Page 133 of Make You Mine This Christmas

At least she’s alone now, and can think. Not that she wants to do that either.

The dogs sniff her cautiously, and she sinks to the floor where they nose at her with wet, muddy faces.

God, what a mess, she thinks.

The dogs are soaked from the drying snow, so she gets up to grab the dog towel from the radiator, only for them to shoot through the house. The last thing she needs is Esther going completely spare about muddy feet.

‘Girls, come here,’ she yells, slipping out of her boots and rushing after them with the dog towel.

Luckily, they both stall long enough for her to dry them off before scampering off into the hallway. She mops up the floor with the towel, just to be safe, and follows the dogs through to the house. She needs to properly sit down for a minute.

The house is silent, apart from them.

But standing by the front door, hands clasped in front of her, is Esther.

There’s a bag at her feet.

Haf’s bag.

‘Um, hi? Is everything okay? What’s going on?’

Esther steps forward. ‘I’ve decided that it’s best you leave. All your things are packed, and if I’ve missed anything, we will forward it on to you after the holidays. I’ve called you a car to take you to the station. It’ll be here in a few minutes.’

Haf blinks slowly, trying to process what Esther is telling her. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand. You want me to leave? Does Christopher know?’

‘Yes, Haf, I want you to leave. And no, I haven’t told him yet, but luckily, he was out with his father, which means he didn’t see you and Katharine rolling about in the snow together.’

A stone plummets through Haf’s body.

‘It is bad enough that we are in the middle of a family disagreement, that up until now involved your future with my son,’ she says, her voice as steady and coiled as a snake, ready to strike. Haf notes the past tense in her words. ‘But the fact that you come into this house and seduce my daughter... Was it not enough?’

The rage ripples under Esther’s skin, a fiercely protective mothering instinct. Lowering her voice to a hiss, she says, ‘I will not have anyone hurting my children in this house. You must go.’

Panic swells in her chest, and she’s so exhausted from everything that’s happened over the last few days that all she says is, ‘Okay.’

‘Without a word to Christopher and Katharine.’

Haf nods, willing herself not to cry in front of Esther. She will not cry. She must not cry.

‘Good.’

Gravel crackles outside, cutting through the heavy silence. Esther opens the front door for her as the car parks up.

As she leaves, Esther says, her voice low, ‘You know, I really liked you, Haf. Or perhaps I just liked the person I thought you were. I’m disappointed it turned out this way.’

‘Me too.’

‘Get home safe,’ and it’s this care underneath everything else that threatens to break her.

Her resolve finally cracks as Stella and Luna follow her down the steps.

‘Stay, girls,’ she says, and they tilt their little heads in confusion, tails hanging low as they realise she’s leaving.

The driver puts her bag in the boot and thankfully says nothing to her as she gets in. As the car drives away from the Calloway house, the tears finally fall.

Chapter Twenty-One

The driver takes her to a station with a direct train back to London. She cries the whole way, and he deposits her in the snow with her bag, still sniffling.