“Merry Christmas, Arnold. How come you’re working today?” The affable elderly concierge greeted her daily. Having an apartment to look after in New York was one thing, but having a concierge as well seemed like an extra luxury. Arnold was an elderly man and had taken a particular liking to her and Jacob. She’d become used to seeing his rumpled and leathery face as she left each morning.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I went out with some friends last night and it was too cold and too late to go home. I ended up sleeping here instead.”

She laughed. “You can’t have slept very well, but don’t worry. I won’t tell a soul.”

“It’s lucky I did come in because someone delivered two parcels for you. One of them looks good enough to eat.”

Parcels for her? Surely there had been a mistake? “Are you sure they’re for me, Arnold?”

“Savannah Page and Jacob, it says here on the labels.”

Colt?
The thought gripped her tightly, stealing her breath away. It couldn’t be. They were divorced now and there was no reason for him to come looking for her, or Jacob. “Who delivered them?”

“The delivery man,” replied Arnold, telling her nothing.

“I’m coming down.”

A delivery on Christmas Day?
She didn’t recall any shops making deliveries on Christmas day. She got up from the sofa where she’d been snuggling up and reading a book, while Jacob played with his new toys. He was still in his PJs but she’d been dressed hours ago, even if she was only lounging around in her leggings and big, fluffy cardigan. Only her parents and her aunt, Kay’s mom, knew she lived here and neither of them had ever sent her anything before; she didn’t see why they would do so now. Besides, her parents had already sent her money in their Christmas card which she’d received a few weeks ago. Her dad’s chest infection had kept them at home this Christmas, and they’d promised to visit her in the New Year.

“Where are you going?” Jacob asked. She could clearly see the dark shadows under his excited eyes. He’d been up early, sometime around six in the morning, and had crept into her bed. Typical. On school mornings he could barely get up yet this morning he’d woken up without any intervention from her.

She’d woken as soon as he’d slipped in, to find him staring at her, smiling and waiting for her to say the word. But first she’d held him in her arms and loved the feel of him as happiness engulfed her but she couldn’t hold him back much longer and they had gotten out of bed soon after.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, Jacob had opened all of his presents. She told him to open the presents from her first. He’d ripped the wrapping paper and given them a quick glance before leaving a gooey kiss on her cheek. The coloring pencils and coloring books from her, along with a coat and clothes he badly needed—all the sensible and boring presents—quickly lost their appeal. His attention was fixed on Santa’s presents which she’d carefully wrapped in different gift wrap, securing the myth of Santa for another year at least. His eyes had lit up the moment he’d opened them and then the worth of her gifts was quickly forgotten as Santa became his new hero.

She so badly wanted this to be a great start to their new life and she had gone a little overboard this Christmas—fueled by the promise of an extra week’s work and at double pay. As a result, an enormous pile of presents lay underneath their small Christmas tree this year.

She had no gifts to open for herself, and this had upset Jacob but he soon cheered up when she told him she would buy herself something with the money Grandma and Grandpa had sent.

His eyes sparkled and gleamed. Santa had given him the whole collection of super-heroes he loved; he had his favorite at last—Iron Man—but there were also Venom and Wolverine and Captain America figurines. He also had an Iron Man mask and glove which he could wear to turn into his favorite super-hero, and Santa had also given him an Iron Man alarm clock and night light. Sometimes Jacob still awoke in the middle of the night feeling scared, even though the arguments and screaming had stopped.

Back then, when she’d lived that nightmare, she’d been so busy trying to survive that she hadn’t considered how much her young boy had absorbed, even though she’d tried her best for him not to see or hear things. She had always tried to soothe Colt, tried to temper down his anger, tried not to cry out if she’d been unsuccessful and his rage flared out of control. Now it was slowly coming out, little snippets of something he would say told her that he had seen and heard more than any child should have. As a mother she felt she’d failed him and her focus now was on making it up to him and giving him the best life she possibly could.

“Arnold says we have a delivery,” she said, slipping on her shoes. “I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t open the door to anyone.” Not that anyone would come in but she was always extra careful when it came to Jacob. As she took the elevator down the four floors, she wondered who might have sent her something on Christmas day.

“Santa did pay you a visit,” exclaimed Arnold, holding out his hand at the large and beautifully decorated Christmas gift basket that graced his workspace.

She stared at him in surprise. There had to have been some mistake. “But I’m not expecting anything,” she murmured, stepping towards the table, her gaze fixed on the gift basket that was so big she wasn’t sure she’d be able to carry it back easily. And then she saw the second gift, wrapped up in gold wrapping paper with white snowmen dotted all over it.

“Who would…?” Her words trailed away as she searched for gift tags. This wasn’t Colt’s doing, she knew that much. Even though he kept telling her parents, at every opportunity, that he was now a changed man, he’d moved on. And she had too. There was no future for them together and he had never expressed much interest in wanting to keep in touch with Jacob either.

“They’re for you, my dear. There’s no mistaking it.”

“But…” She examined the gift tags; the one on the luxury gift basket said, ‘Savannah Page’ and the one on the wrapped up present said, “Merry Christmas, Jacob.” It didn’t make sense. Who would have sent them? And then she guessed.

Kay.
She laughed, more from relief than anything else. Her cousin, Kay.
How thoughtful of her.
“That woman,” murmured Savannah, all smiles and joy.

“You know who it’s from?”

“My cousin.”

Arnold nodded his head. Kay hadn’t even known his name, much less given him the time of day but she and Jacob had come to see him as a friend and often stopped for a few moments each day to talk to him. “At least it’ll put a sparkle on your face and your boy’s too.”

She felt a tingling in her bones as she cast her eyes over the jars and boxes and bottles inside it.

“You’re not spending Christmas day here, are you, Arnold?”

“No,” he replied, closing his craggy eyes as if she’d said something horrid to him. “I’m going to my daughter’s for the day. I’d better go home and freshen up first, I think.”

“I think it would be a good idea, Arnold.” Savannah smiled, feeling happy that he wouldn’t be alone on a day like this.

“That looks mighty fine,” he said, eyeing the huge gift basket.

“Doesn’t it?” she agreed, “What would you like?”

He shrank away. “Oh no, no, no. You and Jacob enjoy your feast.”

“We can’t possibly eat all of this,” she protested. “Don’t be shy, Arnold. I insist. What would you like?”

“Nothing at all, my dear, but thank you for asking.” He shook his head stubbornly. “You’re going to need help carrying that, Ms. Page. It’s mighty heavy.” She tried to carry it in her arms; he was right, she would have trouble taking this back to her apartment alone.

“We’ll both carry it,” she suggested. And they each took one end of the basket and carried it slowly towards the elevator. They hauled it to her apartment where Savannah knocked on the door with her foot and told Jacob to open. His eyes opened wide when he saw them. “Is that ours?” He asked, his eager eyes taking in the gift basket.

“It is,” Arnold replied. “Merry Christmas, Jacob.”

“Merry Christmas, Arnold!”

“This way,” said Savannah and guided Arnold towards the kitchen where they finally set it down on the kitchen table.

“Is that from you, Arnold?” Jacob asked.

The elderly man shook his head. “And there’s another surprise, just for you.” He winked at him. “I’d best go back down,” he said to Savannah and quickly left.

“I’ll be down to get the other one,” she told him.

“Is there really something for me, Mommy?” Jacob asked.

“Apparently so. I’ll go and get it in a moment,” she told him. “First, I think we should share this with Arnold, what do you say?” He nodded happily. The gift basket was decorated with ribbons and covered with cellophane wrap. She cut a slit into one end and took a few things out that she thought Arnold might like and put them into an empty bag. “I’ll be back,” she promised Jacob.

She raced back to the lobby. “Merry Christmas, Arnold.” She handed him the bag of goodies. His eyes glossed over and he looked away. “That’s awful kind of you, Ms. Page.” Despite the number of times she’d told him to call her Savannah he stubbornly refused and kept his old-wordly manners.

“Please,” she insisted. “There’s only so much that Jacob and I can eat and I hate to waste food. It would make me happy if you would share it with me.”

“If you put it like that,” he said, bowing his head and accepting her gift. “Thank you. God bless you both and Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Arnold. I hope you have a lovely time with your family.” She picked up the second gift. Unlike the gift basket, it was light and easy to carry.

“I reckon that’ll make the little fella happy,” commented Arnold.

“He’s already happy and I think this is definitely going to be the best Christmas we’ve ever had.”

She rushed back into the elevator, eager to call Kay and to thank her.

The chill crept around him like layers of ice stealing through the wide open doors.

In the early hours of Christmas day morning, so early that he hadn’t yet gone to bed, Tobias stood staring out at the darkness.

There was no Christmas tree in sight, no decorations, no lights. Not even Christmas cards.

He was too young to be wearing the plush velvet robe and the slippers, but he’d been lounging around, lost in his own private hell and this old man’s garb kept him warm.

What was the time?

He glanced over his shoulder. The clock said 3:37am. He lifted the glass of whiskey to his lips and took a big gulp. It warmed him as he stood looking out at the murky darkness that had swallowed up the landscape outside; a part of him wished that it would swallow him up and make him disappear, too.

It had taken the wrong person. Why hadn’t it been him instead? Now he was left alone in a place he very much didn’t want to be in, nor deserve to be.

He hated Christmas and everything that went with it. But drinking his way through bottles of whiskey and screwing Naomi for hours was a way of forgetting. Naomi hadn’t said it, she knew better than to do that, but her transparency was a dead giveaway; she’d been bitterly disappointed that he hadn’t gone away this Christmas, because it would have meant she’d have been able to get away with him. Instead she’d been texting him and her messages were starting to irritate him, like nails clawing the surface of a blackboard. She was desperate to know when he wanted her to come over.

BOOK: The Gift, Book 2 (The Billionaire's Love Story)

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