The Loving Gift

She looked on a little dazedly as, walking away from her, he fell easily into playing his seasonal role, his booming voice calling out good wishes to the children as he was surrounded by them as they went outside.

Jade's legs felt weak, and instead of joining in the revelry outside she sank weakly down into a nearby chair.

She liked working at the Kendrick Preparatory School, and after only one term of being here she was disappointed that it wasn't to be a permanent position. She even liked living in this small Devonshire village, where she was on a first-name basis with all her delivery men. And after living in town all of her life, the last four years of that in London in an apartment on her own, where she had to go out to the shops to buy all her needs, she hadn't expected to adapt so readily to country life. She willingly admitted that it had been the warm hospitality she had received from Penny and Simon that had helped ease her into this totally different way of life.

Penny, loving Simon as she undoubtedly did, couldn't be blamed for thinking Jade must have encouraged Simon's behaviour of a few minutes ago in some way. She couldn't possibly be expected to believe—as Jade herself found it difficult to!—that her mild-mannered husband could behave so recklessly without encouragement of some sort, even with the artificial confidence of alcohol.

It all had such repercussive consequences, also endangering Jade's long-standing friendship with Cathy, the other woman having no choice but to side with her sister. And she had even tentatively been looking forward to Christmas among her new friends. She had been invited to several functions at Penny and Simon's over the holiday period, their two children home for the holidays to complete the family unit. Cathy would also be trying to come down for a few days later on. Now all of that looked very precarious, although at this moment a long and lonely festive season seemed the least of her worries; her job was in jeopardy, a job that meant more to her than any of the people here could realise.

‘Would you like to start clearing up the mess?'

Jade gave a guilty start as she looked up at Penny, feeling ill at how pale and exhausted the other woman looked. ‘Penny, about what happened earlier—–’ she began awkwardly.

‘Yes. I—I'm sorry about that,’ Penny answered vaguely, not at all her usual authoritative self—and who could blame her? ‘I—could you and the others tidy up here?’ She looked uncertainly at the debris in the room from the end-of-term party. ‘I have to go and look for Simon,’ she added agitatedly.

Jade gave a pained frown. ‘I just want to try and explain—–'

‘Could we talk later?’ Penny's voice was sharp; a small, pretty, blonde woman, slightly overweight, and looking all the more attractive because of that, she possessed the sort of organising mind that more or less kept the school running on a day-to-day basis. ‘I really do need to find Simon,’ she frowned.

That shouldn't be too difficult: she just had to follow the sound of the booming ‘Yo ho hos'!

‘I quite understand.’ Jade nodded heavily. ‘But I do need to talk to you afterwards,’ she added firmly.

‘Of course.’ The other woman nodded, her mind obviously elsewhere. ‘I'll just go and find Simon,’ she repeated distantly before disappearing out of the room in search of her husband.

Jade felt even more deflated than she had before; despite her reluctance to discuss it now, Penny was obviously deeply disturbed by Simon's behaviour. But weren't they all? At least none of the children had guessed that ‘Father Christmas’ was more than a little inebriated. But it would only need one of the pupils to mention to their parents Father Christmas's more than seasonal familiarity with one of the teachers for more than Simon's relationship with Penny to be in jeopardy; most of those parents were well aware of the fact that Simon annually took the part of Father Christmas!

The Kendrick school was one of the best of its kind in the country, and Jade had instantly felt comfortable and at ease working in such a happy and contented atmosphere. It wouldn't remain that way for long if people were to learn that Simon took the occasional secret tipple. He risked so much for what appeared to be no more than a craving for something that completely changed his personality—and not for the better!

But Jade put a brave face on the incident when the others returned from outside—Penny and ‘Father Christmas’ conspicuous in their absence—as she helped to organise the clearing-up process, relieved when the only thing left to do was clear away the carol books in a cupboard. She smiled as she thought of the angelic faces of the children as they had all gathered around the piano to sing Christmas carols beside the flamboyantly decorated tree, each child having made at least one decoration to adorn it. There was something so magical about the innocence of children at this time of year, and it was virtually impossible not to feel drawn into the fantasy.

‘Dare I hope that at least part of that smile is for me?'

Jade spun around with a start, disconcerted to suddenly find herself face to face with ‘Father Christmas’ once more. And he didn't look in the least repentant!

‘Penny was looking for you,’ she told him sharply, watching him warily.

He nodded, taking up most of the doorway to the store-cupboard. ‘She found me,’ he drawled.

Her frown turned to puzzlement; if Penny had managed to locate him, what on earth was he doing wandering around loose again in his condition? ‘You haven't upset Penny again, have you?’ she asked suspiciously.

He shrugged. ‘She was crying her eyes out when I left her just now.'

Green eyes widened incredulously. ‘And you just left her?'

‘Well—not exactly. But I needed to see you again before you went home,’ he excused himself.

‘Penny—was—crying—her—eyes—out—and—you—just—–!’ Jade's incredulity turned to disgust as she stared at him in disbelief.

‘I told you, I needed to see you before you left,’ he insisted.

‘To apologise?’ Her eyes flashed warningly at his utter selfishness.

He did manage to look a little shame-faced. ‘I suppose I did go a little over the top a short while ago, but I was only—–'

‘Over the top?’ Jade repeated with soft anger. ‘You were utterly outrageous!'

He grinned. ‘I don't normally act in that impetuous way, it's just that—–'

‘I'm well aware of the way you normally act,’ she snapped, wishing she could have the usual Simon back again, instead of this virtual stranger.

‘—I was attracted to you the moment I entered the room,’ he concluded as if she hadn't interrupted so vehemently.

‘That you were—–! My God, Simon!’ Jade choked emotionally. ‘You've really gone too far now. That scene you created a little while ago I could maybe excuse because of the amount of alcohol you've apparently consumed, but to come here to me now, when Penny is obviously broken-hearted, is inexcusable.'

‘I was only—–'

‘Don't you dare touch me!’ she warned harshly as he would have reached out for her.

‘But I—–'

‘Don't say I didn't warn you!’ she choked at the same time as her hand made contact with the side of his face in a resounding slap.

Jade stared at him in horror after the uncharacteristic violence—and then she swayed dizzily as he began to laugh, a loudly triumphant laugh that convinced her he wasn't drunk, after all, but bordering on the insane! The strain of owning and running the school must have become too much for him. No one in their right mind laughed when they had been slapped the way he just had!

And then her own horror turned to a pained groan as Penny suddenly appeared in the doorway. She was terrified that the other woman would actually think she had been encouraging Simon in this madness. ‘Penny, I'm so sorry about all this, but I—–'

‘You have no reason to be sorry about anything,’ the other woman dismissed easily, gazing affectionately at the man in the Father Christmas suit as he still grinned idiotically, the only sign of her recent tears a slight puffiness about her eyes. ‘He always did have a warped sense of humour,’ she excused him indulgently.

Jade had never noticed it before! ‘I still wouldn't want you to think that I encouraged him,’ she insisted pleadingly.

Penny smiled. ‘I'm sure he didn't need encouraging.’ She shook her head.

It was wonderful that Penny could take her husband's errant behaviour in her stride—Jade wished she could come to terms with it as easily!

‘You really are incorrigible.’ Penny shook her head with rueful disapproval at the grinning ‘Father Christmas'. ‘If you have—–'

‘Darling, surely there has to be a better place for this conversation than a store-cupboard?’ Simon chided lightly as he appeared in the doorway behind his wife—wearing his usual school attire of tweed jacket and tailored trousers.

Jade froze as she stared at him, turning slowly to face the man in the Father Christmas suit. If it wasn't Simon—and she knew now without a doubt that it wasn't!—then who was he?

CHAPTER TWO (#u8c3da91a-0abe-5b24-a77d-92a3eb2b51f8)

‘I'M TELLING you, Wellington, he almost met his Waterloo after that stupid stunt,’ Jade muttered as she poured the cream from the top of her milk into a saucer, giving a snort of disgust as the cat merely looked up at her with pitying eyes before turning his attention to the treat she had put down in front of him.

Jade watched the avid lapping of that delicate pink tongue for several seconds; Wellington certainly had the right idea, concentrating on his drink to the exclusion of all else certainly beat working yourself up into a temper because of the stupidity of some totally insensitive man!

Wellington had appeared on the doorstep of her rented cottage only her second day here, immediately earning his name, completely snowy white except for the four totally black feet that gave him the appearance of wearing Wellington boots.