Page 104 of Escape for Christmas
‘Do you mind if we just sit here with you for a few minutes and chat?’ the doctor said. ‘So we can make sure you’re on the mend?’
‘If you like,’ Alan replied, grudgingly. ‘Though you both should be up there and dancing.’
‘I’ve got two left feet. You’ve given me an excuse to avoid making a prat of myself.’
‘I hate Abba,’ Deep agreed, standing by Fiona.
Alan rolled his eyes. ‘If you say so.’
A few people were staring. Brody smiled but said firmly to them, ‘Shall we give Alan a bit of space, if you don’t mind?’ His glare did the trick.
Tegan squeezed Brody’s hand. ‘We shouldn’t have let him come,’ she murmured, while the doctor checked her father over.
‘This could have happened at home,’ Brody replied, as reassuringly as he could. ‘I think he’s looking perkier already.’
‘I hope so,’ Tegan said. ‘Because if anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.’
‘It’s not your fault that he chose to come here tonight. Your dad makes his own decisions.’
Tegan said nothing, but let go of Brody’s hand.
He glanced around, hoping to find Sophie, but there was no sign of her. He’d had to abandon her by the rail of the boat. She’d understand, he knew that – but what timing!
A short while later, the doctor said he was happy enough to leave Alan to recover at home.
‘Someone’s offered to give us a lift,’ Fiona said to Brody and Tegan. ‘You two stay here and enjoy yourselves.’
‘Oh, we’re not leaving you!’ Tegan declared. ‘Are we, Brody?’
‘We’ll come home with you,’ he agreed.
Fiona shook her head. ‘Your dad and I don’t want to cut your evening short.’
‘It’s already pretty late,’ Brody began, unwilling to leave the family on their own, even though he had hoped to find Sophie again.
‘Wearecoming with you,’ Tegan said firmly. ‘I’ll find my coat.’
Brody picked it up from the bench by their table, while Fiona helped Alan on with his, much to his annoyance.
‘Please, stop treating me like I’m ninety-nine.’
Tegan stood, waiting for Brody to slip the coat over hershoulders, as she always did. ‘Thank you,’ she said and smiled at him, though her eyes were like chips of ice. ‘Don’t you think you should go and fetch your tux jacket?’
It was only then that he remembered Sophie must still be wearing it.
Brody woke on New Year’s Day with Tegan next to him. He’d already known he’d have to share a room with her, when they’d decided to stay with her parents.
Alan had seemed OK when they returned home and he’d gone up to bed. At Brody’s urging, Tegan went to bed at the same time as her parents. She looked exhausted after the stresses and strains of the past few months. Brody had stayed up, watching the spectacular fireworks in London. He’d never felt less celebratory and yet, at the same time, he knew that the turning of the year was his chance finally to lay the past to rest, no matter what the risks.
Tegan had been asleep when he went up and it seemed petty for him to kip on the floor, so he lay on top of the duvet and pulled the eiderdown over him. It was a good while after that before he finally fell asleep, thinking of the past, the people he loved and the future, with all its possibilities, if he only had the courage to grasp it.
He was dressed by the time Tegan woke up, and her long blonde hair had spread over the pillows like a halo. He sat on the bed watching her for a moment until she started to stir.
‘Morning,’ she said, blinking and pushing herself up the pillows.
‘Morning.’ Brody looked her in the eyes and felt a rush oftenderness, the kind you felt for a very dear friend. ‘Tegan, there’s something we have to do, and we have to do it very soon.’
She was silent for a few seconds, picking at a thread on the eiderdown.
