here fresh-faced and with no past at all.
It only took one look at her for him to know that wasn’t the case.
Oh, it wasn’t as if she looked worn out by life, like his mother had at the end. On the contrary, despite the night feeds and the exhaustion of caring for a newborn, Alice looked bright and fresh and happier than she had when he’d arrived. It was almost as if Jamie had woken something within her, something that had brought her back to life.
If he was honest with himself, it was incredibly attractive, that kind of brightness. As if the way she looked at Jamie, the love she showed there, was enough to make him feel a tug on his heart.
He’d considered it, he had to admit.
He hadn’t expected to fall for Jamie the way he had; all he’d intended to do was help out a clearly clueless Alice with the childcare, make sure that Jamie got a better start in life than most kids in his situation. He’d known that sooner or later—and probably sooner—Jamie would go back to his mother or be adopted by a real family, so he’d not even worried about becoming attached. If he’d never managed to fall in love with any of his beautiful ex-girlfriends in all the time he’d spent with them, he’d imagined it would take more than a few nights with a squalling newborn to win him over. Same with his foster siblings; he’d liked them well enough, loved one or two of them even, but it had never felt like it did with Jamie.
No, this all-encompassing love that made his heart feel too big for his chest every time he looked down at that tiny, trusting body...this wasn’t what he’d expected at all.
And neither was Alice.
At first sight, he’d assumed she was a gold-digger, after Rose’s fortune. Then he’d realised she was a do-gooder, and gone out of his way to annoy her. He’d had enough do-gooders try to interfere in his early life, and they’d always ended up making the situation worse, not better. He had no patience for them.
Except Alice was that rarity—someone who actually helped. Who did real good. Who made a difference in people’s lives.
And, given the hell she’d been through, the fact she wanted to improve others’ lots instead of just her own, well, that made him admire her. Just a bit.
The woman he’d got to know since they’d found Jamie wasn’t at all what he’d expected, and he could understand now why Jamie’s mother had left him for Alice to find—even if she did know nothing about babies.
Unbidden, an image from the night before rose up in his mind, like a film playing over and over. He’d walked into their rooms late in the evening, ready to help put Jamie to bed, and found Alice already dozing in the armchair, Jamie fast asleep on her chest. Their breathing seemed in perfect sync and they had matching expressions of peace and contentment on their faces. Alice’s golden hair shone in the lamplight like a halo, and he’d thought instantly of those paintings on traditional Christmas cards—of angels, and Mary with the baby Jesus.
For a moment his chest had felt about to burst with emotions he’d thought he wasn’t capable of feeling any more. And he’d known, without ever consciously deciding, that all of this—Jamie, Thornwood, even Alice—was no longer a reluctant responsibility for him, something he felt he had to do before he could move on.
It was where he wanted to be.
Alice’s eyes had opened even as that realisation reverberated through him, and she’d met his gaze and smiled. And he’d been lost.
So yes, he’d definitely thought about Alice that way—more than he’d like to admit. He’d considered the possibility of keeping Jamie for himself and having Alice at his side to help. He knew that if Jamie’s mother didn’t come forward a new family would have to be found—and why shouldn’t it be them? It might take some persuasion, but Jamie’s mother had left him to the two of them. That had to count for something.
Except there wasn’t really a ‘them,’ was there? He and Alice weren’t a couple, and the only thing that linked them was their love for Jamie.
But maybe that was enough?
He’d seen his mother fall for man after man, every time sure that he was the one—only to be let down time and again. From his father, who’d never even acknowledged their existence after discovering she was pregnant, to her last boyfriend, the one who’d led to their midnight flight to a local women’s refuge, just before his mum got sick. He had no interest in that sort of love—something he regularly told his casual girlfriends. Company, conversation, sex, they were all good things. But you couldn’t put your faith in them for more.
But Alice was different—not because he loved her, but because she wanted what was best for Jamie. She had no interest in love or forever either, not after her experiences. But maybe she’d be open to a deal—to sticking around long enough to persuade the authorities that they were a stable family for Jamie.
Liam didn’t need love, marriage and all that. But he did need Jamie to have everything he’d missed out on. And Alice might just be the answer.
He just needed to find the right way to put his proposition to her.
* * *
‘How do you feel about dinner tonight?’ Liam asked, leaning casually back against the stone wall behind them as they watched the pudding-makers stir their mixtures.
Alice blinked. ‘I was...definitely planning on eating some?’
‘Great. Then it’s settled. Who should we ask to babysit?’
Okay, she was definitely missing something here. ‘Babysit? What are you talking about?’
He turned to her, the smile on his lips more charming than she’d ever seen from him before. ‘You, me, dinner. Somewhere in the village, maybe. What’s the name of that nice gastro pub?’
‘The Fox and Hare?’ Was he seriously suggesting the two of them go out for dinner? Together? Without Jamie?
Like a...date?
No. She was still missing something. There was an ulterior motive at work here; she just had to find it.
‘That’s the one. I’ll call, make a reservation for what? Seven-thirty? I know you country types like to eat early.’ He flashed another charming smile, presumably to show he was joking, but Alice didn’t trust it one iota.
‘I think you’ll find that it has more to do with knowing I’ll be spending half the night feeding and soothing a crying baby, so like to get to bed early.’ Never mind that he took care of the other half. The man seemed to be able to function on no sleep at all, something Alice had never managed.
‘Fine, I’ll book it for six, then.’
Six. What was happening at six today? Alice frowned as she tried to visualise her diary. She smiled as it came to her.
‘No can do,’ she said. ‘Tonight is the Christingle service at the village church, followed by the tree lighting on the green. I was planning to take Jamie.’ By Christmas, Jamie would be with his real family. This might be her only chance to celebrate a little with him, even if he wouldn’t have a clue what was going on.
‘Even better,’ Liam said, unfazed, pulling out his phone. ‘We can go as a family. I’ll go call the pub now.’
Alice started with a jolt at his words. A family? Was that what they were?
No, Alice knew that much for sure. She’d dreamed of what a family would feel like for too long not to recognise that this was as far away from it as she could imagine.
And she was more certain than ever that Liam was up to something.
Jamie finished his bottle and she took him back from Liam and brought the baby up to her shoulder for winding. ‘Guess we’ll find out tonight, huh, baby boy?’ she whispered as she patted his back gently.
CHAPTER TWELVE
LIAM SAT BESIDE Alice on the uncomfortable church pew, Jamie snoozing in his arms, and tried to figure out how his plan had gone so off-track.
All he’d wanted to do was take Alice out somewhere private, away from the ears of Thornwood Castle’s many, many female occupants, and put his suggestion to her—that they fake being a real family for a while so that he could keep Jamie safe at Thornwood. Easy.
Except the entire population of Thornwood village appeared to have turned out for the Christingle service, and every one of them had wanted to welcome him to town on the way in. Add in all the children racing up and down the aisles excited by their oranges with glow sticks in, and the sweets they’d get to chow down on later, and there hadn’t been a moment’s peace.
And then there was the other surprise.
