Winter Wonderland: An O'Malley Christmas story (The O'Malleys Book 2)

by Michelle McLoughney

  Annie stuffed her face with peanuts and motioned manically to the Dictaphone on the table.

  “Okay woman, come on out back and let’s play it!” Grabbing Tess’ arm, Annie led them through the small glass panelled door and out into the outdoor smoking area. Annie coughed loudly and waved smoke from in front of her face. Old Finn O’Brien looked at them then looked down at his dog Jess, and continued smoking his pipe barely acknowledging them. Tess sat down beside a heater and crossed her legs grinning at Annie.

  “You know old Finn isn’t likely to give up the pipe at eighty five.”

  “Yeah, yeah I know. I just do it to annoy him. Someday I’ll get a rise out of the old sod,” Annie replied and bent down to rub Jess enthusiastically.

  “Oh baby look at you. Your coat is looking well. How do you look so healthy with all that second hand smoke? How. Do. You. Look. So. Well. Jess? Yes you do, beautiful girl. Yes you do.”

  Annie raised her eyebrows playfully at Finn; he shook his head at her good-naturedly.

  Tess waited patiently as Annie got down on her knees and rubbed Jess who turned over on her back, belly on show and paws akimbo. She really is a complete nut job, thought Tess. But she loved Annie for it too. You really couldn’t help but love and admire Annie. She was a great mother, a great friend and an all-round great person. Having lost her husband James a few years previously to lymphatic cancer, Annie had grieved and then in her usual stubborn way had risen to every challenge ahead of her and tried to carve out a life for herself and her twin daughters. Tess wished Annie and Burke would hurry up and get together; they would be so perfect for each other. Finn clicked his jaw and Jess wriggled onto all fours and darted over to him. He nodded at Annie and tipped his cap to the two girls as he wandered back into the bar with Jess in tow.

  “A client of yours?” Tess asked.

  “Yeah he is, or rather Jess is,” Annie nodded.

  “A client now, or a freebie?” Tess smiled softly. Annie was well known for her lack of business sense and refused point blank to charge the elderly for her veterinary services.

  “He lost his wife last year and Jess has maybe three good years left in her. It would be a crime to look for money from an old fella like Finn. And sure he brings the most wonderful homemade brown bread with him and scones too. I should be paying him!”

  Tess threw back her head and laughed as she removed her gloves and rubbed her hands together. It was bitterly cold but the air was fresh and crisp, she touched her hand to the snow on the top of the table and traced a love heart in it.

  “Oh Annie, you are a great vet, but as a businesswoman you didn’t inherit the family genes.” Annie shrugged her shoulders and tucked her long dark brown hair behind one ear.

  “Ah sure feck it, I have money. Granddad set us all up nicely and he would want us to do what we love.”

  Tess nodded. “He sure would, we were lucky to have him as long as we did. And you’re right, doing what you love is the only course to true happiness.” Annie put her arm around Tess’ shoulder and hugged her warmly.

  “Can we have just one drink without it turning into a complete hug fest for heaven’s sake.”

  The girls looked up as Rían and Burke came out the door and stood beside them. Burke was balancing a pint of Guinness in one hand and two tumblers of vodka and orange in the other, while Rían held the girl’s coats in one arm and dangled their handbags off his wrist.

  “We were coming back in two minutes,” Annie exclaimed.

  “Yeah two minutes via two hours,” Burke smirked. Annie pulled a face at him as he sat down.

  “Okayyyyyyyy….Are we all ready?” Annie whispered. The four of them sat around the old barrow that doubled as a table and huddled into one another.

  “One second,” Rían jumped up and stood on his tip toes banging the old heater on the wall a couple of times, it cranked up blasting out heat and a smell of burning plastic. Burke watched Tess’ face as she organised the recorder on the barrel. Damn did she always have to look so distracting, so beautiful. He watched her caramel coloured hair peeping out from underneath her Christmas tree hat. How a grown woman could get away with a green knitted hat with a yellow star that lit up on the top of it was beyond his reasoning. But, when it came to Tess and Christmas, nothing was too over the top. He watched her face discreetly as she smiled and laughed at Annie. Why did she always end up with losers? None of them deserved her. Oh and you do, Do you?

  Tess hit the play button and the four of them leaned forward to listen. And sure enough as the door clicked behind Tess as she left for work, the sound of Jax snoring echoed loudly around the whitewashed walls of Mac’s outdoor garden.

  “See, told you. Like a bloody train,” Tess giggled. Rían ran his hand through his hair and shook his head taking a gulp of his pint.

  “Shush, listen someone is opening the door.” Annie looked at Tess her eyes wide and playful. Tess frowned, who else would be coming into her room?

  “Probably Jen,” she mused. Annie threw her a look. Tess shrugged her shoulders at her cousin and paused the tape.

  “Oh what? I know you don’t like her but she needed a place to stay.”

  “Bet she’s not paying you a penny rent either.” Tess blushed bright red.

  “I knew it!” Annie fumed.

  Tess looked to Burke for support. “She’s only staying for another two months, and she’s on the couch, she just lost her job how the heck can I kick her out?” Tess bit her bottom lip while burke rubbed her arm and nodded. You’re such a softie, he thought. A deep affection for his friend ran through him. Tess had such a big heart and was a sucker for a sob story. Rían leaned forward and pressed the play button.

  “Shush, listen.” Rían whispered to them, followed quickly by, “I can’t believe I’m even listening to this shite.”

  They listened intently as someone on the tape recorder spoke.

  “Jax, are you awake?”

  Annie nodded at Tess and mouthed "Jen."

  Tess listened as Jax stopped snoring and yawned loudly.

  “Hey, Jen. Is she gone?”

  Jen’s voice grew louder.

  “Yeah Jax, she’s just driven off, did you tell her?”

  Tess’ eyes narrowed as she heard Jax reply. Tell me what?

  “How could I tell her Jen babes? All I ever hear from Tess is how glad she focking is that she will have someone to spend New Year’s Eve with, roight. It would break her icckle heort.” Tess tensed. Little heart?

  “Tell me what?” Said Tess to the recorder. She glanced up at her cousins and Burke, and saw that the trio were obviously uncomfortable and looking at each other with wary expressions.

  Jen’s voice came through petulant and angry.

  “We if you won’t tell her I will! And F.Y.I Jax, women say shit like that all the time. She is so needy, God!” Jax shuffled around on the bed and Tess heard the spring on her side of the bed squeak as Jen sat down. My bloody side!

  “Jen okay, okay lioke! I’ll tell her next focking weekend. I just need some time babes,” he pleaded. Jen snorted loudly.

  “Oh look whatever, just tell her Jax. I don’t do sharing, and definitely not with Tess. I’m better than that, better than her too.” Jen yelped and Jax growled at her making her giggle in a high-pitched voice.

  “You sure are babes, the total, absolute super best I’ve ever had Jen Ben. Show me how much you missed me babes. I sure could do with you putting your lips around my magic wand.” Jen giggled again and this time Jax joined in.

  Tess’ mouth rounded into an O as Annie grabbed the Dictaphone and pressed the stop button just as Jax and Jen’s voices merged into one perfect kiss fest. Rían rubbed his hands up and down on his thighs nervously and looked around for an escape route. Annie stood up and crossed her arms, eyes flashing with anger and for once completely speechless. Burke narrowed his eyes dangerously and spat between his teeth.

  “I bloody told you Tess. That fella is as smooth as a snake selling snake oil from a snake
skin suit!! That wagon and that little bollix! The pair of them deserve each other! A feckin magic feckin wand! Is that what the thick fecker calls his cock?”

  Tess sat poker straight and couldn’t stop her bottom lip from quivering. What the hell did I just hear?

  “We’ll meet you back at Cherry tree farm,” Burke said to Annie. Rían and Burke left their half-finished pints on the table with a bang, and were gone before either of the girls spoke.

  Annie rubbed Tess’ arm and bit her lip, a worried awkward expression on her face. She put her hand in her bag and took out her phone; she quickly messaged her dad Gearoid and Tess’ eldest brother Ciaran. They’d know what to do; they were so much better at this stuff than her.

  “Let’s go to the farm Tess, we can have some privacy there.” Tess nodded, her face ashen as she let Annie lead her out of the pub. She ignored the looks and greetings of different patrons and sat lightly into the passenger side of Annie’s jeep. The smell of cow shit and the billion animal hairs that immediately attached themselves to her good coat didn’t even bother her. Usually she wouldn’t agree to go anywhere in Annie’s dirty heap of a jeep, but right now the smell of crap felt just about right.

  Watching sadly as darkness began to fall like a cloak around them; Tess thought how beautiful the homes must look to those flying in and out of the nearby Shannon Airport. Hundreds of weary travellers returning home for the holidays catching their first glimpse of Ireland, their hearts warmed with thoughts of family. Each of the farms and houses they passed were illuminated by Christmas lights, like little jewelled dots within the landscape. Raindrops began to patter onto the windscreen and Tess traced each drop slowly down the inside of the side window with her fingertip, she felt too empty to cry. As they drove in silence along the winding roads, the rain fell harder and every bit of precious snow melted into the ground leaving only a glassy sheen behind. Tess nodded to herself, typical. Something told her this Christmas was going to be one big steaming heap of dung.

  By the time they arrived at Cherry Tree farmhouse, her father, uncle Gearoid and brother Ciaran were waiting at the front door, stone faced. Oh sweet Jesus! Is there no end to the total mortification of this day? She turned to Annie and pouted her lips; “Thanks a million, Annie.”

  Annie grimaced. “Sorry T, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I messaged Ciaran and my dad.”

  Great, just feckin great. Annie couldn’t have done a better job of letting everyone know her business if she’d taken an advert out in the bloody town newspaper. Tess groaned as she opened the door and reluctantly got out. Her father walked towards her shaking his head, his arms outstretched like a saint about to be crucified.

  “That bold little scut, Tess. He doesn’t deserve you.” Tess nodded at him letting herself fall into his warm embrace.

  “Thanks dad.”

  “And he was having relations with the young one you let sleep on the couch?” Tess gritted her teeth and nodded at him. What the heck are relations? God, he means sex!

  “Oh Tessie. You must feel awful altogether.”

  “Yeah dad I do, thanks.” Ahoy there captain obvious!

  Her uncle Gearoid came over and put his arm around her shoulder.

  “I hear he’s some form of a posh fella, never taught any manners Tess. Money doesn’t buy manners, apparently.” Tess nodded at him.

  “Thanks uncle Ger.” Oh sweet Jesus please let the ground open and swallow me up. Sinkholes everywhere unite and open at my feet. But no, instead she was stuck standing on the gravel with various male members of her family - immediate and extended looking at her and wringing their hands. Her father was scratching his head under his cap, a sure indication that he hadn’t a balls notion what to say or do. Her uncle Gearoid was no better, looking around like a frightened canary. She couldn’t blame them really, all the O’Malley women were in New York Christmas shopping and meeting up with her cousin Rory and his new wife Cass for a few days. That left a grand total of her father, her uncle, and a shed load of brothers to sympathise. Oh and Annie who was chasing a puppy around the horse barn, next to bloody useless that one! Tess raised her eyes to heaven in Annie’s direction, eejit! Her brother Ciaran moved to stand between Gearoid and her dad, patting them on their shoulders solemnly.

  “I’ve got this lads.” He cleared his throat. Tess groaned.

  “Now Tess, I know you’re probably feeling distraught and imagining that your heart has been broken. You’re probably thinking, am I too fat? Am I boring? Or not good at se..? At…. things. You’re probably wondering what you did wrong to send him into the arms of another woman.”

  Tess stared at him open-mouthed and felt her temper flare. I wasn’t before. Now I feckin am! Ciaran looked intensely into her eyes and put his hand on his jaw like an old sage lost in thought, waiting for the eureka moment. And then it came. He rose up his index finger and looked around at Gearoid and his father who were both nodding encouragingly at him.

  “I think we should get you on a plane to New York. Tonight. We’ll fly you over to Granny and auntie Louisa and all the girls. A bit of shopping and a girlie chat and you’ll be grand. What do you think?”

  He looked around at the men and smiled triumphantly, little sighs of relief and mutterings followed. Tess rounded on him with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

  “Have you lost what’s left of your mind Ciaran O’Malley? I do not need a shopping spree, a girlie chat or any chat. And no. My heart is not broken; I was dating Jax for a month. I was not in feckin love with him, Okay? I am a grown woman and can deal with the rejection like an adult. And no, I don’t think I’m too fat or too anything, you big feckin fool!” Ciaran’s mouth dropped open slightly and his eyes widened. Tess shook her head.

  “Now if you don’t mind, I want to drive home please so I can get my head together and forget about Jax flippin’ Montrose.”

  Her father spoke up quietly, “What kind of a name is Jax? What’s it short for like?” Tess sighed and pushed back her hair from her face.

  “It’s not short for anything Dad. It’s just Jax!” Her father squinted at her and nodded slowly.

  “Just Jax you say, that’s awful strange.” Her uncle Gearoid nodded in agreement and folded his arms over his torn Led Zeppelin t-shirt.

  “Well Pa, maybe his real name is Jack. Maybe they call him Jacksy or Jacks. Like Jacksy Byrne the sheep farmer over in Rathdown. Funny man Jacksy, there was this one time…” Tess clenched her teeth, and ignored them both. Turning around on her heel she shouted “Annie!” at the top of her lungs. Annie stood straight up and ran over to her. “Are we all sorted?” She asked looking hopeful.

  “I’m going home Annie, will you drop me or will I get a cab?” Not waiting for an answer, Tess stormed off to the Jeep and pulled at the handle. She climbed in, her foot slipping on the pedal as she huffed and puffed her way into the cab of the jeep.

  “Feckin unreal,” she bellowed as she slammed the door catching the seat belt in the process. Two more slamming attempts followed before she finally got it closed. Tess suddenly felt consumed by guilt as her eyes scanned the group of worried faces near her uncle’s red front door. Her father raised his hand slightly in a tentative wave and she raised hers back at him.

  “I love you,” she mouthed as they drove off. He nodded at her. She’d talk to him later when he got home from Gearoid and Louisa’s house.

  When her mam had died, Tess had relied heavily on her father emotionally, they all had. Overnight her dad Pa had become the sole caregiver; the mother, the father and the provider for six hurt and frightened children. He had never complained, instead he had showered them with love and affection and taken on all the trials and tribulations, headaches and heartaches that came with the responsibility of single parenthood. While Tess’ admiration and love for her lovely dad was fierce, somewhere in her heart she wanted a happy ending of her own. Maybe it was because she saw it so regularly over at her cousins’ house.

  Her uncle and aunt had the textbook perfect marria
ge filled with love and mutual respect. And humour, always in abundance. They had their struggles of course, Aoife had been very sick until she had her lung transplant a few years ago, and then Annie lost James. Still, the family were tight and she secretly envied the warmth that Louisa always brought into her cousins’ lives. She wondered what it would be like to have a mam, a mother who was not just sainted by her father and revered by her brothers. A real honest to goodness mother. She didn’t remember her own mother much at all.

  One of the first clear memories Tess had of her mother was the night of her wake in the house, because it had been Tess’ birthday.

  Sneaking downstairs she walked across the wooden floorboards, being extra careful to avoid the creaky one near the door of the living room. The living room was where her mammy was sleeping in the wooden box. The candlelight illuminated the room through the frosted glass panelled door and Tess stopped for a moment outside the door and listened to the murmurings inside. Hearing her daddy sobbing made her squeeze her eyes shut and her heart felt tight in her chest. Her brothers were all in there with the priest and Granddad and Granny O’Malley too. As she snuck passed the door and into the spare room, she could hear the voices in the kitchen that adjoined the living room. Clink, clink, endless cups of tea were being made and passed around, whiskey too probably, Tess thought. Her brother Tom had dared her to try whiskey last Christmas after the big party her parents had held. She made a face when she thought of it, why anyone would drink it willingly was beyond her. It had burned the throat off her and Tom had nearly exploded trying to keep the laughter in. “At least you didn’t puke,” he said when she coughed and dry retched for a full five minutes. Yeah, like that was some form of an achievement. Bloody Tom, he was always up to devilment and dragging her along with him for the ride. Gritting her teeth and biting her bottom lip, Tess squinted as she opened the door of the room and flattened herself along the wall until she was over at the cupboard. The special little cupboard where her mother kept all the baking and cooking utensils, the sherry and cooking wine, the baking tins and Christmas puddings and cakes. Tess peaked inside and there it was, wrapped snugly in a brown paper bag, it smelled delicious. Tess grabbed it with both hands and held it close to her chest as she made the journey back upstairs to her room. Shutting her bedroom door gently behind her, she sat on the bed unwrapping it and holding it in her lap. Her precious birthday cake. She didn’t blame them for forgetting, her daddy and the lads. Her mammy was gone and she shouldn’t be celebrating her birthday anyway. But, they had made the cake together two days before. Tess and her mammy, the best team ever. They had laughed and joked together happily as they measured out the flour and broke the eggs into the big beige ceramic baking bowl. She had always loved her birthday, because it was just five days after Christmas. Everyone was still off work and happy and Christmassy. Tess sighed and placed the cake on her quilt, she traced her finger around the hard pink icing that her mother had made especially for her. She smiled at the little stars and love hearts that surrounded her name written in white icing across the centre. Putting her small hand into the bag she took out the candles pushing each one down into the cake. She had nothing to light them with and she wasn’t allowed to touch matches or lighters anyway. Instead she placed her index finger on each one and counted them silently to herself. One to ten.