Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
H er dad was waiting on the front veranda when they drove in. He waved and walked towards the car, and she was surprised to see him in casual clothes instead of his usual work suits. He opened her mother’s door and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as she hopped out. Funny, Evie thought, she’d never seen them kiss properly, like on the lips. Watching them now, she realised that a kiss on the cheek was about as affectionate as they got. Licking her lips, she felt her face burn when she thought of Chris’s lips on hers. His kisses were what she would be thinking of every night before falling asleep, and every morning when she woke.
Now though, she enjoyed her father’s arms around her, and his kisses on the top of her head. He wanted to hear about everything she had done, and she went into great detail about the fish she’d caught, the books she’d read and where she and Mum had been. Her mother was quiet and, although she’d thanked Dad for carrying in their bags and helping to unpack, Evie noticed that there seemed to be a distance between them. Almost as if neither of them wanted to be there.
The next week she kept busy, putting up the Christmas tree and stringing strands of little lights from branch to branch in the trees in the front yard. Dad took her into the city to look at the Christmas lights, and they stood together singing ‘Jingle Bells’ at the top of their voices at ‘Carols in the Park’. He held her hand and passed her a candle to hold, and they swayed to ‘Silent Night’, along with hundreds of other people who had gathered for the event.
It was a strange feeling not to tell her dad about her first kiss. She usually shared everything with him. But something told her to keep what had happened to herself. He might not like that a boy had held her, or put his lips on hers. For now, it was her secret. As she looked up at him, his head held high, his distinctive moustache moving up and down as he sang, she felt a warmth in her heart that she knew was pure love. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in beside him, his voice growing louder as he sang. When he looked down at her, encouraging her to sing louder, his dark eyes sparkled and she knew he loved her as much as she loved him. He must have read her mind because he bent down, kissed the top of her head and then ruffled her hair. ‘I love you, Evie.’
Wrapping her arms around him she jumped up and down and squeezed him tightly. ‘I love you too, Dad. You’re my favourite person in the whole world. ’
When the music ended, they walked hand in hand back to his car. ‘That was the best night ever,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want it to end.’
He seemed sad, but he smiled when he spoke. ‘There are many things we don’t want to end, but not everything always stays the same.’