Escape for Christmas

Chapter Thirty-Five

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Brody apologised as he carved a path through the drinkers in the bar. The floor above thumped with dancers and the bass pulsated from the disco, which was now in full swing. He’d had no choice but to leave Sophie and immediately follow Tegan inside.

It seemed an age before he made it to the upper deck, where Alan was sitting at their table, bow tie hanging loose, with Fiona fanning him. The man did look pale, though it was hard to tell with all the flashing disco lights.

‘Dad!’ Tegan knelt on the floor in front of her father. She had to shout above the music.

Brody joined her at his side. ‘Alan. How are you feeling now?’

‘You can tell my wife and daughter to stop fussing,’ Alan replied firmly. ‘I’ve taken my medication and I’m already feeling better.’

‘Can we help?’ A couple of people from the mountain-rescue team approached them, and the grey-haired man of the two spoke to them. ‘I’m a doctor, and Deep here is a paramedic. Can you tell me what happened?’ the doc asked, sitting down on a chair next to Alan.

Brody helped Tegan to her feet, so that the doctor had more room.

‘I’m fine. I felt breathless and an attack coming on, but I’ve had my pills now and I’ll be OK. Please, I don’t want a fuss!’

‘Alan …’ Brody pleaded, his own heart pounding when he recalled the moment his head teacher had called him out of the classroom to break the news about his father. ‘Best to let them help.’

Fiona put her hand on her husband’s shoulder. ‘Yes, you should. How often do you get to see a doctor within two minutes of feeling poorly?’

‘I’m not poorly. I have angina and I have my pills. They will work.’

‘Do you mind if we just sit here with you for a few minutes and chat?’ the doctor said. ‘So we can make sure you’re on the mend?’

‘If you like,’ Alan replied, grudgingly. ‘Though you both should be up there and dancing.’

‘I’ve got two left feet. You’ve given me an excuse to avoid making a prat of myself.’

‘I hate Abba,’ Deep agreed, standing by Fiona.

Alan rolled his eyes. ‘If you say so.’

A few people were staring. Brody smiled but said firmly to them, ‘Shall we give Alan a bit of space, if you don’t mind?’ His glare did the trick.

Tegan squeezed Brody’s hand. ‘We shouldn’t have let him come,’ she murmured, while the doctor checked her father over.

‘This could have happened at home,’ Brody replied, as reassuringly as he could. ‘I think he’s looking perkier already.’

‘I hope so,’ Tegan said. ‘Because if anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.’

‘It’s not your fault that he chose to come here tonight. Your dad makes his own decisions.’

Tegan said nothing, but let go of Brody’s hand.

He glanced around, hoping to find Sophie, but there was no sign of her. He’d had to abandon her by the rail of the boat. She’d understand, he knew that – but what timing!

A short while later, the doctor said he was happy enough to leave Alan to recover at home.

‘Someone’s offered to give us a lift,’ Fiona said to Brody and Tegan. ‘You two stay here and enjoy yourselves.’

‘Oh, we’re not leaving you!’ Tegan declared. ‘Are we, Brody?’

‘We’ll come home with you,’ he agreed.

Fiona shook her head. ‘Your dad and I don’t want to cut your evening short.’

‘It’s already pretty late,’ Brody began, unwilling to leave the family on their own, even though he had hoped to find Sophie again.

‘We are coming with you,’ Tegan said firmly. ‘I’ll find my coat.’

Brody picked it up from the bench by their table, while Fiona helped Alan on with his, much to his annoyance.

‘Please, stop treating me like I’m ninety-nine.’

Tegan stood, waiting for Brody to slip the coat over her shoulders, as she always did. ‘Thank you,’ she said and smiled at him, though her eyes were like chips of ice. ‘Don’t you think you should go and fetch your tux jacket?’

It was only then that he remembered Sophie must still be wearing it.

Brody woke on New Year’s Day with Tegan next to him. He’d already known he’d have to share a room with her, when they’d decided to stay with her parents.

Alan had seemed OK when they returned home and he’d gone up to bed. At Brody’s urging, Tegan went to bed at the same time as her parents. She looked exhausted after the stresses and strains of the past few months. Brody had stayed up, watching the spectacular fireworks in London. He’d never felt less celebratory and yet, at the same time, he knew that the turning of the year was his chance finally to lay the past to rest, no matter what the risks.

Tegan had been asleep when he went up and it seemed petty for him to kip on the floor, so he lay on top of the duvet and pulled the eiderdown over him. It was a good while after that before he finally fell asleep, thinking of the past, the people he loved and the future, with all its possibilities, if he only had the courage to grasp it.

He was dressed by the time Tegan woke up, and her long blonde hair had spread over the pillows like a halo. He sat on the bed watching her for a moment until she started to stir.

‘Morning,’ she said, blinking and pushing herself up the pillows.

‘Morning.’ Brody looked her in the eyes and felt a rush of tenderness, the kind you felt for a very dear friend. ‘Tegan, there’s something we have to do, and we have to do it very soon.’

She was silent for a few seconds, picking at a thread on the eiderdown.

Slowly she nodded her head. ‘You’re in love with Sophie, aren’t you?’

He paused for a little breath, then said, ‘I tried not to be. I wasn’t until after we split up that it happened. A long time after we split up.’

‘I know. I didn’t want to accept it at first, but it’s become pretty obvious over the past few days. Does she know?’

‘Actually, no. She thought I was a bastard, and now she thinks – well, I’m not sure she knows what to think of me.’

Tegan shook her head and gave a small, sad smile. ‘You couldn’t be a bastard if you tried.’

Brody felt choked with emotion. ‘Thanks. I wouldn’t be giving myself any gold stars, though. I seem to have made a bloody mess of everything lately.’

She hugged her knees, staring at the duvet. With his heart in his mouth, Brody waited for her to burst into tears or start an angry row.

‘I think …’ Tegan began, still not looking at him. ‘I think we’ve both made a mess.’ Finally she lifted her eyes to his with the saddest of smiles. ‘But I’ve made a bigger mess. I ruined everything the moment I decided to get involved with Wes. I deeply regret that now.’

‘We can’t change the past, but at least you can go back to him in New York,’ Brody said gently.

‘But I would rather not have fallen for him. Wes broke up with me. Turns out he’s not a good guy, but at the time I fooled myself into thinking he offered something that was missing.’

‘You were in a strange country and were worried about your family.’ Brody surprised himself by how he felt the need to defend Tegan, and he did still care about her. But he also knew, finally, that it was over between them, and that nothing but total honesty would help either of them come to terms with it.

‘It was more than me being needy,’ she admitted. ‘Deep down, I sensed that we – you and I – weren’t the right people to spend a lifetime together. Not as anything more than close friends.’

Brody felt choked with sadness and relief.

‘After Wes, I knew that our relationship was broken beyond repair. I just … didn’t want to face up to it. The way I treated you was unforgivable – coming back here and trying to pick things back up again – even if you hadn’t fallen for Sophie.’

He swallowed. He’d known, deep down in his heart, that Tegan had probably guessed the truth. He’d known she was worried for her father and was, perhaps, already regretting her decision to have an affair with Wes. Hearing it didn’t make Brody feel happy or triumphant. It was merely sad that, despite not wanting to, they’d ended up hurting each other and those around them.

‘You’re a good man, Brody, just not the man for me, no matter how much I’ve tried to convince myself that you are. I think it’s best if we both start again, and I do really want you to be happy.’

It was all he could do not to hold Tegan’s hand to comfort her.

‘Thanks for having the courage to say that. The past few months have been pretty horrible for both of us, but I think we need to do the right thing, right now, and hope it will be OK.’

She sighed, then nodded. ‘That’s all we can do.’

Finally he picked up her hand. ‘Come on then. Let’s tell them together.’