Page 21 of A Merry Irish Christmas
‘You think I should buy him apresent?’ As if having to spend Christmas with the grumpy interloper wasn’t enough!
‘Of course you should. How are you going to feel onChristmas morning if he doesn’t have anything to open? A lovely young lad like that all alone on Christmas.’
‘Okay, you can put down the tiny violin. He’s not Tiny Tim, Mum. He could buy and sell us.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘But I don’t even know the guy. How do I know what he’d like?’
‘You’ve been shopping for your brothers for years; it’s not that difficult.’ Her mother glanced away from the screen. ‘He obviously likes reading – he’s got a lot of books. Or you could get him something Irish – he is a tourist, after all.’
‘Like what? A fridge magnet? A Guinness T-shirt?’
‘No, something decent. How about a nice Aran jumper?’
‘I don’t even know his size. What am I supposed to do? Body-check him so I can secretly get his measurements?’ Hmm, actually that idea was quite appealing – running her hands over his broad shoulders, down over his pecs… ‘Anyway, I amnotforking out for an Aran jumper for some randomer.’
‘Well, there’s always a nice scarf, I suppose.’
‘The last refuge of the desperate!’
Her mother laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s not how I raised you. I’d go with the sweater, if I were you. He can always change it if it’s the wrong size. Anyway, it’s the thought that counts.’ Then her mother slapped a hand to her forehead. ‘What am I thinking? Aren’t I here in his apartment? I can have a sneaky peek in his wardrobe and text you his size.’
‘You shouldn’t be snooping in his things.’
‘I wouldn’t normally, but it’s in a good cause. Right, that’s settled. I’ll give Carmel a ring as soon as we hang up and sort out dinner for the two of you.’
Mary sighed. There was no getting out of it. Her mother would be outraged if she discovered Mary hadn’t spent ChristmasDay with Evan, pulling crackers, wearing paper crowns and eating turkey with the O’Sullivans.
As she got ready for bed, she wondered again why Evan wanted to spend Christmas in a place where he knew no one. It was such a strange thing to do. Was he having some kind of breakdown? Planning something sinister? Should she be afraid? After all, she was alone in an isolated house with a complete stranger. What kind of person would want to cut themselves off from everyone for the holidays? He was young, hot and famous; surely he must have plenty of friends. And what about his family? Was he estranged from them? At best he must be a bit of a weirdo if this was his idea of a fun Christmas.
But try as she might, she couldn’t muster up any real concern about Evan. Maybe he was just a bit of a loner, and if she could get him to warm to her, they could have a perfectly pleasant few days together. There was a house full of food and booze, and they’d have each other for company. How bad could it be? She’d launch a charm offensive in the morning. And if she couldn’t win him over by being nice, she could always threaten to go to the papers and out him as a complete dickhead.
Once in bed, she opened her laptop to do some research on Evan and see if she could find some clues to getting on his good side. She was aware of the buzz around him and his newSpider-Manseries, though she’d never watched it. But she didn’t keep up with celebrity gossip, so she didn’t know anything about his personal life.
She opened the web browser, but her eyes were already drooping closed as she typed Evan’s name into the search bar, and she was asleep before she’d hit return.
9
Mary had thought the combination of jet lag and fretting about her strange predicament would keep her awake half the night. So she was pleased that though she’d woken a couple of times, she’d always managed to get back to sleep. She was reminded of her situation again when she heard Evan rattling around downstairs and the mouth-watering smell of frying bacon drifted up through the house, causing her stomach to growl. But she decided to be true to her word and stay out of his way, at least for now. Antagonising him first thing in the morning would do nothing to endear her to him. She fluffed up her pillows and settled down for a lie-in.
Checking her phone, she found she’d received a flurry of texts from her family while she’d been sleeping. Aidan had sent a ton of photos of Bo, who was clearly having the time of her life – skating at Rockefeller Plaza, laying into a giant stack of breakfast pancakes covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce, eyes wide with glee. There was one of the whole family squeezed into a booth in what she recognised as her favourite diner, big smiles on all their faces. She felt a pang of longing, wishing she wasthere with them, showing them around all her favourite spots in her adopted city and watching Bo experience New York for the first time. Of course, Aidan being Aidan, he’d sent lots of pictures of food along with detailed descriptions of practically everything he’d eaten since they’d arrived.
There were messages from everyone wishing she was there, telling her what they were up to in New York and sympathising about her break-up with Greg.He always struck me as a bit of a tool, Finn had written.But I’m sorry to have my suspicions confirmed.Mary smiled fondly as she scrolled through the chat. She was just starting to type a reply when her phone rang and Abbie’s name popped up on the screen.
‘What are you doing up at this hour?’ she asked, glancing at her watch. It would be the small hours of the morning in New York.
‘I can’t sleep. Jet lag, I suppose.’ Abbie yawned. ‘I saw you were typing, so I thought I might as well call you, since you’re awake. How’s it going there?’
Mary sighed. ‘Not great.’
‘I wish you’d told us you were coming home.’
‘Me too. But it was supposed to be a surprise.’
‘You could have told me, at least. I’d have kept it to myself.’
‘I know, I wish I had.’ One of her brothers would have been sure to blab, but she could have trusted Abbie to keep a secret.
