The Unexpected Holiday Gift Read Free

for the details. Best friends and business partners were supposed to know this stuff, she was sure. ‘Oh! The thing at the art gallery! Yes! Get out of here now!’
    Merry pushed her chair back from the desk, obviously wasting no time. ‘Thanks. Don’t you need to pick Ivy up?’
    Clara checked her watch. ‘I’ve got another twenty minutes or so. She’s having dinner round at Francesca’s tonight, so I might as well use the time to finish things up here.’
    â€˜Okay.’ Grabbing her bag and coat, Merry started layering up to face the winter chill outside. ‘But don’t work too late tonight, right?’
    â€˜I told you; I’ve got to leave in twenty minutes. I’ll be out of here in no time.’
    â€˜I meant once you get home, and Ivy’s in bed.’ Merry leant over and gave Clara a swift kiss on the cheek. ‘I mean it. Take a night off for once.’
    Clara blushed, just a little. She hadn’t thought her friend knew about all the extra hours she put in during the long, dark evenings. It was just that, once Ivy was asleep, what else was there to do, really, but work? She didn’t have dates or any real desire to go out and meet people, even if her childminder was available to babysit for Ivy. It made more sense to get on top of the work, so that when she did have time with her daughter at weekends she didn’t have to be tied to her computer. That was all.
    â€˜I was just going to finish up the accounts,’ she admitted.
    â€˜Leave it,’ Merry instructed. ‘I’ll do it tomorrow. You can take over finding the biggest Christmas tree in existence!’
    â€˜Somehow, I think I’ve been played,’ Clara said drily. ‘Go on, get gone. You don’t want to be late.’
    Merry flashed her a grin and reached for the door but before she could grab the handle it opened, revealing a dark shadow of a man in the doorway. Clara stared at the shape. It was too dark to make out any particulars, certainly not a face or any recognisable features. And yet, somehow, that shadow was very, very familiar...
    â€˜I’m very sorry,’ Merry said politely. ‘We’re just closing up, actually.’
    â€˜I only need to talk to Clara,’ the man in the doorway said, and Clara’s heart dropped like a stone through her body.
    â€˜Jacob.’ The word was barely a whisper but Merry’s head swung round to look at her anyway, her eyes wide.
    â€˜Maybe you could come back—’ Merry began, already pushing the door closed, but Clara stopped her.
    â€˜No. No, it’s okay.’ She swallowed, wishing the lump that had taken up residence in her throat would lessen. ‘Come in, Jacob. What can I do for you?’
    Maybe he’d met somebody else at last and was here to finalise the divorce. That would make sense. For a brief moment, relief lapped against the edges of her panic—until a far worse idea filled her mind.
    Maybe he’s found out about Ivy.
    But no. That was impossible. She’d covered her tracks too well for that; even Merry believed that Ivy was the result of a one-night stand shortly after her marriage broke down. There was no one in the world except Clara herself who knew the truth about Ivy’s conception.
    And she had no plans to share that information.
    â€˜Want me to stay?’ Merry asked as Jacob brushed past her. When he stepped into the light, it was hard to imagine that she hadn’t known who he was, even for a second. He was exactly the same man she’d walked out on five Christmases ago. Same dark hair, with maybe just a hint of grey now at the temples. Same broad shoulders and even the same style of classic dark wool coat stretched across them. Same suit underneath, she was sure. Still all business, all the time.
    Which made her wonder again what he was doing there, wasting time on her. Clara had no illusions about how her