Page 39 of Merrily Ever After
Wonderful.
“Thank you,” I say again, but hesitate when he does. “What?”
He glances around, looking uncomfortable. “Look, love, I know you’re not in a good place right now, and I hope you don’tmind me saying this, but …” He trails off with a grimace, and I brace myself. “You smell terrible.”
The cheese.
He pats my arm before I can say anything. “You might want to see someone about that.”
I only nod, offering him a forced smile as the choir finishes up. Tiernan barely stirs when I tuck him back into the pram.
“Have a good Christmas,” I tell the stranger, and he waves as I leave the church. I hand the bauble to the priest on my way out.
Chapter Six
I wouldn’t be surprised if the buses were canceled or an asteroid came down and destroyed us all, but neither happens. The bus arrives. We get on just fine and we trundle down the road back to the apartment in no time.
As soon as I open the door, Tiernan goes running inside with the teddy bear, which makes me slightly worried because the last thing I need is for him to get attached to the thing and then for Christian to come and take it away. I’m also pretty sure Santa closed up shop three weeks ago when I hid everything in my parents’ attic.
I slip my shoes off and drag the pram in, shutting the door with my heel and almost walking straight into Tiernan who’s standing motionless in the hallway, staring at the living room.
“Honey, move,” I tell him, only to freeze when I see what’s caught his attention.
Oh.
For one panicked moment, I think I’ve walked into the wrong apartment. But no. That’s my table. That’s my couch. That’s my stuff. It’s just that I’m able to walk freely without bumping into anything. There are no piles of laundry anywhere. No lingering smell that I can’t find the source of.
The place is spotless.
More than spotless. Deep cleaned. Swept, hoovered, sparkling. Smelling pleasantly of peppermint and pine. It’s also exceedingly more festive than it was when I left it.
My kind of festive, though. Restrained. A set of candles by the door. An elegant silver star hanging above the kitchen island.And a beautiful tree in the corner, decorated in twinkling gold lights and a handful of ornaments.
Well, at least I know where the pine smell is coming from.
“Someone’s been … in here,” I say, trying not to terrify him even though I have no idea what’s going on.
Tiernan’s voice is hushed. “Santa?”
“Maybe,” I say, gazing around our spotless home. “Or that de-cluttering lady.” Or maybe it really was so bad that even a burglar felt sorry for me. But I don’t sense anything wrong. If anything, I feel calmer. More like myself now that everything looks as it should.
After making sure no one’s about to jump out from behind the curtains and shout surprise, I let my child run free and put the cheese in my odorless, reorganized fridge. I’m just about to call Sinead to ask if she had something to do with this when Tiernan emerges from his room with a purple-wrapped box in his hand.
“There was a present on my bed,” he whispers like it’s a big secret. “My name’s on it.”
“You can open it,” I say because I’m nothing if not indulgent. “Be careful, though.”
He immediately crouches to the floor and slowly tears open the packaging to reveal a toy car to add to his collection.
“Oh wow!” I coo when he holds it up to me. “Does it make noise?”
He fiddles with it for a second. “No.”
“Cool!” Thank god. “Does it have a card?”
He shakes his head as my phone rings in my hand. “Not Santa then,” I say as I click answer. “Santa loves cards. Hello?”
“Hey,” Christian’s voice crackles at the end of the line. In the background, I can hear the clink of glasses and Christmas music. “I’m at the pub.”
