A Christmas Gift for Kate

by Tess Brennan

  “Don’t hold your breath,” Jossy said. “I’m not having kids for at least ten years.”

  “Ditto,” said her brother.

  Kate moved over to Jossy. “Thanks for picking out these things, Jossy. You did a great job.”

  “Wasn’t me,” Jossy said off-handedly, not looking at her. “I just gave the list and the fabric samples to the sales assistants. They did all the work.”

  “Well, you picked the right sales assistants,” her grandmother said contentedly. “Anyway, since Logan’s heading off at lunch time tomorrow, I thought we might have a celebratory dinner tonight. You too, Kate. We need to have the entire team here.”

  “Absolutely,” said Tolly. “Don’t worry, Kate, it’s safe. I’m doing the cooking.”

  Caught, Kate nodded. She didn’t know whether Jossy was just jealous of any woman her father paid attention to, or whether her attitude had been influenced by Dan’s performance the day before. A dinner sitting across from the girl would not be fun, but if that’s what Grace wanted, that’s what she’d get.

  “Sounds delightful,” she said. “You cook, Tolly, I’ll wash up. You’re the guest of honor, Grace, so you don’t get to do anything but bask in the attention.”

  Grace was still rocking back and forth in the chair near the window, beaming as she took in her surroundings. “And I will!”

  Kate decided it was time to go. “There are a few things I have to do at home, so I’ll head off. What time, Tolly?”

  “Come over at five; we’ll have a glass of wine before we eat.” He put his hand on her arm and smiled at her. “I’ll show you out.”

  Sensing Jossy’s gaze, Kate smiled back and moved away. “Not necessary. I think I know the way. Catch you later, everyone.”

  They all trooped downstairs behind her anyway, with Logan and Jossy staying close to Grace.

  Kate made her farewells, and was glad to be out of there and away from Tolly’s children as she hurried back to her own cozy house.

  Why, she thought, did families have to be so complicated?

  The evening started out well enough.

  They sat and chatted, with Grace keeping the conversation rolling along. Jossy and Logan were quiet, but Jossy kept flicking looks at Kate and her father, who was sitting at Kate’s side. For dinner, Tolly had put together a lasagna and a simple Italian salad. Gradually, Kate relaxed, and over dinner joined in the conversation about the renovations. At first she was reticent about her ideas, but with Grace’s encouragement, she began to suggest a few things.

  At eight o’clock she started making noises about helping with the cleanup and then heading for home and bed. “I’m working tomorrow,” she reminded Tolly when he asked her to stay a little longer. “Monday, Wednesday, Fridays are my days at the gift store.” She didn’t mention that the other reason she wanted to go was to put some more hours in on Grace’s Christmas gift: the flower quilt. Christmas was getting all too close, and Saturday afternoon was out, since she’d asked Grace, Lily and Sarah to afternoon tea.

  She had no idea when she’d have time to catch up properly with Tolly, without his family around. Logan was heading off tomorrow, but Jossy would be there for a few weeks. Guiltily, she found herself wishing that the girl was leaving too.

  Hardly Christian charity, Kate, she reminded herself while she collected dishes. Jossy was Tolly’s daughter, and he clearly loved her. She couldn’t blame the girl for being jealous, when she’d had to go through the stress of losing her own mother and then watching her dad’s second marriage fall apart.

  Tolly stood up. “I’ll help.”

  “No.” Kate pointed to the chair beside Grace with mock sternness. “You cooked, and it’s Grace’s day. Entertain your Mom while we take care of the dishes.”

  “That’s right,” Jossy said. “Sit down and rest, Dad. We can do it. Logan?”

  Quietly, Kate carried the last of the tableware and leftover food to the kitchen. Another fifteen minutes and she’d be out of there. From the doorway, she cast a regretful glance at Tolly, sitting there laughing at some witticism of Grace’s. His gray-streaked dark hair was ruffled from his habit of running a hand through it, and his blue eyes, alight with mirth, were fixed on his mother.

  It was crazy, the challenge of finding time alone with him. Even when she was upstairs fixing up Grace’s bedroom, Jossy was hovering around.

  Kate ran water over the plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Maybe she could catch up with Tolly on Sunday. She turned the idea over in her mind. She could ask him back for coffee after church, so they could have a proper conversation.

  “Kate?”

  Startled out of her thoughts, Kate looked at Jossy, who was standing beside her. “Yes?”

  “Um, Logan and I wanted a word.” Jossy held her arms stiffly by her side, her fingers flexing. She looked nervous but determined. She looked over Kate’s shoulder and motioned for her brother to come closer.

  Uh oh. Kate straightened up and wiped her hands on the tea-towel, looking from one of the Nelson siblings to the other. “What is it?”

  “It’s about Dad.”

  Kate just raised her eyebrows, nodded and waited, schooling her expression to be pleasant.

  “Well, um.” Jossy lost her momentum for a moment, and then took a breath and went on. “Did you know my mother died when I was fourteen?” The girl pressed her lips together, and Kate saw that even ten years later, the memory still hurt.

  “Yes,” she said gently. “I did know that. I’m so sorry.”

  “Dad was really cut up about it,” Jossy went on, her eyes intense. “It took him years to get over it.”

  “I imagine it would, yes.”

  “And then he finally married Gina, after Mom had been gone six years.”

  Kate nodded. She’d heard snippets of the story from Grace, but her friend didn’t seem to like to talk about Gina much.

  “Gina was bad news.” The words burst from Jossy’s mouth, and her face twisted. “In the end she only wanted him for his money. She—”

  Logan nudged her, his eyes flicking to the door. “Ssh, Jossy, keep it down.”

  “Well she did.” Jossy lowered her tone, hurt in her voice. “You know she did. Poor Dad.” She kept her eyes fixed on Kate’s. “She was only with him four months, and she robbed him blind.”

  Kate didn’t like where this was going. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Jossy.”

  “It can’t happen again,” she said passionately. “Dad deserves better than that. Once she had what she wanted, she went off with someone else, did you know that?” She swallowed hard. “I’m not going to stand by and watch while someone else moves in and takes over his life, leaves him with nothing.”

  “Jossy.” Logan shushed her again, his eyes wary as he looked in the direction of the living room.

  Kate folded the tea-towel before hanging it on the rail. “And you think that the ‘someone else’ to hurt your father is going to be me.”

  “Well, you’re doing what she did. Starting out by being helpful and then taking over. Giving him advice on renovations, getting him to buy stuff.” Now she was on a roll, Jossy wasn’t going to stop. “I can see it all happening again. I don’t know how Dad can be so blind.” Tears of rage sparkled in her eyes. “I can’t bear it.”

  Kate found herself shaking with equal rage, infuriated that someone would believe that of her. “I’m Grace’s neighbor. All I’m doing is helping out. For heaven’s sake, Jossy, I’m not after your father’s money.”

  “I heard your ex-husband the other day. That’s who he was, right? Saying you were ‘gouging money out of him’.” Jossy made quotation marks with her fingers as she spoke. “That you’d be hearing from his lawyers. That’s exactly what Gina did.”

  How could this be happening? Kate stared from Jossy to Logan and shook her head. “Is that what you think, too, Logan?”

  He looked uncomfortable, but straightened a little and stood closer to his sister. “Like Jossy says, we’ve seen i
t happen.”

  Anger warred with sadness in Kate’s heart. As though it hadn’t been enough to deal with her daughters and her ex-husband, now she had Grace’s grandchildren thinking she was a money-hungry, opportunistic divorcee.

  She couldn’t handle any more of this. “I think I’d better go.”

  Jossy nodded, her eyes determined. “I just wanted you to know, I’ll be watching, while I’m here. And I’m going to have a word to him before I go.”

  “You do that,” Kate said before she had time to think. “Warn him that his predatory next door neighbor is just waiting to get her hooks into his millions. No, better still, I’ll warn him for you. How’s that?”

  “Don’t you dare turn it around so he’s on your side!” Jossy’s face grew red. “If you try to turn him against me…” Her lip trembled.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Kate told her in disgust, barely hanging on to her temper. “That’s not the way I operate.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Whatever you think, I’m not that kind of person.” Kate shook her head vehemently. “I need to leave, before I say something I’ll regret.” She pushed past them and took a couple of deep breaths before she put her head around the door to the sitting room.

  “I’m off now,” she said with a bright smile that encompassed both Tolly and his mother. “Thanks for the meal, Tolly.”

  “The least I could do,” he said, getting up. “This time I will show you out.”

  “No.” Kate spoke more sharply than she meant to, holding up a hand to stop him. “No, don’t get up. I’ll catch up with you at the weekend. ’Bye, Grace.”

  “Goodbye.” Grace eyed her curiously, enough to let Kate know that her friend had picked up something odd in her behavior. “And thanks again. I love, love, love my room.”

  “I know. I’m so pleased.” Kate gave a small finger wave. “I’ve already said my goodbyes to Logan and Jossy. See you on Saturday afternoon, Grace.”

  With that she was off, conscious that Tolly’s children were standing at the kitchen door watching her leave, and that they had been listening to her goodbyes to Tolly and Grace.

  Yes, she was totally over these family dramas: both her own and Tolly’s. Thank goodness for a day in the gift store tomorrow. That would distract her at least for a while.

  What was she supposed to do about Tolly?

  Not ask him over after church on Sunday, that was for sure.

  Maybe she and Tolly just weren’t destined to happen.

  10

  On Saturday morning, Kate got a call from Brooke.

  “Hi, Mom.” Her middle daughter’s voice sounded a little guarded. “How are things?”

  “Fine, darling.” Kate’s fingers tensed on the phone. Please don’t let it be bad news. She was still stewing over Jossy’s accusations, and she really didn’t need any more stress. “I was going to call you soon, actually. It’s only just over a week til Christmas Day. We need to get organized.”

  “That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. Sophie and I will be staying for two nights – Christmas Eve and Christmas day, if that’s OK?”

  “Of course it is! You don’t even need to ask.” Kate’s heart warmed. It would be lovely to have her girls around for a few days.

  “I’m bringing desserts, and Sophie’s taking care of snacks and drinks. And we’ll help cook, do whatever you need.”

  “Sounds lovely.” Kate walked to the window and stared out. It was cold, but fine. She needed to take Nessy out soon for a walk. “What about Amy? Do you know what her plans are?”

  “She hasn’t called you yet?” Now the hesitation in Brooke’s voice was even more obvious.

  “Not yet.” When Brooke didn’t immediately respond, she said, “She’s not coming, is she?”

  “No, no. I mean yes, she’s coming. But she said that she and Lachlan are just coming for the day, not staying over.” Brooke paused and went on with a rush, “I’m sure she’ll call today, Mom. She’s busy, you know?”

  “You don’t need to make excuses for your sister, Brooke.”

  Another pause. Then: “Since you haven’t heard from Amy, I guess I might as well tell you. She and Lachlan had their lawyer send off something to Dad’s lawyers, and Dad’s been to see us all, and…” her voice broke.

  After Dan’s performance earlier in the week, Kate could imagine his fury with his daughters. “And he’s going to fight it.”

  “That’s what he said then, but yesterday his lawyers got in touch with Lachlan’s, and he’s made an offer.”

  “He’s what?” Kate was stunned.

  “He’s still denying that he hid money away, but Amy went to see him in his office, and wouldn’t leave until he talked to her. He said he just wanted it over so he could get on with his life, and he’ll pay us to leave him alone.”

  Which meant, Kate realized immediately, that whatever Amy had found clearly had a basis in truth. There was no way Dan would give them one red cent if he was as innocent as he claimed.

  “That includes you, Mom.”

  Kate felt her temper rise. “I told you all that I didn’t want anything; that I didn’t want to be part of this. I’ve already had your father on my doorstep, making accusations.”

  “Mom.” Brooke’s voice wobbled. “I’m sorry.”

  Kate made an effort to rein in her emotions. Poor Brooke, always caught in the middle. “All right, Brooke. I know you and Sophie just went along with Amy.” She thought quickly, and made an on-the-spot decision. “I’ll have to get in touch with Dan; tell him to divide whatever he was going to give me between you three. It’s going to cost a fortune if Sophie’s to get through school.”

  “Um, that’s part of the deal. He’ll put her through school.”

  Kate went cold. If Dan had agreed to that, he had money all right – and he had to be confident about the future of his business with Martine. “Your father is paying for Sophie to go to college?”

  “That’s what I heard.”

  Kate put a hand to her forehead. “I need time to assimilate all this. I’ll call you back later.”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “I know you didn’t want any of this, and I’m sorry Dad’s taking it out on you, but I still think it’s fair, you know? He didn’t do the right thing.” Brooke’s voice was still shaky, but resolute. “It’s not just about money. It’s that he looked after himself and didn’t care what happened to us.”

  “I know.” Kate’s heart went out to her. “I’m sorry, darling.”

  “I’d better go. Call me when you’ve had a chance to talk to Sophie and Amy?”

  “I will. And Brooke? Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl now, you know.” She injected a smile into her voice. “I’m happy. Everything has worked out.”

  “OK.” Brooke still sounded flat. “I’ll catch you later, then.”

  Nessy butted her head against Kate’s leg and whined. Kate absently petted her, thinking about her next move. On a Saturday morning, Dan would be in his office over in Laredo. She could take Nessy out for a quick turn around the block and then go and see him.

  She needed this to be over.

  To say that Dan was surprised to see her was an understatement.

  Kate walked in and waited patiently while Martine handed over some folders and brochures to a client, and then moved up to the desk. Martine looked up with a sparkling smile, which instantly faded when she realized who it was.

  “Hi, Martine.” Kate looked around at the expensive surrounds. “You’ve refitted the office. Nice job.”

  “Thank you.” Martine’s eyes were cold. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  Kate was in no mood for games. “I need to speak with Dan. Is he with anyone at the moment?”

  “No, but he’s—”

  “Good. I know the way.” Without waiting for Martine’s permission, Kate headed up the short hallway to Dan’s office. The door was partly open, and she slipped through and then closed it b
ehind her. She didn’t need Martine listening in, although Dan would undoubtedly tell his new partner everything later.

  He looked up from the color proofs spread out over his desk, and instantly frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk.” Kate sat in one of the plush client chairs and looked at him calmly.

  “You can go through my lawyers. I have nothing more to say to you. Or my daughters.” His voice was venomous.

  “Well, I have something to say to you. Just listen, Dan, and then I’ll be out of here and you’ll never have to see me again.”

  “If you’ve come to gloat, don’t waste your breath.” He pushed his chair back and stood up, glaring down at her. “There’s no truth in any of this nonsense. But Amy is totally bull-headed about it all, and she won’t stop until I’m ruined. Again. So I’m putting an end to it, once and for all.”

  He was lying. She recognized the signs: a shifty glance sideways followed by a direct and challenging stare.

  “If you have agreed to a settlement, Dan, then I am certain there’s merit to Amy’s accusations.”

  He huffed out a laugh. “You pretend to be so saintly, but you’ll be first in the queue with your hand out.”

  Behind them, the door opened. Martine’s voice said: “Is everything OK, Dan?”

  “Everything’s fine, Martine,” Kate answered for him without turning around. “This is between me and Dan.”

  Martine ignored her. “Dan?”

  “Kate is just leaving,” he said, moving around the desk. “We have nothing more to say to each other.”

  Kate didn’t move. “I hear you’re paying Sophie’s college fees.”

  “Goodbye, Kate.”

  “No,” she said. “You’ll want to hear this. I don’t want anything from you, Dan. But I do think you owe your daughters. So whatever you were going to settle on me, I want you to divide between the girls.” She stood up. “Despite what you say, Dan, I know you’d never cave in unless there was some truth to this. I’m so disappointed in you for trying to cheat them. Especially Sophie. Shame on you.”