A Yorkshire Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

didn’t help anyone: not Dani, who was helpless and flighty and not Molly, who naturally loved her mother, and not him, who knew the old anger still burned in his chest, nine years after it had all happened.
    He took a steadying breath as he reached for a trolley. He needed to think about Molly now. Briefly, he thought of Claire, of that clear, wide-eyed gaze she’d given him as he’d stood there, trying not to let out a stream of swear words. She must think he was mad, Noah thought ruefully, and decided that was no bad thing. He still felt a flicker of attraction for her, and even that was too much. Even now he could picture her in her bathrobe, her cheeks flushed, her hair a mess, the shadowy valley between her breasts just visible when she’d opened the door in just a dressing gown.
    Resolutely, he banished the image and began to push the trolley through the supermarket, grabbing things at random. Bananas, oranges, apples. What did an eight-year-old girl like to eat? He didn’t know, because his visits with Molly had always been Saturday afternoons spent in York, going to the cinema or the Railway Museum, shopping in the Shambles, and then finishing with dinner at McDonalds. The classic divorced dad line-up, although he and Dani had never actually got around to getting married.
    But now Dani wanted him to have Molly at his house for four whole days… hell, was it even legal? What if he lost his custody rights because he’d violated the terms of their arrangement?
    A cold sweat prickled between his shoulder blades and he grabbed a couple of boxes of sugary cereal and tossed them into the trolley. He’d phone his solicitor as soon as he’d dropped Claire off. He couldn’t risk jeopardizing his custody agreement, not even for Dani. But he knew it wouldn’t really matter what the man said, because he couldn’t say no to Dani, and he certainly wouldn’t let his daughter down. She had nowhere else to go; Dani’s friends weren’t exactly maternal, and her parents had decided, despite their heartfelt pleas to the court years ago, that they’d prefer to pretend their granddaughter didn’t exist.
    So Molly would be with him. He’d have his daughter to himself for four whole days… a prospect that filled him with both elation and terror.
    He found Claire at the checkout; she’d added two bottles of wine to her trolley and was perusing the Sainsbury’s Home Magazine by the till, a picture of a burnished turkey surrounded by golden roasted potatoes on its cover.
    She glanced up and saw him, looking almost guilty as she stuffed the magazine back in the rack, almost as if he’d caught her looking at porn. Then her gaze caught sight of his trolley, overflowing with every conceivable food item, and her mouth parted slightly in surprise.
    Noah glanced down at the boxes of cereal, the dozen apples, the three bunches of bananas. The loaves of bread and packs of chicken breasts, bags of pasta and rice, and jars of sauces. All right, so he’d gone a bit overboard. But he knew his cupboards were empty; he actually knew how to cook, but he rarely had the time or inclination to whip up a meal for one.
    “Expecting company?” she asked.
    Before he could help himself, he answered, “Yeah. My daughter.”
    Her gaze widened but she didn’t reply, just started helping him put it all on the conveyor belt. Her own things, he saw, were already bagged and paid for, everything returned neatly to her trolley.
    Panic was starting to sour his gut and chill his mind as he began to bag all the food he was buying. Dani had said she’d bring Molly over tonight, and his house was a complete tip. He wasn’t even sure if he had clean sheets. And the animals needed tending, and his television didn’t even work, and shit . Four days. What was he going to do?
    “Breathe,” Claire murmured, and put the marshmallows he’d been holding into the bag as he stared blankly into space. “It’ll be okay.”
    “She’s never stayed with me