Page 28 of The Merry Christmas Project

‘Snow ! It’s snowing ! Harley, have you looked outside !’ Freya squealed in the background.

Harley pulled a face at Cole. ‘Duh, I know,’ he said to his sister. ‘I’m talking to Dad.’

‘DAD !’ she squealed.

A blur of pink flashed in front of the screen as his daughter divebombed onto Harley’s bed.

‘OW ! That was my leg !’ Harley howled. ‘Get off.’

Undaunted by her brother’s less than effusive welcome, Freya pushed her face into view.

‘Daddy, the mountains are all covered in snow and Mummy says she’s taking me and River sledging later.’

His heart melted ; bloody hell, that little face peeping out of the hood of her unicorn onesie. He wished he could reach out and hug her, hug both of them. ‘That sounds amazing, darling.’

‘River is her boyfriend !’ Harley yelled over the top of her head. ‘Kissy kissy.’

‘So immature,’ said Freya, primly.

‘You need to get out my room now, frog-face.’ Harley pushed his sister off his bed.

‘Harley,’ Cole warned.

‘Just one more amazing thing, Dad,’ she forced herself back in front of the camera. ‘We’re going to this brilliant place for Christmas and there’s a hot tub outside where you can look up at the stars and there’s a ski lift right at the end of the garden and a barbecue hut with fairy lights.’

‘For Christmas ?’ Cole froze. Lydia and the kids were supposed to be flying back to the UK. Perhaps Freya was getting muddled ? ‘Are you sure ?’

‘Um …’ Freya chewed her lip.

‘Freya Robinson !’ Lydia barked from somewhere in the apartment. ‘What did we say just five minutes ago ?’

‘Uh oh,’ Harley muttered. ‘You’re in massive trouble now.’

The little girl shrank back from the screen, her eyes wide. ‘Sorry.’

‘Harley, tell me,’ Cole said, trying to keep the urgency from his voice. ‘What brilliant place ?’

‘Give me the phone,’ said Lydia. ‘One second, Cole.’

Then all Cole could see was a whirl of shapes while presumably, Lydia took Harley’s phone and moved into another room. He swore under his breath. He’d booked two weeks off work over the Christmas period so he’d be able to spend every minute with the kids.

‘Sorry about that,’ said Lydia, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She was wearing a pale blue top which suited her fair colouring and her hair was piled up loosely in a bun. She was make-up free and looked no different from when he’d first met her fifteen years ago.

‘So when were you planning on telling me ?’ Cole demanded.

‘I was going to speak to you about it, today actually,’ she said calmly. ‘But obviously Freya is too excited to wait as I asked her to.’

‘I thought you were flying back for Christmas ?’

She rubbed her slender neck. ‘I never actually promised.’

‘You implied !’ he spluttered. ‘Lydia, this is not OK. You have no idea how awful it is getting into bed at night, knowing that your kids are out of reach, knowing that it’ll be weeks before you see them.’

‘You’ve been great all through this,’ Lydia said. ‘I do know that. And you’re entitled to be disappointed. This is all my fault, but when I put in for some annual leave over Christmas, I was denied the full amount. I’ve literally only got four days off and that’s over Christmas itself. And then this mini-break came up and with flights back to the UK in December being so expensive, it makes sense to stay here.’

‘I’ll pay for the flights,’ he said, kicking himself that he hadn’t thought of that before. ‘Just come for a few days.’

She cast her eyes down ; he knew then that it wasn’t about the money. She’d made her mind up. He could stand his ground, demand that he be allowed access to Freya and Harley over Christmas as he had in previous years . He sighed inwardly ; he’d worked so hard to maintain a good relationship with Lydia. Was this worth arguing over when they were so far away from each other ?