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He didn’t take the advantage that she’d handed him on a plate. ‘I wanted to see you, Jess.’
‘I got the letter from your solicitor. I’ve done as he suggested and contacted one of the people on his list.’
‘That’s not what I’m here about.’
‘There’s nothing more to say.’ She saw Gerry approaching out of the corner of her eye and Greg turned to follow the line of her gaze.
‘Gerry. Mate, you look awful.’ He grinned, handing Emma back to her father. ‘Sure I can’t… ?’
‘Don’t you start.’ Gerry shot him a baleful look and Emma squealed with happiness. ‘Since neither of you seem to appreciate my ghastly visage, I’ll take my daughter to see Father Christmas.’
‘Unca Greg?’ Emma beat on her father’s shoulder excitedly.
‘No, darling. We’re going to see the real one.’ Gerry glared at them both, took Emma’s hand and walked away.
‘He’s going in the wrong direction.’ Jess couldn’t bear another moment of this. Not when Greg looked so much like the man that she had first kissed last Christmas and so little like the one he’d become in the intervening year.
‘He’ll work it out. Jess, wait, please.’ He laid his hand on her arm.
‘I can’t, Greg.’ If she stayed any longer she was going to start crying. She’d done enough of that in the last two weeks.
‘You can.’ He moved closer. Close enough for her to catch his scent. Indefinable, but it was his alone.
‘This is all in the hands of the lawyers now. We’re probably not even allowed to be talking to one another.’
‘We can do as we please. And, anyway, I’m not sure that lawyers are the right way to go any more. I’ve changed my… agenda.’
‘No.’ If only he had. Her own heart wanted to believe that he had, but the tiny heart beating inside her? That was to be protected at any cost.
‘I want you to come with me.’
‘Where to?’ Dammit, he’d hooked her in. She wasn’t going to go with him so it didn’t much matter.
‘Just take the step. Come with me.’
‘When I don’t know where you’re going?’
‘Yep.’
‘No, Greg. I can’t.’
‘It’s Christmas Eve, Jess. Don’t you believe in the magic?’
She sighed. ‘What is this, a fairy story? You think that just because it’s Christmas everything’s going to turn out okay.’ She turned, flicking her finger against one of the gold bells on the Christmas Tree. ‘See? Nothing. It doesn’t even ring.’
‘Maybe you just can’t hear it.’
Jess rolled her eyes. ‘And maybe you’re having aural hallucinations. Anyway, your timing’s way out. It’s not even Christmas Day yet.’
He raised one eyebrow. ‘The first step is believing. If we believe… ’
‘I belie
ve, Greg. But I believe in reality, not an idealised view of the world. Things don’t just go away because you refuse to recognise them.’
‘I meant if you believe that things can change then you can find a way to change them. If you don’t come with me now, I will be back.’
Jess was under no illusions on that score. But she knew that whatever Greg’s intentions were, he wasn’t going to be able to keep them up for long. The company would drag him away. It would always drag him away, and no one could just click their fingers and make it disappear.
