Chapter 13 #3
‘Okay, okay. I’ve owned that I was an ass to you, and I’ve apologised. Can we forget about my behaviour and move on?’
‘Deal.’ They smiled at each other, and something seemed to shift between them. Suddenly it felt like they were friends.
‘So, how long have you been living in New York?’ he asked her.
‘Four years.’
‘And how do you like it?’
‘I love it.’
‘Don’t you miss your family, though?’
‘Yes. But I love New York and I have good friends there. I’d miss them if I moved back here. That’s the dilemma when you build a life elsewhere, I guess. You’ll always be missing someone. Plus I love my job. And there was— I mean I had—’
‘Your boyfriend.’
‘Yeah.’ She was quiet for a moment. ‘I love my family, but we’re in touch all the time, and they come to visit too, or I come back here. You make your own family too, don’t you – friends and neighbours, and the people you know to say hello to, like the guy at the bodega where you get your coffee—’
‘You consider the guy at the bodega family?’
‘Well, like extended family maybe – a distant relation, like a second cousin twice removed or something.’
‘I don’t even know what that is.’
‘Me neither.’ She laughed. ‘But you know what I mean. You have your own little community – the people you see every day, like your doorman Arnold.’
‘True. I never thought of it like that, but you’re right.’
‘So you and your girlfriend broke up just before the holidays too?’ Mary asked tentatively. ‘Were you meant to be spending Christmas with her?’
He sighed, pushing his mug away. ‘Yeah, we were going to her folks.’
‘Well, we’ve got that in common. I was meant to be going to Greg’s family. Why didn’t you just go home to your own folks instead?’
‘I… don’t have folks. Tragic orphan,’ he said, jerking a thumb at himself with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
‘Oh. Sorry.’
‘It’s fine. I’m used to it.’
‘So you came here to avoid all the media intrusion?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Hence the cat burglar ensemble.’
He smiled. ‘It all happened last minute, and I didn’t want to go to a hotel, getting stalked by fans and staked out by paparazzi.’
‘I get that. It must be horrible.’
‘So Max found this house swap for me.’
‘Wow! Not what you were expecting, I imagine. I’m surprised you agreed to it.’
‘Me too. I told him to call it off and find me something else. But he said I’d have to do it myself because he wasn’t going to let your mom down.’
‘So you called her yourself to tell her the deal was off?’ Mary asked, a slow smile spreading across her face. She knew exactly how that would have gone.
‘Yeah. So here I am,’ he said wryly, spreading his hands.
‘Oh, well played, Max.’ She grinned.
‘Right?’
Mary drained her tea. ‘Well, I have some wrapping to do. I’ll get out of your hair.’
‘Cool. But I’ll see you later for dinner? I took that fish pie out of the freezer.’
‘Oh, great. But you don’t want to be alone?’
He shook his head. ‘It’d be good to have company. I thought we could eat together.’
‘That would be nice.’
‘And you’re welcome to join me on any of my activities too,’ he said, nodding to the chart on the wall.
‘Really?’ She beamed. ‘Great. I like vegging out in front of the TV as much as the next person. And I promise I’ll try to bring the right grumpy vibe to the moody beach walks.
’ Cheered by Evan’s change of heart, she found her earlier sense of desolation had melted away, replaced by warm, fuzzy feelings, and she was grateful.
He was good company once he let his guard down and she was relieved she wouldn’t have to spend the next couple of days avoiding him and eating alone.
It would be much more enjoyable having someone to share the time with.
She just wished she could make it more fun for him.
‘You know, the beach will be thronged in the morning. You should come for the swim,’ she said impulsively, peering at the chart.
‘Uh… that’s kind of why I can’t go.’
‘It’s all pretty manic. I reckon you could get lost in the crowd.’
‘Really?’ He looked sceptical.
She nodded. ‘Besides, everyone will be too focused on trying not to freeze to death to notice you. And it’s for a good cause.’
‘I guess if it’s for charity…’ he said hesitantly. ‘I don’t have any swimwear, though.’
‘That’s not a problem.’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘It’s not, like… skinny-dipping?’
Mary hooted. ‘No!’ She shuddered as an image came into her mind of her neighbours running naked along the beach, bits flying in all directions. ‘God, no. But our friend Owen has a surf shop and he can get you anything you’d need.’
‘A surf shop? So people wear wetsuits?’ he asked, brightening. ‘That makes more sense.’
‘Well, it’s kind of considered cheating, but a few people do wear them. Most of us just wear regular swimwear. And Santa hats.’
‘Is that what you wear?’ A smile played around the corners of his mouth and his eyes lit up with interest. Was he imagining her in a swimsuit and Santa hat, she wondered, trying and failing to feel affronted.
She grinned. ‘You’ll have to come if you want to find out.’ Gah! Why was she flirting with him?
‘Okay, then. Sign me up.’
‘Great! I’ll call Aifric and tell her. I’ll just put you down as “and friend”.’
‘But no wetsuit. I don’t want to be the wimpy Yank.’
‘You can have a wetsuit if you want. I won’t think less of you.’
‘But everyone else in the town might.’
‘Okay, then. Speedos it is!’ She jumped up, laughing as Evan spluttered in outrage. ‘See you for dinner around seven? I want to eat before I go to the pub.’
‘It’s a date.’