Page 11 of A Surprise for the Holidays
“It’s veggies that don’t taste like veggies,” Bailey explained in a stage whisper. “Like magic.”
“I like magic!” Ava sounded less distrustful and more excited now. She smiled up at her idol. “Santa’s magic. That’s how he knows I’ve moved here now. Isn’t it, Daddy?”
For his part, AJ smiled and nodded, while internally groaning at the reminder of Christmas inching ever closer. He’d ordered a few presents online, but still hadn’t considered decorating or even getting a tree…and that was without starting on the fact that the most common Christmas trees in Australia were made of plastic.
Ugh.
Alright, so fake trees were becoming increasingly popular back home, too, but he had always had a real tree, and it felt like sacrilege to buy a plastic one.
Ava continued to babble about the presents she had asked Santa for (the letter in question had been carefully hidden in an album of mementos AJ’s mum had suggested he should keep) and AJ tuned her out as he ran through his growing mental list of things he needed to organise.
Barely a month earlier, his biggest issue had been the God-awful heat. Now it was a little girl’s continued wellbeing and happiness.
“So,” Bailey prompted, eyeing him with what could only be described as concern, “dinner?”
AJ looked at his watch and nodded. It wasn’t as though he was going to get any more work done that evening. “Dinner.”
Chapter 8
Bailey
Bailey tried with all his might to pay attention to the stunning woman sitting across the table from him. It was his weekend, two days where he didn’t have to train or play soccer, and he had taken the opportunity to go out on a date with a girl he’d met during one of his morning runs down the coastal esplanade.
Lilah was beautiful. She was a fitness junkie and a bit of a hipster, much like himself, and they’d bonded over the unavailability of oat milk at their mutual favourite coffee shop at the end of their accidentally shared run. She had long darkhair and pretty blue eyes…but he couldn’t help thinking that AJ’s eyes were prettier.
As they ate their dinner of ethically sourced grilled salmon on a bed of sauteed greens, he had learned that she was a preschool teacher and that had also sent his thoughts hurtling back to his coach and the little girl who had rapidly wormed her way into his heart.
Ava Jacobs —who adamantly refused to be called ‘Mini AJ’ or ‘AJ the Second’, despite all of his best attempts— had initially reminded Bailey of the nieces in Adelaide he so sorely missed. But over the past weeks, his attachment had shifted from using her as a distraction and a stand-in to actually loving the little spitfire, and he could tell she adored him just as much. Which was understandable, really, because he was awesome. Of course she could see that.
“…and I’m boring the crap out of you.” Lilah finished whatever it was she’d been saying with a self-deprecating grimace. “Sorry.”
Bailey felt terrible. “Nah, it’s not you. I’m just distracted. Work stuff.”
She arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow and sipped at her purple and blue cocktail through a straw. “Work? But, I mean…you’re a soccer player.”
He frowned at that and sat back in his chair. Until he’d been scouted to captain the Gold Coast Thunder (no, he hadn’t had any say in the name, but he was aware that it made them sound like some kind of all-male revue instead of a soccer team), he had been playing for Adelaide as a semi-professional player and earning extra income as a ride-share driver. Once he’d made captain, he was officially considered a professional player and was being paid as such. It was enough that he no longer needed to supplement his income, but nowhere near the kind of money the European leagues paid their players.
Regardless, he was proud of his job. He worked hard at it. He wanted to take his team at least to the semi-finals for their first ever season on the ladder.
“Yeah, it’s, uh, well it’s more than just running around on the pitch kicking the ball. We train, and learn different plays, and…” at the glazed look in her eyes, he sighed and poked at a stalk of asparagus with the tines of his fork. “Never mind.”
Awkward silence descended and, just as he was about to rally in an attempt to rescue the meal, his phone rang. He hesitated to answer it for a moment, but Lilah just waved a dismissive hand over her plate. “It’s fine.”
Fishing the device from his pocket, he frowned when he saw the words ‘Coach calling’ on his screen. It was late —a glance at his watch surprised him with just how late— and there wasn’t any soccer-related reason the man would be calling him on their shared days off.
“Coach?” he answered hesitantly.
“Pete—Bailey,” AJ’s voice was strained, and, in the background of the call, Bailey could hear Ava wailing. He sat up straighter. “I’m sorry to call, but” —a louder wail made even Bailey wince, and he wasn’t anywhere near the source of the sound— “I…I don’t have anyone else.”
Cutting an apologetic glance in Lilah’s direction, Bailey threw his napkin over his meal and readied himself to leave. “No, no, don’t apologise. What do you need?”
Bailey let himself into the Jacobs house with the spare key AJ had given him only a couple of days earlier, when he had volunteered to take Ava home and entertain her while AJ wentinto a corporate meeting. He headed into the kitchen with his canvas bags to unpack the supplies he’d grabbed from the late-night chemist on his drive over from the restaurant, spurred into action by the pleading and defeat in AJ’s voice during their call.
Ava was sick. It sounded like a bout of gastro, but she had been inconsolable, and AJ had no idea what to do. Bailey would have been a Grade A arsehole if he hadn’t offered to help. Lilah had seemed almost relieved when he’d ended the date early, and he doubted they’d line up another one.
Somehow, that didn’t disappoint him, even though she was gorgeous and they could have had a lot of fun together.
But, now that he was in AJ’s home, he felt more relaxed than he had on that date.
