Snowbound: Miracle Marriage (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 8)

‘Dating agency?’ Feeling as though he was five steps behind everyone else, Daniel stared at his nephew. ‘Stella is using a dating agency?’

‘Yup.’ Ignoring his father, Alfie kept the kitten on his lap. ‘On the internet. It’s the only way she’s going to meet a decent man. She’s been through three hundred and fifty people and she’s chosen someone who isn’t a bit like you.’

Patrick gave a choked laugh and Daniel glared at him and then pulled out

a chair and sat down next to Alfie.

‘So she’s meeting a complete stranger?’

‘Not really. She knows loads about him. I think he sounds really boring, but I’m not a girl.’ Alfie stuffed a forkful of pasta into his mouth. ‘She’s really excited. Dad—how long does it take to make a baby?’

A baby?

Daniel had to physically stop himself from sprinting across the courtyard and bolting the stable door from the outside.

There was no way Stella would be intimate with a guy that quickly, he told himself. She wasn’t that type of girl, was she? It had been ages before she’d eventually slept with him.

‘Nine months,’ Patrick said absently. ‘Alfie, Mrs Thornton is going to sit with you tonight.’

Alfie groaned. ‘Not Mrs Thornton. She’s so old.’

‘She isn’t old.’

‘She smells funny and her mouth is really red. Can’t I stay on my own?’

‘You’re too young. I won’t be late.’

‘You always say that, but babies are never predictable,’ Alfie grumbled. ‘They just don’t do what you expect them to do. You’ll be at the hospital all night, like you always are. If Mrs Thornton is here, can I watch that DVD? She’s so shortsighted, she won’t know.’

‘Which DVD?’ Only half listening, Patrick fished his mobile out of his pocket and scrolled through his messages.

‘It’s a twelve rating.’

‘You’re ten, so the answer is no.’

‘My friends have all seen it.’ Alfie wrinkled his nose. ‘I don’t think it’s unsuitable.’

‘So why is it a twelve rating?’

‘Not sure. It will either be “scenes of a violent nature” or “moderate sex references”.’ Alfie spooned another pile of cheese over his pasta. ‘It doesn’t really matter. I fast forward those bits anyway. All that kissing is boring when you’re ten.’

Patrick’s phone rang and he answered it immediately. ‘Buchannan. Yes. How many centimetres dilated is she?’ Still listening, he tucked the phone between his cheek and his shoulder and wiped the tomato sauce from his daughter’s face. ‘No—no, not yet. All right.’

Alfie sighed. ‘Wait for it. He’s going to have to go to the hospital and sort it out.’

Daniel reached forward and stole a piece of pasta from Alfie’s bowl. ‘You know everything that’s going on around here, don’t you?’

‘I have eyes and ears. Never underestimate a kid,’ Alfie said solemnly, pulling his bowl out of Daniel’s reach and wrapping an arm around it protectively. ‘I have this whole house wired. I want to be a spy when I grow up. You could stay with me tonight, then Mrs Thornton wouldn’t have to drag her creaking joints over here.’

‘Creaking joints?’ Daniel looked at his brother with disapproval, wondering who he was entrusting with his children. ‘How old is this woman you’re leaving him with?’

‘At least forty-five,’ Patrick drawled, sliding his phone into his pocket and removing the cheese from Posy’s grasp. ‘To Alfie, that’s old.’

‘She is old and she smells strong. And she’s always asking about Daddy.’

‘She covers herself in perfume before she comes round?’ Daniel leaned back in his chair and grinned at his brother. ‘Sounds as though she’s interested in something other than the welfare of the children.’

‘Unluckily for me.’ Patrick scooped the kitten from Alfie’s lap. ‘Mary, go to the kitchen.’