Be My Hero by Nell Dixon Read Free Book Online Page A

area.” Evan set the wipers in motion and pulled away from the kerb.
    Nathalie watched the blades swish back and forth in front of her, wondering just what she’d let herself in for. An inn with play facilities would usually be the last place where she would want to spend her spare time. Being surrounded by parents and children while she watched everyone play happy families was too painful.
    â€œYou’ve gone quiet,” Evan observed a few minutes later.
    â€œSorry, I’m a bit tired.” She did feel tired, but being with him made her feel unsure of herself. Nathalie wasn’t the kind of person to feel unsure of anything. Normally she was confident and outgoing, more than capable of holding her own in any situation—except, it seemed, where Evan was concerned.
    â€œI appreciate you coming with us.” He lowered his voice and glanced at his daughter in the rear-view mirror. “Polly doesn’t take to people easily, but she seems to like you. I think it helps that she loves princesses and fairy tales. Her favourite thing at the moment is dressing her dolls in wedding dresses.”
    â€œOh.” Nathalie chewed her lower lip. She felt flattered that Polly liked her, but she distrusted the way he seemed so ready to slot her into a nurturing role for his daughter.
    â€œHere we are.” Evan swung the car into the car park and found a free space as close to the doors as he could get. Rain still pelted down, bouncing off the bonnet and running in streams down the windscreen.
    â€œYou go on in, Tali. I’ll get Polly.” He turned up the collar on his dark wool jacket and undid his seatbelt.
    Nathalie clutched her bag to her and, jumping down from the car, made a dash for the entrance. Evan followed hot on her heels with his daughter and her doll in his arms.
    â€œWhew, it’s really coming down.” He joined Nathalie inside the entrance and lowered Polly carefully to her feet. The child clutched her doll to her chest and coughed. Her little body shook with the violence of the fit. Evan bent to soothe his daughter whilst coughs racked her thin, doll-like frame.
    Nathalie felt helpless as she stood to the side, watching him calm and care for his child. She was filled with sympathy for Polly as Evan patiently helped her take a puff from the inhaler he produced from her little pink backpack. The coughs subsided.
    â€œDo you feel okay now, Poll?” Evan knelt so that his face was level with his daughter’s, evidently uncaring of how the damp carpet might affect the trousers of his expensive-looking suit.
    Polly nodded, tendrils of blonde hair tumbling free from her ponytail. Evan got to his feet, brushing the knees of his trousers as he stood up. “We’d better move farther inside. We’re blocking the doorway.” He placed a gentle hand on Polly’s shoulder. Nathalie walked with them into the restaurant area.
    Once they were seated and Evan was satisfied that Polly felt better, he went to order drinks from the bar. Nathalie rummaged in her bag for her tablets so she could take them once he returned with her orange juice.
    Polly fixed her gaze on the packet in Nathalie’s hand. “Do you have medicine, too?”
    Nathalie wasn’t sure how to answer Polly but decided it would probably be best to stick to a simple explanation. “Yes, I have to take medicine like you.”
    â€œI have a puffer. Do you have a puffer?”
    â€œNo, I have to take tablets instead.” Nathalie smiled at the expression on Polly’s small face.
    â€œYuck! I don’t like medicine. Daddy gives me pink medicine from the doctor. He says it tastes like strawberries, but it doesn’t really.” Polly pulled a face to show her just how bad the medicine tasted.
    â€œPolly!” Evan slid a tray of drinks onto the table and stared in amazement at his daughter’s strange expression.
    â€œShe was telling me about the lovely medicine you