Page 62 of Goodnight
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Claire Chambers watchedas the beautiful blonde woman made her way down the aisle to her son. From the moment he could speak Nick had been charming his way through life with absolute ease. Everything he touched turned to gold. She’d been worried that when he did settle down he wouldn’t properly appreciate his other half, as Claire had assumed that would fall into his lap with as little effort as everything else. She couldn’t have been further from the truth, and her son couldn’t have chosen a more difficult woman to love.
Claire was proud of Nick for so many things; he was exceptional. But if she was honest, the way he’d restored this broken woman back to herself was, in her opinion, his greatest achievement. Anya might not be full of the light and optimism her son was, but over the last few months her smiles were more frequent and her humour had shone through.
Yes, she was not of the light like her son, she was created from darkness, but in Claire’s opinion that made her the perfect counterpoint to him. She had the edge that Nick needed in his life, and a fierce loyalty to him and the family that Claire appreciated. Claire wasn’t stupid. She knew who had got rid of that abusive bastard who had threatened her daughter and granddaughter’s happiness. Anya was good at what she did but on that occasion her research had been a little lacking: Claire never went fishing with the family. She saw the state Clive was in when he limped out of the house with his tail between his legs, and she saw the fear in his eyes when he’d seen Anya at that charity event. Anya had saved her son’s life, she’d saved her daughter and granddaughter who knows how much unhappiness, she’d given Claire’s nephew more confidence than he’d had in years; and she’d beaten her husband at chess … repeatedly.
Yes, Claire knew she had a lot to be grateful for when it came to her future daughter-in-law, but there were two reasons she was truly happy with Nick’s choice. The first was how much Anya loved him: Claire could see it in the way she tracked his movements, the contentment in her eyes when he was close and the way her face changed when he touched her with affection; like she was part bemused, part amazed, but mostly radiantly happy. The second reason was that darkness, that edge Anya had; there was no way she would let any harm come to Nick. She would do what needed to be done to keep him safe, and although Nick insisted the danger had passed, Claire wasn’t that naïve. There would always be threats to powerful men like him. To have Anya on his team with her brand of loyalty and devotion was more than Claire could ever have hoped for.
Chapter31
Messy
Goodie limped towardsthe tree slowly, then paused about five feet away. Her chest constricted painfully as she looked up at the lights twinkling over the entire massive eight-foot monster erected in the Chambers’ living room. For over twenty years she had successfully avoided all reminders of Christmas. One of the memories she hadn’t been able to leave behind was the reflection of the Christmas lights in her mother’s lifeless eyes that night. She looked down at the floor for a moment and took a deep breath in as she felt someone take the hand that wasn’t leaning on her stick. She looked over at her sister and saw that she not only had tears in her eyes, but some were streaming down her face. Tasha squeezed her hand and Goodie nodded, closing her eyes for a brief moment and shifting her hand so that it was gripping Tasha’s wrist. The steady pulse under her fingers helped to calm her.
They were here; they were alive; that was what mattered.
It was the first time the sisters had been together at Christmas since that night. Tasha had of course tried to make it happen after they were back in contact, but Goodie absolutely refused. Back then she simply couldn’t risk the emotion it was likely to provoke. But now … now she had a family for herself and that she could give Tasha. Now she needed to bury the past. She needed to be strong. Her hand went down to her stomach and her mouth set in a determined line. By next year avoiding Christmas would definitely not be an option.
‘Anya, darling,’ Goodie’s gaze snapped to Claire and the box of baubles she was holding out to her. ‘Do you mind helping out? We’ve got a lot of tree to cover by dinner.’ Goodie’s hand actually shook as she took the box from Claire, whose concerned eyes flashed to Tasha’s tear-stained face. Tash gave a quick shake of her head as Goodie moved to the tree.
‘What ho!’ The living room door crashed open as Bertie barrelled in, closely followed by the rest of them. This included Nick, Monty, Uncle Giles, Auntie Rose, Tilly, Arabella and Ed.
‘The tree!’ shouted Arabella, shoving her way through the adults and skidding to a halt next to Goodie. ‘What are you doing just standing there, slow-Jo?’ she said, tugging Goodie’s hand out of Tasha’s and dragging her forward. ‘Let’s get baubling!’ Bels let her hand go when they were next to the tree and started rifling through the box of decorations. ‘Hurrah!’ she shouted, holding a lump of dry clay encrusted with glitter and other festive detritus. ‘This is one ofmycreations. Can you believe I made it when I was only three?’ Goodie looked at the misshapen lump, then at Arabella’s face, shining with excitement. She wasn’t sure that the creation of this object was much of an achievement at any age and she didn’t like to lie to children, so she smiled instead.
‘Mummy says I’ve always been extremely talented artistically.’ She shoved the lump into Goodie’s hand. ‘I’ll let you put it on the tree,’ she said, her voice very serious to communicate the gravity of this honour.
‘Tasha?’ Bertie’s worried voice caught Goodie’s attention. She looked back to see that Bertie had curled her sister into his side and was wiping away her tears.
‘What’s up with Auntie Tasha?’ Arabella asked, peering around Goodie to look at the couple.
‘Your Aunt Tasha is allergic to Christmas trees, squirt,’ Nick said, ruffling her hair and then wrapping his big hand around the back of Goodie’s neck. ‘You okay?’ he whispered in her ear, stroking the side of her neck with his thumb. She nodded, reaching up with an unsteady hand to hang the sad-looking lump off one of the branches. When she was done Nick pulled her back into him, wrapped both his arms around her chest and rested his head on top of hers. She closed her eyes slowly, the beating of his heart reassuring against her back, and reached up to curl her hand around his wrist.
‘Gosh, how awful for you,’ Arabella said to Tash with real feeling. ‘Christmas trees, of all things. Do you swell up like a puffer fish?’ She tilted her head to the side and eyed Tasha expectantly.
Tasha laughed. ‘No, honey.’
Arabella’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. ‘Ed swells up around the horses,’ she said. ‘It makes him look super-weird. But he says he’s accli … acclimatose … acclimat –’
‘Acclimatizing,’ Ed put in, smiling down at Arabella with lips that were still slightly swollen. Ed’s attempts to spend time with, and win, Tilly and Arabella would either succeed, or result in some sort of horse-induced anaphylaxis by the time he was through. Goodie had caught Tilly watching Ed when she thought nobody was looking. The fact Arabella adored him was also a big plus point in his favour, but Clive had done enough damage to Tilly’s self-esteem and her ability to trust that it was looking like she’d never give Ed a chance. ‘Right, chaps,’ Ed said, clapping his hands together. ‘It’s brass monkeys out there, I’d best be off if I’m to make it to Essex without the old girl freezing up on me.’
Despite the success of cold fusion, Ed was still at a loss when it came to material possessions. He would not upgrade his ancient beat-up Ford Focus until it literally spluttered its last. The fact that his security team travelled in an infinitely better car than him was seemingly irrelevant. He bent down to give Arabella a hug. After she had squeezed him tightly, she pulled back to peer into his bloodshot eyes and lift his swollen eyelids.
‘I think the acclimit … acclimitoesing is working,’ she told him, giving him a huge smile and kissing his red cheek.
He chuckled. ‘Sure it is, love.’
‘You’re leaving?’ Tilly’s voice cut through the relaxed atmosphere, a pitch higher than normal.
‘Yes, Tils,’ Ed said softly.
‘But …’
Goodie turned to see that Tilly was frowning as she swallowed and took a step towards Ed. ‘But I thought …’ She trailed off and glanced at the rest of the family, obviously concerned by how much she was giving away. ‘I mean, is it safe? You driving this late in that heap? Can’t you just …’ She took another step forward and reached out to touch his arm. ‘Can’t you just stay?’
Ed smiled, a new light of determination firing in his eyes before he pulled Tilly in for a hug. ‘I’ve got to spend it with my family, love,’ he said as he pulled away to study her disappointed face.
‘Right, yes, of course. Jolly good. Bloody silly of me,’ she bumbled on, pushing against his chest to move away.
