‘What will you do now?’ she asked. ‘It’s Christmas, nobody should be alone. Come over, I’ll cook.’
‘I’ve got a friend in Brooklyn, I’ll look him up. And if not, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.’ They gazed out to the moonlight beyond the window, the glow caressing the illuminated buildings of the city.
‘Merry Christmas, Paul.’ She picked up her bag, ready to leave.
‘Merry Christmas, Amelia.’
And with a final kiss on his cheek, Amelia said her goodbyes and left the penthouse and Paul behind for good.
Chapter Seventeen
Nathan
He wasn’t sure what had happened earlier with Amelia. One minute they’d been chatting along happily, talking about what had brought them to New York, the next she’d taken a phone call and caused a big commotion by crashing into a waitress. He’d paid the bill, he’d walked her home to her apartment struggling to keep up the pace. She didn’t want to talk about whatever it was and when they got there she barely turned to say goodbye before she disappeared inside the brownstone.
Nathan had assumed the phone call must have come from the boyfriend, Paul, making his presence known, perhaps unhappy she was out with another man. Shame, he’d only met the guy for a few minutes at the apartment but even those moments had been enough to tell him he wasn’t right for Amelia. Not in his eyes anyway. Then again, hadn’t he been telling Kyle and Scarlett all along that they hardly knew one another well enough to be having deep feelings about a lasting relationship? Perhaps he was getting far too carried away in the holiday spirit. Blame it on New York? Maybe he would. It seemed a good excuse.
Scarlett came back to the suite at the Inglenook Inn well before five o’clock as he’d specified and he managed to ask her all the usual questions about what she’d seen, had she enjoyed herself, before he launched into the topic he needed to.
‘We’re not kids anymore, Dad.’ She jutted out her jaw in defiance.
He’d sat her down to talk about the birds and the bees or whatever he was supposed to call them. At moments like these he missed Dawn even more. She’d know what to do. Girls needed their mum at a time like this, but he’d do his best. ‘I’m well aware.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Were they your condoms?’
‘Dad!’
‘Much as you don’t want to talk to me, you’re going to have to if I’m to trust you. I need a bit of honesty.’
His demands had the desired effect. ‘I bought them, coming up here was my idea, not Kyle’s.’
‘So why did you let me blame him?’
‘You were hardly in a mood to be reasoned with, if you remember. I yelled after you but you’d already manhandled him out of the inn.’
‘He took the wrap for you.’
‘He did it because he likes me and wants to see me again when we’re back in England.’
Why had his heart just plummeted like a lift with broken ropes going from the top floor to the bottom with a crash? ‘You live in totally different parts of the country.’
‘We can make it work.’
He’d tell her she was being ridiculous if he hadn’t been thinking along the same lines about Amelia. Although that was a dead end now Paul was back in the picture.
He tried to look at Scarlett’s budding relationship in a different way. At least with Kyle he had a contact – Amelia – to keep this pair in line should anything go wrong. If Scarlett didn’t carry things on with Kyle, she’d probably have another boyfriend soon enough. In an ideal world it wouldn’t be until she was well over eighteen and the boy in question would have a squeaky clean past, he’d be studying as hard as she did, he’d be polite, and he wouldn’t find them in bed together.
‘We should go find somewhere to eat,’ he suggested. He blamed his voracious appetite on the freezing temperatures in the city as well as all the walking.
‘What sort of food?’ She leapt at the peace offering being silently exchanged. ‘We could have anything, anything’s possible here in New York. We could ask Amelia and Kyle to eat with us, give you a chance to see what a kind person he is.’
‘How about you reserve tonight for your dad?’ It was the only way he could cope with the thought of Amelia on her date with Paul, snuggled up somewhere together, warm and cosy, perhaps in bed together already.
She put her arms around him and hugged him the same way she had when she was little. ‘As long as we can have pizza.’
‘I’m happy with that but only if we go to a decent restaurant, I’m not standing at a table like last time.’
‘Deal.’
*
They found an Italian café on Canal Street that was casual enough for Scarlett so that it wasn’t pretentious, upmarket enough for him so they at least got a seat. With a candle in the centre of the table to set the tone and impeccable waiter service, they were both happy.
Full from pizza, steak with rosemary-garlic sauce and a decadent dessert of cream semifreddo with a chocolate crumb, Scarlett hooked her arm through his as they walked back to the inn.
‘I really think if you got to know Kyle you might even like him,’ she ventured.
‘Who knows, maybe I will.’
‘You’re getting on well with Amelia.’
‘We’ve been forced together thanks to you two.’
‘It doesn’t exactly look like you’re hating it from where I’m standing.’
‘I thought I was supposed to lecture you on your love life, not the other way around.’
‘I want you to be happy.’
He looked at the girl beside him who’d blossomed into a proper young lady and he felt a pang of loss at how quickly time marched on, how many moments he longed to savour all over again. They talked about everything they’d managed to see in New York so far, how it had lived up to expectation and beyond. And when they passed an ornament shop in Soho Scarlett dragged him inside and they ended up buying something else for their tree. She came out with two golden angels, one playing a violin, the other playing a harp, plus a centrepiece of a Santa kneeling down with a sack full of presents.
‘If your luggage is over the limit at the airport I’ll make you throw that in the bin,’ he told her when she swung the bag back and forth, happy to have found something new.
‘Don’t be such a spoilsport. You’ll love the memory on our first Christmas back in England.’
‘I’m missing our Christmas movies this year.’
‘Me too. But I’m loving being in the city where so many movies are set. Sometimes I have to pinch myself,’ she grinned, and stopped out front of a clothes store not far from the inn. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, admiring the sparkly dress in the window.
‘Go try it on.’
‘Really?’
‘Why not?’
Twenty minutes later and they left the store with what he now knew was something called an A-line princess scoop-neck dress. Scarlett had looked stunning in it and never mind the price tag, when her eyes shone as much as the sequins on the bodice he’d got carried away and insisted on buying it for her as an extra Christmas gift.
‘I’m going to wear it to the Christmas Eve party at the inn,’ she said after they left the store. ‘Did you pack anything smart?’
‘I packed my best shirt, don’t worry. Just like you packed a black dress, from what I remember.’
‘A new dress called out to me, what can I say?’
‘I hope Kyle appreciates it.’ He knew Kyle and Amelia had been invited because Darcy had made a point of telling him and already he wondered what Amelia would be wearing, how she’d style her hair, whether she’d look his way. Whether she’d bring Paul.
The last thought stopped his daydreaming.
‘Amelia will appreciate you in your smarter clothes,’ smiled Scarlett. ‘Girls at my school talk about how hot my dad is.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah and it’s gross.’
‘Thanks!’
‘Kyle told me Amelia’s ex-boyfriend is in town. He d
oesn’t sound like the type of guy who deserves her.’
‘No? Why, what have you heard?’
‘Not much. Kyle doesn’t like him, says she can do better. And if there’s a possibility she might bring someone, you need a date. Why don’t I ask Darcy if she knows anyone?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Maybe he’d just lie low, do the rounds and say hello and then escape until everyone buggered off home.
They stopped to take in another impressive window display, the magic of Christmas brought to them there on the street corner. The air around them hinted that the snow symbols on the weather forecast for next week might not be a figment of an enthusiastic weather station’s imagination, and eventually they turned into the road that housed the Inglenook Inn, away from the busyness of the main streets, the chaos of December, Christmas Eve looming in front of them tomorrow.
He and Scarlett were laughing about his appalling singing voice when it came to Christmas carols, how she’d forbidden him from singing loudly at any school recital, when Nathan saw a familiar figure sitting on the stoop of the brownstone between the two pine trees wrapped in lights and marking the entrance to the Inglenook Inn.
‘Kyle.’ Scarlett’s eyes lit up but faded the second they both got closer.
Was that a bottle of vodka in his hands?
‘What’s going on, mate?’ Nathan would pull her back if Scarlett got much closer. ‘Where did you get that from?’
‘Found it.’
‘Give it to me.’ He held out his hand. The Christmas tree in the lounge of the inn twinkled at them from its position, a low glow from the fireplace still burning helped him see that the inn was quiet at this time. Lucky for Kyle.
‘And what if I say no?’
‘You’ll probably get arrested sooner or later. You’re under age.’
‘You’re over age.’ Kyle began to laugh, a hollow sound, in an attempt to disguise a sadness that was written all over his face.
For once Nathan wasn’t angry, he was confused, shocked. It was almost like looking into a mirror because this had been him once upon a time when he’d thought the world couldn’t get much worse. ‘Scarlett, go inside please.’
‘Dad –’
‘Now, please.’ He expected Kyle to stop her from going past but he didn’t and Scarlett shut the heavy wooden door behind her.
Nathan sat on the top of the stoop beside Kyle. ‘Revolting stuff that, at least you could’ve picked something with a bit of taste.’
‘Don’t even like it. But it burns when it goes down.’
Nathan took the bottle from his hand and he didn’t resist. ‘Does Amelia know where you are?’ He didn’t answer. Nathan set the bottle down by the pine tree. His butt was freezing against the concrete. ‘What’s going on, mate?’
‘It’s my mum,’ he said before Nathan tried the question again.
‘What’s she done?’ She’d already shirked responsibility for her own child going by what Amelia had told him. What damage could she possibly do over thousands of miles?
‘She’s selling our house, she found a buyer already and has to move out. I heard her and Amelia talking on the phone.’
‘When was this?’
‘Right before I came here.’
‘I thought Amelia was with Paul.’ He was confused.
‘Jackass wasn’t around. Hopefully he’s buggered off. He’s not good enough for her you know.’
‘Language.’ Although there was a moment of joint appreciation of Paul’s unsuitability for Amelia. ‘What exactly did you overhear?’
‘Like I said, the house has gone, Mum is trying to find somewhere to rent close by and I heard Amelia offer to let me stay with her for a bit. Which means Mum wants me out. She threatened it once you know, now she’s going through with it.’
‘Having to move out for a house sale is hardly the same as throwing you out.’ But the rushing into it did seem odd. Why do it when Kyle was away and call to tell them? It didn’t make sense.
‘It’s the first step.’ He harrumphed. ‘I thought we were getting somewhere, me and Mum. I thought…I thought she wanted to spend time with me.’
‘Have you actually asked her what’s happening?’
‘I’m not talking to her. Auntie Amelia can do that, she can pick up my stuff and I won’t even have to embarrass Mum by going near her. She won’t ever have to see me again.’
‘If I were you I wouldn’t jump to conclusions.’
‘You’re a fine one to talk about making assumptions.’
Nathan didn’t argue the point. He rubbed his hands together and blew into them for extra warmth before he hunched over more. He’d rather do this inside but he didn’t want Scarlett involved when Kyle was in this state. ‘I don’t know much about you, Kyle, and you don’t know much about me. But can you tell me why you came here tonight? Was it to see Scarlett?’
‘It was hardly to come to you for sympathy.’
‘No, but what’s with the vodka? It’s hardly a packet of condoms, but do you see why I might have a problem with you spending time with my daughter when you show up like this?’ He grabbed Kyle’s arm before he bolted and persuaded him to sit down again. ‘Amelia told me about your dad.’
‘None of anyone’s business.’
‘It isn’t, but would you believe me if I told you I understand how you feel?’
‘No.’
‘I didn’t lose my dad, but my brother – my best friend, my sidekick – he died, and it’s almost like I was bookended by what happened. There was the Nathan before he lost Robbie and then there’s the Nathan afterwards. Death changes people.’
‘Fuck’s sake,’ Kyle muttered when a group of carollers gathered at the bottom step singing ‘Deck the Halls’.
‘Don’t you move, I’ll sort it.’ Nathan, one eye still on Kyle, went down the stoop, paid them enough to move to the other side of the street and leave them to it.
Back beside Kyle he took away the vodka that Kyle had picked up again and this time, tipped the contents into the pot for the pine tree. ‘So you’re not tempted.’
‘You’ve probably killed the tree now.’
‘I doubt it, and if I have I’ll buy Darcy a new one.’
The strains of ‘Good King Wenceslas’ mingled with the mist high above the buildings and the carollers moved along the street gradually.
‘I was sixteen when my brother died,’ said Nathan. ‘I kept up with my school work so my parents were none the wiser, but out of school I was a nightmare. I started drinking, got involved with petty crimes. I hung around with some horrible people. Your auntie Amelia seems to think I might understand a bit about what you’re going through. I still have my dad so I don’t completely get it but I know what it means to have your world fall apart.’
‘I bet your parents never turned their backs on you.’
‘They didn’t, I shielded them from most of what was going on.’
‘Mum knows everything I get up to, she’s embarrassed about me. She’s every right to be. But she never lets me talk about my dad, she changes the subject whenever I bring him up.’
‘That must hurt.’
‘It does.’
‘People handle grief differently, do what they can to cope. I know I did.’
‘I spoke to Mum the other day and she didn’t say a word about the house. She was nice to me, I felt good about myself for once. Now she’s got Auntie Amelia promising to look after me. Amelia was crying, too, which is understandable – I’m not her child and she’s stuck with me.’
‘What else did you hear?’
‘Nothing, I’d heard enough. I left.’
‘That’s the problem with eavesdropping. You only hear part of the story.’
Kyle found a stray branch from the pine tree closest to him and picked its needles off one by one, dropping them onto the stoop. ‘I got the gist.’
‘Where did you get the vodka?’
‘Found it at the apartment.’
‘Does Amelia know where you ar
e?’ He shook his head. ‘I’ll go check on Scarlett then walk you back.’
‘I don’t need a chaperone.’
‘Don’t argue. We’ll grab you a coffee on the walk and get you sobered up a bit.’
‘It was only a few swigs.’
He wasn’t stupid, it was more than a few swigs by the way Kyle was acting. He could hold his sentences together but he had an edge of agitation fuelled by the alcohol and Amelia wouldn’t be fooled.
Nathan took out his phone and pinged a text to his daughter. He’d be more comfortable getting this kid home now. ‘Come on,’ he said to Kyle.
He tried to get Kyle talking as they walked their way from the inn, past iconic buildings and sights filled with festive cheer, but the boy would only grunt or grace him with monosyllabic replies and so Nathan gave up.
They grabbed strong black coffees and drank as they walked, Nathan keeping his eye on Kyle in the crowds in case he tried to give him the slip, and soon enough they’d bypassed Madison Square Park and were outside the brownstone.
‘I can take it from here,’ Kyle insisted. ‘You don’t need to deliver me to the door again.’
‘I’m not going to mention the vodka, but I want to make sure you’re in the apartment, that Amelia isn’t going nuts with worry.’
‘What’s it to you if she is?’ He kicked the brick wall outside the brownstone. He smacked his fist up against it. And he turned to run off down the steps but Nathan was too quick for him and caught him by his jacket.
Christmas Promises at the Garland Street Markets: A feel good Christmas romance (New York Ever After, Book 5) Page 24