Chapter 14
Mary may not habitually read celebrity gossip, but she couldn’t help being curious and wanting to find out more about Evan’s break-up with his girlfriend.
She felt bad about prying when he valued his privacy so much, but after all, it was in the public domain and everyone else seemed to be up to speed on it.
How private could it be? She was probably the only person in the world who didn’t know the whole story.
She felt grubby for joining in the prurient interest in his personal life, but she couldn’t help herself, and as soon as she was back in her bedroom, she hit Google and searched Evan Prentice.
There were pages and pages of results, but the first page was full of the news about his recent break-up with Olivia Mills, the actress who played Mary Jane in Spider-Man.
She’d been shooting a movie in London and had cheated on Evan with the director, Adam Wright.
Paparazzi had caught the pair canoodling and a British tabloid had broken the story along with some very compromising photographs.
After that the internet had blown up with news of the affair.
Poor Evan! No wonder he didn’t want to see anyone.
It was humiliating enough finding out your partner was cheating on you – she knew that first-hand.
But she couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be to have it all played out in public, with complete strangers avidly poring over the gory details, lapping it up like their favourite soap opera.
The internet was abuzz with gossip about the relationship and fans weighing in with opinions.
There were already several polls on social media asking whether Evan should forgive his girlfriend or not.
She was glad to see that the consensus was not and the weight of public opinion was firmly pro-Evan.
Well, no wonder he hadn’t been in a festive mood when she’d got here.
She clicked on the images tab and spent a pleasant few minutes scrolling through all the pictures of Evan – in promotional posters, goofing around behind the scenes on movie sets, posing for fashion shoots, walking the red carpet at awards ceremonies…
He truly was a beautiful man. Of course Olivia was with him in lots of them – petite, elfin Olivia, sitting beside him on TV talk shows and Comic Con panels, or smiling up at him adoringly as she hung on his arm at premieres.
Huh! She felt a visceral dislike for Olivia.
She was curious about a picture of Evan dressed as Spider-Man surrounded by a group of kids, with a Christmas tree behind them.
Clicking on the image brought her to a story about him visiting a children’s hospital.
The accompanying photos showed him sitting beside hospital beds heartbreakingly surrounded by tinsel and fairy lights, and the way the kids’ faces lit up around him brought tears to her eyes.
These children were sick – maybe even dying – yet they looked so damn happy.
Evan seemed to be enjoying himself too. His smile was full of warmth, and she could almost hear his laughter.
The kids weren’t the only ones enchanted with him.
Some of the nurses seemed just as excited about his visit, and grateful parents said how much it meant to them.
It seemed her first impression of Evan couldn’t have been more wrong.
‘You really think we can make this stretch to two?’ Mary slid a bubbling family-sized dish of fish pie out of the oven. It smelled divine.
‘I don’t know.’ Evan side-eyed it as he took glasses out of the cupboard. ‘I was planning to bulk up while I was here.’
‘Well, I guess you’ll just have to fill up on Chocolate Kimberleys.’
‘We’re all out of those. I scarfed the last of them while you were upstairs this afternoon.’ He looked sheepish.
‘Ah, but I know where the secret stash is buried.’
‘There’s a secret stash?’ His eyes widened excitedly.
‘Stick with me, kid.’ Mary smiled and tapped her nose knowingly as she poured them both wine. She was surprised how comfortable she felt with Evan as they sat and ate. ‘By the way, your secret’s out,’ she said.
Evan looked wary.
‘I know you’re not the Grinch.’
His features relaxed. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘I may have googled you.’ She held up a hand defensively. ‘I know I shouldn’t have, but we’re going to be living together for the next few days. I thought I had a right to know if you were the sort of person who’d steal Christmas.’
‘Okay, fair enough.’
‘And I saw those pictures of you visiting children in hospital.’
‘Oh yeah.’ He ducked his head, smiling shyly. ‘It’s something I do whenever I can. Being Spider-Man comes with a lot of responsibility.’
‘Well, you do the catsuit proud.’ She raised her glass to him. ‘It obviously means a lot to the kids.’ Her heart wrenched once more at the thought of those children’s faces, lit up with joy. ‘So you’re actually like the anti-Grinch.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s not a big deal. I like doing it. It’s fun. The kids are great.’ He smiled, his face suffused with warmth. ‘They’re always excited to see me – just some asshat dressed up as a superhero. It’s so damn easy to make them happy. How could you not?’
It clearly made him feel good, but she knew there were plenty of people in his position who wouldn’t do it, just the same.
‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘how do you know the Grinch isn’t my real persona? Maybe I’m only an altruistic vigilante when I put on the Spidey suit and then I go home to my cave of gloom, take it off and spend the rest of my time hating all of humanity.’
‘Hmm.’ She narrowed her eyes, as if she was weighing this up. ‘Nah, I don’t think so.’
‘So what do you do, Mary?’
‘Recruitment. I work at Bright Walker – it’s a small boutique agency, and I head the financial services division.’
‘Impressive. Do you like it?’
‘Yeah, I love it. It’s a great company. My family don’t really get it, but I’m good at what I do, and it’s very rewarding.’
‘Is that what you always wanted to do?’
‘Well, not always. I mean, no kid dreams of working in recruitment, do they?’
He smiled. ‘I guess not. It’s not up there with president, firefighter, astronaut…’
‘Superhero,’ she said, waving at him. ‘Look at you, all grown up, living every kid’s dream.’
‘Yeah, it wasn’t mine, though. I mostly wanted to be an architect.’
‘That’s pretty sophisticated for a child.’
‘It was Minecraft. I loved building the cities, and I had an awesome cave system. It was the envy of all my friends.’
‘I never played Minecraft, but my brother Finn was mad into it.’
‘Do the rest of your family still live around here?’
‘Yeah. They’re all in the Dingle area.’
‘And you’ve got – what – two brothers and two sisters, right?’
‘That’s right. Aidan’s the oldest – he’s the one who made this.’ She nodded to his plate.
‘I like him already.’
‘He’s a chef. He has a restaurant on the seafront in Dingle. Bo, my niece, is his daughter, and they live over the restaurant.’
‘How old is your niece?’
‘Five.’ She smiled. ‘She’s so cute.’ She felt a stab of frustration that she was missing Christmas with Bo.
‘And he took her to New York with him?’
‘Of course. He was hardly going to leave her behind here.’
‘But what about her mom?’ He frowned. ‘She’s not there, is she?’
‘No, her mother isn’t around. She bailed out long ago.’
‘Bailed out?’
‘She just… took off. She was sort of a hippie – a free spirit or whatnot.’
‘An asshole, you mean?’
‘Yes, exactly!’ She pointed a finger at him like a quiz show host telling a contestant they’d answered correctly and had won the grand prize.
‘She left when Bo was only eight months old. Just decided motherhood wasn’t for her, and that they’d both be better off without her.
I guess she got that right, at least.’ She pushed her plate away and Evan topped up their glasses.
‘Where do you come in the family?’
‘I’m second oldest. Then there’s Finn – he’s a vet – then Abbie. She runs a tour company in Dingle with her friend Aifric. They do boat trips and tours around the peninsula. She lives in Annascaul.’
‘Ah, the scene of my boots’ near-demise.’
Mary laughed. ‘Cara’s the youngest. She still lives here with Mum and Dad, and she teaches yoga and meditation at a centre in Dunquin.’
‘Pity she’s not here now. I could use a class.’
‘You do yoga?’
‘Doesn’t everyone in New York?’
Mary laughed. ‘I guess.’
‘You don’t?’
‘No, you’re right. I do.’
‘So that’s it? No partners or spouses?’
‘Not so far. Unless you count Astrid, Bo’s mother – which we don’t.’
‘What about your mom and dad? What do they do?’
‘This and that. I suppose they’re semi-retired now, though you wouldn’t know it.
Dad was a carpenter, and Mum used to run this house as a bed and breakfast before all us kids came along.
They still run a taxi service, and Mum’s very active in the local community.
She organises beach clean-ups, fairs and street parties and so on.
She has her finger in a lot of pies.’ She drained her wine and glanced at the clock.
It was seven-forty already. She hadn’t felt the time go.
Earlier she’d thought she’d be desperate to escape to the pub and get away from Evan for a few hours.
But now she’d happily spend the evening here with him, drinking wine and chatting. She liked this new, warmer Evan a lot.
‘I’d better head off,’ she said, pushing away from the table. ‘I said I’d meet the gang in the pub around eight.’
‘Oh, right.’ Evan looked disappointed as she stood and gathered the plates. ‘Um, I might change my mind… about going to the pub with you. If that’s all right?’
Mary smiled. ‘Of course! That’s great.’ She was glad that he seemed to be enjoying her company too. ‘But aren’t you worried someone will recognise you?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ll keep my head down. Wear the cat burglar combo.’
‘Okay. I’ll just get changed quickly and I’ll meet you back here in ten?’ She stopped halfway out the door as a thought struck her. ‘I should warn you, though, Ryan Furey might be there.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, he’s from here. Did you know that?’
He nodded. ‘Your mom told me, actually.’
‘He’s a friend of ours, and he used to go out with my sister Abbie. Still does, I suppose… kind of.’ Once again, she wondered what was going on with those two. ‘Anyway, I’m just giving you a heads-up, in case you see him.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Evan said, lips twisted in a mocking smile, ‘I’ll be cool. I won’t try to lick him or anything.’
Mary laughed. ‘It’s not that. But obviously he’ll know who you are.
’ She might be able to get her friends to feign ignorance, but Ryan was a fellow actor and rising star in Hollywood.
It would be ridiculous – not to mention insulting – for him to pretend he didn’t recognise Evan.
They might even have crossed paths before, for all she knew.
Evan grinned. ‘You don’t think I actually bought that story about your neighbours and their weird cult, do you?’
‘Oh! You didn’t?’
He shook his head. ‘Not for a minute.’
‘So you’re not worried about being seen?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ll take my chances. I’m done sweating it.’
‘I might as well tell you, then, that your cover’s already blown.’
‘People know I’m here?’
She nodded. ‘Word spreads fast around here. You’re the talk of the town.’
‘Oh.’ He looked disconcerted.
‘But don’t worry about it. People around here are cool. They won’t hassle you. No one’s alerted social media yet, have they?’
‘No, that’s true. And even if they did, what’s the worst that could happen? I doubt the paps are going to descend on this place in droves right before Christmas.’
‘But why didn’t you say something, if you didn’t buy my story about the O’Sullivans? Poor Carmel’s family thought they were going to have to forego TV for all of Christmas Day.’
He shrugged. ‘If you thought I believed it, you’d all have to go through with it anyway. I thought it’d be fun to watch the machinations.’
‘Oh, you’re evil,’ she said, rolling her eyes, but she couldn’t suppress a grin as she turned and left the room.