Deceit of Angels (34 page)

“Leave
me alone!”

His
eyes turned dark with anger.  “Then go if you must!”

Anna
collected up her nightwear and toiletries.  In minutes she was back in her old
room, feeling very frightened and so alone.  She climbed into bed, hid her face
in the pillow and tried to smother her sobs.

Jason
lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.  Whatever had gone wrong, he thought
bitterly, was much worse than a lovers’ quarrel.  For when he had caught her
arm to stop her leaving, he had inadvertently pulled the scarf away from her
neck.  There he had seen the shadow of a love bite and he knew beyond any doubt
that he wasn’t the cause of it.   

It all looked
very different in the cold light of day.  Jason stared at his reflection as he
shaved, his thoughts on the night before.  He had definitely seen a love bite
on Anna’s neck and he abhorred love bites.  He thought them unsightly. 
Suddenly his mind drifted back to the previous Thursday night when they had
made love for the first time since his return from Singapore.  He knew he had
lost control, his desire for her had been phenomenal.  Could it be possible
that he was the cause of the bruising on her neck after all?  Even through his
desire, he had still sensed a tension in her, a nervousness that he had never
known before.  She wasn’t relaxed and he might have been too rough.  Perhaps he
had hurt her?

There
was no doubt that since his return from Singapore she had been quieter and more
subdued.  He had seen a glimpse of the old Anna the night before after the
Christmas party, but then she had had a few glasses of wine in her.  At first,
she had responded passionately until everything suddenly went pear-shaped.  He
sighed as he tapped the shaver in the sink and placed it back on the shelf. 

Anna
wrapped a towel round her and then twisted a second one round her damp hair. 
She was still in her old room and knew that she must venture to the one she
shared with Jason in order to get dressed.  Padding across the landing she
opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the empty bed.  She
chose some underwear from a drawer and then collected together a jumper and a
pair of jeans, throwing the entire bundle on a chair.  Sitting on the edge of
the mattress she bent her head forward and began to rub her hair vigorously
with the towel. 

“That’s
one of the many images I had of you, while I was away,” smiled Jason, coming
out of the bathroom.

Anna
jerked her head up and stared at him through a tangled mass of blonde hair. 
“Thought you were downstairs.”

“Well,
I’m not.  And I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”

She
gave a grimace.  “Unless you want me to go down to breakfast like this, then I
had to come back to get dressed.”

She
sat at the dressing table and carefully combed her knotted hair.

Jason
watched her as he pulled on a T-shirt.  “What do you want to do today?”

Anna
hesitated before replying.  “But it’s Sunday.  Aren’t you going to the gym?”

He
shook his head.  “The hotel in Singapore had wonderful facilities.  I worked
out and went swimming nearly every day.  Thought I’d give it a miss this
morning.”

“Well,
I need to do some more Christmas shopping, I’m afraid.”

He
suspended his action of pulling on a jumper.  “More!  I thought you’d be
finished by now?”

“I’ve
sent off those for the family.”  Her appointment with Nigel had allowed her to
return to the music store and buy the CD vouchers.  It had been a dreadful
experience, causing her to rush in and out as quickly as possible.  “And I’ve
bought for everyone except your mother.  I can’t seem to find anything for
her.  I’m really stumped.”

“Shall
we go together?  Perhaps I can give you a few ideas.”

Jason
expected her to reject the suggestion out of hand, but her immediate response
took him off guard.

“I’d
really love that.  As long as you don’t mind trailing round,” she smiled.

He
nodded taken aback by her enthusiasm.  “Then that’s what we’ll do.  Perhaps we
could take Hollie with us?  There’s a fair on and she’d enjoy going on the
roundabouts.”

“That
sounds wonderful.”  She plugged in the dryer and started drying her hair,
bending her head forward and rubbing her fingers through blonde curls.  The whirring
noise prevented any further conversation.

Jason
had finished dressing and wondered if he should go down to breakfast, but then
he hesitated.  He felt reluctant to leave her after their quarrel the night
before.  He sat down on the bed and waited for her to finish. 

“I
think we need to talk,” he said, when she lifted her head and switched off the
dryer.

“What
about?”  She turned to the mirror and brushed her hair.

He
stood up and walked across to her, placing his hands on her shoulders.  “I feel
I’ve done something very wrong.”

She
looked up at him.  “Why do you think that?”

“These
last few days you’ve not been yourself.  I wondered if anything had happened
while I’ve been away.  If you’ve had any problems.”

Anna
felt her heart pounding.  “What sort of problems?”

“Anything. 
With your family or at work?  I appreciate you’re missing your sons, but…”

“Yes,
I am missing them, but I’ll be seeing them soon.”

Jason took the
brush from her and placed it down on the dressing table.  He gently raised her
to her feet and put his arms round her.  She spread her hands on his chest as
if to keep him at a distance. 

He
closed his eyes momentarily, summoning up his courage.  “As I said, I feel that
I’ve done something to upset you.  Anna, if you’ve changed your mind about us,
then please tell me.  If you want to break off our engagement then I must
know.  I can’t live my life pretending that everything’s OK when it’s not.  I
had to do that too many times with Kiera.”

Anna
stared at him, panic welling up inside her.  He looked so lost as his deep blue
eyes searched her face for reassurance.  He wasn’t smiling but she needed him
to smile, to be happy.  It meant everything to her to make him happy.

Tears
stung her eyes as she slowly lifted her arms round his neck.  She wanted to
tell him everything, wanted him to understand the horror she had been through
and then he would be there to comfort her and give her the courage to make it
through each day.

She
pressed herself against him.  “No, it’s not that.  I couldn’t live without you,
I love you too much,” she whispered.

He
gave a moan of relief as his mouth covered hers.  She was hardly aware that the
towel had fallen to the ground or that Jason was lifting her over to the bed,
covering her face with tender kisses.  There was no pain this time, not even a
sensation of discomfort.  Only the joy of their lovemaking and the wonderful
knowledge that they were together again filled her conscious thoughts.  And her
only cries were those of pleasure and happiness.    

The following
morning and only two days before Christmas, they all piled into the Mercedes
and set off for the Grange.  Ben had left that same morning for Nottingham, but
he would return in good time to celebrate the New Year.  At first they
struggled through heavy Christmas traffic, but finally they were out into the
countryside.  It was a sparkling winter morning, with a touch of frost in the
air. There wasn’t going to be any snow for Christmas, the weathermen had said,
and Hollie had felt very disappointed.

“Snow
isn’t a very good thing to have, where we’re going,” Jason told her. “If it’s
really bad, the country roads get completely blocked and then we can be cut off
for days.”

Hollie
said she didn’t really care if they were cut off, if it meant she didn’t have
to go back to school.  She sat next to her father gabbling away ten to the
dozen, while Mrs Wilby and Anna had a peaceful journey sitting in the back. 

At
regular intervals, Jason would glance at Anna in the mirror, marvelling at the
sudden change in events.  Their shopping expedition had been wonderful.  After
lunch, they had gone to the funfair and taken Hollie on the rides, laughing
with her as they whizzed about or scrambled up the helter-skelter.  The ride on
the Ferris wheel had been a delight as they viewed Bristol from on high.  It
was as if all the problems since his return from Singapore had simply
evaporated and Anna was more like herself.  He grimaced when he thought of the
last five days and prayed they would never experience anything like it again.

When
they reached the gates, Hollie jumped out to swing them open.  She had always
enjoyed doing this job, but then she saw Grandma Harrington waiting for them by
the main entrance and set off to run into her arms.  Jason drove through the
gates and Anna got out to close them, shaking her head at the whimsical little
girl.  They dove up the drive and into the forecourt where Margaret stood,
holding Hollie’s hand. 

“Anna! 
Where’ve you been for the last three months?” chastised Margaret.  “I’ve missed
you and you should have come to visit with Jason and Hollie.”  Anna apologised
and followed everyone indoors and into the warmth of the parlour.  “My dears,
we are going to have a lovely Christmas together, but what a shame Ben couldn’t
join us this year.”  Suddenly, Hollie saw Tess lying peacefully on the
hearthrug in front of the fire and bounded towards her.  Flinging herself on
the floor, she gave a shriek of delight as she put her arms round the
retriever’s neck.  “Don’t be too rough, Hollie dear.  She’s an old dog and can
get bad tempered if she’s man handled too much.”

“Old!”
Hollie screamed.  “She was here when the dinosaurs were about.”

It
was wonderful being back and Margaret had already discussed the sleeping
arrangements, putting Anna and Jason into his room at the top of the flight of
seven stairs.

They
had their coffee and then went up to their rooms to unpack.  Anna couldn’t help
stopping halfway up the grand stairway to survey the immense hall below her. 
Yes, she thought, being here will help me forget.  It was here Jason and I fell
in love.  She smiled at the gigantic Christmas tree standing in the corner,
glittering with lights and tinsel. 

Jason
caught up with her.  “Guess who’s coming to lunch tomorrow?”

Anna
thought for a moment.

“It
can’t be Doctor Orchard and Sarah.  Margaret said they’ve gone to Spain for
Christmas.”

“No,
it’s Nigel and Sophia.”

“Wonderful,”
smiled Anna, in absolute delight. 

And it was a
delight for her.  After they had eaten, they all took a walk outside, even
though the light was starting to fade.

Sophia
came to Anna’s side.  “I know this is a social visit, but I was just wondering
how you are,” she said, keeping her voice low.

“I’m
fine.  My bruises have healed.”

“You
certainly look better,” said Sophia.  “You’ve got more colour in your cheeks.”

“Yes,
I feel better and more positive.  My husband…he’s finally agreed to a divorce.”

“Good! 
Get plenty of rest over the holiday and you’ll soon be your old self.”  She
looked about her.  “It’s so pretty here.” 

Above
the main entrance a cascade of Christmas lights trailed over the stonework and
to the left of the door was a spruce weighed down by tinsel and blue and white
lights.  These twinkling lights were repeated in the trees along the drive. 
The air seemed filled with the scent of moist pine needles.

“Yes,”
breathed Anna.  “It’s magical.”

“Have
you thought any more about telling Jason?”  Sophia hoped that Anna couldn’t see
the eagerness in her eyes; informing Jason would solve so many problems. 

“No
and I never will,” said Anna adamantly.

“Why
not?”  Sophia couldn’t hide her disappointment.

“Because
he’ll be appalled and he’ll want to do something about it.  And he’ll also
think me an utter fool to trust a man like my husband.”

“I
think you underestimate him.  If you explained it all to him, I’m sure he’ll
understand.”

“Yes,
I’m sure he will.  After he’s got Dave banged up in prison!”

Sophia
couldn’t help laughing.  “Well, I’ll leave that up to you.  But you’re going to
need a lot of support and understanding over the next few months and no one can
give that better than the man you love and who loves you.”

“I
think he’ll give me that anyway,” said Anna softly.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

C
hristmas
Day started at five-thirty, much to the displeasure of the adults who were
forced to stumble, bleary-eyed downstairs to open their presents.  Hollie had
made it her duty to wake up everyone, ringing a bell that had been found in the
kitchen.

“Who
the hell gave her that?” groaned Jason, pulling on his dressing gown.

“I
think it was Fran,” said Anna, from beneath the bedcovers.