'You're having second thoughts?'Ĭarrie swallowed and closed her eyes as, once again, guilt pressed down on her that her reasons for finding Scott weren't entirely motivated by their daughter. Her mother's concerned gaze ran over Carrie's face. Her mother's voice filtered through Carrie's memories and she abruptly stood, hitching her tote bag onto her shoulder. Carrie had looked into Gerard's eyes and known how badly she'd failed to convince him Scott was nothing to her, that the night, that had so quickly become a week, was only a distant memory. She'll want to know him one day.' Gerard tightened his grip on her hand. Gerard's green eyes had pleaded with her as he lay in a hospital bed, holding on to the last minutes of his life. Tears burned and Carrie closed her eyes against the images of her deceased husband's cut and bruised face. She'd promised herself she'd do everything she could do to find Scott. It was Christmas, and Lord only knew when she'd have a decent amount of time away from the studio again. She snapped her eyes open and inhaled a strengthening breath. Maybe I don't need to find a man I slept with over and over again in the sexiest and most fantastical week of my life. Maybe Belle didn't need to know her biological father. A little girl with jet-black hair and bright blue eyes so like her father's. Successful, hardworking and entirely independent.but also mum to a two-year-old little girl. Never in a million years did she imagine she'd be in her current position. When her stomach heaved with trepidation, she pushed the drink away. Her heart beat fast and her hands trembled around an oversize latte. Carrie stared through the murky window of the train station café as she waited for her mother to return from the bathroom.

Christmas at the Cove by Rachel Brimble