There wasn’t the slightest hint of understanding in her voice. Paige had always been a selfish woman, but he’d taken it as part of her character and worked around it. Not this time though. She wasn’t going to guilt-trip him into staying with her for Freddie’s sake. He loved his son, but he was a better father as a happy one. When he compared himself now to how he’d been when Paige had first left, the house a mess and him irritable, he wanted to turn the clock back and do better. He couldn’t change what had happened, but he could make better choices now.

‘I would be,’ he said matter-of-factly and let the words drift in the air.

His phone rang in his pocket, puncturing the silence. Had it been anyone else he wouldn’t have answered it, but when he saw it was Bella and noticed the snow falling in heavy swirls outside the window, he accepted the call immediately. Besides, they were done here. There was nothing further to say and the discussion was on the edge of falling into insults. He wasn’t prepared to sit there and listen to that. He’d said what he wanted to say and now Paige had to accept it.

The thought of talking to Bella knowing he was free to tell her how he felt sent butterflies into his stomach. He felt giddy. Like a schoolboy talking to his first crush. ‘Hey, Bella, everything okay? You’ve what? Where are you? Right, I’ll be there soon.’

‘Your new girlfriend has summoned you then?’ Paige snarled when the call ended.

‘She’s broken down delivering the presents from the giving tree and Freddie’s with her.’

‘Best run along then.’

Nick grabbed his scarf and wrapped it around his neck. Luckily, he still had his boots on from this morning. ‘I will, Paige, because it’s below freezing out there and with the engine off, she and Freddie have got no way of keeping warm.’

Chapter 31

‘Your dad’s on his way,’ Bella said to Freddie. The temperature in the car had dropped considerably and the windows were steaming up from their breath. She’d already wrapped a blanket around him, but still he shivered. ‘Do you want my coat?’

‘Won’t you be cold?’

She shrugged. She’d be freezing but Freddie was more important than her. She’d survive. ‘If you’re still cold you can have it.’ He didn’t respond and Bella slipped it from around her shoulders and wiggled in her seat until it freed. She then wrapped it over Freddie, tucking it in at the sides so only his head poked out.