Sommersgate House (45 page)

Julia was no
longer working, just watching Douglas as he went about this new
business diligently. She realised with surprise, rising alarm and a
sense of tenderness, that Douglas Ashton, Baron Blackbourne was
uncomfortable.

She moved
toward him and gently took the stocking he was stuffing away.

“Can you lay
the presents in that bag under the tree?” she asked quietly,
avoiding his eyes because she knew if she looked at him the jig
would be up. He’d know how she felt immediately. She was certain
her heart was in her eyes. She continued, making her voice soft.
“And then, I’m afraid, you’re going to have to eat the mince pie
and have a go at that sherry.” She indicated Santa’s treat. “I’ll
have Rudolf’s carrot.”

“I’m not sure
you gave yourself the best end of that deal,” he commented, his
voice bland.

She
flashed a too-brilliant smile at him, a smile meant to hide her
unease, and said, “We Americans are not overly fond of mince pies
and sherry, or at least
this
American isn’t.”

He gave her an
assessing look and she turned her attention quickly to completing
the stockings and started to babble. “How people think Santa can
drink sherry at every house and not bumble around drunkenly, giving
out the wrong presents and tipping over the tree, is beyond
me.”

“You think
only the sherry consumption aspect of the concept of Father
Christmas is hard to believe?”

She
dumped talcum powder into the bottom of the discarded stocking
stuffer box. “Oh yes,” she replied, too brightly, “magic can
explain a lot of things but if
I
had thousands of glasses of sherry, Christmas would be a
mess and I’m not just talking about leaving the wrong presents for
the wrong child under the tree.”

She heard him
chuckle and felt an enormous sense of relief that his awkwardness
was gone and she’d been the one to manage the Herculean feat of
dispelling it.

She
straightened from the box, turned to him and watched him down the
sherry in one gulp, the strong muscles in his neck moving in a way
that, watching them, she found herself spellbound.

“Julia?” he
queried when he had long since completed his gastronomical act as
Santa and she just continued to stare.

She jumped
then, intent on hiding her reaction, she cried with false
lightness, “Okay! One last bit. Step in this box and then you have
to stamp the powder around the carpet.”

He looked at
her as if she’d gone mad.

“It’ll look
like Santa got snow all over the floor,” she explained then
ordered, “Be sure to walk over to the plate with the goodies.”

“Julia, that’s
powder,” Douglas pointed out the obvious.

“A four year
old won’t know that.”

“I think Ruby
is far more perceptive than that. There’s rarely snow in
Somerset.”

Julia walked
up to him and, for reasons unknown, perhaps because of how she felt
about hearing that he received stock certificates for Christmas as
a child (which she still could not quite wrap her mind around), she
lightly put her hand on his chest and said, “A child will see past
powder and weather patterns when it comes to the magic of
Christmas. Trust me. I’ve had enough Christmas mornings with those
children that I know.”

He looked down
at her hand on his chest, his eyes warming and she quickly pulled
away.

Dutifully, he
stomped in the box and around the carpet and she tried not to laugh
because he looked positively disgruntled. In a perfect world, she’d
giggle at him, tease him and then kiss him for doing it regardless
of his distaste for the act. But now, she just walked over to
Rudolf’s carrot and munched away, trying to pretend she didn’t
notice anything at all.

When he was
finished, she announced they were done and stuffed the bags into
the boxes, thanked him for his assistance, bid him an airy
goodnight and carried the detritus out of the room, trying,
somewhat desperately, (and perhaps not successfully) not to look
like she was fleeing.

She figured
he’d follow her, knock on her door or slide into bed with her but
he didn’t do any of those things and she tried to ignore her
frustration that he didn’t. Julia was thankful that there was no
scratching at the windows that evening (apparently both Archie and
the Lady Ruby took Christmas Eve off from hauntings) and she found
herself quickly falling asleep.

Two hours
later, dead asleep, Julia was shaken madly by a bright-eyed
Ruby.

“Santa’s been
here!” she screeched.

Julia winced
and looked at the clock. It was just passed two in the morning.

“Ruby-girl,”
Julia smiled wearily at the little girl’s enthusiasm, even at that
hour in the morning, and tiredly threw off the covers. She was glad
that Ruby had woken her; she’d been too frightened to finish her
job as Santa in case she ran into Douglas. Now, she had the time.
“You need to help me with something quickly. A special errand Santa
left for you and me.”

Ruby gasped
with delight as Julia got up, pulled on her robe and grabbed
another small bag of wrapped presents out of her closet.

Ruby’s eyes
lit up when she saw the bag of presents and they walked
hand-in-hand to the library.

“Santa knows
that Uncle Douglas stays up late so he left his stocking stuffers
with me and asked if you and I could stuff his stocking when we
were sure he was asleep,” Julia whispered conspiratorially.

Ruby’s eyes
rounded happily at the thought of Julia having a conversation with
Santa and being pulled into a Santa Task.

“I think he’s
asleep but I’ll go and check,” she whispered back, tugging a bit on
Julia’s hand.

Julia held on
to the child’s hand more firmly, not wanting an excited Ruby to
burst into Douglas’s room. “No, something tells me we’re safe.”

They quickly
stuffed his stocking and then Julia had an idea. She carefully
selected some gifts from under the tree and with a finger to her
lips at Ruby to keep her secret; she ran back to her room and hid
them in the closet. She then grabbed the throw off the chaise and
went back.

She lay down
on her side on the couch, the Christmas tree lights illuminating
the room happily and she tucked the child in front of her, pulling
the warm throw around them. “We’ll just rest here and wait for the
others to wake up.”

Ruby squirmed
excitedly. “I think we should wake them up.”

“
No,
honey, just rest for a bit, I’m sure they’ll be up soon. Let me
tell you about the story of Christmas, the
real
story of Christmas.”

“You mean
Jesus?” Ruby asked.

“Yes,” Julia
answered and began to tell Ruby about Mary and Joseph but never
finished as the child’s breathing evened out and then Julia
snuggled her closer against her chest and belly and she herself
fell back to sleep.

She felt like
she’d barely closed her eyes when her hair was pulled away from her
cheek and gently tucked behind her ear. Her eyes slowly opened and
she saw Douglas’s face very close to hers. He was fully dressed and
kneeling by the couch.

Julia blinked
several times and then saw the tree and realised where she was.

It was
Christmas, she’d always loved Christmas, any holiday really, and
she couldn’t help herself from smiling sleepily.

“Merry
Christmas,” she whispered.

A slow, lazy,
devastatingly handsome smile drifted across his face.

“Merry
Christmas.” His deep, velvety voice rumbled and awakened Ruby who
took only a scant second to come fully awake and burst out of
Julia’s arms to dance around the room.

Julia noticed
Willie and Lizzie were both watching from across the room, both
barely containing their excitement while still looking on with
confusion (Willie) and triumph (Lizzie).

Julia got up
immediately, all business.

“No one touch
anything,” she commanded. “Lizzie, you go put the kettle on.
Willie, you run and get the camera, do you know where it is?” He
nodded and rushed out. “Right. I’m going to brush my teeth and make
myself presentable. Let’s go!” Julia clapped her hands and quickly
left the room, not allowing herself to spare Douglas a glance.

After she’d
washed her face, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a
ponytail, she made coffee and then the orgy of Christmas began.

If the
children were tormented by their parents not being there, Julia
didn’t notice it. They tore into their generous load of presents
(and, she noted, it was made doubly generous by Douglas’s
significant contribution, or more than likely Sam’s, but it was the
thought that counted).

She
noted Douglas’s surprise when he realised his stocking had been
stuffed somewhere in the night but she ignored it, had to ignore
it, or the warm feeling that seemed to be permeating her entire
body would get out-of-control.

In fact, she
did her best to ignore him altogether and concentrate on the
children, sipping her coffee, occasionally taking photos, opening a
present here and there and tidying the burgeoning mass of discarded
paper, bows and ribbons. Finally, Lizzie put a small, exquisitely
wrapped box in her hand and she saw on the card, in the
unmistakable, confident handwriting of Douglas, that it was from
him.

Her eyes
finally met his.

“I thought –”
she began, intending to mention the emerald.

“Open it!”
Lizzie fairly shouted, almost more curious to see what it held than
Julia.

Julia tore
into the box carefully and gasped in undisguised pleasure when she
found a diamond watch inside.

It was not
something hideously ostentatious but so subtle and elegant it could
be worn every day. She noticed it was a brand that was often
advertised in the most exclusive fashion magazines and she knew it
had to cost thousands, maybe tens of thousands of pounds. She felt
a lump rise in the back of her throat, not at its worth but that it
was absolutely perfect. If she had the money, she would have chosen
it for herself. The thoughtfulness and attention to her style took
her breath away.

She raised
dazed eyes to Douglas’s inquisitive ones and was spared any comment
when he read her expression and his curiosity turned to a look of
such male satisfaction that Julia felt her stomach pitch
dangerously.

It was then
that Lizzie shoved Julia’s present for Douglas in his hands.

Her thrill at
her glorious present evaporated and she nearly groaned, wanting to
snatch his present away.

It was
nowhere near a diamond watch. Not only not in the same ballpark,
not even in the same
galaxy
.

Obliging
Lizzie, he opened it and Julia closed her eyes in embarrassment as
he pulled out a midnight blue tie. It did happen to be very smart
tie and the most unbelievably expensive tie she’d ever purchased.
She had also purchased it at Harrods which was the most
unbelievably posh store in the history of time.

But it was
also just a tie.

“
You
bought him a
tie?
” Lizzie
blurted, turning accusing eyes to Julia, obviously
disgusted.

“It’s a nice
tie,” Douglas said, gently but sternly, reprimanding Lizzie’s
outburst.

“It’s still a
tie,” Lizzie wailed, ignoring Douglas’s soft rebuke.

Feeling
the need to defend herself, and not wanting either Lizzie
or
Douglas to think her ungenerous
she explained to the girl, “It matches his eyes.” Her own eyes
swept to Douglas, wanting him to understand, actually somehow
desperate that he would understand. “It exactly matches your
eyes.”

And it did,
especially then, when they darkened and became the exact, inky,
midnight blue of the tie. At that look, her stomach didn’t just
pitch, it plummeted deliciously.

“It does match
his eyes!” Ruby squealed and the moment was, thankfully,
broken.

There was no
time for anything further. Presents unwrapped, Julia left the room
(or, more appropriately, escaped) and quickly dressed, cooked and
served breakfast. After she cleared away the breakfast dishes, she
went to work on the piles of used wrapping paper and arranged the
opened presents under the tree while the children had scattered to
play with new toys (Ruby), new computer games (Willie) or to try on
new clothes (Lizzie) with Douglas called here and there to help
assemble something or deal with some computer dilemma. Then Julia
was off to begin dinner.

Ronnie arrived
at noon, followed closely by Nick and Mr. and Mrs. K. As they were
guests at Sommersgate House for the first time ever, they didn’t
know what to do with themselves (save Nick who leapt into the fray,
telling amusing, though somewhat frightening, anecdotes that left
Julia to wonder if Douglas had any involvement in them).

For his part,
Douglas played the attentive host, pressing drinks into hands and
drawing out conversation. The company relaxed, starting to enjoy
themselves when the children handed out gifts, including ones they
had specifically chosen for each person (causing Mrs. K to dab at
her eyes with her hanky and Ronnie to escape the room altogether
for fifteen minutes).

Mrs. K finally
could stand it no longer and when Julia left the room to check the
turkey, she followed, nudged Julia out of the way and took over.
Lizzie and Ronnie set the table, giving Julia time to shower and
get ready.

Tammy and Gav
had been resolutely casual for Christmas so Julia followed suit and
put on a pair of her jeans and a bright red, fitted long-sleeved
t-shirt that had a square neck so wide, it was cut nearly all the
way to her shoulders and sleeves that were intentionally long and
she had to bunch them artfully at her wrists. Regardless of the
fact that they were too elegant for her outfit, she wore her new
watch, her emerald studs and the emerald pendant Douglas had given
her.