‘But it won’t feel big once I’ve finished decorating it. Well, not so big, anyway,’ Clara said. ‘And I’m not staying.’ He was joking, right? The last place she wanted to spend Christmas was here with her ex-in-laws.
But the look Jacob gave her told her that she was missing something. What on earth had he got planned now? He couldn’t really be expecting her to stay, could he? If so, she really needed to nip that idea in the bud.
‘We’ll see.’ Jacob started up the stairs before she could reiterate her determination to head back to the hotel for Christmas Day.
Oh, he was infuriating. Had he been this infuriating when they’d been married? Most likely; she had left him, after all. And if it hadn’t been so obvious before their elopement, it was probably only because they’d spent so much of their time together in bed.
A hot flash ran through her body at the memories, making her too warm under her knitted dress and thick tights. Clara bit down on her lip. There was absolutely no time for thoughts like that. Not any more.
She was spending Christmas with Ivy and Merry and that was all she wanted in the world. She followed Jacob up the stairs, ignoring the small part of her mind that pointed out that her Christmas with Ivy could be all the more perfect if Jacob was there too. She needed to time things right. There was too much at risk to just rush in and tell him.
‘Now, this room I definitely approve of,’ Jacob called out, and Clara hurried towards his voice to find out where he’d got to.
Predictably, he’d found the master bedroom—complete with its antique four-poster bed that looked as if it could sleep twelve and the heavy velvet hangings that gave the room a sumptuous, luxurious feel. This, she could tell from the moment she entered, was a room for seduction.
But not this Christmas, thank you very much.
‘This is the room I’d earmarked for your parents,’ she said, stopping him before he got too carried away with thoughts of sleeping there. ‘It’s the biggest, has the easiest access to the rest of the castle and has the largest en suite bathroom. It’s also the warmest, thanks to the fireplace.’
Jacob looked longingly at the bed. ‘I suppose that makes sense,’ he said.
‘Come on. I’ll show you the rest.’
The other bedrooms were all impressive in their own way but, Clara had to admit, none had quite the charm of the four-poster in the master bedroom.
By the time their tour was finished, Jacob looked much happier with the set-up at the castle.
‘Okay,’ he said, rubbing his hands together. ‘This is going to work. So, what do we do next?’
‘I need to do some final checks before I have to head to the hotel for the night. I’ll do the decorating and so on tomorrow, before your family arrive. They get in at four, right?’
Jacob nodded. ‘Yeah. But why don’t you just stay here tonight? It’s not like there aren’t enough bedrooms.’
For one blinding flash of a moment Clara’s brain was filled with images of her and Jacob taking advantage of that four-poster bed.
No. Bad brain.
‘I need to check in to the hotel,’ she said, trying to banish the pictures from her mind. ‘Besides, Merry will be arriving this evening too.’
‘Of course. Merry.’ What was that in his voice? Could it be...jealousy? No. She didn’t remember him ever being jealous about who she’d spent her time with when they were actually properly married. It was highly unlikely he was about to start now.
‘Anyway. I need to get on, so you can...settle in, I guess. Work, if you want to.’ And didn’t he always? She was surprised he’d made it this long without setting up his laptop. ‘I can get you the Wi-Fi password if you want.’
‘There’s nothing I can do to help?’ Again, Clara felt that strange tug on her heart as she realised how eager he was to be a real part of the planning.
‘I’m mostly just checking that the local supplies I ordered have been delivered, and waiting for the courier company to arrive and unload the boxes. Then I’ll grab a taxi down to the hotel and make a few calls to confirm the bits being delivered tomorrow—fresh greenery, fresh food, those sort of things. After that, everything can wait until tomorrow. I’ve got it all in hand. You really don’t need to worry.’ It was all there on her time plan.
She checked her watch. In fact...
The knock on the door, precisely on time, made her smile.
‘That will be Bruce,’ she announced.
Jacob frowned. ‘Who is Bruce?’
‘Bruce the Spruce,’ Clara said with a grin. ‘Your perfect Christmas tree.’
CHAPTER NINE
IT WAS EASY to busy herself in getting the castle ready for Christmas. All she needed to do was stick to her schedule, count the courier boxes that had arrived and ignore Jacob hovering near her shoulder, checking up on everything she was doing. At least then she had a chance of making it to the hotel before Ivy’s bedtime. Maybe she could stay up a bit later than normal...
‘I do know how to do this, you know,’ she snapped finally, when she turned to put the box with the Christmas lights in by the tree ready for the morning and almost crashed into him. ‘It’s my job.’
Jacob stepped back, hands raised in apology. ‘I know, I know. I just feel like I should be doing something to help, that’s all.’ Clara bit back a laugh. All those months of marriage she’d spent complaining that she wanted him to stop working and spend time with her, and the one time she wanted to be left alone to work she couldn’t get rid of him! Even Clara could appreciate the irony.
But their conversation in the car had got her thinking. Maybe that had been part of the problem—she hadn’t had anything except him in her life so she’d clung too desperately to him. She’d been lopsided, like a Christmas tree with decorations only on one side. She needed decorating all the way around. And now, with P
erfect London, and Ivy and even Merry, she had that. Well, almost. There might be a few branches still in need of some sparkle. Or some love...
Could Jacob provide that? Did she want him to? Clara had been so focused on what he might mean to Ivy, she had barely paused to consider what it might mean for her to have him back in her life.
‘Can’t I start decorating Bruce or something?’ Jacob asked, bringing her attention back to the cold, undecorated castle hallway.
‘Bruce needs to settle in overnight,’ she explained. ‘To let his branches drop, and let him suck up plenty of water to keep him going. I’ll decorate him in the morning.’
‘Then what can I do?’ Jacob asked.
‘I told you—go do some work or something.’
‘I don’t want to.’
Clara stilled at his words. What she would have given to hear him say that about work when they’d been married. Now it just made her suspicious. What was he playing at?
‘I don’t need you dancing attendance on me, Jacob. I’m not your guest—I’m here to work. You’re not responsible for me, you know.’
Something flashed across Jacob’s face. Was it...relief? Relief that he could get back to work, she supposed.
But he surprised her. ‘Fine. But this is still my Christmas. I want to help. Give me something to do.’
Clara shrugged. If that was what he wanted... Flipping through the stack of paper on her clipboard, she pulled off a sheet and handed it to him.
‘Box Seventeen?’ he asked, reading the title.
‘It’s that one over there.’ Clara pointed to a medium-sized brown box liberally labelled with the number seventeen on all sides. ‘Check through it and make sure that everything on that list is in there.’
‘Didn’t you check them when you packed them?’ Jacob slit open the box and Clara tried not to stop breathing as the scissors went a little deeper through the tape than she liked.
‘Three times,’ she confirmed. ‘And now we check them again.’
‘Were you always this hyper-organised?’