Page 42 of A Christmas Celebration
I let out a long breath.
‘It’s not relevant whether I’ll be ready or not,’ I told her, the wine finding its mark and again relaxing my tongue, ‘because my position no longer exists. The corporate sponsorship the charity relied on has been withdrawn and roles have had to be dramatically reduced as a result.’
‘Oh,’ said Molly, looking shocked. ‘I see.’
‘Mine was one of them,’ I added, to make sure she did.
‘But you have so much experience…’ she began to say, then stopped.
‘I’d rather no one else found out,’ I quickly said. ‘I’m not up to explaining it all just yet, especially as I haven’t decided what I’m going to do next.’
‘Of course,’ she said, leaning forward to fill my glass again. ‘I won’t say anything.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Other than…’
‘Oh, Molly.’
‘Hear me out,’ she insisted. ‘I was just going to say that even though what you’re doing here isn’t on the same scale as what you were doing in Jordan…’
‘You can say that again.’
‘It’s still vital work. The food you deliver fills empty bellies and the hospital appointments you help to make potentially save lives. It might not be the same as working in a war-torn country, but it’s valid and vital nonetheless.’
Her words reminded me of what Alice had said about our own personal baggage being relevant to each of us. I felt badthat I still hadn’t shared with Molly the entire contents of mine, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
‘I know.’ I swallowed.
‘You’re a good person, Paige,’ she said, making me tear up. ‘And right now, for some reason, you’re being very hard on yourself.’
I had no idea what justified her saying that because, having immediately realized that she would know there was more to my arrival than I was willing to let on, I had gone out of my way to adapt my behaviour and words whenever I was around her. Perhaps my aura was still a muddy colour or something.
‘I notice more than you might think,’ she then wryly said, confirming that my ruse hadn’t worked. ‘Now,’ she added, thankfully letting the topic drop, ‘how about you sample a glass of last year’s sloe gin? That’s bound to soften you up a bit.’
‘Oh, go on then.’ I smiled, abandoning the wine. ‘I’ll give it a go.’
Two generous glasses later and I was beginning to feel more than a little softened up when Bran started barking. Molly and I jumped almost out of our skins and then started giggling as Archie fell through the door with Jack lingering behind.
‘Well, well, well,’ slurred Archie, falling about as he pulled off his boots, ‘what have we here?’
‘Hello, Archie,’ I said, budging up as he landed heavily on the sofa next to me.
‘Have I interrupted a coven meeting?’ he loudly whispered.
‘I think what you mean is, haveweinterrupted a coven meeting,’ said Molly, sounding far more awake than I felt. ‘And the answer is, no.’
‘We?’ frowned Archie.
‘Come in and sit down, Jack.’ Molly smiled.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Archie, twisting around. ‘Sorry, Jack, where are my manners?’
‘Back at the distillery, I would imagine,’ Molly tutted.
‘Paige, Jack. Jack, Paige,’ yawned Archie, pointing at one of us and then the other.
Jack gave me a wide smile and sat in the chair opposite Molly’s.
