‘There’s still a few days till Christmas,’ Prue points out.
Mmm. I’m going to have to investigate this one. Make sure she’s good enough for my boy.
Felix holds his arms wide. ‘Do you like your surprise, Ol? All of us here together?’
I glide over to him, buoyant with happiness. ‘You’re so clever and handsome, I should marry you.’ I kiss his cheekbone and burrow my arms under his jacket so we’re both wearing it. ‘It’s our own Jane Austen Christmas, bub!’
‘You’ll need to learn how to cross-stitch,’ Jordan jokes.
‘And mind your tongue like polite company,’ Felix adds, squeezing me. ‘I have another surprise for you.’
I pull my arms from his jacket and hold his hands, jumping up and down. ‘What is it? Can I have it? Now? Now?’
Felix’s grin goes wider. ‘Sure. It’s around here someplace. Dealing with the luggage I think.’
But my attention has already left him.
Tom is standing at the door watching me.
He looks magnificent; so tall and broad, so easy and relaxed in his tanned skin. His blue eyes twinkle as he flashes me that irritatingly perfect smile. Tom is an exotic species in this land of pale and gaunt. He doesn’t belong here.
‘I left the bags with Huntley, is that okay?’ he asks Prue.
‘Yes, of course,’ she says. ‘Come and meet my brother, Simon.’
Tom shakes hands with Simon and embraces Jordan, shooting little glances my way as he does.
Felix pulls me close and whispers, ‘Do you like your surprise? I had to do something to keep you out of my bed.’
‘I … I …’
My heart feels like it’s about to rupture, it’s beating so fast. I’m not sure I can stand it. Tom is so much bigger than I remember, his chest is broad, his arms powerful, even his face—it’s so square and masculine. But maybe I’m just comparing him to Dillon.
His smile is tentative as he approaches. ‘Hi Ol. How are you?’
‘She’s lost for words, mate. Which is either an excellent sign or a terrible one.’
‘It’s no sign at all,’ I snap at Felix. I take Tom’s hands in mine, big and callused and immediately familiar. ‘I’m just surprised, that’s all. You look huge! What happened to you?’
Tom shrugs. ‘Nothing.’
I narrow my eyes at him. ‘Really?’
‘I might have been to the gym a few times.’
‘A few times.’ I scoff. ‘You look like you’ve been taking steroids.’
He frowns at me. ‘I haven’t been taking steroids.’
‘Give the guy a break,’ Felix says. ‘The point is, he’s here.’
Tom is looking kind of upset so I tell him, ‘That’s right. And you look gorgeous.’
His real smile is back. Hell. I forgot how it makes me gooey.
‘What are you doing here?’ I ask him. ‘You’re supposed to be on the other side of the world.’
‘I took that internship in London,’ he says. ‘And Felix suggested—’
‘I didn’t know the internship was in London!’
‘Yeah, I’m here for three months.’
‘Three months!’
We stand there grinning at each other, dumb as lamb chops. His eyes gleam but the English clouds mute their usual sparkle. Stupid English clouds. It feels so good to see him.
‘Can I …’ He looks awkward, embarrassed.
‘Oh my god. I forgot your ridiculous inability to finish sentences!’
He laughs as he holds his arms open. ‘I just wanted a hug.’
His sweetness just about kills me. I step close and his arms fold over me like origami with muscles. He feels so warm and smells so good. The relief I feel is boundless, like finally I can breathe.
‘I missed you, Ol,’ he says into my hair.
I’m seriously trying not to cry. ‘I missed you too.’
I vaguely register Jordan pulling Felix aside and hissing, ‘You didn’t tell me Tom was coming!’
But I’m much more interested in drinking in everything about Tom. I step back and appraise him. Someone has taken him shopping in London; instead of a surf T-shirt and jeans he wears chinos, a tight turtleneck and a navy duffel coat (but way more stylish than Paddington Bear). His hair is much longer than the last time I saw him. Strands of dirty sand mixed with luminous gold curl at the base of his neck. Women pay hundreds for highlights like his. My eyes linger on his pink lips and they curl into a smirk. He knows what I’m thinking.
‘Do you want to show me my room, Ol?’
‘It would be the polite thing to do,’ I say, returning the look. ‘One can’t depend on the help for everything.’
But Jordan has me suddenly by the elbow. ‘Can I talk to you for a second?’
‘Bit busy here, Pins. In an hour?’ I glance at Tom. ‘Two?’ He gives me a look which would melt cheese. ‘How about tomorrow?’
‘No,’ Jordan says in a really bossy voice. ‘Now.’
‘All right. All right. Nice being ordered about,’ I grumble as I follow Jordan and Simon away.
Jordan leads me into the foyer of Shewthrop, a large oak-panelled room with a magnificent carved staircase. Immediately, I picture Jordan and I dressed in voluminous gowns swanning down the staircase. Prue’s sure to have some.
‘Nice stairs, Simon.’
‘Jacobean,’ he tells me proudly. ‘Carved in wood from the estate.’
‘Fancy. And that’s your family’s coat of arms?’ I say, spotting it hanging from the landing with some pretty buff-looking stags standing on their hind legs, clinging to a shield.
‘It is, yes.’
I resolve to make my own coat of arms the next chance I get. What will I put on it? A cat? A unicorn? A snide remark?
‘So, what’s so important?’ I say to Jordan.
‘I just wanted to warn you—’ She stops abruptly.
Huntley is at the front door and we have both registered the sound of quick steps leaping up the stairs of the portico. There is a bright, cheery whistle and then, ‘Huntley! How are ya, man?’
The Irish accent is unmistakable.
CHAPTER
26
Dillon tugs the scarf from his face as his eyes meet mine.
‘Jaysus. It’s my lucky day.’ He drops his backpack and helmet and runs across the hall to scoop me up. ‘Simon! How did ya know to have my favourite girl in the world here?’
‘Well, I …’ Simon is at a loss whether to claim the credit, but Dillon doesn’t care. He swings me around and I feel like a stupid rag doll or something, but it’s impossible to ignore the way my intestines burn for him. If I can breathe with Tom, then Dillon makes me gasp. My whole body is raging.
Dillon sets me down and kisses me long and hard. I’m trembling with it, I’m totally burning alive.
But that could also be because Tom has just walked into the room.
‘Best Christmas present ever,’ Dillon says, holding me with one arm and slapping Simon on the shoulder with the other.
I slip out of his grasp. ‘You knew about this?’ I hiss at Jordan.
‘I was trying to tell you.’ She looks almost as guilty as she should. ‘Surprise?’
I shake my head at her. ‘If you could see my face.’
Tom’s lovely golden complexion has turned white. His jaw is so tight he has trouble getting out the words, ‘Olive? Are you with this guy?’
‘Um. No.’
‘So, you just kiss random people like that?’
‘Relax, lad. We’ve obviously met before,’ Dillon says.
Tom snaps his head around. ‘Don’t tell me to relax, lad.’
‘I didn’t know he was coming,’ I say to Tom. ‘Why are you here, Dillon?’
‘Well. I do live here,’ Dillon tells me, untwisting the scarf from his neck. ‘So it’s usually the place for Christmas, ya know, tradition and all.’
‘Dillon,’ Tom mutters. ‘Dillon from New York.’ He says it like Dillon’s come from a maximum-secu
rity prison rather than the Big Apple.
‘The name’s Dillon O’Reilly, if you’re looking for a proper introduction, lad.’
Tom’s shoulders convulse. He’s probably going to smack Dillon in the mouth if he calls him lad again.
Felix and Prue have joined the calamity. ‘What’s going on, Pruey?’ Felix asks.
‘I have no idea,’ she tells him. ‘Dilly! We weren’t expecting you today.’
‘Sydney suits you, Prue. You look grand.’ Dillon moves to peck Prue on the cheek. ‘Thought I’d come home early. Glad I did. Didn’t know Olive would be here.’
Prue is astonished. ‘How do you know Olive?’
‘Oh, Olive and me go way back, don’t we, love? New York, Vietnam …’
‘Vietnam?’ Tom snaps, looking at me with daggers. I realise he thought we met in New York.
‘Oh yeah, first at the beach, then Hanoi …’
‘Dillon, shut up,’ I say.
My brain feels like it’s about to explode. I still have no idea what he’s doing here. Why would Dillon live here?
‘Jordan, please tell me what’s going on,’ I beg her.
‘I think we’d all like to know,’ Felix adds.
‘Dillon is their cousin,’ Jordan says. ‘That’s why Simon and Dillon were travelling together. Phil is Simon’s dad.’
An earl, not a crime boss, she leaves out.
‘Oh,’ I say. Well that clears things up—and complicates things.
Dillon shrugs off his heavy biker jacket. ‘So this wasn’t planned?’ he asks me. ‘You’re not here for me?’
‘No. I came here for Felix.’
Felix waves cheerily. ‘Hello.’
Dillon nods at him. ‘Sup.’ He turns back to me. ‘So if you’re here for that guy, then who’s this guy?’ he says, jerking his thumb at Tom. He does a double-take and I see a light go on in his eyes. ‘Hold up. It’s not Adonis is it?’
Tom looks like he could rip Dillon’s head off. ‘It’s Tom,’ he says, between clenched teeth.
It amuses Dillon. ‘Strewth, love. Your ex is quite a buck. You better let him down easy now that I’m here.’
‘Dillon!’
‘What? I don’t want to fight the lad. He’ll tear me in half.’
Jordan steps forward. ‘Actually, I’m sorry to do this, but Olive and I have to slip out for a while, if you guys don’t mind.’
Oh, thank the gods. Jordan is my saviour!
‘Yes!’ I say, clapping my hands together. ‘That’s right. Thanks for reminding me about that … thing. I almost forgot.’
‘You didn’t tell me,’ Simon says to Jordan who very unsubtly prods him. ‘Oh! That’s right … that thing you have to do. I’ll have Huntley call the driver.’
‘Oh, that thing!’ Felix chimes in. ‘Wasn’t I supposed to come with you?’
‘No,’ Prue says pointedly. ‘I don’t think you were.’
‘Nice try,’ I whisper in Felix’s ear as I pass by him. I’m so relieved to get out of there I almost knock over flowers as I scoot out the front door.
CHAPTER
27
A silver Mercedes pulls into the driveway and we scramble into the backseat. Jordan instructs the driver to take us to Oxford and he tips his cap and pulls away. We don’t speak until we’re settled in a warm dark pub sharing a basket of chips and sauce.
‘What are you going to do?’ Jordan says. ‘You’ve got to prefer one of them.’
‘But I don’t. I mean—Tom. Absolutely. How could you ask for more than Tom?’ I start adding tiny packets of salt onto the chips, surreptitiously so Jordan doesn’t see it. ‘I could live with Tom for a thousand years and still not be able to believe my luck. But then Dillon …’ I groan.
‘I get it. But he’s pretty messed up.’
‘Exactly. Like me,’ I say. ‘The thing is, I don’t have to try with Dillon. He accepts me, even the bad stuff. It feels like we’re equal—like he’s lucky to have me too.’
‘So you choose Dillon.’
‘But Dillon doesn’t even know I’m invisible,’ I point out. ‘Maybe he wouldn’t be so accepting if he actually knew me.’ I sigh. ‘And Tom. How could I say no to him? He’s so scrumptious and wonderful.’
Jordan nods. ‘He’s a great guy. He’d make the best dad.’
‘Totally. And I want that. Someday. I want to choose wallpaper with him.’
‘Do people use wallpaper anymore?’
‘I don’t care. I will. With flamingos or something.’
‘Tom won’t want flamingos.’
I screw up my nose. She’s right. Dillon would want flamingos.
But he wouldn’t want walls.
‘Tom’s definitely been working out right? He looks so … I don’t know …’ I make my voice go deep. ‘Like a man.’
Jordan laughs. ‘Maybe he was working out because he knew he’d see you. He probably wanted to make you crazy.’
‘I am crazy. If Dillon had arrived ten minutes later, you know where I would have been.’
‘Um, yeah.’
‘Kinda sucks.’
‘Maybe that tells you something?’ Jordan says, wiping up the last of the sauce with a chip. ‘I mean if he’s the one you want to …?’
‘Oh, no. I mean Dillon. Wow.’
‘Really.’
‘It surprises you?’
‘I guess not. He is Simon’s cousin after all.’
‘Oh my god. Urgh!’
‘Seriously? We’re allowed to talk about your guys but not mine?’
‘Fine,’ I say with impatience. ‘How is everything with Simple Simon?’
Jordan grins. ‘So good.’
‘I can’t believe he and Dillon are just boring cousins. Criminals was so much better.’
‘I lost it when I found out Dillon was the Wroxdens’ ward.’
‘Their ward? Who says that anymore?’
‘I know! Hello, Heathcliff.’
‘Hello, hot!’ I say. ‘So what happened? Why is Dillon their ward?’
‘Apparently Dillon’s mum “married poorly”.’
‘Surely she didn’t marry a commoner!’ I say with mock horror.
Jordan gives me a disparaging look. ‘Olive. It was bad. She committed suicide.’
‘Oh cac.’
‘Dillon found her. Simon reckons his father is some good-for-nothing lowlife, so Dillon came to live with them when he was eleven.’
I feel sick to the stomach. ‘Poor guy.’
‘I know. Explains why he’s messed up, right?’
It sure does. ‘He’s been trying to find his dad, did you know? That’s why he went to Hong Kong.’
‘Damn. Simon’s parents will be pissed. They really hate that guy. They’ve been trying to stop Dillon seeing him. I think they bought him off.’
‘He agreed to be paid not to see his son?’
‘Don’t quote me on it. But I think so.’
‘I don’t know what’s worse, offering the money or taking it,’ I say. ‘Maybe these in-laws of yours are bad news.’
‘They’re not my in-laws!’
‘Not yet,’ I say. ‘But when they are, I want to spend Christmas in Gstaad.’
‘An invisible girl on skis. I’d like to see that.’ We laugh. ‘Boys aside, it’s awesome you’re here,’ Jordan says, throwing a coaster at me.
It is wonderful to be back with her. Too wonderful to express. Instead, I pick up the coaster and say, ‘You’ll pay for that.’ I chuck it at a squat guy with too many chins. It hits him on the back of his bald head and he turns around and gives Jordan a death stare.
‘Sorry,’ she says. ‘Just slipped.’
I giggle manically into my hands.
‘Do that again and I’ll take you back to Shewthrop,’ Jordan threatens me.
‘No. No. I’ll be good. Promise.’
It’s my shout so I steal more chips from the kitchen and we wheedle away the hours laughing, catching up and generally messing with the patrons. Jordan plays pool with a g
uy and crushes him because I keep pushing her balls into the pockets. Then he challenges her to play cards and she totally kicks his ass with me peering over his shoulder and whispering his hand to her.
Something subtle has changed between us. I can’t put my finger on it, it just seems easier. Jordan even tells me she understands why I sent those text messages to Simon, which makes me feel better than I thought it would. Maybe I was holding on to some guilt over that or something. I don’t know, but it’s great that we’re back in sync.
It’s late when the Mercedes pulls into Shewthrop Hall. I’m hoping everyone has gone to bed but when I step out of the car, Tom is standing in the dark waiting for me. It’s kind of scary intense.
‘Can I speak to you?’
‘Have you been waiting here all this time?’
‘No,’ he says like I’m mad. ‘I saw the lights coming up the drive.’
‘Okay, okay.’ Much less creepy.
Jordan says goodnight, squeezing my hand for luck. Then retreats inside as I follow Tom into the garden. It’s bitterly cold but the moon casts a silver sheen on the frost, rendering it magical.
‘Cold here, isn’t it?’ Tom says, rubbing my arms and pulling me to him.
I stand in the folds of him, taking him in. I can never get enough of Tom’s smell.
‘I’m sorry about this,’ I say. ‘I honestly didn’t know Dillon was coming. I didn’t know about you either. It’s all been … pretty weird.’
‘It’s okay.’ Tom holds me. I feel his lungs expand and contract under my palms. It’s kind of unnerving how still he is. Comforting too. A warm safe place to hide in a storm.
‘I don’t know what to tell you,’ I say against him. ‘When Dillon saw me I had to find out why. No. That’s not fair. I wanted to find out why. I wanted to be with him. I really like him.’
‘More than me?’
I sigh a sigh worthy of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. This is another place I need to visit. It is said, as criminals crossed the bridge, taking in their last view of daylight before being locked up in the dungeon beyond, they would heave a heavy sigh of lament. Galileo was imprisoned there, as was Casanova.
‘I came here for you, Ol,’ Tom says. ‘Across the world.’
I’m not sure that’s entirely true. ‘I thought you came for a job.’
The Implausible Story of Olive Far Far Away Page 18