‘We’re talking sausage rolls,’ Hayley said. ‘You’ll be fine.’
‘We’re all really pleased you found your dad, Angel,’ Dean said, smiling at his niece.
Oliver raised his glass. ‘I’d like to give thanks to your mom too.’
‘Oh stop, you’ll make me redder than the cranberry sauce,’ Hayley said, picking up her napkin.
‘I had no idea that a chance meeting around the fire exit at aChinese restaurant was going to turn my life upside down.’ He smiled. ‘But I do know that trying to escape that night was the best move I ever made.’
‘Slushier than a Slush Puppy,’ Angel remarked, rolling her eyes but smiling at the same time.
‘And I want to make a toast to Angel.’ Oliver looked at her. ‘For letting me see the logo before the fundraiser so I could get my speech just right.’
‘You!’ Hayley exclaimed.
‘What can I say? He needed direction,’ Angel responded.
‘To Angel. Who might need some help putting together a model replica of the White House later on,’ Oliver toasted.
Hayley watched Angel’s eyes poke out of her head. ‘I’ve got one?!’
‘To Angel,’ everyone chorused.
Hayley began to cough loudly, clearing her throat and banging her hand on the table. ‘I thought it was women and children first and you jumped the queue, Clark.’ She smiled at her companions. ‘Now it’s my turn.’ She took a breath. ‘I want to say thank you to my brother and Vernon for putting up with all the high drama I seem to have brought to New York with me. I’m just hoping spending time with Angel has made up for it.’
‘It’s all been a pleasure, darling,’ Vernon stated.
‘I love a bit of high drama,’ Dean said.
Hayley looked at Cynthia. ‘Thank you to Cynthia for giving me a wonderful opportunity to use my creativity and also for having faith that I could pull it off. I wasn’t sure myself until the foil butterflies fell from the ceiling and we recaptured the magician’s rabbit, but we did it and it raised loads of money and the press raved about it.’
Everyone clapped their hands together and Hayley did a half bow before sitting still, looking to Angel.
‘What can I say about my girl here? She’s everything to me, my daughter, my best friend and sometimes the biggest pain in the?—’
‘Do you know there are at least eleven different words for bottom,’ Angel stated.
‘I was going to say neck,’ Hayley filled in, smiling. ‘She has been the best thing in my life for nine and a half years and I don’t know where I’d be without her.’ She sniffed. ‘And I’m so glad you got your wish. Michel, like me, is so lucky to have a wonderful daughter like you.’
Hayley waved her hand in front of her face as the tears began to fall.
‘To Angel,’ Oliver offered, lifting his glass.
‘No! Hang on! I haven’t finished yet.’ She composed herself. ‘I want to give thanks for you, Oliver.’ She swallowed. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re warm and you’re funny and equally complex and completely irritating but you get me and I get you. And when I talk about random things, you just instinctively know what to say. I’ve never had that before and I know how challenging I am and… I just want to say…’ She swallowed again, struggling to get the words out. ‘To Oliver.’
‘To Oliver,’ everyone repeated.
‘Do you wanna build a snowman?’ Oliver asked later that afternoon.
‘Oh my,Frozenhumour? I think that’s been slightly overdone,’ Hayley responded, yawning from her seat on the couch.
‘We can’t move right now. The White House is at a critical stage and it’s only an hour until my dad comes to pick me up,’ Angel exclaimed, her eyes on the building she, Dean and Vernon were constructing.
‘Come on, Hayley, forgetFrozen; humourme. You’ve got new gloves, remember?’ Oliver encouraged. ‘Mom?’ He looked to Cynthia.
‘I’m good here, watching Angel create this masterpiece. I might move in when it’s finished,’ she responded.
‘Come on, up, off the sofa,’ Oliver said, grabbing Hayley’s hand and wrestling her off the couch.
