Free The Unexpected Holiday Gift by Sophie Pembroke Page A

early in the New Year, ostensibly to review the Perfect Christmas Project and discuss terms for the divorce. There was no sense in doing it sooner—she was pretty sure that discovering he was a father would not give Jacob his ideal Christmas. And by January surely she’d know for sure how best to do it.
    Merry taped closed the box of decorations and added it to the stack waiting for the courier. ‘Okay. What’s next?’
    â€˜Presents.’ It might have taken five hours, but Clara was pretty sure they’d found just the right gifts for Jacob’s family. Of course, if they had any sense they’d know instantly that Jacob hadn’t chosen them by himself. But then, Clara had found in the past with clients that they believed what they wanted to believe. So the chances were that James, Sheila and Heather would all open their gifts on Christmas morning and gush at how wonderful they were to Jacob.
    Quite honestly, as long as Clara wasn’t there to see it, she didn’t care if the whole family spontaneously began believing in Santa again when they opened them.
    â€˜Right. I’ve got all the gifts from Jacob to his family here, wrapped and labelled. I’ve got the presents that he dropped round from his mum and dad to ship up there too. And I’ve got Ivy’s bike, plus her stocking, and a suspiciously shiny gold parcel with no tag on it...’ Merry looked at Clara expectantly, gold parcel in hand. She gave it a little shake and listened carefully.
    Clara rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, that’s yours. And no, you can’t open it until Christmas Day.’
    â€˜Spoilsport.’ Merry pouted.
    â€˜What about our suitcases?’ Clara asked as Merry put the gold parcel back in the courier box.
    â€˜All packed and ready to go too.’ Merry gave her a patient smile. ‘Honestly, Clara, I know you want everything to be just perfect, but we’re on top of it. In fact we’ve gone one better than Santa already.’
    Clara frowned. ‘One better than Santa?’
    â€˜We’ve already made our list and checked it at least three times! We’re ready. It’s time to start looking forward to Christmas instead of fretting about it.’
    Clara didn’t think she was going to be looking forward to anything until at least January the first—especially with the Harrisons’ Charity Gala still to pull off when they got back from Scotland. She’d been working double time after Ivy was in bed all week to try and get everything organised, and to make sure she could still take Boxing Day off to spend with her girl.
    â€˜I just don’t want anything to go wrong. We just need to stick to the plan...’
    As she said the words, the door from the street opened and she felt her heart drop. There, standing in the doorway in his coat and bright red wool scarf, was the one person guaranteed to make her life more difficult.
    â€˜Jacob,’ she said, trying to muster up a smile. It would all be so much easier if the very sight of him didn’t send her mind spiralling into thoughts of what might have been, all over again. ‘You’re up bright and early. What can we do for you? We’re pretty much ready to go here, so if you’ve got anything you need to add to the courier boxes, speak now.’
    â€˜No, I think you’re right.’ He flashed her a smile but his eyes were still serious. ‘We’re all ready to go.’
    â€˜Great!’ Merry clapped her hands together. ‘In that case, I’ll get these picked up and we can go and catch our train!’ Clara allowed herself just a smidgen of hope. Maybe her plan could stay intact after all.
    â€˜Actually, I came here to suggest some alternative arrangements,’ Jacob said.
    No. No alternative arrangements. No deviating from the plan.
    Clara swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry and uncomfortable. ‘Alternative arrangements?’
    â€˜Yes. It seems