“Oh?” Lucie raised her eyebrows.
“They were out in the garden having a farting contest and Helen caught them at it. I said it didn’t matter, that at least they were doing it in the fresh air, but you know Helen…” He shrugged and Lucie gave a small nod. Thomas’ wife was a stickler for propriety. She was keen on becoming mayor one day, so appearances and public profile mattered enormously to her. For years, Lucie had listened to her talking about her desire to pursue a political career – she couldn’t imagine anything worse. Helen was a very driven woman and her determination had deepened with age. At thirty-eight, with a successful career in law, a slightly younger lawyer husband and two children at a private school, she certainly seemed on the way to achieving her ambitions.
“Let’s hope the boys are sufficiently filled with remorse, then, or I can see them being sent to bed without any supper!” Dale flashed Lucie a grin. But Lucie knew he was joking, because while Helen was a strict parent, she also adored her children, and the idea of sending them to bed hungry would never occur to her.
* * *
Dale had taken advantage of the chance to be alone with his mother and offered to help her set the table in the dining room. As he laid another place setting, he steeled himself. He’d been trying to gauge Glenda’s mood, to assess whether the time was right to bring up New York, and as she seemed in good spirits, he thought now would be as good a time as any.
“Mum…”
“Yes, darling?” Glenda turned from the sideboard, holding two crystal wine glasses.
“I have something I need to speak to you about.” He inhaled slowly.
“Do you?” She smiled as she set the glasses on the table, then turned back for two more.
“Yes. It’s… um… about… me and Lucie.”
Please put the glasses down.
Glenda turned to him, her eyes wide and expectant. “Really?” she asked as she put the wine glasses on the table then clasped her hands together.
Dale realized that she didn’t look like someone about to receive bad news. In fact, she looked extremely happy, excited even. “Yes, you see… Lucie’s been my friend for a long, long time now and… you know, I care about her a lot.” He thought it best to justify why he wouldn’t be around for Christmas before breaking the news. “She means so much to me and…”
“Oh… my… goodness!” Glenda squealed.
Dale’s heart leap into his mouth. Was his mother all right? She looked positively frantic.
“Well, the thing is—”
“It’s okay, darling!” She shook her head. “I know.”
“You know?” Dale frowned as he tried to work out how his mother could know, and why, if she did know, she wasn’t furious with him right now.
“I do. And I am so happy for you both.”
“You are?”
She nodded, then walked around the table and squeezed his hands. “It’s what I’ve wanted for… well, forever. We just adore Lucie, and we know how right she is for you. This is the best news you could have given me, and I can’t wait to tell your father.”
Dale watched his mother carefully, wondering what exactly she thought he’d meant. Then it began to dawn on him.
“Oh… uh… Mum…”
What to say? How to explain?
“What is it?” She placed a cool hand on his cheek and looked up into his face, her features etched with concern. “You and Lucie are in love, aren’t you? That’s good, darling. Such happy news. Well, I say news, but I’ve always known you were in love. The way you look at her, the softening in your expression when you talk about her… It’s obvious, Dale. I was just waiting for you to realize. I couldn’t push it, you know. Your father said to me, ‘Glenda, don’t force things between them. It will happen when the time is right.’ But I really wanted to give you both a nudge. You’re not getting any younger, and it would be nice to have more grandchildren while I’m still sprightly enough to run around after them.”
Dale ground his teeth together. If he told her the truth now, if he corrected his mother and ruined her belief that he was in love with Lucie and that she was in love with him, then it would really upset her. His father too, by the sound of it. That would be bad enough, but to add to this disappointment by telling them he wouldn’t be around for Christmas would just be twisting the knife. He’d have to speak to Lucie and prepare her so she knew what his parents thought. After Christmas they could tell everyone that they’d split up or something, but for now, it would be better to pretend. Dale didn’t like deceiving his family, but neither did he like hurting them, and he hoped that this would be the lesser of two evils.
“Look, Mum, could we keep this between us for now. It’s early days, you know?” At least if she didn’t tell everyone, it would make it easier to explain why they weren’t acting as if they were in love.
His mother nodded then placed her forefinger over her lips before drawing a cross over her heart. She really was over the moon.
Bloody Lucie Quigley and her I need my oldest friend with me speech! Look at the mess he was getting into now, and all because he didn’t want to let her down.
All because he didn’t want her to go without him.
All because he cared too much to let her go alone.
* * *
“Lucie!”
Lucie stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked around. Someone had called her name but she couldn’t see them.
“Lucie!”
And again. It sounded like Dale. She peered up the staircase but there was no one there.
“Over here!” The door to the downstairs cloakroom was slightly open, and she could make out an eye peering through the gap.
“Who’s there?”
“Who d’you think?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Quickly!”
She approached the door and gasped as Dale flung it open, pulled her inside, then locked it behind her.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“In here?” She frowned at the confined space. To the left was a full-length mirror, behind Dale was a small hand basin that must’ve been digging into his bum, then to the right was the shiny white toilet. The room smelt of orchids and vanilla, which she guessed was due to Glenda’s obsession with battery-operated air fresheners that pumped out fragrance on a timer. Glenda had always bought into whatever new air freshening product had just arrived on the market, and Lucie wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d owned stocks and shares in some of them.
“Now listen to me carefully.” Dale’s face was flushed, and she wondered if he had an upset stomach. She couldn’t blame him, the idea of telling Glenda about New York was daunting, but she really didn’t want to be standing this close if there was a risk he might throw up or something.
“I’m listening.”
“I was trying to tell Mum about New York and Christmas, but she got the wrong end of the stick.”
“What do you mean? What exactly did you say?” Lucie felt laughter bubbling in her belly. It seemed so ridiculous that she was squashed in a toilet with her best friend in his mum’s house and he looked so darned serious.
“Stop smiling, Lucie! It’s not funny.” He snorted then rubbed a hand over his face. “Well it is kind of funny, in a terrible way, I guess.”
“Dale, just tell me!” She grabbed his hands.
“Well, I was trying to break the news gently, but she just kind of assumed that we’re… uh… together.”
“But we are together. In the toilet.”
“No, idiot! Together together.” He tapped his fists together. “As in, a couple.”
“Oh.” Lucie’s stomach churned and the laughter ebbed away. “Didn’t you put her right?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t do it. She was thrilled and said she knew that we were right for each other. That she knew we l…” He pressed his lips together.
“That we l…” Lucie waved her arm forwards to encourag
e him to finish what he was about to say.
“That we… l… liked each other a lot and were such good friends. That’s all. So she and dad think we’re a couple now. I couldn’t tell her that we weren’t, and that we’re swanning off to New York for Christmas, because she’d have been hurt. So I say… let them believe we’re together for now, then we can tell them we’ve split up – after Christmas.”
Lucie stared at him, wondering if he’d gone mad. “We can’t do that! It’s deceitful, Dale. I don’t want to lie to your parents or your brothers.”
“Well, we’re not exactly lying, just not correcting them. If we tell her both bad things at once, she’d be devastated, and I don’t know if I can upset her about you and me, then tell her about Christmas. I did ask her to keep it quiet, though, just between us.”
Lucie gazed into Dale’s eyes and saw his love and concern for his parents. He really did mean well, and after all, he was doing this for her. Perhaps they could pretend to be a couple for a few weeks. “All right then, but we tell them the truth when we get back?”
“Of course.” He nodded, then awkwardly shook her proffered hand, the ridiculousness of the situation causing them both to giggle, just as they had done so often when they were younger and about to do something they knew they shouldn’t be doing.
That was the thing about being such good friends for so long. They had a shared history of good and bad times. They trusted each other to do the right thing – and sometimes to do the wrong thing in the right situation. Lucie knew she’d never find another friend like Dale. If she had to pretend to be his girlfriend to make things easier on his parents, then that was what she would do. Happily.
Chapter 4
Lucie sighed as she placed her cutlery on her empty plate. “That was delicious, Glenda and Hank. Thank you so much.”
Glenda smiled. “You’re very welcome. But have a little breather, because there’s dessert too.”
Lucie rubbed her belly. “I’m about to pop.”
“Nonsense. I’m sure you can squeeze some more in. We have to keep you well fed, especially now you’re part of the f…” She dropped her eyes to her plate and colour flooded her cheeks.
Everyone stared at Glenda, and Lucie watched in horror as the woman’s cheeks turned from pink to scarlet.
“What’s all this then?” Thomas asked. “Part of the family?”
Glenda shook her head but she caught Hank’s eye and started to smile.
Lucie suppressed a groan. Here goes…
“Do tell!” Helen said. “Don’t keep us all in suspense here, Glenda. Lucie?” She looked from one woman to the other then to Dale. “What about you, Dale? Are you going to spill the beans?”
Dale met Lucie’s eyes and she saw the panic there. What now?
“Actually, Mum, while we’re on the topic of revelations, I have one of my own,” Ieuan announced as he drained his glass of sugar-free lemonade. Lucie breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the competitive nature of the Treharne brothers meant that they usually had to try to outdo one another, and Ieuan clearly didn’t want to be overshadowed here.
Glenda turned to face her eldest son. “You do?”
Ieuan nodded and crossed his arms. Then uncrossed them. Then placed his palms flat on the table. “I—”
“But I want to know what’s going on with Dale and Lucie!” It was eight-year-old Max, Thomas and Helen’s eldest son.
“What have I told you about interrupting grownups?” Helen scowled at Max.
“You said it was rude unless it was something really important. And it must be important because they were in Granny’s toilet together.” Max widened his eyes to give his statement extra impact. “And my teacher says that boys and girls mustn’t go into the same toilet.”
All eyes turned to Dale and Lucie. Heat crawled up her throat and into her face. She knew she’d be getting all blotchy. She wished she could just disappear.
“We were uh… I couldn’t find the uh… toilet paper.” Dale shrugged but Max shook his head.
“Granny always has lots and lots of toilet paper, Uncle Dale. You’re fibbing and Mummy says fibbing is naughty.”
Helen looked from her son to Dale and nodded.
“Dale couldn’t manage to turn the tap on to wash his hands, so I helped him,” Lucie blurted desperately, realising it was the lamest excuse ever for being in the downstairs loo with her best friend. “He’s really weak sometimes.”
Max stared at her.
“And I’m really strong!” She raised her arms and curled them like a bodybuilder.
Max’s mouth had fallen open.
“And I have something I need to say.” It was Ieuan. “It doesn’t involve toilets or muscles or anything like that thank goodness… well, some muscles, but that’s TMI for you right now and I… uh… well… it does involve Christmas.”
Lucie held her breath and glanced at Dale. How did Ieuan have news about Christmas too? She saw Dale’s cheek twitch. If Ieuan was going to be away as well, then it would be worse when Dale told Glenda that he wouldn’t be there, so he needed to get in first.
“I’m going to New York for Christmas!” Dale shouted, just as Ieuan exclaimed, “I’m bringing my boyfriend to Christmas dinner!”
The room fell silent.
Everyone stared at their empty plates.
The clock on the sideboard ticked.
Glenda raised her eyes and opened and closed her mouth as if gasping for air, then eyed her sons in turn as if seeking the worst offender. It was worse than that time one of the boys had emptied the chocolate advent calendar by opening the bottom and shaking all the chocolates out. Lucie had been present that December morning as Dale and his brothers had been reprimanded for being sneaky. None of them had admitted to the crime, and she didn’t think they had discovered who’d done it even to this day. But there had been a grey cloud over the Treharne household for weeks. Dale had insisted that it had been one of Ieuan’s friends who’d come over to play, but there was no evidence. No way of proving it to their mother. After that, Glenda only allowed the boys to have a card calendar featuring small pictures of snowmen, reindeer and puddings with holly on top. She’d said that she couldn’t bear to witness the disappointment of her sons opening a calendar door and not finding a chocolate there because some greedy piggy had eaten them all.
Hank stood up suddenly, but the tablecloth was caught in his belt, where he’d tucked in his napkin, so everything flew up the table towards him, causing glasses and cutlery to fly off in all directions. Someone screamed. Someone swore. Hank gazed in shock at the lunchtime carnage, threw his napkin aside, pushed his glasses up his nose and asked, “Anyone for port?”
* * *
Lucie opened the door to her flat and shuffled inside, instinctively turning the thermostat up as she passed. As she hung her coat on the rail and pushed her boots under the shelf, she noticed that as Dale entered, he automatically turned the heating back down. They really were like a couple sometimes; he didn’t even live there yet he was still thinking about saving her money.
“Hey, what’re you doing? It’s cold.” She shivered as she watched him remove his coat and boots.
“You don’t need it that high, Lucie. It’ll cost you money and it’s bad for the environment.”
“Being cold is bad for me.”
“Go put a jumper on.” He followed her into the kitchen. “Shall I make tea?”
“Please. There are biscuits in the cupboard.”
She went to her room and changed into fleecy pyjamas and a thick jumper, then headed to the bathroom. She combed out her hair and stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She had terrible dark shadows under her eyes. They’d appeared this afternoon because she felt so bad about deceiving Dale’s family. Following Ieuan’s announcement, along with Dale’s about heading to New York, there had been utter chaos. Poor Hank had pulled the tablecloth off, along with some of Glenda’s best crystal wine glasses, and plates and gravy-covered cutlery had ro
lled off onto her thick cream carpet. Although Lucie and Dale had done their best to remove the stains, it had proved impossible to get the gravy out, so not only did she feel bad about taking Dale away at Christmas and pretending that they were dating, she also had to carry part of the responsibility for ruining Glenda’s lovely home. And Glenda was house-proud. Extremely so. Even having three boys had not hindered her efforts to make her home a cosy palace.
And what about Ieuan’s confession? After all the apparent philandering with women, he was gay? And he was bringing his boyfriend, who he’d later told them was called Barry, to Christmas dinner?
Lucie knew that Dale’s parents were very tolerant, and that it wouldn’t be the fact that Ieuan was gay that would bother them so much as the fact that they hadn’t known. Glenda would no doubt blame herself for not knowing her son, and Lucie’s heart went out to her. To add insult to injury, she was giving Glenda false hope, deceiving her about her relationship with Dale, and Lucie hated lying. She hated liars. Because liars caused pain; liars tore families and lives apart.
“Lucie?” Dale knocked on the door. “I’m bursting!”
“Okay. Coming!” She opened the door. “Sorry.”
“No problem. Just couldn’t wait any longer. You’ve been in here for ages. Tea’s ready and I’ve turned the TV on.”
“Thanks. Don’t be long then!”
Ten minutes later, snuggled up on the sofa with a large steaming mug of tea and a packet of chocolate biscuits, Lucie gazed at the television screen. The paranormal investigators were traipsing through a cavernous cellar somewhere, their faces illuminated by night vision cameras and their eyes black holes as they wore expressions of expectant terror. Lucie loved the programme, even though Dale always claimed it was a load of rubbish – yet he always watched it with her, even jumping at some of the scarier bits.
“Are you okay about how today went, Luce?” Dale placed his mug on the side table then turned to look at her.
“Kind of.”
A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas Page 3
