Chapter 6 - THE UNEXPECTED GUEST
"Mum! Mum, open the door, it's freezing out here!"
Clare paused, her hand on the deadbolt. The voice belonged to Daniel.
She unlocked the heavy door and pulled it open. A gust of snow blew into the hall, along with her twenty-six-year-old son, dressed in a designer wool overcoat, his face flushed and his hair disheveled. He dragged a leather duffle bag behind him.
"Daniel?" Clare stared at him. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Bristol with Sarah's family."
"We had a row," Daniel said, shaking snow off his boots onto the mat. "A massive one. On the motorway. She told me I was 'emotionally unavailable' because I didn't want to spend four days listening to her father drone on about his hedge funds. We turned the car around, she dropped me at Temple Meads, and I managed to catch the last local train before the tracks froze. Walked three miles from the station."
He stepped past her into the warm corridor, rubbing his frozen ears. "God, Mum, it smells good in here. Did you save me any of that roast? I thought you’d be asleep."
Then Daniel stopped dead in the hallway.
Anna was standing in the kitchen doorway, her arms wrapped protectively around Maya, who was peering out from behind her mother’s hips. Anna looked like a wild animal cornered in a trap—pale, bruised, and ready to fight.
Daniel looked from Anna to the little girl, then back to his mother, his brow furrowed in utter bewilderment. "Mum... who are these people?"
"These are my guests, Daniel," Clare said, taking his coat and hanging it up. "This is Anna, and this is Maya."
"Your guests?" Daniel’s voice rose an octave. "You don't have guests on Christmas Eve. You have *us*. Who are they? Why is there a strange kid on our rug?"
"They are staying here," Clare said firmly. "And lower your voice. You gave up your right to question the seating arrangements when you cancelled your dinner at two minutes past one."
Daniel looked stung, a dark flush rising along his neck. "Mum, that's not fair. I had obligations—"
"And now you have an unexpected evening at home," Clare replied without missing a beat. "Take off your wet shoes. Anna and Maya have had a very long day, and no one in this house will be treated with suspicion."
Daniel stared at the bruised woman, his expression shifting from irritation to sudden discomfort. He looked down at Maya, who stared right back at him with an unblinking, fearless intensity.
"Hi," Maya said quietly. "Are you the son who didn't want the dinner?"
May you like
Daniel opened his mouth, closed it, and for the first time in his life, found himself completely speechless.
***