Chapter 10
She was walking back to her car when she spotted a lone figure standing on the bridge on the other side of the road, leaning on the railing and looking down into the water below.
She couldn’t see his face, but she realised with a start that it was Evan. She’d memorised his clothes closely enough last night to describe them to the police and she’d know that cat burglar ensemble anywhere.
What was he doing standing there, looking moodily down into the river? Then her mother’s words floated into her mind. What if he’s planning to do something to himself? And now she knew he was suffering from a broken heart. Her pulse quickened as adrenaline surged through her veins.
‘Evan!’ she called, but he didn’t seem to hear her over the stream of cars passing.
‘Evan!’ she shouted, louder this time. He turned and looked at her querulously.
‘What?’ He frowned as he registered her.
‘Step away from the railing!’ she yelled, waving her arms.
‘Jeez, keep your voice down.’ He looked around wildly. ‘What the hell—’
Mary huffed in frustration as another line of cars passed and she couldn’t cross the bridge to get to him. ‘There’s no need for this. You have so much to live for,’ she shouted over the noise of engines.
‘Uh… I know?’
‘I know your girlfriend cheated on you, but you’re young and insanely hot, and you have your whole life ahead of you. You’ll find love again.’
He had the gall to burst out laughing then.
‘Oh my God,’ he wheezed, doubling over as finally there was a gap in the traffic and Mary ran across the road to him.
‘You thought I was going to—’ He couldn’t even finish the sentence he was laughing so hard.
‘You thought I was going to jump?’ he managed to get out. ‘Here?’
‘Well, I don’t know, do I?’ she huffed, annoyed. ‘My mum was worried about you, coming here to be all on your own in an isolated house where you know no one. And you’re so keen to get rid of me. What was I supposed to think?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said, laughing. ‘Maybe that you’re kind of annoying and I wanted some peace and quiet?’
‘Well, why were you leaning on this railing, staring moodily into the river, then?’
‘I was just admiring the scenery.’
‘Oh. Okay. Well, I didn’t know that, did I?’
‘No, naturally you’d assume I was planning to end it all,’ he said, wiping away tears of laughter with the sleeve of his jacket. She hadn’t seen him this happy since she’d met him.
‘Just as well I wasn’t,’ he said, peering over the railing. ‘Because I think the most I could have hoped for here was a sprained ankle.’
Mary peered over the bridge. He was right. It wasn’t a long drop and the slow-moving river below was barely more than a stream and not deep enough to drown in.
‘Well… sorry,’ she said grudgingly.
‘No problem. It’s good to know you care,’ he said with mock sincerity putting a hand over his heart. ‘And that you think I’m insanely hot,’ he called after her as she turned to go.
Mary’s face flamed as she walked back to her car. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad staying with Caroline and her girls after all.
Nevertheless, Mary decided to take advantage of Evan’s good mood and throw herself on his mercy. As soon as she heard him come in, she went downstairs and found him in the kitchen.
‘Hi. Can we talk?’
He looked mildly irritated at her cheery greeting, which didn’t bode well. ‘It won’t take long.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re not going to try and do an intervention on me? Because I promise you I’m not here to—’
‘No, nothing like that.’ She waved a hand dismissively.
‘Okay, then.’ He pulled out a chair at the table.
Mary sat opposite him, clasping her hands nervously on the table. She couldn’t help her gaze straying to his mouth, remembering that kiss Aifric had shown her and imagining how those full, beautifully shaped lips would feel on hers.
‘Well?’ Evan prompted.
She shoved those thoughts aside, took a deep breath, then launched into her pitch. ‘Okay, the thing is, I know you’re entitled to ask me to leave. And I’ll pack my bags now and go, if you absolutely insist.’
‘Okay.’ He nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘But please don’t make me,’ she rushed on. ‘The thing is, the only place I could stay is with my aunt and uncle in Ventry.’
‘Great.’
‘But I really don’t want to spend Christmas with them.’
‘You wouldn’t rather stay with family?’
‘No – not that branch. My cousin Conor is a total sleaze and my aunt is the sort of woman who refers to her boobs as “the girls”.’
‘The sort? You mean… that’s a whole category of women?’
‘Yes.’ Mary rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve never come across this phenomenon?’
‘Can’t say I have.’
‘Well, lucky you.’ He probably didn’t know anyone uncool enough for that sort of carry-on. ‘They have, like, personalities and everything.’ She shuddered.
Evan’s eyes widened. ‘So… do they have, like, separate identities or one personality between them?’
‘Ugh, I don’t know! I try not to pay any attention when she talks about them. I don’t want to encourage her.’
‘Sounds a bit unfriendly to me. I mean, they’re basically your cousins.’
Mary couldn’t help laughing.
‘Why don’t you like them? Are they pushy?’
‘I told you I try to ignore them.’
‘Come on, indulge me. What’s this personality of theirs like?’
She twisted her lips, thinking. ‘Jolly, I suppose you could say. Bouncy.’
‘Well, they sound like fun.’
‘But manipulative,’ Mary added hastily. ‘Devious. Caroline’s always boasting about how she whips them out when she wants to get her way. Plus, they live in Ventry.’
‘The girls?’
Mary couldn’t suppress a smile. ‘The whole family. The girls are very attached.’
‘I can imagine.’ Evan smirked. ‘But Ventry’s not so far, is it?’
‘No, but it’s still about a half hour’s drive away and I want to be here, where my friends and neighbours are. I want to be able to walk to the pub and down to the beach. Come on, it’s Christmas. Please? I’ve stayed out of your way today, haven’t I?’
He raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Until you accosted me in Annascaul and tried to talk me down from that bridge.’
Damn, she’d been doing so well up to then. She’d only gone into Annascaul to stay out of his way. That had backfired big time.
‘That was different!’ she protested. ‘I thought it was a break-glass situation. Mum had said she was worried about you isolating yourself here, and then Aifric told me about your break-up with Olivia—’
His face shifted, registering shock. ‘For someone who claims not to be a fan, you seem very interested in my personal life. Why were you talking to this… Africa person about me?’
‘Aifric. I wasn’t. She’s just really into celebrity gossip and she show— she told me about you and Olivia Thingy. I didn’t ask her – she volunteered the information.’
‘Why? Do people know I’m here?’
‘No, of course not,’ she lied. She didn’t want to freak him out by telling him he was the talk of the town. She knew he wouldn’t trust people to be cool and not rat him out on social media.
‘What were you doing in Annascaul anyway?’
‘Oh my God,’ she gasped. ‘You don’t seriously think I followed you? I was meeting up with a friend. What were you doing there?’
‘Just touring a bit of the local area while I’m here. I went to check out the lake and waterfall.’
‘Oh. Right.’ Mary nodded. ‘It’s beautiful up there, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, it is.’
‘It’s even nicer in the summer. You should come back when—’ She broke off as Evan gave her a knowing smirk. ‘This is not me fangirling over you, okay? You have nothing to worry about on that score. You’re not even my type.’
‘Really?’ He raised his eyebrows, grinning cheekily. ‘Insanely hot isn’t your type?’
‘Oh, shut up. I panicked, okay? I was trying to save your life. I’d have said anything in that moment to stop you from—’ She broke off, startled as Evan started chuckling.
‘What? Jumping into a stream?’
‘It’s not a stream! I’ll have you know, that is officially a river. You can look it up on a map. You could have—’ She broke off as laughter bubbled up inside her. ‘You could have ruined your boots,’ she finished, as the absurdity of the situation hit her.
And just like that, they were laughing together. It might be a stretch to say they were having a moment, but it definitely felt like a break from hostilities.
‘So you didn’t even mean it when you said I’d find love again?’ Evan asked in a dramatic forlorn tone.
‘I’m not sure you have it in you. I suppose you could lure them in with that face, but your personality needs work,’ she said, but her tone was devoid of hostility. It was just friendly banter between them and it felt good.
Evan sighed. ‘Well, I suppose I should be grateful to you for trying to save my boots. I’m very fond of them.’
‘They’re very nice boots.’
‘Okay, you can stay – provided we keep out of each other’s way from now on. There’ll be no repeat of… whatever that was this morning.’
‘I won’t even put you out if you’re on fire, I promise.’
‘That’s all I ask.’
‘Thank you. How long are you here for anyway?’
‘I’m flying home on the twenty-ninth. You?’
‘Same.’ She tried not to let her disappointment show. It would have been nice if their dates hadn’t overlapped completely and she could at least have the house to herself for a day or two. Still, even sharing with the Grinch was preferable to staying with Creepy Conor and Caroline’s girls.
She skipped out of the room, taking it as a good sign that she left Evan smiling to himself behind her.
She decided to quit while she was ahead and not risk broaching the subject of Christmas dinner at the O’Sullivans’ just now.
Besides, maybe she could get them out of it.
Or at least convince her mum and Carmel that Evan couldn’t make it for some reason and go on her own.
She’d come up with something, but that could wait until later. One step at a time…