Page 52 of Snowfall Over Halesmere House
‘Because me and Arlo aren’t there to wake you up in the mornings.’ Lily was triumphant. ‘You can get up whenever you like.’
‘Well, right now I’m not sure I want to get up at all.’ Ella was half-sighing, half-smiling behind her pillow. ‘Oh, go on then, it’s only sleep. Hopefully I can have some more tonight. Wait on the landing and don’t touch anything that might make a noise.’
Lily scampered from Ella’s room, and she dressed quickly. She hadn’t been expecting to see the family today and certainly not at this hour, but she liked the anticipation of bumping into Max so soon. Outside Lily insisted that they creep into the cottage as silently as possible in case they woke him or Arlo. Prim almost gave them away when she barked a couple of times and thumped her tail.
Lily couldn’t decide what Max might like best, so after a check of the fridge and cupboards Ella suggested bacon, scrambled eggs, sourdough toast, coffee and juice. There was much giggling and whispering from Lily, who was helping and hindering in equal measure. When it was ready Ella carried the tray upstairs, insisting firmly to Lily that she was not staying to eat with them. She would simply deliver breakfast to Max and then she was off. Back to bed, if she had any say in it. Running could wait for later.
When their little party reached his room Lily charged inside yelling ‘surprise’ as though she was a marauding elephant, and Ella stifled a laugh. There was little chance of Max sleeping through that commotion and he shot up in bed just as she had, blinking rapidly and running a bewildered hand over his face. She was already realising that she had not thought this through. Why wasn’t he wearing a T-shirt to bed in December? When he spotted Ella he grabbed one, pulling it over his head. That helped, she thought; the glimpse of muscular, golden chest at this hour of the day was far too distracting.
‘We’ve given you a lie-in and brought you breakfast in bed to say thank you for my party. It was the kindness for today on our advent calendar, Daddy. I’ve already eaten the chocolate one.’ Lily clambered across and plonked herself next to him. ‘Ella helped me.’
‘So I see. And why did you badger Ella to help you with breakfast on a Sunday morning? She’s not supposed to be working.’ He glanced across. She liked his grin and returned it with a smile of her own.
‘I woke her up.’ Lily sounded very proud of herself as Max lifted a hand to sweep back the hair falling to his brow.
‘Is that right?’ There was a stern note among his sleepy amusement. ‘So you let yourself out of the house, went alone into the other one and got Ella out of bed to make my breakfast? Wow. Sorry, Ella. But top marks for initiative, Lily and don’t do it again. And where’s your brother?’
‘Still asleep, I checked. We’ve left him some bacon.’
‘What time is it?’ Max leaned over to pick up his phone. ‘It’s not even seven thirty yet. This is not a proper lie-in, certainly not for Ella, you terror.’ Lily snuggled into him, and Max kissed her head. ‘But thank you for the thought.’ His eyes flickered over to Ella. ‘It’s very nice of you.’
‘Here’s your breakfast.’ She didn’t really want to stand at the threshold of his room debating lie-ins and wayward children much longer. Either he was coming to get the tray or she’d have to carry it over, and it didn’t look like he was getting out from under that duvet any time soon. She crossed the room to the bed, choosing the side furthest away from him, and set the tray down. ‘Here you go.’
‘Thank you. That looks amazing.’
‘Ella, we’re going for a walk with Prim later. Would you like to come with us?’ Lily’s beautiful brown eyes, beneath red curls made wilder by sleep, seemed to be pleading. ‘Daddy said I shouldn’t bother you as it’s the weekend, but we’re going round the tarn, and I’d really like you to tell me about swimming.’
‘Why not?’ Max was looking at her in a way that would have had Ella joining him in bed if they were alone. ‘Then we could try out Sunday lunch at the pub to improve my shop local, eat local ethos, like you suggested.’
‘I should really go for a run.’ But Ella was wavering and she wanted nothing more than to spend the morning with Max and his children. ‘What time were you thinking?’
‘Eleven?’
‘Okay.’ She could catch up with a few chores and her mum before then. She still needed to have a long-overdue call with Dylan; he wanted to know if she was coming for a visit and kept sending gorgeous images of Chamonix to tempt her. She’d sent him a few of Halesmere and their messages were bickering ones over who had the best views.
‘Yes!’ Lily clapped little hands together. ‘Maybe next time you could take me in your kayak, Ella. It looks really cool and I have my own wetsuit, Daddy bought us them in the summer.’
‘That sounds like a plan, Lily. We should probably wait until Arlo’s arm is out of plaster and you can both have a go.’
‘See you later, then.’ Max slid the tray onto his lap. ‘You’ll know when we’re ready, you’ll hear the din.’
Ella was locking up the house when Lily and Prim erupted from the cottage to join her, Max following.
‘Pearl’s called, brought them some treats and offered to let Arlo stay with her while we walk Prim,’ he explained as he met Ella halfway across the drive. ‘I thought it was a good idea, and he’s already got his tractor book out.’ He looked at Lily laughing, and Prim bouncing around her. ‘But these two are ready for some fresh air.’
Ella found the pace very different to her usual exercise as they walked through the garden and Max opened a narrow wooden gate into the meadow leading to the tarn. She had run round here before and liked it, enjoyed the challenging and changing ground beneath her feet. Lily was content to rush on ahead with Prim and Ella saw the water glistening in the cold air, the dark ridges of the fells cutting into the sky. The tarn was much smaller than Windermere, and she thought it would be a nice spot to let Lily have a first go in her kayak.
‘You’re thinking about the water, aren’t you?’ Max said.
‘Was it that obvious?’
‘You had that look on your face again.’
‘What look?’
‘The concentrating-fiercely one, like you were assessing the conditions and how cold it might be. Are you still planning to swim here?’
‘Maybe not over winter, it is pretty cold.’ They were strolling and she liked how their arms brushed together, the quick feel of his hand against hers. ‘Do you swim here?’
