by Iris Blobel
She turned to say hello to Claire’s grandmother, who was in the kitchen, which was just as cosy as the rest of the house. It showed the signs of age with an old style cooking stove opposite the window. The cupboards were all wood, as was the table and the chairs.
She enjoyed the afternoon with Claire’s family. Claire’s grandmother had made some lovely chocolate cake, which Sam found she couldn’t resist. Most of the family gathered around in the lounge, and the noise of general chitchat spread through the whole room. Sam sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere.
Later that afternoon, Sam smoothed the skirt of her black woollen dress nervously as she and Claire arrived at Hannah’s house. The sound of laughter and giggles echoed through the whole house.
Hannah greeted them at the door. “Hi, Sam. How lovely to see you. Thanks for coming.”
Sam thanked Hannah for the invitation and then tucked her arm under Claire’s. “Claire, who is that guy over there?”
Her friend choked back a laugh. “I can’t believe you’re married, and you still have a wandering eye!”
Sam shot her a twisted smile. “Excuse me. Wandering eye? I am not wandering. He’s just…well, he’s yummy like your grandmother’s cake.”
Claire raised her eyebrow questioningly. It was an odd comparison. “That’s Tony. He’s my cousin.”
“What does he do during the day?”
“He’s a farmer.”
She frowned. “A farmer?” she asked with disappointment. “Oh well.”
“What’s wrong with being a farmer?”
“Oh, nothing, it’s just…a farmer? I’m not sure, they…they…oh, Claire, you know exactly what I mean.”
Shaking her head, her friend replied, “You’re one of the nicest people I know, and my best friend, but your prejudices are completely over-the-top sometimes.”
Sam just shrugged. What was wrong with aiming a bit higher? She liked a bit of drive in people. Gazing at Claire, she wasn’t sure whether to be offended by her friend’s words or not.
With a roll of her eyes, her friend said, “Tony is the bank manager at the local Bank of Ireland.”
“Really?” Her eyes wide with interest, she bumped her friend in the rips. “Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?”
“You’re pathetic, Sam.”
“I know. Nothing I can do about it.” Sam sighed. “Now let’s go and introduce me to your lovely cousin Tony.”
The two women went over to Tony, who was already smiling as he saw Sam coming closer.
“Claire, how are you?” he asked and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
“Very well. How are you, Tony? By the way, this is my friend Sam.”
“How do you do, Sam?” Tony shook Sam’s hand, and she enjoyed his gentle touch.
A smile tugged at her lips. “How do you do, Tony? Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, I forgot, I still have to prepare some drinks before midnight. I may leave you two to each other. That’s okay, Sam, isn’t it?”
Sam nodded. “Of course, Claire. Do you need a hand?”
“I’ll be all right, thanks.”
Sam and Tony were soon involved in a conversation. She enjoyed his company and his sense of humour, his well-groomed appearance, self-confidence, and even his awkward attempt to flirt with her—it gave her a giggle. Sam wasn’t able to take her eyes off him—the tight curly black hair, which seemed just as unmanageable as hers, the intense dark eyes fully focused on her, and his lean body, which was visible even under his shirt. She enjoyed his attention.
Midnight came too soon for Sam. She heard her phone ringing and excused herself to Tony. She opened her mobile and hesitated for a moment.
She held one hand over her ear when she answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, honey. Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year, Padraic.” She was pleased to hear from him. Padraic wasn’t with her, but he remembered to ring her. That should count for something, she thought.
“How are you?”
“Just about to dance into the New Year.”
“Of course! I completely forgot the hour time difference. I’ll let you go then. Say hello to Claire and enjoy your ride into the New Year. Love you, Sam, and I miss you.”
“Got to go, Padraic. I miss you, too,” she said quietly, though loud enough against the background noise.
Sam turned around to Tony and apologised for the call.
“That’s okay.” His expressive face changed and became almost somber, and he shifted uncomfortably. “Anyway, nice meeting you. I’d better find a good spot for the fireworks.” And before Sam could say anything, he was already gone in the crowd.
“You weren’t flirting with Tony, were you?” Claire startled her.
Sam rolled her eyes. “We were having a nice conversation and all of a sudden he just leaves. Men!”
“Anything to do with your phone call? You know, some men don’t like it when you play with them.”
Sam’s tone was soft, yet edged with steel. “I did not play with him. We had a good conversation.”
Claire came closer and tucked her arm into Sam’s, and the warmth of her smile echoed in her voice. “Let’s go check out the fireworks. Can’t be long now. ”
Chapter Twenty
Hollie was awakened by the phone. It was the usual effort to find it as she rushed through her little place.
“Hello,” Hollie said quietly, half-asleep.
“Happy birthday,” Alex said excitedly and with a laugh added, “One day you will even sleep through your birthday. Anyway, I’ll pick you up in about an hour. Pack your beach gear.”
Hollie was still half-asleep and had no idea what was going on.
“Excuse me? What am I supposed to do? More importantly, why?”
“Surprise! You just do as I tell you and you’ll have a great day.”
“Goodness gracious. Do as you tell me? I have a feeling this will end up as a disaster.”
“I’m offended! Just trust me, please, Hollie,” Alex begged. “Ten o’clock and I’ll be there. Be ready!”
Hollie hung up and checked the time. Almost nine? She could’ve given me more warning! Hollie was awake right away. She had a bit over an hour to get ready and to try to find her beach gear.
Thanks, Alex. That’s just what I need on my birthday. Birthday! Another year older, but so much happier than the previous year, except…Hollie was still tired from her restless night. Another one of those dreams. She had hoped that for at least her birthday she would be saved from the dreams. In a swift move, she got up and switched on her mobile. There was a message from Jeremy.
Happy birthday, Twinkles. Was looking forward to spending the day with you, but am busy! Have a great day.
Poppycock! She couldn’t believe she was going to miss out on spending the day with Jeremy, but at least Alex was there. She checked all the other messages and then went downstairs to see Murray.
Murray’s face lit up when he saw her. “Happy birthday, love.”
Hollie gave him a kiss. “Thanks, Dad.”
“So, what are you up to today?”
With a shrug, she replied, “Not sure, to be honest.”
Her father’s eyebrows shot up in obvious surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I got this mysterious phone call from Alex to be ready with beach stuff at ten o’clock.”
“Then why are you still standing here, love? You only have another forty-five minutes left.” Murray pointed to his old watch.
With hands on hips, she stared at him suspiciously. “Dad? By any chance, do you know something I don’t?”
Murray couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t know anything, love, except you’re still in your nightgown, and Alex is going to pick you up in less than an hour. She’s never given you any reason to not trust her. So hurry. I’ll get some breakfast ready for you.”
She glared at him, but he wouldn’t budge. “Hmm. Not sure about all that.”
Then she rushed upstair
s. “I’m suspicious, Dad,” she shouted on her way up. “Very suspicious.”
Hollie tried her best to not panic, but got everything packed before ten. She took her bag and went downstairs, dialling Jeremy’s number. Not answering. Crap. She was disappointed—to say the least—that out of all days, he had some important business to attend to on her birthday. Come to think of it, it was unusual that he hadn’t told her what actually kept him away.
Okay, so there’s Alex picking me up, Dad with a devilish smile and no obvious disappointment that I’m off for the day, and to top the list, no Jeremy and no proper excuse—something’s wrong here!
Half an hour later, she stood up from the table. “Thanks for the breakfast, Dad.”
Murray handed her a little present. “Here, love. Happy birthday!”
Hollie slowly opened the present. A travel guide to Ireland!
“You never know, it might come in handy one day,” Murray said, quite blasé, but Hollie wondered even more. A travel guide to Ireland? Not sure how much he actually knew about her dreams or even whether Jeremy or Alex had told him anything, she was about to say something, but heard Alex racing down the driveway honking the horn.
For Pete’s sake, it’s my birthday. Give me a bit of slack.
She rushed over to Murray, gave him a kiss, and hurried outside. She threw her bag into the boot and went back to Murray, who had followed her outside.
“Love you, Dad. Are you sure you don’t mind me going away for the day?”
“Love, I’m one hundred percent sure. You go and have a great day. Off you go.” He literally pushed her into Alex’s car.
“Happy birthday!” Alex almost shouted. “I'll give you the present a bit later. We better get going.”
Still buckling up, Hollie said, “This better be good, Alex.”
Alex‘s mouth curved into a teasing grin. “It’ll be great. Trust me.”
Alex drove off before Hollie was sitting comfortably on her seat. She was still busy sorting the mess around her feet to make herself comfortable.
“Can’t you tell me a bit about it?” she asked, quickly flicking through the latest women’s magazine, which had been on her seat.
“We’re going to the beach.”
The corner of Hollie’s mouth twitched into a frown. “I figured that. Thanks.”
“So why are you asking?”
“Well, let me think. Oh yes, there’s Dad, who’s happy for me to spend the day away. And Jeremy hasn’t got time and didn’t tell me why—”
Alex interrupted her. “Oh, we’re at that stage already that you need to know why he can’t see you.” Alex laughed but stopped when Hollie jabbed her elbow into her ribs.
“Not funny.”
Alex gently rubbed her ribs while turning her concentration back to the road. “It is funny, actually. He’s spoiling you too much. You don’t need to know every move he makes.”
Hollie flicked through the magazine, but wasn't fully concentrating on it. “Well, I thought I should at least know on my birthday.”
“That’s why I’m here. So you can spend your birthday with me like you’ve done the last…hmm…let me think…twenty years.” They both laughed and started to remember all the birthdays they had shared, and in no time arrived in Devonport.
Alex cursed at all the traffic lights in town and slowly made her way to the beach. Yet, as soon as Hollie saw Ben, her excitement disappeared.
Her friend must’ve noticed something was not right, because she suddenly asked, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course,” she said with a slight hesitation. “But I somehow thought, well, you know, I thought it’d be just you and me.”
Placing her hand on her friend’s, Alex said quietly, “Trust me, Hollie. You’ll have a great time today.”
They got out of the car and made their way down to the beach, where Ben was already busy setting up a barbeque area.
“Happy birthday, Hollie!” he said, as he came towards her and gave her a hug. “Twenty-one or twenty-two?”
“Thanks, Ben. Actually, I believe it’s eighteen,” she replied with a smirk. “I take it we’re having a nice barbeque lunch today.” There were a few cooler boxes around. “Who else is coming?”
Ben held on to her shoulders and slowly turned her around. “Not entirely sure. I suppose only the gang you can see over there.”
Hollie followed Ben’s index finger and saw more or less all her friends making their way to the barbeque area.
“Alex? What’s happening here?” she asked suspiciously.
“Nothing. We just thought you deserved a spectacular party, so we organised this surprise barbeque. Not spectacular, but it’ll do the trick.”
“You are, indeed, the best friend in the world.” Hollie choked a bit and held back the tears before she was surrounded by all her friends, wishing her well and congratulating her on her birthday. A seemingly small gesture, but it meant the world to her.
The friends all busily unpacked their meats and salads as well as filled their glasses with drinks when they were distracted by a honking horn. Hollie checked out where the noise was coming from and saw her dad waving out of Jeremy’s black BMW.
“What the…” Hollie said and turned to Alex, who burst into laughter—as did everyone else.
Ben laughed. “Oh, Hollie. Your dad is just one in a million. You can’t beat him.”
Hollie shook her head and started to laugh as well.
“Did you know about that?” she asked Alex.
“Well, what can I say? Yes, in a way I did.”
“In a way?” Hollie was puzzled.
“Well, I knew he’d come, but I had no idea about him driving the car. I reckon he’s having the time of his life. Poor Jeremy, though.”
Murray, with his typical long pants, and wearing his sandals with socks, awkwardly made his way through the beach sand to the barbeque area. Hollie saw his happy face, and she broke into a smile as well. But when her eyes met Jeremy’s, her heart was pounding with excitement.
Hands on hips, she shook her head. “You’re in trouble, you two.”
“Happy birthday, love.” Murray gave her a kiss on the cheek. And then he took in the food and drinks around. “You people’ve done a good job here.”
“Happy birthday, Twinkles.” Jeremy drew her closer to him and kissed her cheek. “Sorry, Alex’s idea was too tempting, and I have a feeling the surprise was successful.”
Davo came closer. “Hey Jez, I’m sort of wondering whose heart was racing the quickest, yours or good old Murray’s?”
Murray stared at him. “Who are you calling old, young man?” Everyone laughed. “They wanted me to keep the secret and there’s always a cost for lying to my beautiful girl. And I believe driving the BMW was just the perfect price.”
Hollie raised an eyebrow. “Dad, I can’t believe you blackmailed Jeremy.”
“Love, it didn’t take much to talk him into it. I have a feeling he enjoyed not having to drive for a change. Anyway,” Murray glanced around, “where’s a beer for your old man?”
“There you go, Murray.” Ben handed him a bottle of beer and nodded at Jeremy as if to ask whether he wanted one as well. “Jez?”
Everyone sat down at the table and indulged in a nice lunch. It didn’t take long before the friends were involved in talking, laughing, and reminiscing. As Hollie leaned back in her chair she listened to the chatter around. Everything seemed perfect that day—the weather, the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach, and the smell of the steaks and sausages on the barbeque. This had been one of the best birthdays she had had in a long time—with her dad on one side and Jeremy on the other. A sense of overwhelming warmth overcame her as she smiled in sheer bliss.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hollie still couldn’t believe what she was holding in her hands. She had received a few surprising presents over the years, but this one…it was just beyond words!
Most of the friends were still eating and chatting when Jeremy
got up. Goodness gracious, he’s not going to make a speech, is he?
“Everyone. Can I just keep this short and sweet?” Jeremy cleared his throat before he went on. “Thanks to all of you for making this a special day for our birthday girl. Looking at her glowing face, I’m sure she’s enjoying it.”
She could feel the rush of the blood as it crept up her neck to her face.
“You all know how exceptionally humble she is, and you are lucky enough to have known her much longer than me. Anyway, she never wondered about any other surprises in the form of a present. So—” Davo handed Jeremy an envelope “—this might surprise her even more. Twinkles,” Jeremy said as he gave her the envelope. “This is from all of us, for you. Happy birthday!” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek.
“Happy birthday!” everyone shouted and lifted their drinks.
She gazed over at Murray. “Dad, did you know about this?”
Murray’s face broke into a smile. “BMW, my dear, BMW is all I can say.”
Hollie slowly opened the envelope and retrieved a flight ticket.
You’re kidding!
“What the…” she stuttered.
“You’re going to Ireland,” Alex shouted as she hugged her friend, who was still speechless. She couldn’t believe it. Still dazzled, she stared over at Jeremy and then over to her dad.
“Love, they all seem to know your love for Ireland, and I think it’s a marvellous idea.”
She shook her head in utter disbelief. “I can’t go to Ireland.”
“Why not?” Alex asked, astounded.
“Alex, there are thousands of reasons. I don’t know. It’s just…it’s…” Her hands flopped to her side as she exhaled a long breath. “It’s so far away.”
Davo came closer and placed his arm around her shoulder. “Ma’am, I’m coming with you as your guardian angel.”
