The Loving Gift

by Carole Mortimer

  Jade gave a sigh. It seemed there was no way she could get out of the plans already made without insulting the couple who had been so kind to her. Penny was probably wondering what she was doing running scared just because David was chasing her so hard; after all, there couldn’t be that many women who would actually want to run! David Kendrick was everything that was eligible: handsome, fun, charming, rich. Even that tendency he had to be rather intense wouldn’t diminish some women’s interest, and now that she knew about his first wife she could better understand the conclusions he had drawn about the slaps she had given him. Although that certainly didn’t mean she believed in that nonsense! She had slapped him because he’d been acting so strangely, not because she had been inspired to do so by a dead woman. Although she couldn’t help but feel curious as to why Sara had administered her slap all those years ago…

  No doubt Penny knew, and would probably enjoy telling her, but she didn’t want to seem in the least interested in David Kendrick or his past.

  ‘If it’s going to upset things for you…’ she reluctantly gave in.

  ‘It is,’ the other woman instantly accepted, her expression brightening. ‘And if Cathy does turn up, maybe I won’t have to find a partner for David for long.’

  Jade had no doubts that David could find his own partner, all too easily; she was also certain he would do no such thing when he was so intent on capturing her.

  ‘That’s all settled, then,’ Penny said briskly as she tidied away the washed and dried crockery. ‘I have to admit, I thought I was going to have more trouble convincing you than that,’ she confided cheekily.

  She gave the other woman a reproving look, mentally berating herself for being so gullible.

  ‘Hey, Simon and I really aren’t going to abandon you to his clutches,’ Penny chided at her frowning expression.

  As David insisted on being the one to drive her back home a short time later, Jade knew the other couple weren’t going to be given much choice. Beneath the charm and fun was a will of iron, apparently!

  ‘Cheer up,’ he advised lightly as he did up his seat-belt beside her. ‘I’m not about to ravish you as soon as we reach your cottage.’

  Jade gave him a dismissive glance, considering the remark not even worthy of a reply. Of course he wasn’t about to ravish her, he was a man in his mid-thirties, hardly still in the juvenile stage!

  ‘Which isn’t to say,’ he added softly as he manoeuvred the Range Rover out on to the road, ‘that I’m not going to try to steal a kiss or two.’ His eyes gleamed with intent.

  She felt her cheeks pale, her lips suddenly stiff. ‘No one takes anything from me that I don’t wish to give,’ she bit out harshly. Not any more, no one did that to her any more!

  David shot her a questioning glance. ‘That was said with rather a lot of feeling?’

  ‘And shouldn’t it have been?’ she returned defensively. ‘What right do you have to try to take something I don’t want to give?’ Her eyes flashed deeply green.

  ‘I don’t take, Jade,’ he told her gently, the hand nearest to her reaching out to clasp hers as it rested against her thigh, his hand tightening fractionally as he felt her stiffen, before slowly releasing her. ‘Sara didn’t slap me because she was physically afraid of me,’ he explained softly.

  ‘Sara?’ Jade gave him a sharp look. ‘What does your wife have to do with this?’ Surely that was the last subject they should be discussing in the circumstances?

  ‘I thought maybe you had imagined I had tried to “ravish” her on our first meeting, and that was the reason for your wariness… Obviously I was wrong,’ he murmured thoughtfully. ‘Would you like to hear why Sara did slap me?’ he enquired lightly, just as if the last few moments of tension hadn’t happened.

  Jade was disconcerted, realising that perhaps she was supposed to be, but too relieved by the change of subject to question it. ‘I’d love to know what Sara could possibly have found so irritating about you that she resorted to physical violence on your first meeting.’ Her tone implied she couldn’t imagine a man who had deserved the slap more.

  David chuckled softly. ‘She thought I was having an affair with her mother.’

  Jade gasped; she couldn’t help it. Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly hadn’t been that!

  ‘It wasn’t true, of course,’ he added drily.

  She raised auburn brows, more in control again now. ‘It wasn’t?’ she mocked.

  He gave a rueful smile. ‘I know you would love to think it was, but unfortunately it wasn’t. Judy was, and is, a lovely woman,’ he derided at her questioning look, chuckling as she looked suitably taken aback. ‘She was also one of the first authors I signed for Empire: Judy Maxwell.’

  Jade knew the author well, another of her favourites, specialising in those big blockbuster sagas that were always so popular.

  ‘We had been having a series of meetings about a manuscript she had submitted to me, and because Judy wanted to surprise her family with her “success”, she hadn’t told any of them she had sent the manuscript off to a publisher, let alone that we actually wanted to talk to her about it. The first I knew that Sara had found out about the meetings and drawn the wrong conclusion was when this black-haired vixen came into my office and accused me of seducing her mother, just as she punched me in the eye. She was nineteen at the time, full of idealism, and seducing her mother, even though Judy had been a widow for over five years, just wasn’t on,’ he remembered fondly.

  The affection and love he had felt for his wife was all there in his voice, and once again Jade had the feeling of intruding on something that was intensely private.

  ‘But the two of you did marry a week later,’ she prompted abruptly, the snow having stopped falling some time during the course of the evening, the heavy vehicle finding the journey easily manageable. Thank goodness!

  He nodded. ‘With me still sporting the black eye she had given me,’ he smiled. ‘Once Judy and I had calmed Sara down enough to listen, we explained the true situation to her. And once she had calmed down I realised she was even more beautiful then than she had been when she was angry; I lost no time in inviting her out to dinner. Within a few days we were inseparable, and when we decided to marry there was no doubt in either of our minds that we were making the right decision.’

  But Sara had died, and from the sound of it that emotional side of this man’s life had died along with her. Until now. She should feel honoured that David considered her worthy enough to take his beloved Sara’s place, but she only felt panic.

  ‘Judy was a terrific mother-in-law,’ David recalled fondly. ‘We’re still very good friends. And we always get together on the anniversary of Sara’s death.’ There was naked pain in his voice as he spoke of it.

  ‘She must have been very young,’ Jade’s voice was gruff.

  ‘Only twenty,’ he nodded grimly. ‘We had only been married a year. She had leukaemia, we found out soon after our wedding. Nineteen years old and already condemned to die,’ he said harshly. ‘We put a lifetime of loving into that year, fulfilled all her dreams. Except one. A child,’ he explained softly as he sensed Jade’s questioning look, staring ahead into the darkness. ‘She would have been a wonderful mother; she loved children as much as you do.’

  Jade felt a familiar jolt as she realised that she was now the object of this man’s emotions. And it sounded as if, when he loved, he loved long and deeply. God, she didn’t want to see him hurt again after what he had just told her, but he had to be made to see that he had misplaced his affection, that she was totally unsuitable.

  ‘I love teaching children,’ she corrected. ‘I’ve never envisaged having any of my own,’ she lied, knowing that that particular dream had been buried some time ago, along with several others she had cherished.

  ‘I won’t push for that if it’s something you feel strongly about,’ David shrugged. ‘It might have been nice to have a little girl with your auburn hair and jade-coloured eyes,’ he added wistfully. ‘But
it isn’t something I’m going to insist upon.’

  He made her feel so helpless, with his certainty that there was a future for them, with or without children! How could you get through to a man who simply wouldn’t listen?

  He drew the Range Rover to a halt in her small driveway, turning in his seat to look at her after turning on the overhead light. ‘I’ll pick you up about eleven o’clock in the morning, shall I? Or do you prefer to sleep later than that?’ He quirked dark brows.

  ‘I would prefer not to be disturbed at all in the morning,’ she told him frostily.

  ‘OK,’ he shrugged without rancour. ‘I’ll come over in the afternoon.’

  ‘David—’

  ‘I noticed you didn’t have a tree at the cottage,’ he cut in softly. ‘I thought we could go and choose one together.’

  The fact that he had noticed the lack of decorations at the cottage shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her; he seemed to take note of everything about him, with little effort. The fact that he felt he had some right to rectify matters rankled.

  He gave a pained grimace. ‘I can see I’ve stepped on your toes again.’

  Jade’s cheeks became warm. ‘It isn’t that, I just wasn’t going to bother with a tree this year. I shall be there so little, you see.’ She was babbling, making excuses and explaining herself over something that was really none of this man’s business. ‘I thought I might spend more time picking it up after Wellington decided to play on it than I would looking at it,’ she announced defensively.

  ‘The cat?’ he guessed correctly. ‘He looked as if his interests lie in quite another direction,’ he derided.

  ‘The pine needles might damage his pads,’ she insisted stubbornly.

  ‘Then we’ll buy one of those plastic ones that are supposed to be so realistic,’ he suggested, undeterred.

  Christmas trees with pine needles that her mother good-naturedly complained shed all over her carpet and constantly needed vacuuming up reminded her too vividly of Christmases spent at home with her family, of the warmth and happiness that had existed there. All of those things denied to her now.

  ‘If I had wanted a tree, I would have bought one,’ she snapped coldly, pushing open the door at her side. ‘Thank you for bringing me home, Mr Kendrick. No doubt I will be seeing you again shortly.’ She stood outside in the snow now.

  ‘I’ll walk you to the door.’ David made a move to get out of the Range Rover.

  ‘No need,’ Jade told him shortly. ‘There’s no reason for both of us to get cold.’

  He relaxed back in his seat. ‘You can’t keep running for ever, Jade,’ he warned her softly.

  ‘Running?’ she echoed in a strangulated voice. ‘What on earth do you mean?’ Her hands were clenched at her sides.

  ‘Running from me,’ he said slowly, giving her a considering look. ‘At least, that’s what I think I meant,’ he added with deep puzzlement, intrigued by her reaction.

  Jade’s eyes blazed. ‘I’m not running from anyone or anything,’ she grated harshly. ‘Once again, thank you for the lift home.’ She slammed the door behind her, not looking back as she trudged over to the cottage door, turning the key in the lock to close the door firmly behind her just as she heard the Range Rover engine leap back into life at the switch of the key.

  She leant back against the closed cottage door, visibly shaken. For a moment, a very brief moment, she had imagined that somehow David Kendrick had guessed that the only man she had ever fallen in love with had stolen more than her heart, that he had taken so much more from her than that…

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE thudding noise was soft, but irritating. Jade moved protestingly beneath the soft down of her quilt, the light behind her closed lids telling her it was morning, but the lethargy of her body also telling her it wasn’t far enough into the morning for her to have to get out of bed yet. Besides, it was a Saturday.

  The soft thudding continued, gently, but persistently.

  ‘Go away, Wellington.’ She dragged an arm from beneath the warmth, braving the chill air she knew would meet her outside of it, waving the cat away from whatever he was doing that was so annoying.

  The soft thudding continued, gently, but persistently.

  ‘If you want breakfast this morning, cat, I would advise you to stop that now,’ she growled frustratedly.

  The soft thudding noise came again—just about the same time she realised that the extra warmth on her feet was the still sleeping body of the innocent cat.

  Jade gave a weary sigh, so tired she didn’t want to wake up yet. It had been a restless night, memories she would rather not have relived flooding her mind until she had no choice but to face them. Sleep had been a long time coming after that.

  And now that thudding, that out-of-tune-with-her-usual-morning-sounds noise persisted in disturbing her when she would rather have turned over and gone back to sleep for several hours.

  But she knew she couldn’t do that, that she would have to get up and investigate the sound, especially as they had had the first snowfall last night since she moved in here. One of the roofs could be leaking, or— Suddenly sleep was the farthest thing from her mind; throwing back the duvet, her body immediately chilled as she quiveringly pulled on the thick robe she had found so helpful in recent weeks.

  As she sat on the side of the bed she realised that the thudding noise was coming from the curtained window. The snow was melting already? There would be a lot of disappointed children this morning if that were the case.

  She winced as she slightly parted the curtains and the white light from the blanket of snow that covered the ground instantly hit her.

  It took her a few seconds to focus in the bright light of this winter morning, but when she did it was to realise there was a large mound of snow sliding down the window. Just as she realised that, a missile struck the window in front of her, causing her to pull back in alarm. And then she recognised it was only a snowball. But the snowball had to have been thrown by someone…

  She instantly ruled out one of the village children, knowing even before she tentatively looked down into her tiny front garden who the culprit was.

  David Kendrick grinned up at her cheekily, looking disgustingly healthy and robust in the early morning light, the cold air having added a glow to his hard cheeks.

  Jade dropped the curtains back into place as if they had burnt her, anger ripping through her as she turned back into the bedroom.

  ‘I should have known,’ she muttered as she threw open her wardrobe door to pull out a pair of denims and a thick green jumper. ‘I don’t know what possessed me to blame you, Wellington,’ she furiously apologised as she dragged the clothes on. ‘You’re the only male I can rely on not to let me down or annoy me!’ She slammed the wardrobe door on her way out of the room, her feet in the knee-length boots making a clattering noise on the stairs as she ran down them.

  David had just gathered up enough snow to make another missile as she threw the door open, his eyes full of devilment as he spied her in the doorway.

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ she fumed warningly.

  The glove-covered hand that held the snow slowly lowered, the black leather jacket worn over a dark blue jumper and denims today, his hair lightly ruffled by the gentle breeze, adding to his rakish attraction.

  The last thing Jade wanted at this moment was to be reminded of his devilish charm!

  He dusted the snow from his hands. ‘No wonder the children listen when you talk,’ he said ruefully.

  ‘Well, if you will persist in acting like a child…’ she returned waspishly. ‘Do you realise what time of morning it is?’ A quick glance at the clock on her mantel on her way to the front door had told her it was only just after eight o’clock.

  ‘The best time of day for a snowball fight,’ he told her disarmingly.

  Jade was taken aback by the endearingly made statement. A snowball fight…!

  ‘OK.’ David held his hands up defensively, looking more boyish than
ever. ‘The truth of the matter is I’ve hardly slept all night for thinking of you, and I couldn’t wait any longer to see if you really did exist or if I could possibly have dreamt you. You can’t imagine the relief I felt when you pulled back the curtains a few minutes ago. And don’t worry, I forgive you for deceiving me.’

  Jade was totally disconcerted by his candid admissions, although she stiffened warily at the last. ‘Deceiving you?’ she echoed softly.

  He nodded, that grin back in place. ‘Your hair is gloriously silky when it’s loose about your shoulders like that, and you certainly don’t need your glasses.’

  Her cheeks felt hot as she realised she had been in such a hurry to get down here and give him a verbal dressing-down that she hadn’t even brushed her hair this morning, let alone confined it in its usual style, and her glasses still sat on the bedside cabinet…

  Bending, she scooped up a handful of the icy snow. ‘You’re right about the latter,’ she accepted at the same moment she drew back her arm and took aim with the snowball. It landed smack in the middle of his chest. ‘I can certainly see well enough to hit large objects!’ She faced him challengingly.

  ‘Large objects—!’ he repeated with a low whistle between his teeth. ‘That’s fighting talk, Miss Mellors,’ he warned silkily as he bent to retaliate.

  It was ridiculous—eight o’clock in the morning and she was having a snowball fight with a man who yesterday had given every impression of being disturbed. In fact he hadn’t done a single thing to change that impression; waking her up in this way certainly didn’t qualify!

  After several minutes of exuberant snowball-throwing, the majority of them reaching their mark, they were both glowingly warm—on the inside, at least. On the outside it was a different story, their clothes damp and uncomfortable, Jade’s hair no longer ‘gloriously silky’ but hanging in wet tendrils about her face, and as for her hands—She hadn’t even had the benefit of gloves.

  ‘Time to go inside and get warm, I think,’ David recognised as he saw her involuntary shiver.