Chapter 2
‘So, I got your parents a gourmet gift hamper,’ she told Greg that evening when they were curled up on the sofa after dinner at his place. ‘Very unoriginal, I know, but I hope they like it.’
‘They’ll love it. I told you, you don’t have to worry so much about it.’ He put an arm around her. ‘They’ll love anything you give them. And they’ll love you.’
Mary laid her head on his shoulder and smiled, feeling she’d made all the right decisions – not just about what gift to get his parents, but about going home with him for the holiday.
It was the right thing to do – the grown-up, mature thing.
‘I’m really looking forward to meeting them,’ she said, finding to her surprise that it was true.
‘And to seeing Ellen again.’ She’d met Greg’s sister a couple of times when she’d come to New York on business and they’d gone out for dinner together.
‘I really appreciate you coming with me,’ Greg said, his fingers lightly playing with her hair. ‘I know I haven’t always been a great boyfriend this year.’
Mary automatically lifted her head and opened her mouth to protest, but Greg cut her off with: ‘Come on, we both know it’s true. You’ve been incredibly patient and understanding, and I just want you to know how much it means to me that you stuck by me through it all.’
‘Of course.’ Mary felt a warm glow. It was true he’d put her through some rough times over the past year when she’d seriously questioned whether the relationship was worth it.
But it was good to hear that he wasn’t oblivious and knew it hadn’t been easy for her.
‘But it’s nice to hear, so thank you.’ She gave him a quick kiss on his jawline, more certain than ever that she’d done the right thing toughing it out with him.
What they had was good and it felt right.
It had been rocky at times, but they’d come through it and it was all going to pay off in the long run.
‘I’ve been an ass. You’re my rock and I don’t deserve you.
But I promise I’ll make it up to you and do better in the new year.
I thought we could take a vacation in Ireland in the summer, when we have time to do it properly – if you’d like to, that is.
We can visit your folks and you can show me around all the hotspots. ’
‘I’d love that.’ She put her arms around him, snuggling closer, and gave him a squeeze, already excited at the prospect of planning the trip.
‘And maybe next year we could think about moving in together. How would you feel about that?’
Mary pulled back to study his face. This was so unexpected, but he looked completely serious.
‘Here?’
He nodded. ‘I know it would be hard for you to give up the cubbyhole,’ he said with a wry smile. It was what Mary’s father had dubbed her tiny studio apartment. Greg had been hugely amused by it and had adopted it himself. ‘But I don’t think there’d be room for the two of us there.’
‘Wow, this is… a lot!’ Greg’s apartment was far more spacious than hers, boasting such luxuries as a separate bedroom and a kitchen that could accommodate two people at a time, so it made sense. But she couldn’t help feeling a pang at the thought of giving up her cubbyhole.
‘It’s something to think about anyway,’ he said, seeming to sense her hesitation.
‘No, it’d be great.’ She didn’t want him to think she was rejecting the idea. ‘It’s just a surprise, that’s all. I had no idea you were thinking about that.’
‘Like I said, there’s no rush.’
‘I wouldn’t be able to do anything until my lease was up anyway,’ she mused. ‘But maybe after our trip to Ireland—’
She was interrupted by the door buzzer.
Greg frowned. ‘It must be one of the neighbours,’ he said, getting up. ‘Hold that thought.’
He padded out into the hall and Mary heard him open the door, followed by silence.
‘Ita!’ he gasped finally, sounding dazed, and Mary’s heart plummeted at his tone – the shock and disbelief in it, but also the wonder and awe. ‘What— What are you doing here?’ he stuttered.
‘Te amo, Greg! Te amo!’
Mary didn’t know much Spanish, but she knew enough for that to cause her heart to clench.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Juanita was saying breathily. ‘I should have never left. I had to come and tell you—’
‘But how— what— how did you even get up here?’
‘I still have the key to the outside door.’
‘But your wedding…’
‘I called it off. I don’t want to marry Mateo. I just want to be with you.’
‘Ita, this isn’t fair. You can’t just turn up like this and expect me to—’
Juanita cut him off and Mary listened, frozen, as she launched into an impassioned speech about how leaving him had been the worst mistake of her life and she’d realised Greg was the only one for her, the love of her life, how she’d called off her wedding at the last minute and got on the first flight to New York she could find because when she knew she wanted to be with him, she couldn’t waste another minute apart from him, and he had to forgive her and take her back because she couldn’t live without him, and blah, blah, blah…
When she finally ran out of steam, Mary held her breath, waiting for Greg to tell her she was too late – that he was over her and he’d moved on.
But all he said was ‘Ita’ once again, and then he was mumbling something in a low voice.
She couldn’t make out the words, but his tone was loud and clear – soft, loving, intimate…
happy. There followed some muffled sounds that Mary just knew meant they were kissing.
To her horror, she caught Greg’s next words, even though he kept his voice low. ‘I can’t do this right now. You have to go. Mary’s here.’
‘Mary?’ Juanita’s tone was sharp.
‘The woman I’ve been seeing. I told you about her.’
The woman I’ve been seeing. The words cut like a knife to Mary’s gut.
Not my girlfriend. Not the woman who’s stuck by me all year, the woman who put up with me when I was having a meltdown over you getting married.
What happened to being his rock? What about everything they’d been through together in the past year?
Only a few minutes ago he’d been talking about moving in together.
How could all that be swept away so easily?
‘It’s not serious, is it? You want to be with her instead of me?’ Juanita demanded.
‘No, no. Of course not. Everything you just said… I feel the same,’ Greg murmured. ‘You know I do. But I can’t just— I have to break up with her properly first. She deserves that at least.’ He mumbled something Mary didn’t catch.
Then Juanita said, ‘Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow. And then we can start the rest of our lives together.’ She was almost shouting now and it was obvious she wanted Mary to hear.
That was it! Fired by fury and adrenaline, Mary surged to her feet and strode out into the hall, grabbing her coat from the stand on the way.
‘No need for that,’ she said stiffly, her voice trembling with rage and humiliation. ‘I can see myself out.’
Greg had the decency to look thoroughly ashamed of himself, his cheeks blushing a fiery red as he dropped his head, unable to meet her eyes, while Juanita looked her up and down with open curiosity.
‘Just to be clear,’ she said to Greg’s bent head, ‘I take it this means Christmas with your family is off.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled to his feet. Then he lifted his head and looked at her pleadingly. ‘I never meant for this to happen, Mary. I’m so sorry.’
But he wasn’t. He was overjoyed and she could hear the happiness bubbling up through his voice. He looked agonised, but also relieved that she was going, and a little part of her was annoyed with herself for making this so easy for him. But she couldn’t hang around another minute.
‘Right. Well, I’ll be off then.’ She shoved past Juanita, who had the nerve to give an indignant yelp, as if Mary was the one being rude here.
She held her head high as she stalked to the elevators, grateful that her fury kept the tears at bay until the elevator doors closed behind her and she was safely out of their sight.
But as she pressed the button for the ground floor with a shaking finger, the floodgates opened.
She let the tears flow, bawling all the way to the lobby, out past a startled couple in the doorway, on the walk to the subway station and the entire journey home to the haven of her little fourth-floor walk-up in Gramercy.
Once the door shut behind her, she really let rip.
She flopped onto the sofa and cried, loud, heaving sobs of anger, disappointment and shock as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened.
Her whole life had changed in a matter of minutes.
The gift hamper she’d bought for Greg’s parents mere hours ago stood in the corner beside her little Christmas tree, taunting her.
She couldn’t believe that just this morning she’d been shopping for gifts for his family and planning what to pack for their trip to Maine.
What was she going to do now? The worst thing in all this was that she’d given up going home to Dingle for him, and it would be too late to do anything about that now.
All the economy flights would be sold out and anything that was available this late in the day would be astronomically expensive.
She’d just have to spend Christmas on her own in New York.
How could she have been so stupid? What an idiot!
She’d always known that Greg wasn’t over Juanita and she’d only have to crook her finger for him to go running back to her with open arms. How had she managed to turn a blind eye to that?
But then she’d never expected Juanita to abandon her fiancé practically on the eve of their wedding and turn up at Greg’s door to declare her undying love for him.
She had to concede, that would be pretty hard to resist. It was the sort of thing that happened all the time in movies, but she’d never heard of anyone experiencing anything like it in real life.
She saw now with sickening clarity that she’d never been a main character in Greg’s story.
Juanita was the one who’d get the impassioned speeches and grand gestures, the one the audience would be rooting for, because this was Greg and Juanita’s movie, and Mary was just playing a supporting role.
She was the one who got dumped for grand-gesture girl – the one who slinked away quietly, whose name the audience wouldn’t even remember.
Eventually, when she’d worn herself out and was too exhausted to cry any more, she picked herself up off the sofa and got ready for bed.
She was grateful at least that tomorrow was Sunday, so she wouldn’t have to go into the office looking like the ghost of the grim reaper and face a barrage of questions from her colleagues.
She could stay in bed and feel sorry for herself, and then decide what to do to cheer herself up and make Christmas alone in New York fun.
She’d call her sisters and Gina and have a cathartic rant about what a shitbag Greg had turned out to be.
But right now she didn’t want to talk to anyone.
She just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.