‘It looks like it’s the AA, Freddie. They could be a while. Are you warm enough? I think I’ve got a blanket in the back if you need it.’

‘I’m okay for now,’ Freddie replied, but the car was rapidly cooling down from the below freezing temperature outside.

‘Right. Firstly, I need to get out the emergency triangle. It’s pretty dark out there and we don’t need anything else happening. You stay here.’ She dived out of the car and found it in the boot. Skidding and sliding to the bend in the road, she placed it carefully so it would be seen clearly and warn other drivers. By the time she made it back to the car, her fingers ached and her teeth chattered. ‘It’s just a shame we’re so far away from everyone,’ she said cheerfully as she climbed back in. ‘We could walk back to Mrs Dalloway’s but that’s going to take at least twenty minutes in this weather and the next house on is about that far too. It’s very difficult to walk as it is.’

Bella looked down to see his flashing wellington boots with stormtroopers on the side. As good as they were at keeping out the wet, they weren’t great at keeping out the cold. His little toes would freeze within minutes. Plus, she hadn’t anticipated any of this when she dressed as an elf that morning. Her black ankle boots covered in green felt with a bell at the end were already smelling unpleasant and drooping from the melting snow covering them. No, they were better off staying in the car.

‘You should call my dad.’

Could she? Should she? She probably should as she and his son here were stranded in the snow. If she called the AA, she didn’t know how long she’d be sat there, and there were still presents to deliver. But Nick had said he had something important to do. What if she disturbed him? As another flurry came down heavier than the one before and the temperature gauge on the car lowered another degree, she knew she had to.

Her fingers trembled from the cold as well as from emotion, but with a deep breath, Bella picked up her phone and dialled.

Chapter 30

After Nick had dropped Freddie at the park, he’d headed straight home. They could have walked, but there was an urgency in his need to get back. He had to speak to Paige. It wasn’t going to be the easiest of conversations, but it was necessary, and it was one he wanted to have before Christmas. He wanted to do right by Freddie and this last week he’d thought long and hard about what that was. Finally, he’d come to a decision, and had never been surer of anything in his life before.