‘Honestly, don’t worry your pretty little head about it – it’s already all taken care of,’ Carole assured her. ‘I’m going to have my niece come in and help me. She’s looking to earn a little extra pocket money over the school break. You stay home and look after your budding hockey player OK?’
‘So what you are telling me is that I am easily replaced by a seventeen year old, is that it?’
‘Not quite. I certainly won’t be letting Tasha loose on the deliveries or we’d be seeing lots ofhaute coutureon Father Mike’s crew,’ Carole laughed jovially. ‘But she’s competent enough to man the cash register, answer the phone and clean up the dressing rooms, which is more than enough for the moment. It will be fine, Holly, and besides, you need to be with Danny. If you’re here you’ll just be worried about him. Anyway, I suspect you don’t have a whole lot of options for a sitter over the holidays? Unless you and Nick are really back on good terms.’
‘Not that good,’ Holly told her, although Nick had phoned on Christmas night and talked to Danny, much to her son’s delight. Maybe her ex really was dedicated to being a better father from now on?. She hoped that this time he truly meant it, unlike when after 9/11 he’d come back from California full of promises and great intentions to be there for Holly and the baby. That day had given him a huge shock – had brought him to senses and reminded him of what truly mattered, he’d said.
And for a while Nick had been true to his word, until eventually life got in the way of good intentions …
Nonetheless, she was a long way from calling on him to take care of Danny while she went to work.
‘Well, I’d certainly appreciate it while he’s still off school, but I promise I’ll be back before the end of the week, OK? You are bound to be busy with last-minute crowds coming in for stuff for New Year’s Eve. Speaking of which, did Jessica end up buying any of the dresses?’ she asked, referring to Margot Mead’s assistant who’d been in the store when Holly had had to rush off to the hospital.
‘Yes, she ended up buying a couple actually.’
‘Great. The red oneandthe Givenchy?’ Holly felt a little sad, knowing that she would never see Anna Bowery’s stunning dress again. It had been so wonderful to admire and daydream about it in the short time it had been at the store. ‘Good for her. It looked amazing on her, and she’ll have lots of occasion to wear it. I think I might miss it though,’ she chuckled.
‘Speaking of Jessica, any more progress on the bracelet?’ Carole asked.
‘Well … ’ She wasn’t sure whether or not to mention to Carole her theory about the ‘Date to Remember’ charm and a supposed meeting place on New Year’s Eve. It was just that – a theory and a bit of a big long shot when she thought about it.
‘I’m going to start cross-referencing those lists she gave me,’ she told Carole. ‘See if there’s anything that jumps out from there. And I might give that gallery owner a call too, see if he’s found anything out in the meantime.’
She reached for her bag and pulled out the masses of paper she had thrown in there a few days before. The lists were by now in complete disarray, and she picked out Danny’s hospital discharge and treatment papers she had shoved in there as well. She tried to organise the lists as she spoke to Carole, realising everything was by now hopelessly out of order.
‘I think I’ve made a mess of it already, though. I don’t even know which list is which. Damn … ’ Holly said, shuffling through the paper before casting the lot aside. ‘It’s like every time I turn around there is more information to consider, not less. Given what I’ve already discovered, I would have thought that the possibilities would have started to narrow themselves down now.’
‘Well, good luck with it anyway. I’m sure you’ll work something out,’ Carole said. ‘On the plus side, it’ll give you something to do while you’re playing nursemaid,’ she teased.
Holly thanked her again and the two women said their goodbyes.
When she hung up, Holly checked on Danny, who was happily engrossed in his trusty iPad, before turning her attention to the bracelet once again.
Part of the paperwork Jessica had given her was a list of attendees at a charity benefit that took place yearly on 31 December.
Following her revelation during the movie on Christmas Day, Holly wondered if it were as simple as that – that the owner of the lost bracelet was somewhere on the list and might turn up at the same event on New Year’s Eve this year.
Same Time, Same Place?
And, even if this was the case, what was she supposed to do – turn up at the benefit on New Year’s Eve, and just stand outside asking people on the way in if they’d lost a bracelet? She’d probably be chased away by security.
No, Holly thought, deflated, in truth it was highly unlikely she’d be able to figure everything out by New Year’s Eve – which was now only days away.
52
Ilay my head back against the mass of pillows that Maria has so expertly arranged on the bed. I feel restless, and that ‘cool spot’ that I so eagerly search for proves to be elusive. I decide to think of cold things – maybe it would help. The feel of the ocean in the Hamptons; some delicious ice-cream treat from Serendipity; snow. Like the snow that fluttered down onto Central Park just outside my window.
What I wouldn’t give to go lie in the snow! The thought is so fleeting, it makes me wonder about the last time I voluntarily lay down to make a snow angel, or feel gentle snowflakes on my skin. I look longingly at the window across from my bed; it was my one companion in this room.
Just feet away, on the other side of the glass, was winter, and I imagined the wind that rushed down Fifth Avenue right at this moment, the smell of hot chocolate as it cascaded out of a café, and the ice skaters at Rockefeller. I imagined myself in those places; at the very least I wished that I could press my cheek against the cold glass that presented all of the city to me. A city I had known so intimately my whole life.
I shake my head, thinking of times past, before everything had happened. I wish I could take back all of the times I complained about being too hot, or too cold, or being bored, or too busy. I wish I could have all those times back, and just be happy to be in the moment. All of my little complaints seem so silly, so trite, especially now.
I sleep and wake again, not sure if it is the same day or another day.
I feel confused sometimes, and I’m not always sure if my pain is real or just imagined. Or how much of it is due to the battle raging in my body or the fear that seems to have settled upon my heart.
I don’t want to think this way, about that. I really want to believe, just like any challenge of my life, that this, too, will be something that I will eventually conquer, overcome. That I have the opportunity to go on. Yes, I’ve had a good life – an amazing life-but when does one ever stop wanting more? Dreaming of what is yet to come? It just wasn’t fair.
