‘I’ll miss this place.’ I murmur into Nate’s shoulder.
He tilts his head to the side, scanning the villa like he’s committing it to memory. ‘We’ll come back for a holiday one day.’
‘I’m going to miss you so much!’ Savannah shouts from the doorway.
I blow her a kiss. ‘You’ll see me in a couple of days, you loon!’
Clarissa invited everyone to the wedding. Even Savannah’s fathers. This is going to rightly fuck with my mother’s table plan, but who am I to argue with the bride?
The thought of facing my parents and extended family members after everything still sets a fresh wave of panic through me, but with Nate by my side, I know I can do it.
It’s taken most of the month, and repeated reassurance from pretty much everyone here, to realise that I did nothing wrong. I just hope my parents can see it that way.
‘Ready?’ Nate’s head dips to mine.
‘Yep.’ I smile as he opens the car door for me.
I hop in and let down the window, waving to my friends and family as we shout our goodbyes.
‘Text me when you get there safely.’ Savannah calls.
‘Yes mom.’ I exhale a happy sigh.
‘Be safe,’ Conor calls, raising his hand in a wave. His focus is on Nate, who nods back silently like Conor just asked him to take care of his little sister.
The car slopes down the driveway. ‘You okay?’ Nate’s eyes dart sideways.
‘I’m good.’ And I mean it. I’m putting my blind trust in him, but it feels good.
We cruise through the tiny roads in search of the motorway. ‘Are you looking forward to going home?’ I fiddle with the radio, trying to find some Christmas music.
He readjusts himself in his seat. ‘I don’t know, to be honest.’
‘Why haven’t you been home in years? Your parents are amazing. I can’t wait to meet your sisters.’ John Lennon’s timeless Christmas classic begins, but I turn the radio down to hear Nate better.
He indicates and switches lanes. A heavy sigh whooshes from his chest. ‘The neighbours.’
‘What about them?’ Curiosity kindles in my chest
His Adam’s apple bobs. ‘Sally-Ann and Niall live next door.’
‘Oh.’
‘And you’ve avoided them because you were still hurt?’ I try to keep the worry from snaking into my voice. If he still cares, does that mean he still has feelings for her?
He blows out another big breath. ‘It was awkward, that’s all. Niall was my best friend. I didn’t just lose Sally when she called it a day. I lost him too.’
Sympathy floods through my veins. ‘And now? Will you be okay?’
He lifts my hand and presses the back of it to his lips. ‘More than okay. Mam’s doing dinner for the four of us tonight. Then tomorrow, the madness begins.’
‘Madness?’ I raise my eyebrows.
‘My sisters will start arriving. It’ll be bedlam. There’ll be hair straighteners strewn all over the place. Make-up all over the bathroom. The place will stink like a perfume parlour. Natalie will beg me to set her up with Tom Cruise over the eggnog, even though he’s probably old enough to be her grandad, and I’ve never met the man in my life. Stella’s kids will be so excited they’ll use the couch like a climbing frame whilst devouring every ounce of chocolate they can lay their grubby hands on, even the liqueurs. Ava will pop the Prosecco at eight am, and continue to drink it all day, every day, claiming ‘it’s the season to be jolly,’ while trying to convince me to invest in her latest business venture, of which there have been many. And Faith will probably try to convince me to buy her another house because the three-thousand-square-foot one in Skerries that I already bought doesn’t have a big enough garden. It’s going to be noisy.’
My eyes widen. ‘It sounds like bedlam.’ The polar opposite to any Christmas I’ve ever experienced.
‘It will be. But hopefully the best kind.’ The corners of his eyes crinkle with a smile.
