Lily knew there was more to Pepper than her debutante appearance. She knew it had taken a strong woman to come out even stronger on the other side of the scandal that she’d had nothing to do with.
The three friends looked up and saw A.J. hurrying toward them, her arms full of Secret Santa presents. Usually calm and collected, A. J. Harrison looked a bit frazzled in her mad rush across the restaurant.
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said, setting the wrapped packages on the table. “I had a hard time getting Kelcie down for the night. Shane is a great father, but she’s getting to that stage where she’s a mama’s girl. I love the fact that she wants me, but on a night like this, I’d just like to be able to leave the house without both of us being in tears. I want to get out. I need to get out, but it breaks my heart when she cries like that.”
Pepper drained the last of the bottle into a glass for A.J. and held it out to her. “Here, hon, drink this. It’ll help. And I think another bottle is definitely in order.”
A.J. settled herself in the booth and looked at her three friends. “Where is Kate? I thought she said she could make it tonight.”
“Kate is out of town on business,” Pepper informed her. Pepper was married to Rob, Kate’s brother. So the two were as close as sisters. “A potential donor called late yesterday about making a year-end donation to the foundation and wanted to meet with her today. She was hoping to join us later, but she said not to count on her. So we should go ahead and order. If she can be here, she will. Don’t worry. I brought her Secret Santa present.”
“I hope she can join us.” Sydney raised her glass. “But without further ado, I think a toast is in order. To good friends.”
“Hear, hear!” they all said in unison. “To good friends.”
They clinked glasses and had started debating the appetizer selections when Pepper said, “Before we order appetizers, why don’t we open our presents? That will give us more room on the table.”
They’d set a twenty-dollar limit for the gifts, and Lily had suspected it had been mostly for her benefit. Her friends could afford to spend much more, but they understood that finances were tight for Lily. They knew that was why she’d taken the nanny job rather than taking time off on her holiday break.
But what she lacked in funds, she’d tried to make up for in creativity with a beautifully wrapped package and a loaf of the stollen she, Megan, Bridget and Hannah had made.
They were having so much fun baking since she’d introduced them to her great-grandmother’s recipe yesterday. The girls had been amazed that they could actually make their own bread.
“I thought you had to buy things like that in the store,” Bridget had said. “I didn’t know people could actually make bread at home.”
The girls’ wonder and excitement had Lily falling in love with them a little more. Once they’d gotten George settled at basketball camp, they’d decided to make as many loaves as they could to give as Christmas presents.
Lily had shown them variations on the traditional recipe they’d made yesterday and they’d been happy campers eager to try each one and had even suggested a few of their own concoctions after tasting Lily’s recipes. The novelty was bound to wear off sooner or later, but for now it kept them busy.
When Lily and her friends had drawn names for the Secret Santa game, Lily got A.J., the one of her new friends that she knew the least about. So Lily was all for it when the girls had come up with the idea of giving the loaves of stollen as Christmas gifts. The girls had helped her make a special loaf to supplement the handblown glass ornament she’d purchased for A.J.
Sydney took charge, reading the gift tags and distributing the presents.
“I know this is silly,” Pepper said, “but I get so excited when it comes to presents. I love to get them and I love to give them.” She slanted a glance at Lily and flashed a knowing smile. Suddenly Lily had a pretty good idea of the identity of her own Santa.
All doubts were dispelled after she opened the small package and pulled out a beautiful sterling-silver bracelet with an infinity symbol strung between two delicate chains. The bracelet surely cost more than the twenty-dollar limit.