The Christmas Party (44 page)

‘It doesn’t feel much like Christmas at all,’ she said.

‘True.’ Simon sighed. ‘But it’s great to be here.’

She thought of the sleet and snow they’d escaped from in London and felt as if that was another world. A world that she had no inclination to return to.

‘I can’t believe we’ve left our old lives behind so easily.’ It had felt amazing to just turn up at Heathrow Airport and buy tickets for the first available flight to somewhere hot. As Simon had paid for the tickets, she’d felt reckless, free and liberated. She’d even left her suitcase behind – what was the point of lugging winter clothing with her? – and decanted all she’d need for a few days into a WH Smith carrier bag. As they’d raced laughing and breathless through the concourse to the departure gate, clutching each other tightly, scant luggage in hand, she’d felt loved for the first time in many years.

This was how she wanted to live her life now, according to her own wishes. Not bogged down by the demands of corporate life, by a husband whose deceit was becoming the stuff of legend, by insecurity and loneliness.

‘I wonder where we’ll end up?’ she mused.

‘Cornwall,’ he said decisively.

Kirsten laughed. ‘Sounds like you’ve been giving it some thought.’

‘I have. When I woke up this morning it suddenly occurred to me: why don’t we return to the place where we were at our happiest? We always loved it, and there’s a lot we could do there.’

‘Cornwall.’ She nodded slowly, letting it sink in.

‘We could buy one of those fabulous houses we used to look at. Have the kids. The dogs.’

‘Dexter and Bounce?’

‘Everything we once planned.’ He took her hand and held it tightly. ‘You could be the bride that you were destined to be.’

Tears rushed to her eyes. ‘That sounds like a proposal.’

Simon smiled. ‘I think it is.’

‘Then, yes. I’d like that. I’d like that very much.’

Simon kissed her and she knew that she was where she should be. She was here, in the moment, with the man she’d always loved.

When they broke apart, he said, ‘I don’t want to rush you, though. For now, we can just rest, enjoy the sun and take time to get to know each other all over again.’ Simon stroked her thigh. ‘We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.’

She was very much enjoying the ‘catching up’ part. They’d arrived late last night, ragged, dishevelled and tired. But after a relaxing night’s sleep and a lazy morning, she was beginning to feel human again. They’d booked into the hotel for two weeks and, after that, who knew? Perhaps they’d do what Simon suggested and head to Cornwall to settle. It sounded idyllic, and with Simon by her side she was sure it would be. Wherever she ended up, she wanted to do something fulfilling with her life, and this break would give her time to think what that might be.

Her phone rang and she reached into her beach bag. They’d bought a few essentials at the hotel shop this morning, since all she’d arrived with was underwear and toiletries. Now she had shorts, a bikini and suntan oil. As soon as Christmas was over they’d have to replenish their wardrobes a little, yet Kirsten didn’t think she’d be needing her heavy coat and boots for a while. Perhaps never again.

She looked at the display on the phone. Tyler. She turned the screen and showed it to Simon.

‘Take it if you need to,’ he said.

‘I have nothing to say to him.’ She couldn’t bear to hear his sob story. If he was alone for Christmas, then he had no one to blame but himself. Perhaps the lovely Louise would offer him some festive comfort. Kirsten couldn’t care less. She was done with Tyler and her heart felt lighter for it.

She cut off the call and instead of returning the phone to her bag she dropped it into the rubbish bin at the end of the bar. Another thing she wouldn’t miss.

Simon stroked her hair. ‘I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.’

‘I’ll hold you to that,’ she teased.

She felt as if they had a bright future ahead of them, and could only hope she was right. This time there would be no three-strikes-and-you’re-out, this time she’d have a zerotolerance policy on infidelity. She looked at Simon and knew in her soul that he was a very different man from Tyler. He wouldn’t cheat on her, he wouldn’t let her down. Her only regret was that they’d wasted a decade without each other.

‘Merry Christmas, Kirsten.’

The breeze lifted her hair, the sun warmed her skin and the man she loved kissed her softly on the lips.

Chapter Sixty-five

There are wonderful smells of roasting turkey and pigs-in-blankets coming from the kitchen. Dad, already wearing his Christmas paper hat, is setting the table. That should be my job, but I’ve been given leave to play with Mia, who is in a state of hyper-excitement after being lavished with toys by that generous old soul, Father Christmas.

I encouraged my parents to think modestly when it came to gifts this year, but they clearly haven’t been able to stop themselves from spoiling their one and only granddaughter. As a result she’s trying to play with every single one of her toys all at once. She has on her Disney Princess Sleeping Beauty Glitter Dress over her new Christmas outfit.

She got most of the things on her dreaded Christmas list. Except the trampoline. The trampoline was definitely a banned substance. I’ve been up with her since four o’clock this morning, when I gave up the battle to contain her in bed any longer. Mum and Dad, bleary-eyed and in their dressing-gowns, followed shortly afterwards. I bet you a pound that they’ll both be fast asleep on the sofa by the time the Queen comes on the telly.

‘What time is that young man of yours coming, Lou-Lou?’ Dad asks.

‘Dad,’ I say shyly. ‘He’s not my “young man”.’

‘You know what I mean, love,’ he says. ‘He seems a nice sort.’

‘He is.’

The doorbell rings. ‘That’ll be him,’ I say. ‘Whatever you do, don’t smother him.’

Dad looks affronted. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Don’t start asking what his intentions towards me are before we get to the Christmas pudding.’

‘Can I ask after that?’ Dad teases.

‘It might be the season of goodwill, but I will kill you with my bare hands if you do,’ I counter.

‘I hope he makes you happy, Lou-Lou.’ Dad touches my arm, embarrassed. ‘You deserve it. To see you settled is the best Christmas present I could have.’

‘Will someone get that!’ Mum shouts tetchily from the kitchen. She will be red-faced and flustered as she always is when she does Christmas dinner. That’s mainly because she cooks for about twenty-five of us when there are in fact usually only four. An extra mouth to feed today will have sent her over the edge. ‘

I’ll go.’ I leave Mia, who pounces on her Gramps and tries to educate him in the dubious joys of My Little Pony. I smile as I see her place a tiny pink comb into his big, gnarled hands. Hands that have been treated to pink nail varnish more than once by said granddaughter.

When I open the door, Josh is standing there, almost hidden by a pile of beautifully wrapped presents.

‘Wow,’ I say. ‘When on earth did you manage to go shopping for those? Did you do a ram raid?’

‘The minute I left you last night, I raced round the shopping centre. Now I know why some of the shops stay open until midnight.’

‘Thank goodness they do.’

‘I couldn’t come empty-handed,’ Josh says. ‘Not after you’ve been kind enough to invite me.’

‘I just hope you’ve put some money in your patience meter,’ I whisper. ‘You’re going to need it. I warn you, my parents are your biggest fans. They already have us married off.’

‘Is that such a bad thing?’

Both of us flush.

Me and my big gob. To get us back on an even keel, I ask, ‘How’s Fossil Oil’s new sales director feeling this morning?’

‘Weird,’ he says. ‘Very weird. I still can’t believe it’s true.’

‘Don’t leave him standing at the door!’ Mum again. ‘You’re letting all my heat out.’

‘Come in.’ I stand aside, letting Josh pass through into the living room. When he’s there, I take the presents from him and pile them on the sofa.

My dad instantly abandons his little pony and stands up. ‘Merry Christmas, son,’ he says. ‘Merry Christmas.’

Son
. God, they are so embarrassing. I raise an eyebrow at that, but Dad is unabashed. He takes Josh’s hand and shakes it until I think it might detach from his arm.

‘Dad. Leave him alone.’

When Josh finally gets his hand back, he turns to Mia. ‘Hey, you,’ he says. ‘What did Santa bring?’

‘All this,’ she says, wide-eyed. ‘We can play with my It’s Teatime tea set.’ Another victim for her to monopolise.

‘Let me take him through to Granny to say hello,’ I tell Mia. ‘Then you can have him.’

This boy is going to have to man up if he’s going to be part of this family. Then I realise what I’ve said, if only in my mind, and feel a warm little squirming in my tummy. And it’s not just because I’ve been on the Marks & Spencer Buck’s Fizz since dawn.

I take Josh into the kitchen. There’s a cloud of steam over the cooker and the windows are running with condensation. It’s as hot as Hades as the turkey has already been in for hours. My mother likes everything Well Done. Dad has to restrain her from putting the sprouts on in November. My pink-cheeked mum is taking her apron off to greet him.

‘Mum, you don’t have to take your pinny off to say hello.’

‘Of course I do.’ She pats her hair. ‘We don’t stand on ceremony here.’

I don’t point out that that’s
exactly
what she’s doing. ‘Merry Christmas, Mrs Young.’

‘Oh, do call me Audrey.’

At least she didn’t say ‘Call me Mum.’ I should be thankful for small mercies.

‘Lunch won’t be long,’ she says.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no,’ Mum says. ‘Bernard will do it all. He’s a very good sous-chef.’

Good luck with that, Dad.

‘Louise, make sure your young man has a drink.’

‘Orange juice?’ I ask.

He nods.

‘Get him something proper, Louise. We’ve got M&S Buck’s Fizz.’

‘I don’t drink, Audrey,’ he says. ‘Have to keep my driving licence.’

‘Sensible,’ Mum says. ‘Very sensible.’

Now she’s fallen in love with him a little bit more. I fear this is going to be a long day. For poor Josh, not me. I for one am so glad to have him here and he seems to have slotted into my family seamlessly, which gives me a little glow.

As I pour Josh’s drink, my phone rings and I retrieve it from the worktop. When I glance at the display, I’m shocked to see Tyler Benson’s name. I move away from my mum and go into the hall, nodding to Josh that he should follow me.

‘It’s Tyler,’ I whisper to Josh. ‘What can he want?’

He shrugs. ‘Perhaps he just wants to wish you merry Christmas.’

‘And perhaps not.’ I snap off the phone. ‘Whatever it is, I don’t want to talk to him now. It’ll have to wait until the new year.’ It can only be bad news. If he’s resigned over something we’ve done, then he’ll only want to harangue me some more. I don’t need to hear that today. ‘He’s obviously a man with a lot on his plate. I wonder if he knows that you’re going to fill his shoes?’

‘I don’t know. I would have thought he’d have been straight on the phone to me if he had, but I’ve heard nothing.’

‘I wonder how things are on the domestic front. If he’s made up with Kirsten yet.’ I chew at my lip. ‘I feel I should call her. Perhaps in the new year. I want her to know there was absolutely nothing going on between me and Tyler. Quite the opposite. I owe her that much.’

‘I don’t think you owe either Kirsten or Tyler Benson anything at all. It might not have been you he was sleeping with, but he was certainly no saint.’

‘No,’ I agree. ‘I still hate to think of her having a miserable Christmas because of something I’ve done.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Josh assures me. ‘People like that always come up roses. He’s probably showering her with diamonds as we speak.’ Josh raises his eyebrows. ‘Speaking of which …’

‘Don’t tell me there’s a diamond ring for me in that pile of presents?’ Then, of course, I could bite off my own tongue.

He laughs. ‘Not quite. But I do have something for you.’

So we go back to the living room. He hands a few of the boxes to Mia, who of course is delighted that her glut of presents hasn’t yet ended. There’s one for my dad and Josh puts aside a box for Mum.

‘You didn’t wrap all these yourself, did you?’

‘No,’ Josh admits. ‘I availed myself of every gift-wrapping service on offer.’

‘Wise man.’

He hands me a pretty little box. ‘For you.’

I feel my heart pattering in my chest.

‘Just a little something.’ He’s bashful now.

When I open it, there’s a beautiful charm bracelet inside. The ones that are all the fashion at the moment. The expensive ones. One of the ones that I’ve lusted after in the shop window every time I’ve passed and yet never thought I’d ever have a chance of owning. It isn’t ‘a little something’ at all.

I gape up at him. ‘It’s too much.’

‘No,’ he says. ‘I want you to have it.’ He clears his throat, lowering his voice so that Dad and Mia can’t hear. ‘I know we’ve only known each other a short while, but … well, you already mean a lot to me. Sometimes it feels just right, doesn’t it? I hope you feel the same.’

There are tears in my eyes when I say, ‘I do.’

He takes the bracelet from the box and fastens the pretty glass hearts and charms around my wrist.

‘I can buy you a new charm at every special occasion,’ he says.

‘That would be nice.’

Then, in one smooth move, I pull the piece of mistletoe from above the door that Dad so carefully positioned there under Mum’s instruction. I hold it above Josh’s head and kiss him deeply. His arms fold around me and I know that I want to be in this strong embrace for ever.

‘Yuk,’ I hear Mia say.

Josh and I break away from each other, laughing. When we look at her, she’s got her eyes covered and blurts out the very same thing that I do whenever I see people kissing on television. ‘Get a room!’

Josh scoops her up and the two of us hold her in a huddle.

His eyes, locked on mine, are filled with love. ‘Happy Christmas, Louise,’ he says.