Rosie
If there was one thing guaranteed to make you aware of the cracks in your own relationship it was being in the same room as a happy couple.
Rosie rescued a decoration that Percy had managed to knock onto the floor and hung it on a higher branch of the tree. The living room was ready for the small invasion of people later, the food was all prepared and the house looked like a Christmas grotto. This was normally her favourite part of the season, with Christmas still ahead and all the family gathering together.
Today she felt tired. Keeping up her happy act was draining. Her grandmother had already asked her twice if she was sure she was okay (being pregnant can make you emotional, you know), and it had taken all her willpower not to sob on her shoulder.
She would have talked to her dad if she could have found a moment alone with him, but he hadn’t been around earlier and now he was in the study with her grandfather, supposedly working on the famous book that no one in the family believed would ever really be finished.
Her mother was in the kitchen again, putting the finishing touches to an elaborate cake.
Jamie and Hayley were sprawled together on the sofa, scrolling through photos on his phone, occasionally laughing at something. Her head was on his shoulder and her fingers were entwined with his.
Rosie felt a shaft of envy, remembering when she would have done exactly that with Declan.
She rearranged the presents under the tree and sneaked a glance at him. He was reading, settled in an armchair close to the fire.
Had he chosen that chair on purpose so that Rosie couldn’t join him?
And would she have wanted to?
Why was she such an overthinker? It wasexhausting.All she really wanted for Christmas was a personality transplant.
“Rosie?”
She glanced up to see her grandmother standing in the doorway clutching her dress.
“Granny.”
“You said you’d help me fix this, dear, but if you’re busy—”
“I’m not busy.” She was relieved to have something else to think about. “Show me the problem.”
“I was planning to wear it for the party tonight but there’s a little tear in the fabric. I’m worried that if I wear it, it might get worse.”
Rosie took the dress and examined it. “I can fix that easily. I’ll put a little tuck in it, so the repair will vanish into the folds.”
“The fabric isn’t easy to work with.”
“It’s fine. Easier than all the tulle I used for the Sugar Plum Fairy. The repair won’t show, I promise.” She turned it inside out and smoothed the fabric, working out how best to do it.
“I love this dress,” her grandmother said. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever owned.”
Jamie glanced up and grinned. “Nothing to do with the fact that your granddaughter made it?”
Phyllis lifted her chin. “Actually, no. This dress makes me feel special. When I’m wearing it I feel like my best self. I know it suits me, and that’s because it is well designed and well made. Left to my own devices I would have chosen something safe. Probably black, navy or caramel because at my age I don’t have the confidence to wear a colour, but Rosie insisted on gold. I’ve never worn gold in my life before.” She reached out and touched the dress almost reverentially. “Rosie has such a talent. She’s very gifted, but all you science and mathematically minded people don’t notice. Declan? Do you realise how extraordinary your wife is?”
There was a silence, and Rosie saw Declan lift his gaze from the book and look at her.
“Yes,” he said softly. “Yes, I do.”
Rosie’s cheeks caught fire. She couldn’t believe her grandmother had put him in that position. What was he supposed to say?My wife can barely turn on her own laptop, orit would be nice if she could hold an intelligent conversation with my colleagues?
“You’re embarrassing me, Granny.” She grabbed her mother’s sewing box from its hiding place on the lower shelf of the bookcase and settled down on the empty sofa. Percy immediately sprang onto the sofa next to her, settling himself against her leg. “Don’t come too close, darling. I’m using needles. I don’t want to turn you into a pincushion.”
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed. You should be proud. When she was young, she had no confidence.” She was still addressing Declan, who had closed his book and was listening politely. “Thought she wasn’t as clever as her sister and brother.”
What was her grandmother trying to do?
