Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,19

and Daisy can reheat it tomorrow. We still have a ton of unpacking to do so this will be a huge help.’

He heard Daisy snigger at his polite rebuttal and he tried to suppress a smile.

‘Daisy?’ Jade asked in confusion.

‘My daughter.’ He gestured to the dining table. Jade hadn’t even registered there was anyone else in the room with them. He didn’t know whether to be flattered by that or annoyed that she hadn’t even acknowledged Penny and Daisy.

Jade looked over and Daisy smiled with pasta hanging out of her mouth. Henry scowled at Daisy’s rudeness but had to keep the laughter that bubbled in his throat under control.

‘Oh, she’s so cute.’

She still hadn’t acknowledged Penny, which annoyed him and he didn’t know why.

‘Penny, do you like Italian?’ Henry called over to her. ‘Looks like Jade has brought a ton of food here, you can come and share it with me and Daisy tomorrow.’

Penny nodded in confusion. She’d gone very quiet again, scuttling back inside her shell just as she was starting to come out of it.

Jade laughed nervously at the new cosy arrangement that Henry had created with Penny.

‘I hope you are settling in OK, is there anything I can do to help?’ Jade said, curling her hair around her finger, leaving him with no doubt as to how Jade would like to help him settle in.

‘Well, actually there is. Me and Penny are going out on a date on Tuesday, would you be able to babysit Daisy for me?’

Daisy choked on her pasta. It had been a long time since he’d needed a babysitter for her. He glanced over at Penny who was looking like a rabbit in the headlights.

‘I’d normally ask my sister but she’s busy with the new baby so could you do it, Jade? I know how much you love children.’

Jade’s sultry smile slipped from her face. ‘You’re going out with Penny?’

She said it with such disgust that he felt anger slam through him at her reaction. He bit back the retort he wanted to make. It had been kind of Jade to bring him dinner even if she had an ulterior motive.

‘Yes, we just hit it off the moment we met. It would be so kind if you could babysit?’

‘I, erm… I’m busy that day.’

‘Ah, that’s too bad, I’m sure we can find someone. Thanks for this, did you want to come in and share dessert with us all? We have Funny Feet ice lollies or I think we might have a Magnum or two at the bottom of the freezer.’ Henry moved to the fridge, knowing Jade would be the last person in the world to sit down at the table with Daisy and Penny and suck on a Magnum.

Jade shook her head, still clearly in shock over the Penny revelation. ‘No, I better go, I, erm… have somewhere I need to be.’

‘Oh, that’s a shame. Thanks for popping by though.’

Jade stumbled out and disappeared round the back of the house. Henry closed the door softly after her.

He went and sat down at the table again.

‘Dad, you’re so rude,’ Daisy giggled.

‘She’s rude, I don’t like her much.’ He turned to Penny. ‘Another classmate of yours?’

Penny nodded.

‘How many times has she been up here over the years?’

‘Tonight was the first, I’m surprised she even knew the way. She, erm…’ she looked at Daisy as she tried to find the right words ‘…went out with Chris for a while.’

‘Who’s Chris?’ Daisy asked.

‘My ex.’

‘Let me guess, she went out with him whilst he was seeing you,’ Henry said.

Penny nodded.

Bitch.

He took a sip of water and stared at Penny across the table. Jade’s attitude to Penny disgusted him. And Beth’s too. He suddenly had a sudden desire to stick two fingers up at all the arseholes in the town who didn’t think Penny was worthy of paying attention to. ‘You know what this means? You and I have a date on Tuesday.’

Penny’s eyebrows shot up and Daisy grinned at him.

Chapter Five

Penny woke in the night to mumbles and cries of panic coming from the lounge. She quickly got up and ran downstairs.

She was surprised to see Daisy lying on her sofa with Bernard by her side. She was clearly having a nightmare. She didn’t know whether to wake her or not and she certainly didn’t want to scare her by doing so. She didn’t know why Daisy was in her lounge either.

‘Daisy,’ she said softly but there was no response. What should she do? What kind of