A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson

Author:Milly Johnson [Johnson, Milly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780857208989
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Published: 2012-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

The vet was very pleased with the reindeer babies, two little boys. They were tiny and gauche, with long angular legs, but able to stand on them in order to shadow their mother and drink her milk. Eve made them her first port of call the next morning. She had slept solidly for the first time in a long while – no dreams about Jonathan, no nightmares about his parents. That was both unexpected and welcome.

Tim, the keeper’s wife, had given birth to a little boy, too. A temporary keeper had been found for now until he came back to work, totally gutted that he had not been there for Holly.

‘Great, aren’t they?’ said Jacques, coming up behind Eve as she hung over the fence and watched the calves unsteadily walking behind their mum. ‘Our boys.’ He made it sound as if Eve had just given birth and he was cooing over their twins.

‘I think you’ll find they are her boys,’ said Eve, moving her hand towards Holly.

‘Of course, but they’re ours too. I’ve come over all paternal,’ laughed Jacques. ‘What shall we call them? I don’t think Holly’s forte is going to be picking their names out of a hat.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Eve. ‘I really don’t want the responsibility.’

Jacques’ blue eyes began to twinkle. ‘Why’s that then? In case you pick a wrong one and they grow up with a complex?’

‘No, I didn’t mean that at all.’ Eve flicked a loose strand of hair behind her shoulder.

‘You do that a lot,’ said Jacques.

‘What?’ Eve half snapped, suspecting he was going to start his daft flirting.

‘Flick your hair back.’

‘How can I? It’s tied up,’ and Eve pointed behind her back at her long French plait.

‘I know. But strands work loose and you flick at them. They say if you play with your hair, you’re flirting.’

Eve hadn’t a clue if she did do that with her hair or not, but she wouldn’t be drawn deeper into the conversation and give him the satisfaction of having banter with him.

‘Maybe it’s just annoying me and in my way,’ she said, turning away from him and making a full-stop statement.

‘Me or your hair?’ Jacques said.

‘Both,’ replied Eve, and Jacques laughed his big infectious laugh, and Eve had to bite her lip to stop herself smiling because she really, really didn’t want to.

Then there was an almighty whoosh sound and they were both suddenly covered in snow.

‘Sorry,’ called a voice in one of the trees. ‘Adjusted the bloody thing too high.’ One of Effin’s men was fixing a snow machine to the trunk.

In the paddock, Holly and her two little boys raised their heads to the snow drifting down. The way they were closing their eyes made it look as if they were smiling.

‘Think you just found a name for one of the twins,’ smiled Jacques.

‘Silly bloody snow machine?’ asked Eve, brushing the wet snow from her skirt.

‘Blizzard,’ said Jacques, and winked at her.

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