Christmas in Peppercorn Street

by Anna Jacobs

  Claire kept being reminded that Luke needed company for the festive season just as much as his daughter did, though he might not admit it. He’d been kind to her so the least she could do was return the favour.

  From chance remarks he’d made, she was beginning to think he’d been a workaholic after his wife left him, and a very lonely one at that. By choice, or to fill the empty hours? Or because he wanted to make a lot of money? No, he didn’t seem to care all that much about money, hardly ever referred to it and didn’t live luxuriously.

  Although she’d missed adult companionship, she’d not been as lonely as he obviously had, because she’d had Gabby and they’d had fun together in a quiet way, with old-fashioned card games and paper games like Consequences. It sounded as if he’d not even had regular access to his daughter.

  When he told the girls what he was proposing, she watched her daughter unobtrusively.

  Gabby’s face lit up with joy and she jigged up and down on the spot. ‘We’re going to have a Christmas tree. A real Christmas tree?’

  ‘A big one,’ he promised rashly.

  ‘Oh, Luke, that’ll look so pretty. I’ve seen pictures of them in people’s houses.’

  ‘Haven’t you ever had one?’ Dee cast a quick suspicious glance at Claire, as if ready to accuse her of ill-treating her daughter.

  Gabby shook her head. ‘My dad didn’t like them and he gets grumpy if you don’t do what he wants, so we didn’t bother. All he did was put a wreath on the outside of the front door. It was quite pretty, though it got a bit dusty, but it didn’t light up or anything. And you couldn’t see it at all from inside the house.’

  Claire immediately felt guilty. Once they’d left him, she should have made more effort to decorate the house as other families did. But she’d been so short of money at times that it’d been hard even to buy a present for Gabby. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been able to get small contract jobs, but in winter the rents and power bills had been so high they’d eaten a big hole in what she earned before she even started buying food and clothes.

  Luke smiled at the two girls. ‘Well, I haven’t had a Christmas tree for years either, so we’ll treat ourselves to one and to some all-new, all-shiny decorations to brighten up the whole house, even the bedrooms. It’ll be fun putting them up, won’t it? You’re coming with us to help choose them, aren’t you, Dee?’

  The older girl had been smiling at Gabby’s excitement and this time she took the child’s hand, instead of the other way round. ‘Of course I am. Can I, um, have some decorations for my bedroom as well, Dad?’

  ‘Yes, of course. I’m counting on you two to help me make the whole house beautiful.’

  As Gabby waved her hands about and jumped up and down again, Dee grabbed her hands and swung her round and round till they both crash-landed on the sofa, out of breath and laughing.

  Claire felt a lump in her throat at that.

  Luke clapped his hands together to get their attention. ‘Right, then. We can leave as soon as you lot are ready. We’ll go to that big shopping centre on the outskirts of town, shall we?’

  ‘Yes. Come on, little sister, let’s get our coats on.’

  Gabby gave one of her gurgles of delight. ‘Yes, big sister.’

  They ran out, pushing and shoving one another.

  ‘It’s like a miracle with those two.’ Luke looked at Claire and when she didn’t say anything, he nudged her. ‘Don’t you think?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Her voice came thick with happy tears but he didn’t comment, thank goodness.

  This whole situation was a miracle for her, too. She hadn’t felt so relaxed in ages, or lived in such a comfortable house.

  ‘Let’s simply go along with their fun and games. No warnings about not getting involved, no worrying about saving pennies. I’ve not had anything to spend my money on for years, and the more I earned, the less I could be bothered to spend. And please … don’t just stay for Christmas but into the new year and we’ll celebrate that, too.’

  And heaven help her, she couldn’t say no. ‘All right. As long as Martin doesn’t find us, that is. I don’t want to put you and Dee in danger.’

  He instantly became serious. ‘If he does turn up and start causing trouble, you should think about making a stand, Claire, getting the police involved and finding a permanent way to stop him. You can’t spend the rest of your life on the run. He has no right to do that to you. You don’t deserve it and neither does Gabby.’

  ‘I can’t afford to pay lawyers for the necessary help and what’s the point when he doesn’t pay attention to restraining orders and the police only scold him for it because he hasn’t hurt us?’

  ‘I can pay for better help for you. No, wait. Listen to me. Do you know how much I sold my business for?’

  ‘I’m not after your money,’ she said sharply.

  ‘I know that. You wouldn’t be here if you were, believe me. I’ve learnt to spot gold diggers a mile away, to use an old-fashioned phrase for women after me for my money.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Then he told her how much he’d sold the business for and she gaped at him in shock. ‘You’re a multi-millionaire!’

  He shrugged, his voice low and persuasive. ‘For what that’s worth. Money in the bank doesn’t bring happiness, though, believe me. Let me do this for you. I’m benefitting from it emotionally as much as you are. Look at how Dee was dancing around just then. She and I had been living together but emotionally apart for weeks before you came.’ His last words had come out choked and he had to pause a moment before continuing.

  ‘This time, I’m going to keep Dee. I’ll be seeing a lawyer on my own behalf about that – well, I will if it’s what she wants, too. I’ve not spoken to her about it yet but I will, and soon, to make sure it’s OK with her. She’s nearly grown up. If I’m very lucky, I’ll be able to enjoy the last of her childhood and help her into adulthood, then stay connected even after she goes off to make her way into the world.’

  He waited and when Claire said nothing, his hopeful expression began to fade.

  She couldn’t say no to him, just couldn’t. ‘Very well. Till the new year. But you’ll let me pay our share of the housekeeping expenses while we’re here, won’t you?’

  ‘I’ve got a much better idea. Why don’t you take over as head cook? You talk as if you’re a good one. I’m not. Oh, I’ve learnt to prepare adequate food for myself, especially quick and healthy salads. But I wouldn’t know where to start with the preparations for a Christmas feast.’

  ‘I’d enjoy doing that.’

  ‘You won’t get off lightly, because I want a real, home-made Christmas cake, mince pies, bowls of nuts – all the trimmings you can think of.’

  She joined in, sharing her own favourites. ‘And add a gingerbread house to your list. The girls will love helping me make one.’

  ‘So will I. Hansel and Gretel, here we come.’

  ‘I like making mince pies best, though. Not the plastic-looking ones you see in the shops, all in neat rows, all identical, all tasting … pleasant, but more like sugar than fruit. I like to see lopsided ones that children have rolled out and decorated with extra twirls of pastry. And they should have good fruit mince in them, a mixture that I’ve put together myself and soaked in port for a few days.’

  ‘Ooh, yum. You’re making my mouth water.’ He leant back and beamed at her. ‘Is that agreed then?’ At her nod, he added, ‘Then I’ll appoint myself chief bottle washer and do the clearing up after meals as my share of the chores.’

  She swallowed hard and confessed, ‘Even now, I hardly dare hope for a Christmas like you describe to happen. We’ve just under two weeks to go.’

  ‘It will if we try hard enough. We’ll make it happen. And we won’t let anyone stop us. Agreed?’

  She looked at him. Did she dare allow herself to hope for a little joy for herself and Gabby? A little voice kept repeating in her head, Oh please, oh please. Just go for it.

  She answered the voice with
a mental vow: All right. I will. I’ll do it. Then she said it aloud and saw his face brighten.

  When the girls came back, she asked, ‘After we come back from shopping, who wants to help me make fruit mince and then in a few days, make some batches of mince pies with it?’

  Dee looked at her in surprise. ‘I thought you just bought jars of fruit mince from the supermarket.’

  ‘No. You put fruit together, with chopped walnuts and real dried fruit, not brown sweet sludge, and then you put port wine into it. After that you have to turn the bottles of fruit mince upside down a couple of times each day to let the port percolate through the fruit. You two will be in charge of doing that.’

  They both cheered and jigged about shouting, ‘Yes, yes! We’ll do it.’

  Best of all, Dee completely forgot to stand on her teenage dignity.

  ‘And you have to be in it too, Luke. We can’t leave you out of the fun. You have to roll out pastry and make mince pies as well when the time comes.’

  She could see it now: four of them in the kitchen, laughing, bumping into one another, making preparations for a real family Christmas. What more could you ask for?

  A shiver ran down Claire’s spine at this thought.

  She could also ask for a complete absence of fear, a sure knowledge that Martin wouldn’t be coming after them, or was that a step too far?

  Then she shook away those negative thoughts and let herself dive into the first preparations for a joyful family Christmas as they explored the cupboards and looked for suitable ingredients and baking equipment. There was very little of either to be found.

  ‘Right. We need to make a shopping list.’

  Dee rushed to find paper, Gabby tagging along behind her, and they set to work.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The shopping centre was crowded, with small children dashing about and slowing people down, since it was the weekend. Claire kept an eye on Gabby, who hadn’t been in a big place like this since they left Martin. But her indomitable daughter took it all in her stride, watching wide-eyed, asking questions.

  She still held tight to Dee’s hand, however.

  Luke nudged Claire. ‘It’s so crowded, you’d better hold onto me. We don’t want our group to get separated. Dee, you two stay close behind us.’ He took Claire’s hand and they set off.

  How long was it since she’d held a man’s hand? Too long. This was … nice.

  They found the perfect tree in one of the big superstores, and all right, it was artificial, all silver tinsel, but it was still going to be beautiful once they’d dressed it up.

  Claire watched in amazement, feeling literally breathless at the amount of money Luke was spending. But when she tried to protest that a smaller size of tree would be fine, and they definitely didn’t need that many ornaments and strands of tinsel, he laughed and told the two girls to carry on choosing things.

  In the end she gave up protesting and relaxed, allowing herself to enjoy every single thing about the day.

  As they moved from shop to shop, everything was like a dream come true, right until the moment when a woman’s voice called, ‘Claire? Is that you?’

  She stopped dead, clutching Luke’s arm as well as his hand now as she stared in horror at a former neighbour from her time with Martin. What on earth was Lindsay Corton doing here, so far from home?

  Lindsay came right up to her. ‘Surprised to see me, Claire? Well, I’m even more surprised to see you. I thought you and Gabby had dropped off the face of the earth. Darren, look who’s here!’

  A man who’d been paying for something at the till turned round, saw them and hurried across to join the group. He studied Gabby intently and smiled at her, but gave Claire only a curt nod, not looking at all happy to see her.

  Claire clung to Luke’s arm, trying to hide her terror at the sight of them. The two girls seemed to pick up her anxiety and moved to stand close behind them, as if for protection.

  Darren Corton was as close to a friend as Martin had ever had. They’d grown up together, worked in the same company for a time, gone for drinks after work together. Both had very rigid ideas about the world.

  She couldn’t get a word out, didn’t know how to deal with this.

  Luke half turned and bent to say something to Dee, then put his arm round her shoulders. ‘Claire is so surprised to see you here that she hasn’t introduced me. I’m her new husband, George.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you.’ But Darren didn’t offer his hand and looked even more disapproving, clearly in no way pleased at this introduction. ‘I must tell Martin we bumped into you – both of you. And does he know you’ve got married again?’

  ‘No. It’s none of his business.’

  As he glared at her, his wife took over. ‘You’re looking good, Claire. Losing weight suits you. And who is this, not Gabby, surely? My, how you’ve grown. Your dad’s really missing you.’

  Dee kept her arm round the smaller child. ‘I’m Gabby’s new sister, Jenny.’

  Lindsay said, ‘Oh. How nice for you both.’ But like her husband, she didn’t look as if she approved of the new family situation.

  ‘Do you live nearby, Claire? If so, we should meet for drinks. We’re staying with an elderly aunt of mine for a few days. She’s just come out of hospital.’

  Again, it was Luke who stepped in. ‘Sorry, but we can’t. We’re only visiting the area, staying with my mother for the weekend and taking the opportunity to do some major Christmas shopping, since this is our first Christmas together as a family. We have a party at my mother’s tonight and then we go home tomorrow morning.’

  Claire managed to pull herself together. ‘Goodness, just look at the time. We said we’d not be more than a couple of hours, George. I promised to help your mother get ready for tonight. Nice seeing you again, Lindsay, Darren.’

  ‘How about giving us your phone number?’ Lindsay called after them.

  She didn’t answer, letting Luke lead them rapidly towards the nearest exit. The children didn’t need telling to keep up.

  They had to walk quite a way along the edge of the parking area, because this wasn’t the closest exit to their car. They kept looking behind them but saw no sign of Lindsay and Darren following them, thank goodness.

  As they got into the car, he studied Claire’s face. ‘You did well. Cheer up, we’ve got rid of them.’ Then he turned round and said, ‘You girls were magnificent! Anybody would have thought you really were sisters.’

  ‘You know what? It feels as if we are.’ Dee looked surprised at her own impulsive words.

  Gabby beamed at him. To Claire’s relief, she seemed to have taken the incident as a sort of game. ‘I like having a big sister.’

  Dee reached out a tentative hand to pat Claire’s shoulder as if offering comfort. She obviously understood that Claire was upset by the encounter. ‘We’ll be all right, really we will. They don’t know where we live.’

  They drove round to pick up their larger purchases from the parcel pick-up at the rear of the store, then set off back. Claire would have just left the things and driven off, but Luke refused to do that.

  He kept an eye on his rear-view mirror and she looked from side to side, but neither of them saw any sign of another vehicle following them.

  When Claire and her new family had driven off from the parcel pick-up, Lindsay turned towards her husband. ‘Clever of you to think they might come here, Darren. I’ve written the car registration down. A Mercedes, eh? He must have plenty of money.’

  He started up the car again. ‘I’m glad we saw them! I hate the way that woman has taken Martin’s child from him. She deserves to lose custody for it.’

  ‘Will he be able to find out where they are from the man’s number plate?’

  ‘Martin? He’s brilliant at using the Internet to find things out. Of course he will.’ He pulled out his phone.

  She hesitated, putting a hand on his to stop him dialling. ‘Just a minute. Are we rushing into this? I can’t help wondering whether we
really ought to interfere. Martin can be a bit … controlling. And they are divorced now.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid! He’s had to take charge of what that fool of a woman was doing, for his daughter’s sake. Of course we ought to tell him. If you can’t help a friend, who can you help?’

  He waited a moment, then dialled and waited, smiling grimly when his friend picked up. ‘Martin? Yes, my aunt is improving, thank you. Look, I’ve got some useful information for you about your wife.’

  ‘Ah.’

  When he’d finished the conversation, Darren opened the car door and got out. ‘We might as well finish our shopping. Come on. And stop looking so worried.’

  ‘I’m still not sure we’ve done the right thing.’

  ‘I am.’

  When they turned in to Peppercorn Street, it felt to Claire as if they really were coming home. Then she got angry with herself for that. No, this wasn’t her home and she mustn’t think of it that way. It was going to be hard enough to leave here without allowing herself to get emotionally attached.

  Then she admitted it to herself that it was too late to be sensible: she was already attached to this place, as well as to this kind man and his clever daughter – and so was Gabby.

  Lindsay and Darren would undoubtedly tell Martin they’d seen her at the shopping centre and then he’d start ferreting around the district, might even chance on a clue and come after them. She’d never met anyone as persistent as he was when he wanted something.

  Was nowhere going to be safe from him? What could she do to find a permanent hiding place? She’d been trying in vain to stay under the radar for nearly two years now and oh, she was so very tired of running away and being ultra-cautious about where she went and what she did.

  Could Luke be right? Was it time to make a stand?

  She didn’t know if she had the courage to do that, or even whether there were any other legal ways of keeping her ex permanently away from them. Restraining orders hadn’t worked. Only, if she didn’t manage to get truly free of Martin, what would Gabby’s young life be like?