Page 26 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘That didn’t sound good.’

Daisy grimaced at her brother. He was on the sofa, book in hand, a lamp shining down on the pages because it was another gloomy November day and the overhead lights weren’t bright enough to read by. Daisy had examined his book earlier, but it was a modern hardback, a thriller by someone called Tim Weaver, and didn’t look anything like her copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

‘My apartment building has, according to Mo, the plumber I use, become a domino run of problems. He’s having fun, though.’ She shrugged.

‘I’m sorry,’ Harry said. ‘But you’ve got a ball to plan, and this client, Lars, to satisfy, and Sophie says you were going to talk to Winnie about her and Mary’s house? I thought Avery was project managing it.’

‘He’s a builder, though. Not an interior designer. I wanted to give them a few options, styles to look at, things to think about. We had a chat about it this morning.’

‘But you’re not offering to do the work?’ He put his book on the cushion beside him.

Daisy sat opposite him. ‘It’s a beautiful house, the sort of thing that could feature in Home and Country magazine. Winnie said they used an architect from Ipswich, but that he was happy to let Avery run the project.’

‘You find that surprising?’

Daisy thought of him singing Jimmy Nail, the way he’d sparred with her, the amused light in his eyes the few times they’d spoken. But just because he had a fun side, it didn’t mean he wasn’t also an expert builder and foreman, capable and organized and great at managing people. ‘He told me he’d never run a build before, that he was used to extensions and repairs – smaller jobs, basically.’

‘Everyone has to step up to the next level sometime,’ Harry said. ‘You seem unnecessarily suspicious of Avery. He’s a good guy.’

‘Have you caught up with him since he’s been back here?’

‘Not as much as I’d like to,’ Harry admitted. ‘We’ve met up at the pub a couple of times, but he was rushed off his feet with May’s house, then he was gone for a while, now he’s got this build. But, back to the point of me asking you about it, the house won’t be finished for months yet, so any involvement you have will be while it’s still being built. And you just told me they’d employed an architect.’

‘Just for the build stage, Winnie said. Giving them a few ideas can’t hurt.’

‘And that’s what you did, is it? Showed Winnie a few examples of similar houses for inspiration, then told her that was it?’

‘Why are you mad at me?’

Harry laughed, which was fair, because she had slipped into little sister mode. ‘I’m not mad,’ he said, ‘and I know you love what you do. But you don’t want to commit yourself to things here when you’re planning on being back in London in the new year – and it’s only that late because you gave in to Ermin’s wheedling and came up with this Christmas ball idea, and your flat’s going to take longer than expected to sort out. Winnie and Mary will love your plans, they’ll want you to design their interior, and you’ll have to turn them down because you’ll be back home with all sorts of high-profile jobs on your slate.’

‘I am a highly organized person, so—’

‘I also think you’re trying to prove yourself, since Stefan fucked you over. I get it, Daisy.’ He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. ‘But I want you to know that—’

The doorbell chimed, interrupting him, and Daisy shot up, grateful that she could postpone his kind lecture. She didn’t want him cracking through her fragile outer shell. ‘I’ll get it.’ All three dogs accompanied her to the huge front door, their tails wagging.

She peered through the peephole, and froze. Avery was standing on the doorstep in a grey hoody and tatty jeans, the hems rucked up inside his boots. He had his hands on his hips, and he was scowling. Daisy remembered May saying he was the most ‘can do’ person she knew. He didn’t look very ‘can do’ right now.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. ‘Hello, Avery. I—’

‘Woah.’ He took a step back, his hands out in front of him as Darkness, Terror and Clifton surged out to greet him. ‘Can you hold them back?’

Daisy blanked for a second, then grabbed Terror’s collar. ‘Darkness, Clifton,’ she sang, ‘come on.’ She pulled Terror inside with her, and the other dogs followed. She took them into the kitchen and gave them each a treat, before hurrying out and closing the door.

Avery was still on the doorstep, looking pale instead of irritated.

‘You don’t love dogs?’ she asked.

‘Not really. I forgot they would be here.’

‘You forgot about Darkness and Terror?’

‘I had other things on my mind.’

‘OK.’ She moved back. ‘Come in. They’re in the kitchen, so you’re safe.’

‘Thanks.’ He stepped inside, then stood, hovering in the hall.