Chapter 8 #2
‘Pasta! On Christmas Day?’ her mother gasped as if Mary had taken leave of her senses. ‘Look, don’t worry about it. Leave it with me. I’ll give Carmel a call and book the pair of you in provisionally for Christmas Day, and you can firm up with her once you’ve got the okay from Evan.’
‘Right,’ Mary said weakly, knowing there was no point in trying to convince her mother that there was no way Evan would give this plan the thumbs up.
‘You can take the rest from there. I’ve stocked up for Evan, but there should be plenty for the two of you.
There’s a fish pie in the freezer, so you can have that tomorrow night.
It’s a big one, so it’ll stretch if you want to have anyone over.
Why don’t you invite a few friends round?
I’m sure Evan would like to meet more of the local people while he’s there. ’
‘I really don’t think so.’
‘There’s plenty of mince pies and Christmas cake, and anything else you can get in the shops tomorrow or one of the neighbours would help you out. Now, what about presents?’
Mary felt a pang of self-pity at the thought of all the brightly wrapped parcels in her suitcase that she wouldn’t get to open with her family. ‘I brought yours with me. I presume you did the same?’
‘Yes, we brought yours to New York – we thought we’d be opening them together. Why don’t we have a Zoom call on Christmas morning and open our presents together then?’
‘That’s a great idea!’ Mary said, brightening. At least she’d get to spend some of the day with her family, if only virtually. It was better than nothing.
‘You can go into Dingle tomorrow and get Evan something, so he’s not left out. You’ll need to go shopping anyway to get some things to bring to Carmel’s. You can take my car or your dad’s – we left Evan the keys.’
‘You think I should buy him a present?’ As if having to spend Christmas with the grumpy interloper wasn’t enough!
‘Of course you should. How are you going to feel on Christmas morning if he doesn’t have anything to open? A lovely young lad like that all alone on Christmas.’
‘Okay, you can put down the tiny violin. He’s not Tiny Tim, Mum. He could buy and sell us.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘But I don’t even know the guy. How do I know what he’d like?’
‘You’ve been shopping for your brothers for years; it’s not that difficult.’ Her mother glanced away from the screen. ‘He obviously likes reading – he’s got a lot of books. Or you could get him something Irish – he is a tourist, after all.’
‘Like what? A fridge magnet? A Guinness T-shirt?’
‘No, something decent. How about a nice Aran jumper?’
‘I don’t even know his size. What am I supposed to do? Body-check him so I can secretly get his measurements?’ Hmm, actually that idea was quite appealing – running her hands over his broad shoulders, down over his pecs… ‘Anyway, I am not forking out for an Aran jumper for some randomer.’
‘Well, there’s always a nice scarf, I suppose.’
‘The last refuge of the desperate!’
Her mother laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s not how I raised you.
I’d go with the sweater, if I were you. He can always change it if it’s the wrong size.
Anyway, it’s the thought that counts.’ Then her mother slapped a hand to her forehead.
‘What am I thinking? Aren’t I here in his apartment?
I can have a sneaky peek in his wardrobe and text you his size. ’
‘You shouldn’t be snooping in his things.’
‘I wouldn’t normally, but it’s in a good cause. Right, that’s settled. I’ll give Carmel a ring as soon as we hang up and sort out dinner for the two of you.’
Mary sighed. There was no getting out of it. Her mother would be outraged if she discovered Mary hadn’t spent Christmas Day with Evan, pulling crackers, wearing paper crowns and eating turkey with the O’Sullivans.
As she got ready for bed, she wondered again why Evan wanted to spend Christmas in a place where he knew no one.
It was such a strange thing to do. Was he having some kind of breakdown?
Planning something sinister? Should she be afraid?
After all, she was alone in an isolated house with a complete stranger.
What kind of person would want to cut themselves off from everyone for the holidays?
He was young, hot and famous; surely he must have plenty of friends.
And what about his family? Was he estranged from them?
At best he must be a bit of a weirdo if this was his idea of a fun Christmas.
But try as she might, she couldn’t muster up any real concern about Evan.
Maybe he was just a bit of a loner, and if she could get him to warm to her, they could have a perfectly pleasant few days together.
There was a house full of food and booze, and they’d have each other for company.
How bad could it be? She’d launch a charm offensive in the morning.
And if she couldn’t win him over by being nice, she could always threaten to go to the papers and out him as a complete dickhead.
Once in bed, she opened her laptop to do some research on Evan and see if she could find some clues to getting on his good side.
She was aware of the buzz around him and his new Spider-Man series, though she’d never watched it.
But she didn’t keep up with celebrity gossip, so she didn’t know anything about his personal life.
She opened the web browser, but her eyes were already drooping closed as she typed Evan’s name into the search bar, and she was asleep before she’d hit return.