She giggled. “I was so confused. Took me years to figure out it was probably faulty stock that was being sold off.”
He was laughing too, but there was something else in his eyes. Something that wasn’t laughter, and after a moment he reached out and stroked his thumb over her cheek.
“I’m going to make sure that this Christmas makes up for the last thirty. And this year you will need to hang up your stocking, because Santa is going to pay you a visit.”
“Santa?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t believe in Santa.” His cheeks creased into a smile that made her stomach flip. It was his smile that had first caught her attention.
“He’s never visited me before. I always assumed that was because he didn’t exist, but I suppose it’s possible he didn’t have my address. Which might have been a good thing. It would have freaked me out to wake up and see a morbidly obese man in a red suit creeping around my bedroom in the middle of the night.”
“You wouldn’t see him,” Jamie said. “He’s stealthy.”
“Even creepier.”
Jamie grinned. “I posted him a letter from you so I’m confident that this year he is going to find you.”
“Wait—you wrote to Santa for me?”
“No,youdid. That night in Thailand when we were up all night telling each other everything. You said you’d never written a letter to Santa. Don’t you remember?”
“I remember.” She remembered everything about that night. They’d talked and talked. “You made me write one. I threw it in the bin.”
“And I took it out of the bin and mailed it.”
“Youmailedit? Where exactly did you mail it to? What address?”
Jamie looked innocent. “To the North Pole, of course, where Santa lives.”
“Of course.” She reached out and put her hand on his face, feeling the roughness of his jaw against her palm. “You’re a wonderful man, Jamie. How did I end up with you? I feel so lucky.”
She still couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to vanish.
“I’m the lucky one. And Santa has worked hard at choosing things you’ll love so I think you’re going to have a happy Christmas.”
“You mean you worked hard.”
“Don’t kill the magic.”
Right now she was so happy, she’d take all and any magic that came her way.
She wanted to say that it wasn’t the contents of the stocking that mattered (although she was touched that he’d given so much thought to it because it was another sign of how much he loved her). For her it was spending time with him and his family. Being part of something.
But still the niggle of anxiety remained.
His family were all so close. What if they thought she was the wrong person for Jamie? What if Christmas wasn’t dreamy, but stressful?
“You’re absolutely sure we shouldn’t have told them our news before we arrive? Won’t they be shocked?”
“No.” He fastened his seat belt. “They know we have something to tell them, so they won’t be that shocked. I asked them to arrange a party—a small one—just family and close friends. That should have given them some clues.”
Her stomach rolled slightly. A party, especially for them. She would be the centre of attention. People would be judging her.
“But what do you think they’re expecting us to say?”
“They probably think we’re getting engaged.”
“But—”
