Page 76 of Merrily Ever After
Her finger goes to my chin and she tips it up until our gazes meet. For a moment, I feel like I can’t breathe.
She starts to sway, a subtle movement of her hips that sends my thoughts racing before they vanish all at once, and just like that, we’re dancing. Mrs Fallon’s instructions still bark inside my mind, but after a while they fade and I no longer need to tell myself to keep my shoulders straight and my elbow out.
I don’t look at my feet once. I look only at her. At her wide, beautiful eyes and her wide beautiful smile. A delighted smile, that only grows happier the more we move around the small patch of grass and I know I made the right decision. That all the effort was worth it. And that I would do anything she wanted me to just to see her smile like that.
We dance until we stumble. I don’t know which of us loses our footing first, but we start laughing, and one moment there’s a few inches between us and the next there’s nothing at all.
Her lips are soft. That’s all I can think of when we kiss. Everything about her is soft. Soft hands and skin and soul. She pulls back far too soon, but I find I don’t mind so much when she smiles up at me, brilliant and beautiful.
“You smell nice,” she says, a little dreamily, and her eyes drift to my mouth again. “I should go back in,” she adds reluctantly. “My friends are probably looking for me.”
“It’s cold,” I agree, but neither of us moves.
“I won’t see you until January now,” she says, and I’m confused before I realize what she means. There won’t be another dance for weeks.
“We’re spending Christmas with my aunt in Bantry,” she continues. “We’ll be there until New Year’s.”
“Are you going to the village party?” It’s always the day before Christmas Eve, and our family goes every year, especially as Rachel sings in the choir.
Colleen’s eyes light up as she nods. “You could meet me there?”
“I’ll do that,” I say quietly and she rises up on her toes to kiss me again. When she steps back, it takes me a second to let her go, and a fresh blush steals over her cheeks at whatever expression she sees on my face.
“Happy Christmas, Sean,” she says, and whirls back inside, leaving me gazing after her.
“Happy Christmas,” I whisper back.
Chapter Six
I barely sleep the next few days. Barely do anything. It’s like I’m walking through a dream each waking hour, and I don’t even realize it until I catch sight of my reflection one morning and see that I’m smiling. It’s a miracle I get through my chores, though strangely no one is onto me about them. Mam keeps sending me sly glances that make me think she knows something happened. Probably because Rachel said something to her. While my dad just lets me be.
The next Friday, we do what we do every year and walk the three miles into the village.
I’ve always liked Christmas here. They’ve strung lights from building to building and put a tree up in the main square, decorated with handmade ornaments from the younger schoolchildren. My own collection of brightly colored pipe-cleaner stars used to hang there and still take pride of place in our house next to Rachel’s paper chains.
Some of the shops are still open for last-minute gifts, while others have braved the cold to set up market stalls to sell frosted buns and cups of hot cocoa. It’s busy and noisy, but I don’t mind it. The whole parish is here, everyone celebrating together, and there’s just something about this tradition that puts everyone in a good mood.
With a nod, Dad wanders off to the pub with the other men while Mam and Rachel are quickly engulfed by their friends. I linger by the manger, alternating between watching the choir set up and waiting forher.
I don’t have to wait long.
Colleen emerges from one of the shops with her mother and immediately spots me. With a quick word to her family, she makes her way over, her smile growing with each step until it’s probably as wide as mine.
“Hello,” she says when she reaches my side. She’s wearing a coat today and has a red bobble hat over her hair. “Are you all ready for the big day?”
“Do you mean did Mam make us scrub the house from top to bottom?”
She laughs, and I try not to stare as her face lights up. She’s so beautiful it hurts sometimes just to look at her. But even though she’s here beside me, even though we’re surrounded by our friends and neighbors and Christmas is so close I can almost taste it, I can’t shake that feeling that something is missing.
“You’ve gone quiet,” Colleen teases, pressing her arm against mine.
“Sorry, it’s just …” I trail off as I gaze around the crowd, realizing what’s wrong. “Mrs Fallon isn’t here.”
“Mrs Fallon?” Her brow furrows. “By the hill?”
“Yeah.”
“She never comes down,” Colleen says, shrugging when I raise a brow. “Mam said she’s a hermit.” She grimaces. “Dad says she thinks she’s too good for the likes of us.”
