Ailish swallowed, found the words and the courage to say them. ‘I’m sorry, Eric. It’s over for us.’
Emmy thought of how she’d dreamed of this moment since she’d met Cormac.
Dario reached the woman he had feelings for, whispered into her ear, ‘A million years ago, you kissed me…’
Minnie leaned across the table, to make sure he could hear her. ‘So what do you say, Gino…’
‘THREE…’
Ailish saw Eric’s crestfallen expression as he said, ‘You’re rejecting me?’
Voice oozing emotion, Cormac asked, ‘Emmy, will you marry me?’
Dario went on, ‘And I know it was only because you felt sorry for me, because Ailish had done a runner with Eric.’
Minnie finally,finally, got to the point, ‘I have a spare room waiting for you. Shall we team up and do what’s left of this life together?’
‘TWO…’
Ailish thought about Eric’s question, then watched his puzzled frown when she replied…
Emmy’s heart told her this was so right. But a voice in her head told her it was all so wrong.
Dario said, ‘So I thought I’d like to kiss you again. If that’s okay with you?’ And then he watched as she lifted her lips to his.
Gino’s fingers wrapped around Minnie’s as he nodded slowly, saying, ‘Yes. But, Minnie, what if it’s too late?’
‘ONE…’
Ailish watched Eric’s puzzled frown as she replied, ‘It’s not that I’m rejecting you, Eric. I’m just choosing myself instead.’
Emmy opened her mouth, and whispered her answer. Just one word. ‘No.’
Dario kissed the woman he thought may be his future. And Gwen kissed him right back.
Minnie heard Henry responding to Gino’s fear, and she spoke his words aloud. ‘It’s never too late, Gino. It’s only midnight.’
And as the bells rang out in Gino’s Trattoria, and in the streets outside, and on the televisions of people across the country, four people knew that the year ahead was going to be very different from the one they’d just left behind.
MIDNIGHT – MORNING
34
AILISH
All around them, the restaurant was a carnival of celebration, as people kissed their loved ones, raised toasts to absent friends, and danced with the children who’d been allowed to stay up late enough to welcome the bells. Carlo was leading a rousing, heartfelt rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, Robert Burns’ lament to bygone times, the anthem that was sewn into the very fabric of the nation.
Ailish slipped her hand through the arm of the man who’d instigated the divorce papers that had dropped through her door this morning, thinking she could feel his sadness. On any given day in the last two years, she’d have relished a bit of discomfort thrown the way of Eric Ryan, but not today. Not any more. It was time to move on and she surprised herself as she realised she now felt the power inside her to do that. She didn’t need Eric. She just had to start showing up for herself.
As they sang, Ailish cast her gaze around, searching for the people she loved. She spotted Gwen and Dario locked in an embrace and the sight of it made her heart soar.
They’d finally got there.
Over the years, Ailish had always hoped that they would. After she’d split with Eric, Rhonda had hinted that Dario might be a great option for her, but the truth was that Ailish’s feelings for him had never run deeper than friendship. And besides, over the many New Year’s Eve parties they’d had here, she’d spotted Gwen’s eyes following Dario too many times to count. She just hoped that, on both sides, this could be more than a tipsy kiss at midnight.
However, a tipsy kiss at midnight was definitely the option that Rhonda had taken, as she was currently locking lips with Dario’s son, Matty, who was possibly the most handsome man Ailish had ever seen, and, at thirty, twenty-four years younger than her pal. Not that Ailish was judging. A fifty-four-year-old man kissing a thirty-year-old woman wouldn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. Not that Rhonda’s Botox actually allowed her eyebrows to move. However, Ailish did have a fleeting thought that if both those matches led to long-term relationships, their family Christmas dinners were going to have a pretty unusual dynamic.
Ailish decided to find the others on her midnight hug list before going to interrupt love’s young dream. She scanned the room for Emmy, but there was no sign of her. Must still be outside on the phone to Cormac.
