Page 101 of I’m Dreaming of a New York Christmas

‘Yeah, I guess that makes sense, especially after Sophie.’

My stomach dropped to my sore feet.

Who the fuck is Sophie?

‘Yeah, exactly,’ I replied, feigning understanding.

He’s allowed to have an ex, Flora. Stop panicking.

Ethan returned, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Come with me; my parents want to thank you!’

‘Umm, okay…’

I looked to Elle with a comical grimace, and she saw me off with a double thumbs-up.

‘There she is!’ his mum exclaimed, pulling me towards her for a hug as if the world’s most cringeworthy ‘meet the parents’ experience the other day had never happened. The last time she’d clapped eyes on me I’d been stuck in a beanbag.

‘Hey, are you having a nice day?’ I asked, once I’d been released from her grip.

This was the first time I’d spoken to Chrissie since I’d arrived. She was dressed from head to toe in emerald green, right down to her sparkly, slingback shoes, which were pointed at the toe. I couldn’t help think she looked a little bit like a festive elf, out on the town having a rare night off from Santa’s workshop.

‘Oh, the best! I finally got to go to one of my boys’ weddings!’

‘Mum, please, I—’

But Chrissie dismissed Ethan’s words with a wave of her hand. ‘But what I really want to talk to you about is that speech! I must admit, when Eethy told me the other day he was still working on it, I panicked. But now I can understand why. Oh, it was perfect, Flora! I’m not a crier but remembering that road trip really brought a tear to my eye, and Ethan said that was all your idea?’

‘Yeah, I mean, it seemed like it was a really nice memory for you all?’

‘Oh, it was. That trip took months of planning – months. But it was all worth it, wasn’t it, Saul?’

Ethan’s dad attempted a nod, although his head was lolling about in wild directions thanks to his drunken state.

‘And now Ethan just gave me this!’ Chrissie removed the bound book of his speech cartoons from her handbag.

‘Aww, you got one printed for your parents, too?’

Ethan nodded, his hands shoved in his pockets like an embarrassed teenager.

‘That’s so sweet,’ I said, instinctively resting my head on his shoulder, before snapping it back up.

‘It’s okay, Flora,’ Chrissie said, who hadn’t missed the intimate body language moment. ‘Ethan told us everything. It’s all a little… unexpected, but it’s the happiest we’ve seen him in long, long time.’

She squeezed my arm briefly – a gesture I interpreted as a blessing for whatever was happening between me and her youngest son. He and I really needed to have a conversation.

‘Hey, can we get some fresh air out the front?’ I asked Ethan, once his parents had moved on to another group of people.

‘Absolutely,’ he said, steering me back through to the bar area and then through the doors at the front. It was a brutally cold evening, but the air was the stillest it had been since I’d arrived. He slipped his suit jacket off and draped it around my shoulders, pulling up the lapel to give my neck an extra inch of protection as we leaned against a wall.

‘You look so good, Flora.’

We rested our foreheads against each other for a while, before the lower halves of our faces joined the party.

After a couple of minutes, our mouths parted, and we sighed in unison, resuming our wall leaning.

‘Hey, who’s Sophie?’

‘Fuck, who told you? I can explain…’