For Christmas, Forever: The Yuletide Engagement / The Doctor's Christmas Bride / Snowbound Reunion

‘I just heard a car in the driveway, so I think Toby must be home,’ she told him with a certain amount of relief.

Her mother used to say something else to her, about ‘jumping from the frying pan into the fire’. Well, she had certainly done that where Patrick was concerned; he was a more unsuitable man for her to have fallen in love with than Gareth had ever been!

Chapter Eight

‘DID you enjoy yourself on Saturday?’

Ellie gave a startled glance towards the open door of her office, her gaze narrowing as she focused on Gareth standing in the doorway, looking incredibly cheerful. As well as self-confident.

The latter instantly made Ellie more wary than she would normally have been in his unwanted presence, and she glanced towards the door that connected hers to George’s, to make sure it was firmly shut, before replying. ‘The Delacortes gave you and Sarah a wonderful engagement party,’ she answered noncommittally.

Gareth grinned, coming fully into the room before closing the door behind him. ‘That didn’t exactly answer my question, now, did it?’ he reproved derisively, moving to sit on the edge of her desk as he looked down at her with mocking blue eyes.

Ellie sighed. ‘I didn’t think it really needed an answer,’ she dismissed, still eyeing him warily, sure his pleasantness wouldn’t last for long; nowadays it usually didn’t.

Besides, she remembered all too well his nastiness on Saturday evening. Still had the bruises to prove how angry he had been then.

He shrugged. ‘Thanks for the cut-glass crystal vase, by the way. Sarah will be writing to everyone formally, of course, but I thought I would come and thank you personally.’

Cut-glass crystal vase? Ellie had been aware that Patrick had carried a gift-wrapped present into the house on Saturday evening, of course, but even if it had been a cut class crystal vase, what did it have to do with her…?

‘"Congratulations, love from Patrick and Ellie",’ Gareth continued tauntingly. ‘You’ve been “Patrick and Ellie”; for how long?’ he added scathingly.

A matter of days. Except they weren’t ‘Patrick and Ellie’ at all.

She’d had no idea that Patrick had put her name beside his on the gift card that had accompanied the engagement present he’d given to his cousin on Saturday. She realised why he had done it, of course, but he might have warned her!

She gave Gareth a stony look. ‘Gareth, I have no idea why you should be in the least interested,’ she scorned.

‘I’m not. Not really.’ He still looked incredibly pleased with himself. ‘It will be quite a coup for the Fairfax family if you and Toby manage to pull this off.’ He gave her an admiring look. ‘I must say, Ellie, you’re something of a surprise. Especially after your holier-than-thou attitude before.’ He shook his head. ‘Those people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, you know.’

Ellie gave him a suspicious look. Could he possibly have been drinking? Admittedly it was only eleventhirty in the morning, but she couldn’t think of any other explanation for the fact that what he was saying made absolutely no sense to her.

She shook her head, not wanting to prolong this unwanted conversation any further by asking him for an explanation. ‘I’ll bear your advice in mind, Gareth,’ she dismissed. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I have some work to do…?’ She gave a pointed look at where he sat on some of the papers on her desk.

Gareth grinned, making no effort to move. ‘Don’t you see, Ellie? There’s no longer any need to be all coy with me. The truth is, you and I are more alike than I would ever have guessed.’

She stiffened defensively. ‘I don’t think so!’ she snapped distastefully.

‘But of course we are,’ he contradicted happily. ‘It’s a pity you came on so prim and proper six weeks ago; you and I would have made a great team. And Toby, of course.’

He had been drinking; there was no other explanation for this completely puzzling conversation!

‘What on earth does Toby have to do with any of this?’ She looked at him impatiently.

The two men had met on several occasions, when Gareth had come to call for her at the house, but as far as she was aware Toby hadn’t particularly taken to the other man then, and he certainly didn’t like him now. As for Gareth, he hadn’t seemed particularly interested in Toby either.

Gareth grinned. ‘You can stop the pretence now, Ellie,’ he teased. ‘The game is up, so to speak. Maybe the three of us should form some sort of club? We could call it—’

‘Gareth, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Ellie lost all patience with him. ‘Besides which, you’re sitting on my desk when I want to get on with some work. Now, would you please go?’ She glared at him.

He stood up slowly. But looked no less confident. ‘Okay, play it that way if you want to.’ He shrugged. ‘But just remember that if you keep my little secret then I’ll keep yours. And Toby’s, of course,’ he added enigmatically. ‘Fair’s fair, after all.’

‘Gareth—’

‘Ellie, I’m just going across to—Gareth…?’ George came to a halt in the doorway that connected his office to Ellie’s, his gaze narrowing suspiciously on the younger man as he saw him standing there.

Gareth looked completely unconcerned by the interruption. ‘I just popped in to tell Ellie how much Sarah and I loved the crystal vase she and Patrick gave us for an engagement present,’ he told his future father-in-law lightly.

‘Well, now you’ve told her might I suggest you leave her to get on with her work?’ George nodded abruptly, continuing to look at the younger man with narrowed eyes.

‘Of course,’ Gareth accepted smoothly, moving unhurriedly to the door. ‘I believe I’m seeing you and Mary for dinner this evening,’ he added with a smile.

‘I believe you are,’ George acknowledged noncommittally.

‘See you later, Ellie,’ came Gareth’s parting shot.

Not if she saw him first! She had found him obnoxious enough before. Now she not only disliked him intensely, she didn’t understand a word he said!

George gave a shuddering sigh. ‘No matter how hard I try, I simply can’t bring myself to like that young man.’ He shook his head sadly.

Ellie gave a wan smile. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it, George; you’re in the majority rather than the minority!’

He grimaced. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it at all if Sarah hadn’t decided to marry the man! I had just about decided that he wasn’t suitable for Delacorte, Delacorte and Delacorte when Sarah dropped the bombshell of her engagement to the man. Her mother and I simply don’t know what to do for the best,’ he added heavily.

Ellie gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘I think the two of you are doing very well. Very often seeming to do nothing is the right thing to do,’ she added encouragingly.

George gave her a grateful smile. ‘A word of advice, Ellie. Never have daughters; it plays the very devil with your heart.’

She felt so sorry for him. Especially as there was nothing she could say or do to make him feel any better.

He straightened, seeming to shake off his despondency as he glanced down at the file he held in his hand. ‘I’m just going across to Gerald’s office for a few minutes. My next appointment is at twelve-thirty?’

Ellie nodded after a brief glimpse at the appointment book on her desk, breathing a sigh of relief when she was finally left alone in her office.

Gareth’s conversation was still a complete puzzle to her. But then, the man himself was a complete enigma to her; how could he possibly be contemplating marrying someone he so obviously didn’t love? As beautiful as Sarah was.

And how could she be in love with a man when she stood absolutely no chance of him ever feeling the same way about her?

Ellie had pondered that question several times over the weekend, and she still had no answer. Only knew that she was counting the hours until she saw Patrick again!

‘Oh, good, you got the message and aren’t dressed up,’ Patrick said with relief as Ellie opened the door to him at eight o’clock on Tuesday evening.

She raised dark brows. ‘It would serve you right if I said that I was dressed up.’ She opened the door wider to let him in, wearing a fitted blue jumper with faded denims.

He shook his head, grinning. ‘I knew Toby wouldn’t let me down!’

Her brother had dutifully passed on Patrick’s message earlier that they were going to eat at a pizzeria, and Ellie had dressed accordingly. Although Patrick looked as ruggedly handsome as ever in the black sweater and black denims that he wore.