Page 33 of Escape for Christmas
‘I hope not!’ Tegan replied, stepping forward to greet Brody. ‘I hope I haven’t arrived at an inconvenient moment,’ she murmured as he kissed her cheek.
‘No. Of course not. It’s a lovely surprise,’ he said, grinning like an idiot, as everyone expected, while inside he was dying. All he could see was the expression on Sophie’s face when she’d heard his mum say that his fiancée was waiting for him. Brody had known exactly what Sophie had been thinking, and it cut him like a knife.
Should he shout out the truth now to everyone in the room – to his family? ‘Everything I do is a lie, everything you see is bullshit.’ But he couldn’t; he knew it would hurt even more people than he already had, so he was trapped.
‘Shall we let these two lovebirds have some privacy to catch up?’ his mother winked, with an emphasis that only Brody detected.
With a few murmurs and titters, the other guests went back to their drinks and conversations.
His mum spoke to Tegan, who was standing patiently by. ‘I bet you’re dying to be on your own together. You must be exhausted after such a long journey. How was it?’
‘Not too bad. I managed to get a seat at the front of the plane. They upgraded me when I went to check in, so I’ve managed some sleep.’
‘That’s good, isn’t it, Brody?’ His mother patted Tegan’s arm. ‘So I’ll leave you to it.’
To what? thought Brody, but gathered himself. The moment she’d moved away, he said, ‘You must be knackered from the journey.’
Tegan huffed sharply. ‘Are you saying I look it?’
‘I didn’t mean that you don’t look nice.’
She sighed. ‘I’m winding you up. Yeah, I’m tired. It’s been one hell of a time and a long journey. You look a bit ragged too.’
‘I’ve been on-call this week,’ he said hastily. ‘Do you want to go upstairs? Get changed and have a rest?’
‘Yes, please, but my bags are still in the hallway.’
‘I’ll get them and take them up.’
‘I can carry my own bags,’ Tegan muttered, following him out of the room.
‘It’s no trouble.’ He strode off into the hall, picking up her suitcase in one hand and her overnight bag in the other.
‘Brody. Let me help,please. I can carry my own bags,’ she called as he thumped up the stairs ahead of her.
He hadn’t meant to snap, and he knew that guilt was making him want to take care of her. Guilt: towards Sophie, Teganandhis mother. The situation was complicated enough without him making it far worse.
Tegan closed the bedroom door behind them. ‘Are you sure this is a lovely surprise?’
Brody put down the bags, unable to reply for a moment. Sophie’s expression flew back to him: her utter disgust and disappointment.
‘It’s a surprise, definitely,’ he said. ‘I thought you couldn’t come home until the twenty-ninth? That you had to stay in New York over Christmas …’
‘So did I.’ She sat on his bed and unzipped her shoes. ‘I finished the project early or, rather, I’d done everything I could. There’s a delay, and Wes, my boss,’ she qualified, ‘suggested I take the chance to come home in time for the big day. He’s not a total ogre, you know.’
‘I’m amazed you managed to get a flight.’
‘So am I, but I called the airline and I’m a frequent flier by now, so they were pretty helpful. That’s why they upgraded me at check-in, because Economy was full.’ She curled her toes and let out a sigh.
‘Sorry about the mess. I’d have tidied up, if I’d known,’ he said, gathering up a pile of his clothes from the bed and searching for a place to dump them, but the nearby chair was also piled high with jeans and sports gear. He decided to add to it anyway.
‘Brody.Pleaselook at me. I know you’re pissed off that I descended on you unannounced like this.’
He turned round, giving Tegan the chance to explain. It was wrong not to listen to her, just as it had been wrong to think he could be ‘just good friends’ with Sophie.
‘I wish I’d warned you, but I was almost too scared to. I couldn’t turn down the chance to come home. Not with my dad so poorly and waiting for his operation. What if something … happens and he doesn’t make it? I wouldn’t forgive myself for not having this Christmas together.’
Finally Brody allowed himself to take in Tegan’s face. Hecaught his breath. She was bound to be exhausted after a manic time at work and a transatlantic flight. Even so, there were dark smudges under her eyes, and her cheekbones seemed sharper with worry and sleepless nights, probably because of all the concern she was feeling about her dad. No matter what had happened between them, he still cared for her.
