One New York Christmas

by Mandy Baggot

  ‘Johnny Depp or Matthew McConaughey?’ Lara asked.

  ‘Whoa, seriously? They’re both such awesome actors,’ Seth replied.

  ‘Seth!’ Lara exclaimed. ‘I told you the rules. You have to pick one on gut feeling alone.’

  ‘God! Matthew McConaughey because I really love True Detective.’

  ‘And you’re not supposed to tell me why, you have to leave it to my intuition to work that out later! Are you even paying attention?’ she admonished.

  ‘It’s a little hard when you’re sitting next to me wearing nothing but a blanket.’

  ‘And the blanket smells a bit like cheese balls,’ Lara admitted.

  ‘That has nothing to do with me,’ Seth replied, eating some of the pudding.

  ‘OK, how about, Mark Wahlberg or Ryan Philippe?’

  ‘So now we’re having a Shooter the film versus Shooter the series thing?’

  ‘No asking questions!’

  ‘Man,’ Seth said, breathing out and really considering it. ‘Ryan, but do not tell Mark if you ever get to meet him.’

  ‘Do you think Mark is pissed off I ran out of his premiere?’ Lara asked. She still felt bad about that.

  ‘Well, according to Trent, someone at the after party got very drunk and started naming and shaming half of LA. We were pushed way down the news feed.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Lara said, dropping her head a little.

  ‘Hey,’ he said, lifting her chin with his finger. ‘No apologies needed. Besides, I can’t be mad at someone who saved one of my mom’s crazy guys and got sporked in the arm.’

  ‘Remember, at parties, it was a screwdriver.’

  Seth smiled, then put the pudding bowl onto the passenger seat. ‘I’ve got one for you.’

  ‘Oh, really?’ Lara said, adjusting the blanket over her body as she shifted position a little.

  ‘Yeah,’ Seth said, nodding.

  ‘Bring it on.’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Appleshaw or New York.’

  He watched her expression fill with so many conflicting emotions. He hadn’t done it as any sort of test, was highly expecting her to say the name of her beloved village, he just wanted to see if his city had made a little headway. If travel was something she would do more of now she had been on that very first plane.

  ‘That’s so not fair,’ Lara stated.

  ‘No pausing,’ Seth replied. ‘No hesitation.’

  ‘You know I’m going to say Appleshaw, don’t you,’ Lara said seriously.

  He nodded, smiling. ‘Sure, I knew that.’

  ‘But it doesn’t mean that New York isn’t up there as, like, the best other place I’ve been.’

  ‘Lara,’ Seth said.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘It’s the only other place you’ve ever been.’

  She doffed him on the shoulder with her fist. ‘That is not actually true. New York is the only place I’ve been overseas. I’ve had some cool times at caravan parks in West Sussex and Dorset with Rory the Tiger and Bradley Bear.’

  He scoffed. ‘Come on, I really don’t wanna hear about any more of your exes.’

  She laughed, then moved closer to him, so their blankets and bare bodies were tight together as they sat on the bed, Austin’s windscreen providing all the cinematic Big Apple scenery they needed. ‘You know, I’d like to stay here longer, if I could.’

  ‘Can’t you?’ Seth asked, sweeping a strand of her short hair behind her ear.

  ‘I had to count change from my jar of coins to buy dollars to come here. I’m living on my credit card. I have a return ticket.’

  ‘I know,’ Seth answered, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in tight.

  ‘I really need a rich, successful actor to sweep me off my feet and loan me his personal jet every now and then.’

  ‘And we’re back to Mark Wahlberg …’

  ‘I’m joking, about the rich bit. Not the successful bit, because you are already but …’

  ‘It’s coming,’ Seth said with a confident nod. ‘Not enough to buy a jet, but, if I get the part of Sam and I play him the way I know I can play him, then more parts are gonna open up for me. And more parts mean more money and … maybe I’ll get to visit the UK.’

  ‘Really?’ Lara asked him. He could almost see her heart picking up pace at the thought of him coming to England, seeing her beloved Appleshaw.

  ‘I don’t know when, Lara,’ he admitted. ‘There’ll be filming if I get the role, for months, and if I don’t get the part then I’m gonna have to think again and chase other parts and … I don’t currently have an agent.’

  ‘Don’t be too hard on Trent,’ Lara blurted out.

  Seth shook his head. ‘We are two very different people at the total opposite end of this industry in terms of how we want to work things.’

  ‘I know,’ Lara said. ‘But he’s your friend and he really cares about you. He’s actually a bit like Shirt.’

  ‘Shirt?’

  ‘Shirt’s the bull at the farm next door.’

  Seth laughed. ‘Bull shirt?’

  ‘What can I say? I watch The Good Place.’ She smiled. ‘Shirt spends his days trying to get the cows to do what he wants them to do.’

  ‘I think that’s a nature thing, not a personality thing.’

  ‘And maybe that’s the same for Trent.’

  ‘I should let him make me do what he wants?’ Seth asked, a bit confused.

  Lara shook her head. ‘No. You see, those cows ignore Shirt for most of the day and that makes him cross but then, on their terms, when they’re ready, they’re mooing for him come tea time and everyone gets what they want.’

  ‘I should … take away his power?’

  ‘He wants immediate action on everything. Just slow his pace. He wants to talk about something now, you say you’ll talk about it later that night. Don’t just say “later”, you’ll need to give him specifics, so he can compartmentalise. But I think it could work.’

  ‘And how did you become so knowledgeable about the Trent psyche?’

  ‘I told you,’ Lara said. ‘We’re all animals really.’

  ‘In that case,’ Seth said, stripping her of her blanket in one swift move. ‘I think we ought to get back to basics right here and now.’

  She fell back onto the bed, laughing as he moved over her, her nakedness now familiar and, in the dawn light, even more tantalising. ‘Just, one more question,’ she said as he lowered his face towards her, lips coming in for a kiss.

  ‘Seriously?’

  She nodded. ‘Last one. I promise.’

  ‘OK,’ he said, fingers tracing over her breastbone.

  She paused for affect. ‘So … Yanny or Laurel?’

  She roared with laughter before him and then his fingers found her ribs, tickling the spots that he found out made her squirm then completely left her at his mercy.

  ‘You, Lemur Girl, are gonna pay for that one,’ Seth said, as she tried to curl up and escape his touch.

  ‘No hesitation, remember?’ she breathed, twisting away.

  ‘Yeah,’ Seth said. ‘I remember … and don’t worry, I don’t plan on waiting a second longer.’ He stopped tickling and caught her mouth up in his.

  Seventy

  The Chapel Shelter Benefit Night, Hotel Edison, W 47th Street

  ‘You’re gonna be in so much trouble,’ Felice said, jogging along next to Lara as they powered up the street, Earl and Mad Maggie in tow.

  ‘If we miss the start then yes,’ Lara agreed. She had already had half a dozen messages from Susie and two from Seth, none of which she had had time to respond to.

  ‘Oh no, I mean for bringing us to the benefit,’ Felice continued. ‘You know, when the rich people see us.’

  ‘She means for bringing us to the benefit, for the rich people to see us,’ Mad Maggie repeated, holding on to all eight or so of her bags. Lara hadn’t actually worked out how many bags there were because they all seemed to morph in to one another.

  ‘Will th
ere be pie?’ Earl asked, limping a little with the pace. ‘You promised pie, kid.’

  ‘Yes, there’s pie,’ Lara said, a little out of breath. ‘As far as I know.’ She stopped for a second and turned to face Earl. ‘But if there’s been a sudden menu change and there’s cake instead of pie you really must not stick a spork or any other implement into anyone, Earl. Have you got that?’

  ‘Jeez, sister, he said he was sorry,’ Felice answered with an eye roll.

  ‘I am sorry,’ Earl said, tears appearing in his heavily wrinkled eyes.

  Lara sighed. ‘I know you are. I know. I’m sorry, it’s just, I’ve never had to sneak in three homeless people to an event before without anyone knowing anything about it.’

  And this was all down to Ted. Unbeknown to Kossy, she was receiving an award for her services to the city at the benefit and he had enlisted Lara and Seth to bring some of the people she had helped the most to speak about her. It had taken a few afternoons of failed coaching on what they should say for Lara to realise that Felice, Earl and Mad Maggie didn’t need a script to work from. They all loved Kossy Hunt and whatever they said onstage tonight would come from the heart.

  ‘We’re here!’ Lara exclaimed. ‘Here it is, the Edison Hotel.’

  ‘It’s beautiful!’ Maggie announced, eyes all over the art deco signage and the miniature Christmas trees in pots either side of the double doors.

  ‘I used to play in places like this when I was in my band,’ Earl stated.

  ‘It’s OK, I guess,’ Felice said with a shrug. Lara detected a ripple of excitement before she shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat.

  ‘Now, listen, you wait in the foyer, while I go in and check that Kossy is sitting down and not going to move and then I’ll come and get you and we’ll go and sit at our table at the back.’

  ‘I want to sit at the front,’ Maggie informed with a frown. ‘You said there was a dance floor.’

  ‘There is,’ Lara said. ‘And you can dance to the band later. But, for now, you need to be sitting where Kossy can’t see you so it’s a surprise.’

  ‘I’ll keep an eye on her,’ Felice said, grabbing hold of one of Maggie’s bags.

  ‘OK,’ Lara said. ‘Let’s go in.’

  ‘My God,’ Kossy said, teasing her hair a little as she gazed around the magnificent ballroom. ‘They’re all here. I can’t see anyone that should be here that isn’t here.’

  ‘That’s great, Mom,’ Seth replied. It really was a fantastic venue. An old ballroom that used to host swing bands in the thirties and forties that had been sympathetically brought back to its former glory. A parquet floor held round white-clothed tables all set for dinner with bright white glitter Christmas tree branches at their centre, spraying out from tulip-shaped vases like fronds of winter blossom. From the ceiling a curtain of fairy lights hung over the dance floor like glowing snowflakes.

  ‘I mean, most years, some of them say they’re gonna come and then they don’t. They just send money. Which is fine. But, it would be nice, just once, for everyone who says they’re gonna come, to come, and then, hopefully, I don’t have to get your father to start the bidding on every single one of the silent auction items,’ Kossy continued.

  ‘Will you try and relax?’ Seth suggested. ‘This is your night. One of the highlights of your year. You’ve sold the tickets, you’ve got the people here, everything is done, the food is gonna be great, it’s time to enjoy it.’

  ‘Yes,’ Kossy said, a little bit more upbeat. ‘You’re right, you’re right.’

  ‘Kossy!’ Ted called. ‘Charles Barker would like to speak to you.’ He beckoned with his hand to the table he was standing at.

  ‘He’ll be complaining about the beef again. He always complains if I can’t get sirloin on my budget.’

  ‘He might not,’ Seth suggested. ‘He’s smiling.’

  ‘I’m going,’ Kossy said, stepping forward. ‘And smiling back.’

  Seth watched his mom approach the table, arms outstretched in appreciation. And then his focus moved to his other mom who had spent most of the day helping them get the room ready for tonight’s function. Candy was sitting at a table on her own, looking back at him. Dressed in another silk blouse – this one jade green – and a plain but smart black skirt with low heels, he felt a deeper pull of connection towards her, something he had been experiencing since they had started getting to know each other better. Every meet-up taught him something else about where he had come from and he was no longer reticent about hearing it, more excited. He went towards her.

  ‘Candy,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I’ve not been able to talk that much tonight.’

  ‘Seth, we spent the whole afternoon together. And this is an important night for your mom. You have people to see and other things to think about.’ She smiled. ‘I never want you to worry about me.’

  ‘I don’t think it quite works that way,’ he admitted with a smile.

  ‘Where’s Lara?’ Candice asked.

  ‘She’s gonna be here soon, I hope … unless she’s found an animal to rescue or got herself looped up on fencing or something.’

  ‘You really have something special, the two of you,’ Candice told him. ‘I saw it today, the moment I met her and when I saw you two together, the way you just are with each other. It’s rare, Seth, to have that.’

  He nodded, his birth mother’s words hitting him hard. He knew that, which was why, over the past couple of days, he had been so determined to hold on to every moment they had here in New York and make it count. They’d gone back to the zoo to check in on Jax and make sure the reindeer had been rehoused somewhere more appropriate than Carlson’s Christmas World, they’d ice-skated again, this time at the Rockefeller Center, where Lara had narrowly avoided having her finger sliced open, and they’d gone to the Top of the Rock, at night, to drink in the city in the dark, stealing midnight kisses that had ended up becoming more than kisses on the 69th floor.

  ‘She’s going home tomorrow,’ he informed. ‘Back to England.’

  ‘And I can guess how you feel about that.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he breathed. ‘But there’s nothing I can do about it.’

  ‘Seth,’ Candice said. ‘You should know, from how we found each other, there’s always something you can do about it.’

  Seventy-One

  ‘… So tonight, we are here to honour the wonderful, talented, highly organised, magician with budgets, whirlwind of a woman that is … Mrs Katherine Hunt … Kossy Hunt everybody!’

  Lara watched Kossy put her hands to her face in shock as the whole room erupted into applause.

  ‘Do we go now?’ Felice whispered the question.

  ‘You have to wait for the announcement, chica,’ David informed her.

  ‘Who are you calling chica, hombre?’ Felice retorted.

  ‘He doesn’t mean anything by it,’ Susie said, her hair wound into a candy cane shape on top of her head. ‘It’s just his way.’ She looked into David’s eyes. ‘His really, totally sexy way.’

  ‘Shh!’ Lara hissed. ‘Or we won’t hear our cue.’

  ‘You can call me chica anytime,’ Maggie informed David with a toothless grin.

  ‘Earl,’ Lara said. ‘Put down the spoon and get ready to go up.’

  ‘I think it’s real silver,’ Earl remarked.

  ‘… But before we hear from the woman herself, let’s hear from some of the people she’s made a difference to,’ the speaker announced.

  ‘This is us, come on,’ Lara said. ‘Off you go to the stage.’

  ‘You’re coming, right?’ Felice asked. ‘I’m not gonna stand up there on my own.’

  ‘You won’t be on your own,’ Lara said. ‘Earl and Maggie will be with you.’

  ‘Come on, darling,’ Maggie said, bags in both hands but still managing to clamp a vice-like grip on Lara’s bad arm. She grimaced and attempted to shift Maggie’s fingers off her stitches. It seemed like she had no choice.

  ‘She makes the best pie,’ Earl state
d loudly into the microphone.

  ‘And she always tries to make the shelter look nice,’ Maggie added. ‘Not just tidy, I mean like a home. You should see our Christmas trees this year.’ She whistled through her teeth.

  ‘She’s like a mom to me,’ Felice said softly. ‘Not, like my mom, because my mom was an addict and she would have sold me for her next score if she could.’ She swallowed. ‘She’s like a proper mom, who makes sure we’re safe and we’re fed and we’re … kind of … loved.’

  Seth looked at Kossy. She was a crumpled wreck, mascara running down her cheeks, eyeliner bleeding, tears snaking the foundation from her face, but he knew how happy she would be inside. Happy that she was making a difference. He looked at Lara then. She had gone up to the stage, ushering the three of them on, then stood in the wings, encouraging them with smiles and gestures every time they looked for direction. She had become such a part of his life already, he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to say goodbye.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please, put your hands together for Kossy Hunt as we honour all her hard work and dedication to this city.’

  Seth rose to his feet, as did everybody in the ballroom, applauding the woman who had so selflessly raised him.

  ‘I feel like I haven’t seen you the whole night,’ Lara admitted, clinging to Seth as they swayed on the dance floor to a Dean Martin number.

  ‘You were in charge of covert operations. I couldn’t blow the cover,’ Seth reminded.

  ‘She was surprised though, wasn’t she?’ Lara said. She looked up at him and smiled.