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Her low giggle makes me smile and then she whispers, “But what if they don’t? Those poor children will be without their mother and father for Christmas.”
“I doubt they could hold out that long.” I laugh softly. “As soon as the evidence of their innocence presents itself, they will be free to go.”
“I wish I shared your view on that.”
She sighs. “I mean, the children need stability. It’s Christmas next week and they break up tomorrow. They need this Christmas to be extra magical to compensate them for being without their parents. What if they wake up on Christmas morning and have no presents? I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t make sure every avenue was covered.” She sags a little in my arms. “I will never forget the expresssion on Angelina’s face when she stared into the phone camera and pleaded with Sally, who she thought was watching her ‘live’. It really broke my heart.”
I hug her a little tighter and say firmly, “Then it’s up to us to put a smile on her face. It’s time for someone else to help ease the burden, and I know just the man for the job.”
“You do?” She pulls back a little and stares at me in surprise and I grin, not in any hurry to release her from my close protection.
“Once the kids are dressed, we’re heading out.”
“Where to?”
“Well, what’s the point in owning a store at Christmas if you don’t use it?”
“Harvey’s?”
“Of course. First, we head to fairyland, and you can revisit old friends.” I chuckle as she rolls her eyes.
“Then we’ll head to the Winter Wonderland restaurant and feed them with enough food they will sleep soundly tonight before ending the evening at a show in the West End.”
“How? Those tickets are like gold dust this time of year.”
“Leave it with me.” I wink as I release her from my arms and say with a groan, “I don’t suppose I could make us a coffee. My caffeine levels need stocking up to cope with the day ahead.”
“I’ll make it.” I pull her back and say firmly, “I’ll make the coffee while you check that Angelina isn’t wearing the contents of her mother’s lingerie drawer.”
I love the soft laugh she rewards me with and the gratitude on her face makes me feel good about myself.
As she leaves the room, it strikes me how much I’ve changed since meeting Jessica, and I like it — a lot.
* * *
We head inside Harvey’s,and I don’t miss the surprise on the doorman’s face as we walk through the main entrance. He almost bows as we pass and Brad whistles, “Cool.”
Angelina is gripping Jessica’s hand, and she looks around in wonder at the bright lights and the huge store displays of red poinsettias, gold bows and magical fairy lights. It strikes me that if she is this impressed with the decorations on the ground floor, she will be beyond excited when she gets to fairyland.
My display team win awards for a reason and many people just come to Harvey’s to have their photographs taken beside amazing automatons, fairies, giant Santas and elves. There is a small train called Santa’s Express that offers children rides around Toyland and the fairy grotto is every girl’s dream decorated in pink and silver glitter with white fluffy animals and frozen lakes.
It is a very magical place to be and planning always begins on January 2nd every year. My buyers trawl the globe for exciting temptations, and we are now the number one store in the country that is always featured in magazines and on news segments.
We reach fairyland and I love watching the children’s reactions to my staff’s hard work and Jessica smiles happily and whispers, “Thank you, Robert. This is so kind of you. You know…” Suddenly she looks anxious and stutters, “You really don’t have to hang around if you’d rather head to the office. I mean, you must have zillions of things to do and…”
“Stop.” She looks surprised. “I wouldn’t want to miss out on all the fun now, would I?”
She blinks in disbelief and as I see Mr Bennett, the floor manager, bearing down on us with haste, I whisper urgently in her ear, “I would run if I were you. Take the children to the grotto. I’ll meet you there.”
She turns and, seeing the rather pompous department manager heading at speed our way, she gathers the children close and says loudly, “Who wants to meet Santa?”
Their loud cheers make me smile and as they head off, I set my mood to business as soon as he reaches me.
“Sir, what an honour. How may I help you?”
I absolutely hate the way he fawns over me and say brusquely, “See those children over there.”
“Yes sir.” He appears confused and peers at Jessica a little more closely. “I want your staff to follow them and anything they pick up or express an interest in, I want added to my account.”
