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‘That’s a shame. I used to love doing that when I was little. It was my favourite part about seeing Santa.’
‘Not the present?’
‘Funnily enough, no; although I was always pleased to be given one. It was the joy of seeing Santa that was more important to me, telling him what I wanted and thinking of him being back at the North Pole instructing his elves. Then I’d imagine him loading sacks of presents on his sleigh, one or two of them mine, and flying all over the world on one magical night to deliver them. It’s up to you, of course,’ she added, beginning to move away. ‘But just consider all those children who think they’ll be seeing Santa today, and who’ll be incredibly disappointed.’
Seren’s expression was one of disappointment, too.
God, he so didn’t want to do this, but she was making him feel guilty, making him feel it was his fault if children were upset. ‘I’m not really Santa. My real job is a gardener.’
‘I know, but it’s not as though you haven’t played Father Christmas before. Would it hurt you to be Santa today? Think of the children. Do it for their sakes.’
Daniel gave her a pained look. That was below the belt.
As though sensing he was wavering, she added, ‘They deserve to think of Christmas as a magical time – don’t let them down.’
He wanted to be annoyed with her, but the pleading, hopeful expression on her face undid him. ‘OK, I’ll do it. On one condition.’
‘What is it?’
‘Don’t tell Tobias. I know I’m asking a lot, but I can’t take the teasing.’
‘You’re not asking a lot at all. I’m hoping I’ll not see him again any time soon – because if I do, it means something has gone wrong with the van. Actually, you’ll probably see him before me, so if you do, could you remind him that he still hasn’t sent me the bill for the conversion. I’ve left a couple of messages, but he hasn’t got back to me.’
Daniel felt for her. Damned Tobias and his philandering ways. Seren was too nice to be messed about. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I hope you’re not too upset.’
‘Why should I be upset?’
‘Because of the way he’s treating you. I can tell you like him.’
Seren’s eyes widened. ‘You mean…?Ha!Yes, I like him, but not likethat.’
‘You went on a date with him.’
‘So I did, but it was just the one. I haven’t been out with him since, and I don’t want to go out with him again. He’s not my type.’
Daniel swallowed, his heart in his mouth. ‘But I thought…’ He took a deep breath. It was now or never, and he wasn’t averse to throwing in a spot of blackmail if it meant she’d say yes.
‘In that case, I change my terms. I’ll play Santa today if you’ll have dinner with me.’ There, the ball was in her court. If she refused, she’d be the one responsible for making hordes of kids cry.
But when her face lit up and she said, ‘I’d be delighted to,’ he felt a grin spread across his own lips. Maybe playing Santa wouldn’t be so bad after all…
Daniel was in a quandary and had been for most of the day. The source of his dilemma was Seren. Had asking her to dinner been a good idea, considering he’d almost blackmailed her into it? She’d agreed readily enough, but that was probably because she didn’t want to upset small children. Unlike him, who’d have been quite happy to have ignored their distress and carry on with the job he was there to do – which was clearing ivy from the wall.
That wasn’t strictly true. He would havewantedto carry on with it, but his conscience had already started to prick at him and he would have agreed to play Santa without Seren feeling obliged to have dinner with him. But when she’d told him she wasn’t dating Tobias, his heart had begun to sing and he hadn’t been able to resist asking her out.
But why, oh why, hadn’t he asked her straight and not made it a condition of him playing Santa? What a wally.
He wouldn’t blame her if she changed her mind or was having second thoughts. She probably thought he was some kind of weirdo and was even now plotting how to get out of the deal.
Should he go and find her when the fayre was over and ask her properly? Or should he let her off the hook and tell her he wasn’t going to insist on dinner?
Embarrassment coursed through him as he guessed what she must think of him, and he’d felt this way ever since he’d gone to find Miss Carruthers to tell her he’d be Santa and realised how he must have come across to Seren.
Thankfully, there were only two more children to see before the fayre ended, although he was still no nearer to making a decision about what he should do.
He was currently sitting in a rather grand chair in the corner of a very grand sitting room, waiting for the next child to be shown in, and mulling things over yet again. Although it wasn’t a particularly large room (Miss Carruthers had called it the snug), it had high ceilings, a polished wooden floor with an ornate rug covering most of it, a grand fireplace with flames crackling and roaring, and a stocking hanging from the mantelpiece. On the other side of the chimney breast was an impressive tree wrapped in tinsel and decorated with what appeared to be antique baubles. Daniel hoped to goodness that none of them got broken.
Miss Carruthers stood at the door, taking ‘donations’ as she called them, but what it actually amounted to was a five pound entry fee for children to tell Santa what they wanted.
