by Karly Lane
On Christmas morning, Cash had woken up early and run out to the tree, only to find it knocked over and the presents scattered around the room, crushed and broken. Her mum was asleep, draped across the lounge, an empty bottle tipped over on the floor beneath her outstretched hand. Her makeup was smudged and marked with tear tracks, and her left eye was swollen and red. It always ended the same way.
Cash carefully picked through the debris on the floor, managing to save a few of the presents. There was no sign of the Pound Puppy she’d been hoping for, but there was a My Little Pony, lying under some ripped wrapping paper, one side of the box crushed. It wasn’t the purple one she’d wanted but that was okay, it was still pretty. It was an apricot colour with a pale pink mane. She’d lifted it to her nose and breathed in the plastic, sweet smell and gently touched the flowing mane. It was beautiful.
There were a few board games, all of which had been smashed in drunken rage, her mother’s or father’s, she couldn’t tell. Not that it mattered—who was she supposed to play board games with anyway? She never had any friends from school come to her house to play; how could she when she never knew what kind of mood her mother would be in from one day to the next?
Now looking up from the parcel on her lap, she found herself smiling at the obvious love in the room. Christmas had never been a big event in her life even as an adult. She usually avoided it. What a different life she would have lived if she’d had functioning parents instead of the two she’d been given. Cash blinked away the memories and swallowed past a tightening throat.
She hadn’t thought about that Christmas in years. She did her best not to think about the past—what was the point? She couldn’t change anything, and all it did was make her feel sad. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand, it was feeling sorry for herself. She’d witnessed first-hand the damage that kind of habit could do. Her mother had blamed everyone else for the life she had. It wasn’t until Cash was older that she realised there were a lot of people who had terrible lives, but complaining about it never helped. You either picked yourself up and found a way around your problems, or you laid down and stayed where you were and never got up again. She was never going to be in the same situation as her mother. She didn’t want success in a monetary sense, she just wanted to make a life for herself that was better than the one she’d had growing up. She’d learned early on that the only person she could count on was herself, and that lesson had served her well. It made her self-sufficient, and if she stuffed up, there was only herself to blame and only she got hurt.
‘You can open it, dear,’ Gran said, coming around with the tray of eggnog and handing Cash another one. ‘Santa always brings us one gift on Christmas Eve to open.’
Cash took a sip of the eggnog and placed it on the table beside her, before turning the package over and lifting the sticky tape from the neatly folded corners. As she peeled back the paper, a wooden sign was revealed, the kind that Savannah had dotted through her house. This one had Friends are the family you find along the way painted on it in an elegant script and Cash found herself blinking back the sting of tears as she read the words.
She quickly wrapped the paper back around the gift and slipped it into her handbag. She needed time to digest the thoughtful present, something she couldn’t do here. Mr and Mrs Claus continued their way around the room, handing out brightly wrapped gifts, and Cash took in the smiles and laughter from around the room. Christmas carols played in the background and there was an overwhelming feeling of happiness and cheer in the room. It felt almost magical. She’d always scoffed at the Hallmark-type Christmas movies that played each year, depicting smiling faces and Christmas-card perfect scenes, figuring they were all fantasy, but being part of this tonight made her question that idea. Maybe it wasn’t as fake as she’d thought. Maybe people really did have these kinds of perfect Christmases after all.
Twenty-two
Hadley came to sit down beside her, opening her parcel and lifting out a T-shirt with Mrs Elf scrawled across it in bright red letters. ‘My mother kills me,’ Hadley said, shaking her head and pointing to her fiancé seated across the room, who held up a matching Mr Elf T-shirt.
‘Do your parents do this every year?’ Cash asked after she picked up her drink and took a large sip.
‘Yep,’ Hadley said with a tolerant smile. ‘Bless their cotton socks.’
‘I feel really bad that I didn’t bring them anything. I didn’t know they’d get me something.’
‘Don’t feel bad, Mum shops all year to find these silly presents. They’re only supposed to be a bit of fun. She gets a kick out of it.’
Cash noticed Linc wearing a baseball hat with a long straw attached to the side, and Beer hat scrawled across it.
After all the presents had been delivered, Mr and Mrs Claus left the building and everyone was free to mingle once more.
Hadley dragged her fiancé across and introduced him, and Cash had a brief moment of gaping silence. She knew Hadley was a celebrity of sorts, being that she regularly featured on the news, and she knew her husband-to-be hosted his own nightly current affairs program, but she hadn’t been prepared to actually meet someone famous face to face. Thankfully she shook herself and snapped out of it; after all, it was a little hard to take someone seriously when they were wearing a Mr Elf T-shirt, even if they looked less amused by it than everyone else was.
‘Please tell me I don’t have to wear this tomorrow?’ he whispered in a low voice to Hadley.
‘Just humour them. You only have to wear it in the morning.’
‘It’s nice to meet you, Mitch,’ Cash said, hoping this wasn’t going to turn into a mini domestic with her stuck in the middle.
‘Yes, you too. Cash, was it?’
‘Yes. I’m the fill-in neighbour … sort of …’
‘I see.’
‘Cash’s the beautician we’re using for the wedding.’
‘Oh,’ he said as something obviously registered. ‘Great. I guess I’ll be seeing you soon then,’ he said with a quick grin as his mobile went off and he excused himself to answer it.
‘He’s a little distracted,’ Hadley apologised with a dismissive hand as he disappeared from the room without a backward glance. ‘Work.’
‘I imagine it’s hard to escape it when you’re so well known.’
‘Anyway,’ Hadley smiled brightly, ‘I’ve been meaning to ask where you went to the other night. I looked everywhere for you at the pub and couldn’t find you … or my brother, oddly enough.’
Cash flashed a warning glance at the other woman as she discreetly looked around to make sure no one else was listening. ‘I saw you were busy so I decided to go home early. I was pretty tired.’
‘Oh, of course,’ Hadley gushed with a wink. ‘I can only imagine how tired you were.’
‘I think I might head outside, it’s a bit warm in here,’ Cash said, ignoring the devilish chuckle from the woman beside her.
It was cooler outside, not by much but at least there was fresh air. Cash headed towards the railing and jumped slightly as a low voice greeted her from nearby.
‘How you been?’ Griff asked, leaning forward as he cradled his beer in his hand and watched her through slightly hooded eyes.
‘Busy. I’ve been booked out.’
‘That’s good.’
Cash nodded, looking anywhere but at Griff. Stop acting guilty. You’ve done nothing wrong. ‘How’ve you been?’
‘Yeah. Busy. Been flat out tryin’ to get the last of the wheat harvested. And the wedding stuff,’ he added with a pained expression. ‘That’s pretty full on.’
‘I can imagine,’ she smiled at him, but it wavered slightly when she saw his eyes dart away from hers to look down at his beer. ‘Is that the woman from the pub that you were sitting with earlier?’
He glanced up at that and she saw a flicker of irritation cross his face. ‘Yeah. Ashley.’
‘She seems nice,’ Cash said, wishing this wasn’t so awkward.
‘Sh
e is. What about you? Seein’ anyone?’
‘What?’ She felt jumpy all of a sudden, surprised by his question.
‘Haven’t seen you around much lately.’
‘Like I said, it’s been crazy with pre-Christmas bookings.’
‘Apparently you’ve been having affairs with just about everyone in town,’ he said drolly.
‘What?’
‘Every time I go into town I hear a different version of who you’ve been seen out with.’
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m pretty sure they’ve got the wrong person.’
‘I heard you were flirting with Benny Rogerson the other day.’
‘Who on earth is Benny Rogerson?’ Cash asked, bewildered.
‘The guy who works at the petrol station.’
‘The petrol … oh, please,’ she scoffed. ‘We talked about the weather!’
Griff gave a half-grin and shrugged. ‘That counts as chattin’ someone up out here.’
Cash felt the previous tension slip away and was relieved to see him smile. ‘Well, in that case, I guess I have been flirting with pretty much everyone in town,’ she told him dryly. ‘Seriously? Do people not have anything better to do than create gossip?’
‘Nope. That counts as most of our entertainment.’ Griff gave a choked kind of laugh at her shocked look, before taking a hurried sip of his beer, making her eyes narrow suspiciously.
‘Please tell me you didn’t believe any of that?’
‘What? Nah, of course not,’ he said but didn’t look her in the eye.
‘I’d like to know how I’ve found the time to go through every man in town when I can barely find enough time to go shopping and buy food.’
‘That’s what happens around here. You’re a pretty big deal, being new and all. People talk.’
Cash winced. ‘Yeah, well, I wish they’d find something else to talk about.’
‘You just have to wait until the next big scandal breaks out.’
‘Or the wedding of the century,’ Hadley put in as she came over, having clearly been eavesdropping. ‘Don’t worry, they’ll forget all about you once the wedding gets closer. They’ll be no doubt expecting me to do a runner at the altar.’
‘They couldn’t just be happy that you’re getting married?’ Cash still couldn’t get used to strangers finding her life so fascinating that they enjoyed talking about it to one another.
‘Where’s the fun in that?’ Hadley said, sending her a sarcastic look. ‘Don’t worry about it, it’ll pass.’
Another tray of eggnog came around and Cash reached for one with a smile. It really was the most delicious drink she’d ever tasted.
‘Go steady on those things, they have a tendency to sneak up on you,’ Griff warned as he eyed her downing the drink.
‘They’re delicious,’ she said, waving off his concern. If he knew how much she and the other resort workers used to drink on the islands, he’d be horrified. Linc wouldn’t. Linc would probably have been right there beside her, back in the day, but poor Griff wouldn’t be too amused with a girlfriend who held the record for the most shots drunk in a night. It really was a shame there was no spark between them, she mused as she studied Griff now. She just couldn’t understand it. He was a good-looking guy. He was kind and polite. He was perfect … perfectly wrong for her, she thought with a silent sigh. Then again, she corrected as her eyes fell upon his brother, Linc was perfectly wrong for her too, but in completely opposite ways. Everything was so damn confusing. Why couldn’t it be simple just this once?
‘More eggnog anyone?’ Gran asked.
‘Yes, please!’
‘Ah, maybe you should ease up on those, Cash,’ Griff cautioned, lifting an eyebrow at her as she frowned across at him.
‘I’ve had,’ her frown deepened as she tried to remember how many glasses she’d already had, before shaking her head and having to stop when everything kept moving a little. ‘I haven’t had that many,’ she finally said, giving up trying to count. There was no way she could be drunk on the handful she’d already had. She gave Griff a sharp eyebrow lift just to drive home her point, but from the dubious look on his face, she wasn’t altogether sure her eyebrows were cooperating the way they were supposed to.
‘Griff, you still okay to drive me home? I’m actually not feeling well. I think it was something in that eggnog.’
Cash turned to look at the newcomer to the conversation, noting it was Ashley.
‘Ah, sure,’ Griff said. ‘You want to leave now?’
‘Yes,’ she said curtly as she forced a smile at Cash.
‘I can drop you off at home on the way, Cash, if you like,’ Griff suggested, looking unamused as Cash tossed back another glass of eggnog.
‘No, that’s all right, Griff. You two go ahead.’ She was surprised by Griff’s offer of a lift, and as tempting as it would be to flirt a little with him just to mess with the other woman, Cash couldn’t do that to Griff. She couldn’t send out mixed signals to him and risk hurting him. It wasn’t fair. She may be inexplicably tipsy, but she could still read the flashing warning signs from Ashley, who had slipped an arm around his waist.
She watched them walk across to say goodnight to everyone, and Cash inwardly shook her head. Everything would have been so much easier if she’d been the kind of girl who could fall in love with Griffin Callahan and live out here forever, happily ever after.
Twenty-three
Linc knew Griff was probably pretty ticked off that he had to take Ashley home just when he’d been settling in for a long cosy chat with Cash. He told himself not to be childish, but he couldn’t deny he was getting more than a little annoyed that he’d agreed to keep this thing he had with Cash quiet. Earlier, under the front steps, he couldn’t have cared less who came around the corner and sprung them. He just didn’t care. He liked her—a lot. She made him crazy and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He felt like a damn teenager again, getting all sweaty and excited when he saw her. Jesus Christ, imagine if the boys in his unit could hear what he was thinking, they’d never let him live it down.
As Cash reached for yet another top-up of his gran’s potent eggnog, he got to his feet. Someone had to put a stop to the train wreck that would follow tomorrow morning if she didn’t stop drinking those things right now.
‘Having fun?’ he asked, taking the seat his brother had just vacated. He watched her eyes widen slightly as she looked up at him. ‘Are you ready to head home?’
She looked around nervously, checking that no one was watching them, he supposed, before giving a nod of her head. ‘I’ll just go and say goodbye to your parents.’ She stood up abruptly and caught him off guard as she swayed on her feet.
‘Whoah. You right?’ He stood up, his hand shooting out to steady her.
‘I’m fine! Why does everyone keep asking that? I haven’t even had that much to drink,’ she told him, but spoilt her outrage by taking a step and clasping onto his arm for support again. ‘Stupid high heels,’ she muttered under her breath.
‘Come on, Cinderella, let’s get you home before you lose your shoe.’
He watched her as she made her way around the remaining guests, saying her goodbyes. When she reached his mother, his amusement slipped as he saw her say something, before his mother pulled her in close for a tight hug. When she finally released Cash, he saw her wiping her eyes. When he reached Cash’s side, he swapped a glance with his mother and had the uncomfortable sensation that he was being assessed. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked, uncertainly.
His mother smiled as she gave Cash’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. ‘Everything’s going to be just fine,’ she said, holding Linc’s gaze steadily in a silent message that he wasn’t completely sure he understood. She put Cash at arm’s length and ducked her head to catch her eye. ‘Linc will take good care of you. And we’ll see you over here tomorrow for Christmas lunch.’
‘Oh no, Lavinia. I can’t do that. I’ve already imposed on your family time too much over the last
few weeks.’
‘Rubbish. I’m not having you all alone for Christmas. And you are not imposing. We love having you here.’
‘I don’t know …’ Cash hedged, clearly uncomfortable with the invitation.
‘It’s no use arguing, once Mum’s decided something, there’s no way you’re going to get out of it. Just say you’ll come and let’s go,’ Linc suggested bluntly, even though his spirits had lifted at the thought of spending Christmas Day with her. He’d been trying to figure out how he’d manage to slip away with everyone here.
‘Thank you, Lavinia,’ she said softly, but Linc detected the slightest quiver in her tone and a sharp stab hit him in the centre of his chest.
They didn’t speak as they left the house and walked towards his car. The gravel sounded loud beneath their feet and the air was heavy with the threat of an evening thunderstorm, although none had been forecast.
‘Did you have a good time?’ he finally asked as they drove home.
‘I did. Your family’s the best,’ she said on a sigh.
‘They have their moments,’ he smiled without taking his eyes from the road.
‘I didn’t really believe people did Christmas like this … I guess I’ve been out of touch with it for too long.’
‘What do you usually do for Christmas?’
‘Work,’ she said simply. ‘The hospitality industry is great when you have nowhere else but work to go to for Christmas.’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ he said, feeling bad for her. He’d spent his fair share of Christmases away. While he’d rather have been home on holidays celebrating like everyone else, he’d felt worse for the guys and girls who had wives, husbands and kids at home missing them. The thought of Cash having nowhere to go saddened him. ‘I’m glad you’re coming over tomorrow.’
‘I still feel like I’m intruding. Your mother makes it hard to say no, though.’
‘She wouldn’t have asked you if she didn’t want you there.’
‘But Christmas is for family.’