Driving Home for Christmas
Page 17
Skye looked up at her, big hazel eyes already intelligent and loving. ‘We’re going to be okay, baby girl. I promise.’ She held her close, rocking her back and forth, and wondered what her parents were doing. Whether Matty was still waking up late and rolling down just in time for dinner, his Christmas Eve-induced hangover debilitating as always. She imagined the smell of the turkey, and her mother’s gingerbread stained-glass biscuits. How the tree always looked so higgledy and yet so perfect, with the same radio station playing in the background until she nearly went nuts with Christmas carols.
‘We’ll make our own traditions, baby,’ she whispered, her lips to Skye’s forehead. ‘We’ll start completely new.’
‘McAllister? Is Megan McAllister here?’ The woman from the reception desk walked through, waving a piece of paper. Megan raised her hand.
‘There’s a woman here to see you. She says she’s your aunt.’ The lady handed over a Christmas card. On the front there was a picture of Mary in the stables, surrounded by the animals and the three wise men. Inside the card read:
‘A bit late to offer my barn for the birth (it took a while to track you down). Please spend Christmas with me? From one black sheep to another. Anna.’
‘Is she still here?’ Megan asked the woman, who nodded. Megan picked up her bag, nodded, and walked out into the snow.
***
That night, after Lucas left, Megan felt like Skye might need distracting, seeing as she kept playing the old red fender and talking about music non-stop.
‘Shall we call Anna and wish her Merry Christmas?’ Megan said. ‘I’m sure she’ll be crazy busy with her decorating and her guests, but let’s see if she can fit us in, eh?’
Skye was more than keen, and they sat up on the bed, legs crossed, the phone on speakerphone in between them.
‘Anna! Merry Christmas!’ they sang down the phone when she answered.
‘Well, hello darlings, Merry Christmas,’ her throat croaked.
‘Have you got a cold?’ Skye asked, concern etched across her face. Anna was never sick.
‘A little bit. I suppose I may have overdone it this party season, darlings.’ Anna coughed slightly. ‘Jeremy has been a great help though. It looks beautiful. Completely twenties. I’ll leave the decorations up so you can see them when you get home.’
‘And you haven’t opened your present yet?’ Megan checked, her voice overly cheerful as she watched Skye, hand to cheek, eyes calculating.
‘No, mother, I’ve been completely good.’ She could hear Anna rolling her eyes. The word mother stuck, and Megan thought suddenly, Anna’s my grandmother. Skye’s great-grandmother.
‘And are you girls having a good time in the village? Everything as painfully quaint and ordinary as usual?’ Anna drawled, her derision evident.
‘Well, we made friends with Lucas, and I’m learning to play with the guitar, and Granddad plays chess, and Gran makes cookies, and I met my biological father in a fish and chip shop, but he was pretty boring, so I don’t think it’s a great loss.’
Anna wheezed, ‘Well, that certainly sounds eventful, darling. Definitely something to put in your diary.’
‘It’s not a diary! It’s a detective notebook!’ Skye whined.
‘I’m sorry, sweetheart, of course. I miss you and your wonderful quirks very much. I can’t wait to see you when you get back.’ There was a pause and she wheezed heavily. ‘Do you think I could talk to your mum in private for a minute, love? Is that okay? And me and you will have our private chat tomorrow?’
Skye shrugged, looking at her mum, who nodded.
‘Okay, love you!’
‘Love you too, sweetness. Merry Christmas.’
Megan picked up the phone and turned off speakerphone. ‘Why don’t you go see if grandma needs any help trying to make that Oreo cheesecake she’s especially making for you? You’re an expert.’
Skye looked irritated. ‘You don’t need to find excuses, I know you need to talk in private.’ She flounced out of the room, and Megan waited until she heard the heavy footsteps running down the stairs.
‘What’s going on, Anna?’ she said simply.
‘I’m not very well, darling, as I’m sure you’ve heard.’
‘Jeremy alluded to something, but he was pretty cagey,’ Megan said irritably. ‘What’s wrong? Should we come home?’
‘Darling, you are home.’
‘You know what I mean, how unwell are you?’ Megan pushed, knowing the answer was going to be one she didn’t want to hear.
‘Well, if you must know, I’m quite beyond reprieve,’ Anna laughed. ‘I’d hoped to present it slightly better than that, perhaps with a slideshow.’
‘Did you know about this before we went?’
‘Of course. Why do you think I made sure you went? I wanted you and Skye to have a family.’
‘We have a family,’ Megan insisted, trying to stay angry so she couldn’t be upset, ‘we have you. Why, of all years, would you make us leave when you were ill?’
‘Because, as much as it might surprise you, being an invalid is not something I particularly revel in. And I wanted this business sorted with your mother before…’
‘Before…?’ Megan felt herself take a sharp intake of breath. ‘Before what?’
‘Before Christmas is over,’ Anna answered smoothly. ‘Really, darling, stop being so dramatic. You’ve always been so stoic. Having a baby in a park, living in a hostel, working in that dive bar. You never make a big deal of things. And I’d rather you didn’t now.’
Megan paused, checking the door was closed. ‘Are you…are you dying?’
‘We’re all dying.’
‘Stop it. Stop that right now.’
Anna sighed, her voice a little less affected. ‘Yes, I’m dying.’
‘And you sent us away?’
‘I wanted you to reconnect with your mother. It was my gift to her. To both of you. I’ve never been very good at fixing things, but I hoped that by relinquishing you, you’d start to put the past behind you.’
Megan breathed deeply. This holiday had been one emotional beating after the other. She wondered if it was too late to find Belinda and wait for her to say something horrible, just so she could punch her.
‘You want us to move back here and start our life again with my parents?’ she asked.
‘God no, in that little village that doesn’t even have a theatre? What am I, a philistine? No darling, I’m leaving the house to you, you’ll come back here and live your life as you please, of course.’
‘That wasn’t what I meant, Anna.’ Megan felt the tears start in her chest, staggering and breathless.
‘I know, sweetheart. But look, no need to get yourself all worked up. We’ll talk tomorrow and you’ll come back in a couple of days and we’ll have some time to get it all worked out.’
‘You promise?’ Megan asked, wiping her eyes.
There was a long pause, until a very quiet ‘yes’ came from Anna.
‘Okay, we’ll talk tomorrow.’
‘Sweetheart, I don’t think I need to even say that I don’t want everyone knowing about this?’ Anna’s strong voice returned, light but warning.
‘Who’s everyone?’
‘Anyone.’
Megan shrugged. ‘You don’t think they’d want to know?’
‘I just want everyone to have a nice day. I’ll tell your mother on Boxing Day, promise.’
Megan nodded, saying nothing.
‘I love you, darling, you’ve given me the most wonderful ten years. Made everything…made me myself again. No one could have done that but you. And Skye,’ Anna coughed, rarely one for expressing her emotions. Megan wanted to say something equally powerful, but anything she said now would feel like goodbye.
‘Love you, Anna,’ she said simply, ‘you’ve…you’ve done everything for us.’
She hung up, with the terrible realisation that sometime soon she was going to have to tell Skye the truth.
Chapter Twelve
‘Share some of that duvet, would you? It’s freezing!’ She snuggled in next to her daughter, kissing her cheek. ‘Merry Christmas, poppet.’
‘Merry Christmas, Mum!’ Skye whispered back, then paused. ‘How do we do it this year? I bet Grandma and Granddad don’t have champagne for breakfast.’
‘Well, maybe we should introduce them to it, sharing traditions? I know Grandma went out and especially got you some elderflower fizzy, because you said you liked it.’
Skye beamed. ‘So shall we open them?’
‘One…two…three!’
They ripped and ravaged apart the paper as quickly as possible, as though it were a race, only stopping to truly identify and appreciate their presents when all the paper was discarded.
‘Let’s not do that with the big presents,’ Megan laughed, ‘they’ll think we’re animals!’
‘Grr!’ Skye made a face, holding up a paw.
‘Go on then, what do you think?’
Skye looked at the pen that turned into a microscope, the small leather-bound detective notebook, the purple zebra-print guitar pick, and the bobble-headed Elvis doll.
‘Awesome,’ she nodded, ‘thank you, thank you!’
‘I love mine too!’ Megan said, knowing that Heather had taken Skye out to buy things, a job usually reserved for Jeremy. She had a purple fountain pen, a purple nail polish and a pair of exotic brass earrings with dark blue stones in them. ‘These earrings are wonderful, Skye. I’m going to wear them today!’
‘Good,’ Skye nodded. ‘Well, should we…should we go downstairs?’
‘Yes, let’s go put the coffee on. And I’m sure even the people in this house love being woken up by the smell of bacon!’ Megan laughed. ‘Race you!’
They thundered down the stairs laughing, and it was only when she opened the fridge and saw the bottle of champagne that Heather had bought, trying to share in their tradition, that Megan remembered Anna wasn’t going to be doing any of this. Or perhaps Jeremy would try, but she wasn’t sure it would be the same.
The house woke up slowly, roused by bacon and coffee, and whilst Heather insisted she needed a clear head for the cooking she was about to do throughout the day, she shared in a toast with them. Jonathan got involved making bacon sandwiches, and they sat around the Christmas tree in the living room, munching away and planning which presents to open first.
‘Just a few this morning, then some later when Matty, Claudia and Jasper arrive,’ Heather said.
‘And Trouble!” Skye added.
‘And Lucas, yes,’ Megan said, somehow still irritated about how he’d infiltrated her daughter’s life. Why was she angry about that? She’d had sex with the guy. She was still absolutely attracted to him, and was enjoying this casual, limited-time-only situation they seemed to have going. But he was insisting on getting to know Skye, and making her love him, and then where was Megan going to be? Back in London, explaining to Skye that not only had she denied her the chance to properly engage with her father, but she’d also dumped the man that Skye had formed an attachment with. It had never been this hard when she was just keeping to herself, she thought, downing the glass of champagne and going for a refill.
‘Open this one from us, darling!’ Heather handed Skye a round box with a big bow on top. She looked to Megan, and delicately pulled at the ribbons, slowly taking off the lid. Megan laughed at her daughter’s attempt at being ladylike.
She reached into the box and pulled out a trilby hat, with a little feather on the side. The inside was lined with silk, and Megan shuddered to think how expensive it had been.
‘Every real detective needs a good hat,’ Jonathan said, clearly excited by what must have been his idea. ‘Do you like it?’
Skye gripped it in her hands, face lit up. ‘I love it!’ She placed it on her head, running her fingertip along the rim like in the old black and white movies. She threw herself at Jonathan. ‘Thank you both so much!’
‘One from me,’ Megan said, handing over a squishy package, that however hard she tried, would never be wrapped as well as her mother had managed. ‘Thought you might want to wear it today.’
Skye had no qualms about ripping that one to shreds, and when she discovered the mermaid leggings, she did a little dance in the middle of the room.
As Skye ran off upstairs to get dressed, trilby still atop her head, the three adults set about tidying up the living room, throwing away paper, washing dishes.
‘It’s so wonderful to have a child in the house again,’ Heather said, ‘it’s what Christmas is all about really, isn’t it?’
Megan nodded. ‘I guess it is.’
The day went smoothly enough, the turkey wasn’t dry, the potatoes weren’t burnt, and Jasper and Skye played quietly. After dinner, when everyone was stuffed, sitting on the sofa with half-finished plates of Christmas pudding, Lucas arrived. Megan supposed she should have made more of an effort, instead of wearing leggings and an oversized red jumper. The only thing about her that was put together were her newly purple-painted nails, and the earrings she was wearing. She was a mess. And seeing as she’d had a drink every time she thought of Anna, and every time she’d rung the house and couldn’t get through, she was feeling pretty worse for wear. Skye was playing on the floor with Jasper, helping him with a puzzle when the door rang.
‘Trouble!’ she yelled, jumping up to open the door.
‘Skye, don’t yell!’ Megan said, getting up.
She opened the door and there was Lucas, grinning at her, guitar on his back. He’d not shaved for a few days, and his dark bristles filled out his face. In his hands he held big Christmas bags with Santa’s face on, containing chocolates, bottles of bubbly, whisky for Jonathan and other bits and pieces. Her heart softened a little at the effort he was making. But that was the point, wasn’t it? That’s what he was trying to tell her, he was dependable, strong, always-there-for-you Lucas. The idea of being looked after, just for a little bit, was not unappealing. Skye jumped up into his arms, so he had to drop the bags, with an ‘oof’.
‘Hey,’ he grinned at her, ‘are you an underwater detective? Because that would be a great story. A team of mermaids who fight crime. What do you think?’
Skye shrugged. ‘Could make it into a song?’
‘I will try my very best.’ He adjusted her on his hip and turned his attention to Megan. ‘Well, hello there, gorgeous, Merry Christmas.’ He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, and she held her breath at the scent of his cologne.
This is what it would have been like if he had been Skye’s dad, Megan thought to herself as she closed the door behind him, and Skye jumped down. They would have been friends, he would come around to see her. Why did no one else see how weird this all was?
Instead they all greeted Lucas, thanked him for the gifts, popped another bottle of bubbly. It was expensive, so Claudia was pleased, Matty was glad he didn’t have to punch anyone any more, and Heather kept looking between her and Lucas on the sofa, with Skye sat in the middle of them, instead of watching the television.
‘You look so good together, such a lovely little family,’ she exclaimed at one point, but went quiet when Megan widened her eyes into what was commonly called The McAllister Death Glare.
Lucas didn’t seem to mind at all, relaxing into the sofa, putting an arm across the back of it, his fingers stroking the back of her neck in a way that was absolutely too comforting. The bastard. Why was she fighting this again?
She looked across at him, beautiful as ever with his tightly fitted blue shirt rolled up at the sleeves, h
is arm muscles clearly defined through the fabric. He’d gelled his hair, and Skye had noticed at once, clapping her hands and grinning at him. He’d made a delicate attempt at an Elvis quiff. For her daughter.
She needed to stop being so hard on him, Megan realised, relaxing against him on the sofa as Skye got up to play with Jasper. She felt his arm around her shoulder, comforting and warm, and looked up to find him staring at her with that same look of wonderment that she remembered from their teen years, being on stage. It made her feel precious and powerful all at once. He kissed her forehead. ‘Merry Christmas, Angel.’ Lucas winced. ‘Sorry, old habits.’
‘I’m sorry about yesterday, I’m just a bit overwhelmed with everything. I never thought you’d still be here. And when you were, I didn’t think you’d talk to me.’
‘We’ve done a lot more than talk, babe,’ he whispered into her ear, lips hovering against her neck. Then he squeezed her shoulders as he sat back, watching as she turned a lovely shade of red.
‘I think I’m going to get a refill, anyone else?’ Megan choked, standing up.