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She risked a glance at Calvin, who had just returned from the cellar with more wine. The expression on his face almost derailed her ability to play. He looked at her with a mixture of pride, happiness and absolute tenderness, and when he unleashed the dimples, she had to look away.
They finished with a big flurry, Larry’s voice smooth as chocolate, yet raspy as vintage whisky. There was something incredibly satisfying about receiving rapturous applause and calls for an encore. But one song was enough. Maybe later, when she’d had a few more glasses of bubbly.
Thanking Larry with a kiss, she notched up the experience to another step on her road to recovery. Performing in public was definite progress. However small the audience.
Once the novelty of her playing had subsided, she was glad when Natalie suggested exchanging gifts. It would be Jacob’s bedtime soon, and although he’d opened his huge pile of gifts that morning, she wanted him to watch the adults opening theirs.
Kate was happy to hand out the gifts with Calvin, smiling as everyone tried to guess what was inside by squeezing the packages.
At one point, they both reached for the same present and their hands touched. He caught her arm before she could moveaway, and whispered, ‘Well done for playing. You were amazing,’ which sent a shiver racing through her.
Feeling stupidly buoyed, she settled down on a beanbag to watch everyone open their presents. When she’d taken part in Secret Santa at work, people rarely put any thought into it, and she’d lost count of the number of wine bottles she’d received. But here everyone had carefully selected something that suited the person.
Geraldine had bought Natalie a voucher for a spa day. In return, Natalie had given the chef a funky neon-pink walking stick. Rowan had purchased theatre tickets for Esme, and she’d got him a ‘Haunted House’ experience. Larry had bought Deshad noise-cancelling headphones, so he could listen to music without disturbing Priya – which made Deshad cry – and Deshad had given Larry a pencil drawing of one of his framed Motown discs, which made him cry, too.
The funniest exchange involved Hanna and Alex. The head nurse gave him a tool belt, complete with chisels and spirit level, for his excursions into the world of whittling. In return, Alex had bought Hanna a snake.
It was hard to describe the collective reaction as Hanna pulled away the wrapping to reveal a large cage filled with straw, a water bottle and the carcass of a dead mouse.
Amongst the gasps, shock and laughter, Natalie hastily removed Jacob from the floor, and Larry climbed onto the piano stool.
A stunned Hanna stared at the snake for a full minute, before turning to Alex. ‘You buy me snake?’
The room held its breath.
Alex nodded slowly. ‘It’s a royal python. Do you like it?’
She grabbed his face and kissed him.
Kate took this to mean Hanna liked it.
The sight of Hanna and Alex kissing caused further gasps, shock and laughter, followed by raucous clapping and shouts of, ‘About bloody time!’
It took a while for the excitement to settle, not least because Suki had taken an instant dislike to the snake, and a heated debate followed about where the creature should live. It was eventually agreed that the wooden outbuilding would be the safest place… for everyone.
Which just left Kate and Calvin to exchange their gifts. Something Kate would have preferred to do without an audience, especially as her budget had been tight and everyone else had been so generous, but there was no escaping it. She just hoped she hadn’t misjudged it.
‘It’s only a bit of fun,’ she said, as she handed him the box. ‘I hope you like it.’
‘I know I will,’ he said, tearing off the wrapping. ‘It’s from you.’
He hadn’t spoken loudly, but a few people heard anyway and sighed.
Just as Hanna had done when faced with the snake, Calvin stared at his present with a look of shock. Thankfully, the silence didn’t last quite so long, and a beat later, his eyes drifted to hers. ‘You bought me Pop-Up Pirate?’
‘It’s silly, I know,’ she said, feeling self-conscious with everyone watching her. ‘It was meant to be a bit of fun.’
‘It’s… perfect.’ His face broke into the most adorable grin.
Esme sniffed and reached for a tissue. ‘You sulked for days when that game got broken. You were heartbroken.’
Calvin rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, thanks,Granny.’
Esme threw a cushion at him. ‘Less of the granny talk, thank you.’
Calvin returned the game to its box and got to his feet. ‘Ready for your present?’
‘I guess.’ Kate couldn’t imagine what he might have bought her. Supposing it was a bottle of wine? She wasn’t sure she could cope with that.
