The House on Hope Street - By Danielle Steel Page 0,8
bothering us. That's what we're here for. Call again if you need to.”
“I'm okay. I feel better now. Just talking to you helps me,” she said, sounding grateful, and Liz's heart went out to her. It was a hell of a way to spend Christmas.
“I feel so sorry for her,” Liz said to Jack when she walked into their bedroom afterwards. She'd been talking to Amanda on the phone in the hallway. “She's just not equipped to deal with that bastard.”
“That's why she has us to defend her.” He had taken off his shoes and was wandering around their bedroom in stocking feet, silently chortling to himself about the gift he had bought her. But when he glanced at Liz, he saw that she was looking genuinely worried.
“Do you think he'd really dare hurt her at this point?” she asked him. Phillip Parker had hurt his wife a long time before, but they had been separated for quite a while.
“No, I don't. I think he's just trying to intimidate her. What does he want now? For us to reverse today's order?” Liz nodded. It was exactly what Jack had expected, and didn't surprise either of them. “He can sing the blues on that all he wants, we're not reversing anything, and he knows it.”
“Poor Amanda. This is so hard for her.”
“She just has to tough it out and get through this. We'll do fine for her, and he'll get over it. He has more than enough to give her a decent settlement, and support for her and the kids. He can cut back a little on one of his girlfriends if he has to.”
“Maybe that's what he's afraid of.” Liz smiled, and looked admiringly at her husband. He was taking his shirt off, and as always, he looked incredibly handsome to her. At forty-four, he still had a strong, athletic-looking body, and in spite of the white hair, he looked years younger than he was.
“What are you smiling at?” he teased her, as he took off his trousers.
“I was thinking about how cute you are. I think you're even better looking and sexier than when we got married.”
“You're going blind, my love, but I'm grateful for it. You look pretty good too.” At forty-one, no one would have guessed that she had had five children. He walked back across the room and kissed her, and they both put Amanda Parker and her problems out of mind. As much as they liked her and felt sorry for her, she was still part of their work life, and something they needed to forget now, in order to put their work behind them and enjoy Christmas with each other and their kids.
They sat in bed and watched TV for a while, the girls came in to say good night before they went to bed, and Liz heard Peter come in on the stroke of eleven. He was always conscientious about his curfews. And after they watched the news, she and Jack turned off the light and slid into bed, with an arm around each other. She loved cuddling with him, and when he whispered to her, she giggled, and tiptoed across the room to lock the door of their bedroom. You never knew when one of the children would come in, particularly Jamie, who often woke up at night and came in to ask her to help him get a drink of water, and tuck him back into bed. But once the door was locked, the room was theirs, and as Jack slipped off her nightgown and kissed her, she moaned softly as they found each other. It was the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve.
Chapter 2
On Christmas morning, Jamie climbed into bed with them at six-thirty in the morning. Liz had her nightgown back on by then, and they had unlocked the door before they went to sleep. Jack was still sound asleep in his pajama bottoms as Jamie settled in next to Liz. She and Jack had cuddled close to each other all night, and everyone else in the house was still asleep when Jamie asked her if it was time to go downstairs yet.
“Not yet, sweetheart,” she whispered to him. “Why don't you sleep with us for a while. It's still nighttime.”
“When will it be time to go downstairs?” he whispered softly.
“Not for another couple of hours.” She was hoping to stall him for as long as possible. At least till eight, if she was lucky. The others were old