by Mandy Baggot
‘That would be football,’ Isla corrected.
‘And tennis on grass of course.’
‘It’s the only way to play.’
‘I have to say,’ Chase said, following her, ‘this is one of the craziest Christmas parties I’ve ever been to.’
‘Really?’ she asked. ‘I’m not sure I believe things aren’t crazy in New York.’
‘Have you come over to New York?’ Chase asked.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘I haven’t.’
‘Well, it’s no Vegas,’ he answered.
She cringed. Why had she lied about going to Nevada? She was going to have to look it up, drop some hotels and casino names into conversation … or just confess. Admit she was twenty-five and had been completely landlocked.
‘It’s cool though,’ Chase said. ‘And it’s … home.’
She turned her head to look at him, sensing the slight hesitation before his final word.
‘And this looks like us,’ Chase said, stopping in front of an enormous red velveteen sofa-bed.
Isla swallowed. Despite its size it looked … intimate. There were bolsters separating each bed with sumptuous cushions at the back and … were they cashmere blankets?
‘This is so cool,’ Chase said, seeming to take everything in. ‘We can network with whoever is either side of us. Who can we expect? I’m hoping for someone from the entertainment sector who could be a brand ambassador for the village.’ He had lowered his voice to a whisper.
‘Brand ambassador,’ Isla stated. ‘Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun a little? I mean there’s a lot of work to do and—’
‘Positive thinking, Miss Winters. Maybe you need to watch a few more of my motivational videos.’ Chase jumped right on to the bed, crawling up the upholstery and wasting no time in making himself comfortable. She was concerned about pulling a sequin off her mother’s dress and, as she watched Chase spread himself out, she wondered just how much smaller the giant couch was going to feel once they were both on it.
‘Come on up,’ Chase said, patting the fabric next to him.
Most other people she knew were seated in the respectable chairs. She looked at them, their drinks next to the golden table lamps, with envy in her eyes.
‘Am I guessing you’re a cinema sofa-virgin too?’ Chase said all too loudly. ‘Is this somewhere in London you can’t tell me the history about?’
She moved then, putting her knee on to the velveteen and crawling almost combat-style up the length of the bed. ‘Oh no,’ she breathed, pulling herself up. ‘I can tell you some of the history.’ She tried to turn and position her bottom elegantly but instead her elbow slipped off the bolster just as she pivoted and she landed slightly more on Chase’s side of the bed than hers, cradling her glass in the attempt not to spill a drop. She shimmied quickly and settled herself down. Conversation – and quickly. ‘One of the theories is that it opened on Christmas Eve in 1910.’
‘One of the theories?’ Chase queried. He handed her a cushion.
‘Records were sketchy back then,’ Isla said. ‘But I do know the first film to be shown was Henry VIII.’
‘Wow,’ Chase said. ‘You really do know your stuff.’
She chanced a glance at him: one ankle was crossed over the other, hands behind his head, relaxing into the cushions at his back. He caught her eyes and smiled.
‘What?’ he questioned. ‘Do you think we should take off our shoes?’
‘What?’ Isla exclaimed. ‘Our shoes …?’
‘Yeah, I mean, these velvet covers and these expensive-looking throws.’ He was already bringing his shoe up to untie the laces. ‘And I hired these with the suit and they’re a little tight. I’m never quite sure on the British sizes.’
Was he really going to take his shoes off? What was her problem with him taking his shoes off? They were practically laying on a bed. It did make sense.
‘What’s the problem, Miss Winters?’
‘Nothing, I just—’
‘Are we going to violate a dress code?’ he queried, pulling off his second shoe.
‘It’s highly likely.’
‘But,’ he whispered, ‘in a few seconds, everything is gonna go dark.’ He smiled. ‘And no one is gonna know.’
There was a mischievous look on his face now and she couldn’t help but smile back. This whole scenario was a little ridiculous.
‘Come on, Miss Winters, unbuckle the heels.’
He was right: if her heel snagged the cashmere blanket she might have to pay for a replacement she couldn’t afford. She leant forward, fingers going to the straps on her shoes and peeled them off her feet.
‘I’ll take those,’ Chase said, snatching them from her hands.
‘Well, what are you going to do?’ Isla questioned, eyes wide.
‘Did Google not tell you I was also pretty hot at basketball?’
With that said, he launched one of her shoes up and over the length of the sofa-bed so it dropped down on to the floor. Then, much to the amusement of the couples either side of them, he did it with her other shoe and then his.
‘So,’ he said, settling back into the cushions. ‘What d’you think the chance is of them coming around with popcorn?
Forty-One
‘Where have you lived besides London?’
Chase loved movies but the concept of sitting – or lying – still for two hours and not communicating wasn’t one he had ever been able to easily buy into. He knew it had cost him a few girlfriends in high school and after that he’d never suggested the movies for anything date-related. The last movie he’d seen was Despicable Me 2 with Brooke and Maddie at a kids’ screening where talking was almost encouraged. And that had suited him more than his girls who had kept telling him to shush.
‘Sshh,’ Isla responded, eyes glued to the screen.
He had seen this movie – once a few years ago – stuffed from Christmas lunch and not really paying attention while the girls got sugared up and Leanna cried into a box of Kleenex.
‘Have you not seen this before?’ Chase continued.
Isla turned her head then, her features shrouded by the darkness. ‘Of course. It’s a classic.’
‘So, talk to me.’
‘We’re at a movie night,’ Isla whispered. ‘And everyone is watching the film.’
‘No, they’re not,’ he answered. ‘They’re getting drunk on mulled wine and I’m convinced the group on the back couch are all making out.’
‘What?’ Isla immediately sat bolt upright and turned her head.
He couldn’t help but grin. ‘Hey, I was kidding.’ A laugh escaped his lips. ‘But I really want to know what you were going to do about it.’
Now she looked Britishly affronted. That wasn’t going to get him conversation. He moved a little closer to her. ‘Okay, so, I’m no good at the whole movie thing.’
‘The whole movie thing?’
‘Sitting still. Being quiet.’
‘It’s a picture house.’
‘It’s a what now?’
‘That’s what they used to call it.’
‘Is it that “ye olde” thing again?’
She was smiling now. There was a laugh brewing, he just knew it.
‘You can mock our heritage on this side of the Atlantic but I know it comes from nothing but deep-rooted envy.’
‘Come on, Isla. Have a conversation with me,’ he said. ‘Tell me the places you’ve lived and I’ll buy you the DVD of the movie and you can play it over and over in the Christmas break.’
He watched her take a breath, then adjust her position next to him, turning a little on her side, face pressing into one of her cushions as she looked to get comfortable.
‘London,’ she said.
‘Yes.’ He waited for her to continue.
‘That’s it,’ she answered. ‘Just London.’
‘Okay,’ he breathed out. ‘So, what parts?’
‘This part,’ she answered. ‘Notting Hill.’
He was halfway to
opening his mouth to ask her about the other parts when he stopped himself, instinctively knowing there were no other parts. ‘Okay, cool.’
‘A shorter conversation than you expected?’
‘No … I just—’
‘Well, how about you?’ Isla inquired. ‘Where have you lived?’ She smiled. ‘Or will you still be telling me after the film has ended?’
He smiled. ‘New York.’
‘Obviously.’
‘Oregon.’
‘I’m sensing California is coming.’
He grinned then. ‘I might have spent one summer there on Spring Break.’
‘What was your favourite place?’ Isla asked.
What had been his favourite place? Anywhere but Illinois, if he was honest. Illinois just messed everything up for everybody.
‘They were all pretty different.’ That was well avoided. And he had been the one to start this conversation. If it slipped into uncomfortable territory it was on no one but him.
‘But you feel at home in New York,’ Isla stated.
Did he? He had used to. When it was him, Leanna, Brooke and Maddie, closeted in the family unit he believed was strong and unbreakable. In reality, now he stayed in New York because he didn’t know what else to do. It was keeping all their heads above water and it was where he had help if he needed it.
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Yes I do.’ He smiled. ‘And you’ve told me and shown me all of the hot spots around your home.’
‘Not all of them,’ Isla exclaimed. ‘It’s packed full of great places. We’ve only just touched the surface.’
He swallowed. ‘But don’t you ever feel like moving someplace else? Finding other great places?’
‘I did once,’ she answered.
Her tone was subdued and she glanced back at the cinema screen before looking back to him. ‘I was once going to pack a rucksack with my toothbrush, a hairbrush, two T-shirts, a pair of shorts and some mosquito spray and … fly to Guatemala.’
‘Searching for ancient Incas?’ he inquired.
‘I don’t think I cared what I was searching for.’ She sighed. ‘I just wanted to search. I wanted to reach out and see what I could catch.’
‘What happened?’ he asked.
She looked straight at him then. ‘The truck on the motorway that took my parents happened.’
The expression on her face chilled him to the bone. So much pain, so much desperation, so much enduring strength. Right now he felt like the smallest, most insignificant son-of-a-bitch on the planet. And something in him shifted. He wanted to hold her hand. He wanted to make her feel better, just in this moment if nothing else.
Her hand was right there, resting on the velveteen, nails painted clear. He inched his fingers towards hers …
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, hand moving to brush her hair from her face. ‘It’s this film. It always makes me so sentimental, apparently even when I’m only half paying attention.’ She smiled then and shifted back from him slightly. ‘So, I didn’t go to Guatemala … and I suppose the Incas’ loss is Breekers’ gain.’
The moment for contact had gone. ‘I very much concur, Miss Winters,’ he replied, all British.
‘So, Chase,’ she said, looking to him again.
‘Yeah.’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Sure,’ he whispered in response. ‘Shoot.’
‘Who’s Colt?’
Her sweet voice speaking the name of the one man he loved and loathed in equal measure hit him full force, and he knew that was something he was going to be unable to disguise. He used all the techniques he taught and had been taught to deal with the moment in a level-headed, unemotional way. He took a breath and rolled his tongue along the roof of his mouth, just pausing. And all the time Isla was just looking at him, waiting for a reply he had no choice but to give.
‘Who’s Colt?’ Answering a question with a question. He cleared his throat, and waited for the initial fear and anger to subside. ‘Colt is …’ Almost there. O-Y-F. O-Y-F. ‘Colt’s my brother.’
Forty-Two
Colt was his brother. Even though they had moved on to a discussion about who Chase wanted to speak to when the movie ended, Isla couldn’t get that fact out of her mind. She had to be mistaken about what Maddie and Brooke had said. Chase’s ex-wife couldn’t have moved on with his own brother. Could she?
‘I will see you at the Breekers’ Christmas Party, Chase. We are very much looking forward to it. Isla always throws the most amazing Christmas party.’
Isla smiled at Jennifer White from the Enterprise Group as they stood in the foyer of the cinema and another sliver of unease for a very different reason rolled through her. She was pretty sure the catering company were deliberately avoiding her attempts to contact them. ‘Thank you, Jennifer. See you soon.’
‘It was really great to meet you,’ Chase replied, shaking the woman’s hand.
‘You too. My chariot awaits, I’m afraid. Bye.’ Jennifer waved a hand and headed towards the doors.
‘She was nice,’ Chase remarked.
‘Yes, she’s very nice and a very good businesswoman.’
‘You said “very” very heavily.’
‘She would eat you for breakfast.’
‘O … kay … got it.’ He checked his watch. ‘Our car should be here in a few minutes.’
‘If it’s all the same to you I think I’d like to walk,’ Isla told him. She began to tie her shawl around her shoulders.
‘Great idea,’ Chase replied. ‘Shall we?’
He’d offered her his arm like a black-and-white movie idol and she couldn’t help but smile.
‘Lead the way, Miss Winters. Let’s scratch more of that surface.’
She took his arm and they headed out into the night behind all the other guests making their way home or on to other places.
It was freezing and as much as she craved the fresh air and the walk she was really beginning to wish she had brought a coat. She tightened her hold on Chase’s arm in a bid to stop herself from shivering.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Chase said as they strolled along Portobello Road past the bistros with their glowing interiors, the scent of red wine, garlic and sweet toffee puddings in the air. The eclectic mix of shops were all closed, their shutters pulled down, the quirky pastel-painted houses like chunks of Battenberg against the night sky.
‘That I wish I had brought a coat?’ Isla stated through chattering teeth.
‘Hey, are you that cold?’ Chase asked. ‘Here,’ he said, shaking his body out of his jacket and taking of off. ‘Put this on.’
‘Thank you, but I can’t leave you in just a shirt … it’s freezing.’
‘And what sort of asshole would I be if I let you turn into an ice sculpture. Come on,’ he said, putting the jacket around her body. ‘Put it on. No arguments.’ He grinned. ‘Call it an order from head office.’
She smiled then and complied readily, slipping her arms into the sleeves of the jacket.
‘Better?’ he asked once she was buttoned up.
‘You?’ she queried. The snow was falling steadily, just a light constant flurry but it was going to wet his shirt in no time. Maybe they should have just waited for the car …
‘Seriously, I’m good.’ He offered her his arm again. ‘You don’t spend a couple years of your life on a hockey rink without being able to suck up a little snow.’
‘I suppose not.’
‘So,’ Chase began, ‘now we’ve dealt with the coat … next you were thinking why my ex-wife is living with my brother, right?’
‘I … well … it’s really none of my business.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘But, strange as it might seem, I really think I wanna tell you.’
Chase felt sick and scared and invigorated all at once. Was he really going to do this? Could he let it all out somewhere other than the doctor’s office? It would be a huge leap forward. It would be getting close to closure, wouldn’t it?
‘Ma
ybe not. Wow. God, I’m sorry,’ Chase said suddenly stopping and putting his hands to his head. ‘You did not sign up to this when you agreed to come to this party with me.’
‘I don’t think we really signed up to a strict guideline of how the night would go,’ Isla replied.
The tone of her voice was totally businesslike but her expression was completely open, genuine, no pressure. He just had to take that first step …
‘So, Illinois,’ he breathed. ‘We talked about Illinois and … I really hated Illinois.’ He fell into step again.
‘I only know Chicago,’ Isla admitted, taking his arm as she dodged pools of slush on the pavement.
‘Yeah, that’s where we were. Twelve miserable months in high school where almost everyone brought a weapon to class.’ It had been one thing to get into fights with the resident jocks, it had been quite another when they were all tooled up. ‘But Colt thought it was like paradise. He’s two years older than me, he was a whole lot cooler than me and everyone thought he was like some kind of god.’ He sighed.
‘Why did you move to Chicago?’ Isla asked.
‘My dad worked for this new chain of stores called So-Market and whenever they opened in a new city he would go there for six months, a year, and oversee the implementation of everything in the stores in that state.’ At first, maybe when he was too young to think about it, he had liked the travelling, but when he hit high school it was harder and harder to start again somewhere else, catching up on work and making new friends.
‘Colt met Leanna and I spent nine months or so working my ass off to improve my grades so, when the time came, I had every chance of being that astronaut.’
‘Colt met Leanna,’ Isla queried.
‘Yeah, she was in love with my brother back then.’ He let a breath go. ‘Just like right now.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Isla said.
‘It’s a pretty messed-up situation, right?’
‘I wouldn’t say …’
‘Oh, I would,’ Chase replied. ‘I definitely would.’ Was he going to tell her? If he did it had to be quick. No emotion, just the truth. Rip it off like a Band Aid.