‘That you have the loveliest eyes! Like when you go on holiday and you can’t quite believe the sea can be that blue.’
‘Aww that’s adorable,’ said Effie clapping her hands together. ‘What else?’
‘She loved how passionate you were about cooking and setting up the restaurant. She admired you for that. And she liked how you didn’t judge her when she bought a jumpsuit like the one she already had. She was especially impressed that you were comfortable to share that you were a huge Mariah Carey fan.’
‘Goodness, Winnie, did you tell her I suck my thumb as well?’
Winnie cleared her throat. ‘No. Like I say I am really very sorry for upsetting you and Liv. She liked you. She really did,’ said Winnie. ‘I’m sure this can be fixed. Did I do anything against the law?’ She looked cautiously at Robbie.
‘Nothing criminal thankfully, Winnie. I’d hate to have to arrest you. My mother would be furious,’ he said. ‘And on that note, I absolutely have to go now,’ he added making for the door.
‘You do,’ said Fraser. ‘I hope the turkey’s okay. If not tell your mam to add some butter to the gravy and brush that mixture over the top of the sliced turkey, cover it in foil and whack it back in the oven while she serves everything else.’
‘Thank you,’ said Robbie. He kissed Effie briefly and left.
Fraser and Effie turned to look at Winnie still gripping her frame in the doorway. ‘I am truly sorry, Fraser. Liv was a lovely young woman and you two were an excellent match. The app said so.’ She gave a stilted smile and shuffled off down the hall.
Once he thought Winnie was out of earshot Fraser turned to his cousin. ‘What the hell?’ he said. ‘Now what do I do?’
Effie rolled her lips together and thought. ‘I think only you can make that decision,’ she said and she went back into the library, leaving Fraser alone.
‘Don’t be a choob! You need to go after her,’ called Winnie from the other end of the hallway.
40
Liv’s Christmas had been exactly what she’d needed. It was just her, her mum and sister and that was great. They didn’t need men in their lives. Men just complicated everything. They made women have unrealistic expectations of life and themselves, and they left dirty socks lying around – eurgh. No, they didn’t need that, especially not when they had Prosecco, leftover turkey sandwiches and a tin of chocolates.
Liv put her hand in the tin and pulled out a Snickers. She dropped it like it was a turd. Though in fairness Snickers bars did kind of remind her of poo. She tried again – Snickers. What the hell? She peered into the tin. There was just Snickers left and there were only four of those. ‘Who ate all the chocolates?’ she asked sitting up a bit straighter to identify the culprit. There were little piles of wrappers on the arm of her mum’s chair, on the sofa next to Charlotte and on the floor by her own leg. Liv’s pile was by far the biggest. She was surprised, also impressed and a little nauseous at the discovery. She hastily scrunched up the wrappers and clambered to her feet.
‘I think I’m going home,’ said Liv, nudging her sleeping sister as she headed for the kitchen.
‘Huh, no more for me,’ said Charlotte looking slightly dazed as she came to and tried to focus on the flashing lights of the Christmas tree. ‘Did you put those on the psycho setting again?’ she asked. ‘You know that gives me migraines.’ Charlotte always exaggerated.
‘I’ll watch the rest of this tomorrow,’ said their mum switching off the telly.
‘I was watching that,’ said Liv, pausing in the doorway.
‘You said you were going back to Charlotte’s.’
‘Yeah but I was going to watch the end of that first.’ Liv tried and failed to stifle a giant yawn. She was tired. And as per tradition they would be doing it all again tomorrow but with cold turkey and no presents, so she might as well give in. She put the evidence of her chocolate feast in the bin and returned to the living room. Charlotte was already on her feet and had packed her presents neatly into the bag she’d brought with her. Liv’s were still in a heap with a mix of scraps of wrapping paper and yet more chocolate wrappers – how many had she eaten?
‘I’ll leave my stuff so I can have a proper look at them tomorrow,’ she said. ‘But I’ll post the DNA thing.’ She picked up the envelope. She’d done the swab as per the instructions and she was quite intrigued to get the results if only to prove to Charlotte that she wasn’t three parts Neanderthal. She grabbed her coat from the hook in the hall and put the envelope in her pocket. She chucked Charlotte’s coat at her and it landed on her head.
‘No plans to grow up anytime soon then?’ asked her sister.
‘Maybe next year if I’ve room on my resolutions list.’ Liv grinned at Charlotte.
‘Stop fighting, girls. Now give me a kiss. I’m going to make a hot water bottle and go to bed.’ She hugged them both. ‘Thanks for a perfect day and for all my lovely presents.’ Liv could have sworn her mum frowned at the toilet seat she’d bought her.
There were more hugs before they were finally outside and could hear the sound of their mum rapidly bolting the door and putting lights out. They walked down the path and both did their coats up that last centimetre as the full force of the chill enveloped them.
‘It’s a bit parky,’ said Charlotte.
‘It’s nothing compared to—’
‘Scotland,’ cut in Charlotte. ‘Yeah, you said.’
‘Are you sick of me going on about it?’
