An Unexpected Christmas Read Online Free PDF

and turned away from
it. 'Are you settled in alright?'
    'I am thanks. Your Mum's guest
room is amazing.' I wandered over to her bed and sat down on the end of it;
Ella moved to sit next to me and sent me a small smile.
    'I may have forgotten to mention
who my brother actually was,' she confessed, sheepishly and I smiled at her.
    'It's okay. I was a little
shocked; you don't expect to see a movie star when you walk into your friend's
Mother's house.'
    'I’m sorry. You know, I forget
the whole superstar thing when I see him. He is so far from that, superstar
stereotype, it seems ridiculous.' She smiled.
    'I may have eventually figured it
out but you don't have the same surname.'
    'Yes well when mum and dad
divorced mum went back to her maiden name Lawson and as I moved here with her
she wanted me to change my name too. Nate stayed with dad to finish school and
it was just simpler for him to stay as Hamilton.' She shifted to face me better
and even though her smile was genuine there was a sense of importance in what
she was about to say; 'He's my big brother, he's the one who looks after me but
when I can return the favour I have to do it.'
     She looked down as if what she
wanted to say seemed difficult. I placed my hand on her arm; we hadn't known
each other that long but we had gotten close, close enough to tell each other
anything. I sent her a reassuring smile, 'Ella, whatever you need to say to me,
just say it.'
    She returned my smile. 'Nate likes
his privacy, especially when it comes to family. If you can just hold off from
Facebooking or Tweeting anything I would be grateful.'
    'Of course.' If I was honest the
thought of announcing who I would be spending Christmas with hadn't crossed my
mind. I was still trying to process the idea myself. 'You invited me to spend
time with your family and I won't do anything you don't want me to do.'
    Ella's smile widened. 'I knew you
would understand.' She leaned over and hugged me. 'Are you hungry? I'm hungry.'
    'I am.' I thought for a moment.
'Didn't you say you were going to go and help your mum out with lunch?'
    Ella giggled. 'Oh yeah, whoops.
Better head down then.'
    I laughed at her but nodded, and
we both headed back downstairs. As we walked into the kitchen I was instantly
hit with an amazing aroma; Maggie stood by the cooker and was stirring whatever
was making that delicious smell.
    'Have you girls settled in?'
Maggie turned from the cooker and smiled at us. Ella nodded and hauled herself
up onto the counter that stood in the middle of the room.
    'Yes thank you,' I pushed my
hands into the back pockets of my jeans. 'You have a beautiful home. I may
never want to leave.'
    'Well you are welcome to stay as
long as you wish.'
    I looked around the kitchen, 'Is
there anything I can help with?'
    Maggie shook her head. 'Oh no
dear, Ella can help me; you just make yourself at home. Nate is in the living
room, probably with his nose in a book.' I glanced over at Ella who sent me a
quick smile then hopped off the counter and set about pulling bowls from a
cupboard.
    I took a deep breath then walked
slowly over to the door that led to the living room. Nate was sitting on the
sofa and, as Maggie had said, he had his head in a book; he was so engrossed he
hadn't even noticed me stopping in the doorway so I took a moment to take him
in.
    His long legs were stretched out
in front of him; a dog resting it’s head on each of his feet and he was relaxed
into the back of the sofa in a state I hadn't seen before. It was true that I
had only seen him in character or answering questions about his latest movie
but there was something about his relaxed position that had me smiling; I
wanted to curl up next to him and listen as he read the words of his book out
loud, to close my eyes and let his deep tones wash over me and sink into my
head and my heart. It was silly but it didn't make it any less true. He must
have sensed me in the doorway because he lifted his head and when our eyes met
he