The Garden on Sparrow Street: A heartwarming, uplifting Christmas romance

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘It did,’ she said quietly, looking towards the door through which he’d just left. ‘He really is one in a million.’

  Nina and Robyn waited for two hours. Nina found herself desperate to phone Colm for news, but she realised that to disturb them might interrupt some deep and meaningful conversation and that no news was probably good news. If they’d been out together this long then it had to mean they were getting along, and perhaps that Toby was opening up to Colm. Which was weird when Nina really thought about it, because Colm was a complete stranger to Toby. According to Robyn, her son never opened up to her or anyone else in the family, so why a man he’d only just met? But Colm had this soothing, warm way about him, something that just seemed to invite trust, and Nina somehow knew that if anyone could get through to Toby then he could. Strangely, Robyn agreed when Nina said this to her, and she told Nina that she was grateful for his efforts.

  It was close to 11 p.m. when Colm and Toby finally returned. As they walked in, Robyn ran to grab her son in a desperate hug.

  ‘Sorry, Mum…’ he mumbled into her shoulder. ‘I don’t know why I did it.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ Robyn said. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. If you went off the rails then it’s my fault for not being the mother you needed.’

  ‘No…’ Toby shook his head, and then his gaze went down, and Nina saw a lone tear fall onto the carpet. He sniffed hard as Robyn drew him close again and held him tight.

  Nina shot a grateful smile at Colm. He looked tired as he returned it, but whatever he’d said or done with Toby, it looked as though he’d achieved a minor miracle from where she was standing.

  ‘We’ll leave you two to talk,’ she said, looking over at where Robyn still held Toby. Robyn glanced up at the sound of Nina’s voice, and Toby extricated himself from her arms, looking anywhere but at her or Colm. It was clear that he was deeply ashamed and mortified and that it would take him some time to come to terms with those uncomfortable feelings.

  ‘Thank you,’ Robyn said.

  ‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ Nina said.

  Robyn nodded and, without another word, Nina and Colm let themselves out of the house.

  ‘They’ll be OK,’ Colm said as they walked to his car.

  ‘What on earth did you say to bring him round?’

  ‘Nothing much. I mostly let him have as much milkshake as he wanted and time to get things off his chest.’

  ‘Well, it’s more than anyone else has been able to get out of him for a long time.’

  Colm shrugged. ‘The wee man just needed someone to listen. Sometimes it’s easier to see that when you’re viewing it from a distance. He seems like a good lad on the whole – reminds me a lot of how I was growing up.’

  ‘If he turns out half the man you are, I think Robyn will be a lucky mum.’ Nina climbed into the car beside him. In the next moment, he reached for her, pulling her into a kiss that was impossibly desperate and tender, chaste and yet passionate, so full of heat that she could hardly bear it.

  ‘Oh God…’ she murmured as he pulled away. It took a second for her eyes to open, and somehow it was like the world hadn’t quite returned. There was just him, filling her senses.

  ‘Do you still want to stay over?’ he asked. ‘I mean, it’s late and you’ve had a tough night… I understand if you want to go home—’

  Nina reached to kiss him again. She wanted to spend the night with this incredible man – she wanted it so badly she felt the passion might explode from within her. In this moment, everything else was forgotten, and nothing else would matter until the morning brought real life back again like a cold slap. Now, she only wanted to be close to him, to be wrapped in his arms, to feel his skin against hers, to be as one.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to go home – not at all.’

  Colm gave a slow smile and she thought her heart might burst. With every minute she spent in his company she felt more and more convinced that she might just have found her second chance of happiness, and for once, she didn’t feel a bit guilty about it.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sometime in the early hours, Nina began to drift off in Colm’s arms and she began to dream. Later, as a hazy memory returned to her, she’d decided that it must have been a dream, because it had been such a strange thing for him to say. But her eyes had been closing and his heartbeat had been lulling her to sleep, and she couldn’t quite decide if she’d been awake or whether she’d finally gone under when she’d heard it.

  Don’t disappear, Nina.

  It was puzzling, but something about it still made her happy and she clung to the words the next day as she went about the business of checking her emails and phone messages. The donations and dedication requests for their memory tree were coming in at a healthy rate now and there was plenty to do with the inauguration event speeding ever closer. It was hard to concentrate when her mind kept drifting back to a night that had been all she’d hoped for and so much more, where not once had she felt anything less than cared for and worshipped, and yet she really had to.

  Robyn called at her house just before lunch. Nina opened the front door to see that her friend looked exhausted but much calmer than when they’d left her the night before.

  ‘I was just about to phone you,’ Nina said. ‘I’d got up late, though, and there were things I had to get done first.’

  ‘I’m not disturbing you now, am I?’

  ‘No, of course not…’ Nina ushered her inside. ‘I was just saying I hadn’t forgotten about you.’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind me coming over like this – I just needed to get out of the house for a while. I went for a walk and I sort of ended up on your street.’ Robyn shook out a wet umbrella before she stepped inside and left it in the antique umbrella stand that Nina kept by the door.

  ‘How did you get on after we’d left?’ Nina asked. Robyn followed her to the kitchen, where she filled the kettle and switched it on. There was no need to ask if Robyn wanted tea – she always wanted tea and never more than on a day like today.

  ‘Well,’ Robyn said as she took off her coat and hung it on the back of a chair, ‘I don’t know what Colm said or did but he made more headway than I have in years.’

  ‘You got on after we’d left?’

  ‘He was willing to listen, at least, which is more than I’ve had from him in a long time. He totally bought the CCTV thing. I told him we wouldn’t take the video to the police if he promised to cut ties with the other boys – made it sound a bit noble, like he was saving them from prison or something by distancing himself. Though I suspect he was also thinking about saving himself from a battering, which is probably what he thinks would happen if they discovered one of their own had squealed on them. I don’t know if these boys are all that tough, but I don’t care either way because that seemed to do the job and Toby agreed.’

  ‘You’re not worried about them getting nasty, are you?’

  ‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but I’m as sure as I can be that things will settle peacefully soon enough.’ She gave a rueful half-smile. ‘It’s not like we live in the Bronx, is it? Although,’ she added, ‘Toby does seem a bit friendless now, and I feel a bit sorry for him for that much.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll find new friends.’ Nina busied herself making the tea while Robyn took a seat at the table.

  ‘Not at college. It seems things were worse than I thought, and it all came out last night when we finally had a proper conversation. Right now, he’s not even sure he wants to continue on his course at all, though I think that’s more to do with him feeling at sea over his friends than what he’s being taught. Since his old friends are now off limits he doesn’t really know who he can hang around with; besides which – and I can see his point – he doesn’t know how he can avoid them while they’re all in the same classes.’

  ‘What did you say to that?’

  ‘I told him he’d better find a way to avoid them because they’d all end up in a ju
venile detention centre if he didn’t. I must admit I don’t like the lie, but I’ve got to get him straight by whatever means necessary, haven’t I? One day, hopefully, he’ll thank me for this.’

  ‘When he’s old enough to see things for what they are, he will,’ Nina agreed. ‘So, he needs something to fill his time now that he’s going to be home a lot more? You definitely want my dad to help this time?’

  ‘Definitely! I think you were right all along – it’s something that would do Toby good. Did you manage to talk to him about it?’

  ‘This morning. He’s more than happy to give Toby another chance to go and help with the cars.’

  ‘It’d certainly be a welcome distraction. At least for a while until he finds some new friends and other things to fill his time.’

  ‘You never know; he might even like it,’ Nina said with a wry smile. ‘When my dad got interested, I don’t think he was that much older than Toby, and he’s been a classic car enthusiast ever since.’ She brought two mugs to the table. ‘Do you think Toby will go this time?’

  ‘If he doesn’t I’ll kill him – and he knows it.’

  ‘I’ll ask my dad about dates and we’ll fix up a day for Toby to visit for an hour or so.’

  ‘This time I’ll drive him there myself and escort him through the front door and I won’t let him persuade me that he’ll do it himself.’

  Nina sat across from Robyn and curled her fingers around her mug. ‘It’ll be alright, you know,’ she said. ‘I’m sure it’s just a wobble.’

  Robyn looked pensive but she offered no reply. Perhaps it was too easy for Nina to say those things and not really know what she was talking about. It had occurred to her before that not having the experience of raising children of her own put her at a disadvantage in so many situations, and she wondered whether Robyn might feel she had overstepped the mark commenting on things she didn’t really understand. Perhaps if she’d had children of her own she’d see things very differently. She at least understood that it might not look as black and white to Robyn as it did to her. All she could do in that regard was try to appear positive and hope that helped Robyn to feel more positive too.

  After a few silent moments, Robyn looked up. Whatever had been running through her brain, she seemed to have worked it out, because she looked brighter now.

  ‘I’m sorry I kept you so late last night,’ she said. ‘What time did you get back here?’

  ‘About nine,’ Nina said airily.

  Robyn frowned. ‘Nine? But you left me at… Nine this morning?’

  Nina gave a sheepish smile. She was opening herself to a merciless ribbing, and Robyn would want details, but she was too happy to care. She hadn’t felt like this in such a long time that she didn’t think anything could spoil it – certainly not a little embarrassment. She waited for Robyn to start teasing, but it didn’t come. When Robyn spoke again it was with an absolute sincerity that threw Nina.

  ‘I’m happy for you,’ she said. ‘I don’t know much about him but he seems like a decent man. And you… well, you’re an angel sent to earth; you know I think that even if I don’t say it. I’m glad you’ve found someone because nobody deserves it more than you.’

  Nina’s gaze dropped to her tea. It wasn’t often that sort of honesty came from Robyn without at least a little banter attached, and Nina didn’t quite know what to do with it.

  ‘He’s a lucky bloke,’ Robyn said.

  Nina looked up and acknowledged her with a smile.

  ‘Really,’ Robyn said. ‘I mean it.’

  ‘I know. I think I might be lucky too.’

  ‘I hope so. I hope he’s the one to bring the smile back to your face again.’

  ‘You’re saying I don’t smile?’

  Robyn grinned. ‘Not as much as I’d like to see; and I know I’m hilarious but there’s only so much I can do about it.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Nina said.

  Robyn sipped at her tea. ‘For what?’ she asked, putting her cup down again.

  ‘Just for being there when I needed you.’

  ‘You were there for me too. Let’s call it a draw, shall we?’

  ‘OK,’ Nina said, and then paused, not knowing what else to say.

  ‘So,’ Robyn cut in, her breezy tone signalling that all the deep sincerity was now out of the way. ‘You’re keeping track of the donations OK?’

  ‘I could do with some help if you’ve got time.’

  ‘For you I’ve always got time. Plus, we all know you can’t count.’

  ‘Says who?’

  ‘I’ve seen you trying to split a restaurant bill.’

  It was Nina’s turn to grin now. This was the Robyn she knew and loved, and although she liked the other one well enough, this was the one who made sense to her.

  ‘I could really do with some help if you can give it.’

  Robyn nodded, slurping at her tea. ‘You want to get the notebook out and we can go through it together?’

  ‘It’s right here,’ Nina said, going to a drawer and pulling it out. She placed it in front of Robyn, who put down her mug and opened it up.

  ‘Yep,’ she said, looking up with a grin. ‘An angel sent to earth who can’t count for toffee!’

  Nina couldn’t argue with the fact that since her relationship with Colm had moved into a whole new phase, it made perfect sense that she should meet his daughter. Not just perfect sense, but really it was imperative and best done sooner rather than later. So if it made this much sense, why was Nina so nervous now?

  The only comfort in this whole situation was that Polly seemed as anxious as Nina to make a good impression. It was a promising start, because it meant that at least she was open to the idea that her dad would want to date and that she was willing to be friends with the lucky woman. Nina had been dreading what kind of reception might be waiting for her at Colm’s house, despite his reassurances that his daughter was happy to meet her. She’d half-expected a stroppy, judgemental and uncommunicative teen, but Polly couldn’t have been further from that.

  The most striking thing as Nina sat in his living room, looking across at her now, was how little of Colm there was to see in his daughter’s features. Where he was dark she was fair – somewhere between honey and strawberry blonde – and her eyes were a gentle hazel while his were that dazzling, unforgettable blue. Polly didn’t even have a trace of the Dublin accent that was so prominent when Colm spoke. She’d been brought up in Wrenwick, of course, but still it seemed mildly surprising to Nina that she hadn’t even picked up the faintest twang from years of listening to her father. Maybe there was something of him around the mouth, and in a certain tilt of her head or a sideways glance, but if Nina hadn’t been told that she was Colm’s daughter she would never have guessed it.

  Polly wore jeans and a hooded sweatshirt of soft grey, her hair in a long plait over one shoulder. If she’d inherited her looks from her mother, then Nina thought that her mother must be very pretty indeed. The idea was still vaguely unnerving to Nina, though she tried not to let it be. She didn’t imagine for a moment that Colm would ever knowingly compare Nina to his estranged wife, but perhaps unconsciously it was inevitable. She couldn’t help but wonder how she stacked up compared to the absent Jane, who had become something of a perfect specimen in Nina’s mind now that she’d seen Polly.

  ‘So…’ Nina asked, hands clasped together in her lap as if superglued together. ‘How’s school?’

  Inwardly, she cringed. Even her limited experience with teenagers told her that she’d probably asked the single most boring question anyone could ask a teenager, but it had come out as if of its own volition – something, anything to fill the empty space of the air between them. Colm had gone to the kitchen to get drinks, and while the conversation was stilted with newness when he was there, with him gone it had almost died a horrible death. They were both trying, of course, but they hardly knew each other and Nina had never been good at small talk anyway.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Polly said politely. ‘
I don’t tend to think about it much when I’m not there.’

  ‘That’s good. I used to worry all the time about my school work.’

  ‘I don’t. Dad always says, “Que será.” It means everything will be OK in the end… or something like that.’

  ‘Yes, it’s an old song.’

  ‘I know that song,’ Polly said, brightening a little now. ‘I think it’s sometimes on the radio.’

  ‘What music are you into?’

  Polly shrugged. ‘Just the usual.’

  Nina had no idea what that meant but there wasn’t a reply to it either.

  ‘Nina’s a nice name,’ Polly added.

  ‘Oh… thank you. I think Polly’s a nicer name.’

  ‘Nah, it’s silly. Yours sounds like Russian or something. Is it?’

  ‘I’ve no idea.’

  ‘Did your mum choose it or your dad?’

  ‘I don’t really know that either. I think maybe I already had it when they got me.’ Polly frowned and Nina gave a hesitant smile. ‘I’m adopted, you see,’ she said.

  ‘Are you?’ Polly sat forward now, looking interested beyond politeness for the first time. ‘Do you remember your real parents?’

  ‘Actually, I consider the people who brought me up to be my real parents. The other ones are just the people who made me. And no, I don’t remember them.’

  ‘Don’t you want to know about them?’

  ‘Not especially. My mum and dad are so lovely that I never really missed the biological ones. They gave me the happiest childhood a girl could have.’

  ‘So you’ve never tried to look for them?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But what if you meet someone – like a boyfriend – and you’re related to them and you don’t even know?’

  ‘I don’t know… I suppose there are a lot of adopted people out there in that boat. I think if we all worried about that all the time we’d go mad and never go out with anyone.’