The Magic of Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

oppressively hot and suddenly Lara couldn’t breathe properly.
    â€˜Daddy?’ Breathless with excitement, Aggie appeared in the doorway. ‘ Come on! It’s our turn!’
    It took him a moment to answer. ‘Yes, sweetheart.’ Christian dragged his eyes from Lara’s and finally released his iron grip on her wrist. ‘Let’s see Father Christmas. We can talk about this later.’
    â€˜We don’t need to,’ Lara muttered. ‘Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, we can consider the subject closed.’
    But the look he shot in her direction indicated that he considered the subject to be far from closed.
    Wishing her knees would stop shaking, she led him through to the grotto and laughed aloud at the look of naked incredulity that flickered across his handsome face as he took in the metres of red satin and tinsel and the fake snow. She’d had the same reaction when she’d first seen the interior of the grotto. But the children loved it. Aggie was already sitting next to Father Christmas, her eyes sparkling and her list in her hand.
    â€˜Aggie, take your feet off the seat,’ Chloe murmured, but her little sister ignored her.
    â€˜My feet are clean because these are my absolute bestest shoes.’
    Chloe sighed. ‘It’s “best”, not “bestest”.’
    Aggie ignored her. ‘My list is quite long so Ihope you’re not in a hurry, although it doesn’t really matter if you are because I can talk very quickly.’ She snuggled a little closer to Father Christmas, her smile wide and her gaze trusting. ‘It’s not all for me. Some of it’s for other people. So I hope I can have a bit more time because I’m doing the talking for three and that’s a lot of people. Is that OK with you?’
    Father Christmas blinked several times and his mouth twitched under his thick white beard. ‘That’s fine with me.’
    â€˜I have a list here. Do you want to read or shall I just tell you?’
    â€˜Aggie, just stop talking ,’Chloe breathed, folding her arms across her chest and sending a mortified glance towards her father. ‘She never stops talking. No one else has a chance of speaking!’
    Lara watched the girls and felt envy slide through her body. Christian Blake had a noisy, loving family. Two gorgeous children.
    One day, she promised herself. One day maybe she’d find a man with no flaws and it would be her queuing to see Father Christmas with her two wonderful children.
    Or four, she thought with humour, if the psychic turned out to be right. Mindful of the queue building outside, she stepped forward. ‘Let’s hear your list, Aggie.’
    â€˜OK. Well, I’d really, really like a pet but I know I probably won’t get that because Daddy always says that, if I can’t even keep my bedroom tidy, how am I ever going to clean out a cage?’ Aggie peeped at her father hopefully but the measuring look that Christian gave her in return was sufficient for Lara to know that pets was a subject that had been discussed and dismissed on many occasions. ‘No pet, then,’Aggie murmured, subsiding in her seat, ‘but if I really can’t have a pet then there are other things…’ She read out a lengthy list, ignoring Chloe’s worried glance towards the clock on the wall. Then she handed the list to Father Christmas. ‘I’ll give you this so that you don’t have to remember it all in your head. It’s in order, but just to remind you, my best thing would be the bike. And help unpacking the rest of the boxes in my bedroom because since we moved to our new house I can’t find any of my favourite toys, which seems a terrible waste.’
    Father Christmas nodded slowly. ‘Well, I think I got all that. What about your big sister? What does she need?’
    Chloe flushed. ‘Nothing.’
    â€˜Go on, Chlo,’ Christian urged quietly.