Emmy slouched back in the seat, head against the headrest, utterly deflated, sad and devastated… and there was not a single person she could call to talk about it. And the one person she wanted to speak to above everyone else? She had no idea where he was.
Another thought assaulted her. He’d told her he wouldn’t be back until morning. Did that mean he was… Oh crap, deep breath. Her heart was starting to beat out of her chest as she realised that it meant he must be with someone right now, preparing to bring in the New Year, and then spending the whole night with them afterwards. Was he staying at her house? Or were they away in a romantic hotel somewhere, sipping champagne and swapping chocolate fucking strawberries?
Her phone suddenly buzzed to life and she yelped as she jumped. Damn, her nerves were shot.
Please make it be Cormac.
Please make it be Yvie.
Please make it be anyone who could listen to her while her heart broke.
Her gaze went to the screen. DAD.
Bollocks. The one person she definitely didn’t want to speak to, especially not today. Not now. A tiny part of her longed for the dad that she’d grown up with, the one who would hug her when she was upset, make her laugh when she was sad. What happened to him? How could he have gone from that great father and husband to this train wreck of a person? She didn’t know the answer and right now she didn’t care to ask. Her dad could solve his own problems today. She was going to go home and lie in a bath and…
Another buzz. If it was her dad again, she decided she was putting the phone out the window.
It was a huge relief when the screen announced that it was Mum.
As she opened the message, she hoped it was going to say they’d had a change of heart and decided to stay in at Aunt Gwen’s place. If that was the case, Emmy could head there now and let three lovely women shower her with support. Actually two. Aunt Rhonda would probably go hunting for Cormac with a sharp object.
She read the text. Then read it again because it took a moment to absorb what it was actually saying.
Just got to Gino’s and your gran is here. She’s come alone but seems quite happy. Anyway, hope you’re good. Will call you at midnight. Love you. xx
Emmy still didn’t get it. Gran had absolutely, definitely, 100 per cent assured her that she was staying home tonight. Emmy had even felt sorry for her and worried that she’d be sad, but nowit seemed maybe Gran was being economical with the truth too? Emmy dismissed that thought immediately. Minnie had never told a fib in her life. Something else had to be going on with her.
Her dad. Cormac. Her mum. Now Minnie. Everyone was shocking her today.
This was unbelievable. Unreal. Was there a full moon or some other weird thing going on? Or was she being pranked? That was it. Any minute now, a comedian and a camera crew would pop out of the bushes beside her.
She waited for a moment just to see if that happened.
Nope, this was all real. This was her life. Fricking spectacular. And there was only one way to deal with it. Her thumbs flew across the screen.
I’m on my way.
27
DARIO
Dario had spotted her the moment she’d walked in and for the first time today, he felt a tiny shred of happiness. Last time she was here was two years ago, and it had been a total shitshow, so he wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t come back last year. But here she was now, and on any other night, he’d be thinking the heavens were smiling on him, especially when he spotted the way her gaze flicked to him when he greeted them. Tonight, he just figured the heavens were playing some cruel, twisted joke. Not that he thought for a second that anything was going to happen between them. If it had, it would have been a long time ago. Nope, he’d resigned himself to the fact that she’d always just see him as a friend, and, well, it was better than nothing.
‘You know, I always thought she had a thing for you,’ Nicky said, nodding in the direction of his gaze.
He rolled his eyes, then took a step round to the side so that he was facing her. ‘Do you always sneak up on people like that?’ he asked her, feigning irritation.
It wasn’t lost on either of them that the minute they decided to call time on their marriage, they ceased to view the other as the most annoying person that ever lived, and went back to justbeing best mates. Expectations, that was the difference. She no longer expected him to prioritise her over his job – something he saw now that she had every right to want. And at the same time, he no longer expected her to understand that all he’d ever known was working fourteen-hour days in the restaurant, and he had been unable to change that.
‘Only when they’re my ex-husband and I like to mess with his emotional well-being,’ Nicky said with a wink, putting a tray of empty glasses back on the bar, and sliding a new drinks order over to Carlo, who was rattling them up like he’d been doing it forever. Which he actually had. ‘By the way, the four bottles of lager and the vodka and lemonade on this order are for Sonya over on table six. Her Ollie has some pals back from uni and she’s brought them all in to celebrate. They’ve said they’ll sneak Sonya into their student accommodation to live with them when she gets evicted. Which is, of course, the craziest thing you’ve ever heard… so she’ll probably do it. God, I’ll miss her.’
It struck him again how he felt exactly the same. Nicky. Sonya. Matty. His dad. All of it. He was going to miss having a reason to get up in the morning. Even if it was only to give his ex-wife someone to take the piss out of.
‘Me too. Can you comp that round of drinks for her, please?’ he said to Nicky, as she went off with the tray Carlo had already prepared for her, holding it above her head as she dodged through the tables.
They were almost full now, just three or four parties still to come in. The night always followed the same format. Food, drink, then as soon as service was over, about 10p.m., his dad would crank up the volume on the music. Then just before midnight, he’d climb up onto a chair and make a speech, then count down to the bells. Afterwards, he’d start singing one of his favourite songs, maybe ‘That’s Amore’. By the end of that tune, everyone would be joining in and then, over the courseof the early hours of the morning, they’d get through all Gino’s Greatest Hits – a natty selection of Italian and Scottish tunes that invariably included ‘Caledonia’, ‘The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond’, ‘Volare’, ‘O Sole Mio’ and ‘Shout’ by Lulu. It was an eclectic compilation that always got the customers up on their feet, singing, dancing and revelling in the party atmosphere.
Dario had taken the order Nicky had left behind, and was now holding a glass under the vodka optic, while Carlo worked another order, doing the work of two men without blinking. He was currently uncorking a new bottle of red, while simultaneously sliding out wine glasses from the brass rack above their heads. As soon as he started to pour, Carlo caught Dario’s attention. ‘Listen, I’ve been thinking about everything we were talking about earlier.’
