Page 10 of Christmas Magic at Inishbeg Cove

She was laughing hard as Úna tried to mime a Lady Gaga song, when Conor came up alongside her.

‘I’ll bring you home now if you want,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘You’ve been stuck here long enough, I’m sure you’re eager to get back to work.’

‘Of course…’ she said, snapping back to reality. A feeling that she couldn’t yet identify weighed her down. Suddenly the thought of leaving this warm, family-filled home and returning to her own cold and lonely cottage filled her with dread.

‘Do you have to go?’ Úna turned to Faye, her face creased with disappointment. ‘We’re having so much fun. Why don’t you stay the night?’ she urged. ‘There’s no point in you staying down in that freezing cottage catching your death when we have plenty of spare beds here.’

‘Faye has work to do, Mum,’ Conor answered for her.

She unplugged her laptop from where she had left it charging on a side-table and gathered up her belongings.

‘On Christmas day?’ Paul asked. ‘Surely, Margo doesn’t expect you to work today?’

‘No of course not,’ Faye said quickly, fearing that Paul would have a word with his sister for working her employees too hard. ‘Actually, Margo has me under strict instructions not to work today but I always find it’s a good day to catch up on a few things–’

Úna and Paul both looked at her with something akin to disappointment. ‘I guess so…’ Úna said eventually. ‘Well thank you for joining us, Faye. It was nice to meet you.’

She said goodbye to everyone and followed Conor outside into the night where the cold air hit her skin like a slap. The navy-blue sky was studded with jewel like stars as she climbed up into the tractor. Conor started the engine and his family gathered on the front step to wave her off. As Conor turned the tractor in the direction of her cottage, she waved goodbye to them all.

‘Thank you, Conor,’ she said.

‘Well look… I know you had your own plans but at least Mum can tell Margo that she’s done her bit,’ Conor said concentrating on keep the tractor on the road.

Faye felt her heart sink. Was that how they saw her? As an inconvenience that needed to be crossed off the family’s to-do list? Despite her initial reluctance to join Conor’s family for Christmas day, she was surprised to discover she had enjoyed herself. The Flynn family had been so warm, so welcoming, that it was hard not to get caught up in their festive spirit.

She fell quiet, looking out the window at the inky darkness until he pulled up outside Mistletoe Cottage.

‘Goodnight, Conor.’

‘Goodnight,’ he said as she climbed down from the tractor. She closed the door and began walking towards the door of the cottage as he turned the tractor to go back up the hill. She thought about the warmth of the family she had left behind and shivered. Suddenly she didn’t want to be alone. She ran back over and waved him down on the road.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, opening the door to her.

‘I was just wondering if you em… well… do you want to come in?’ She found herself holding her breath for his response. What the hell was she doing?

‘Don’t you have work to do?’ he asked.

She shook her head and sighed. ‘Maybe your mother was right, Christmas isn’t a day for work.

He nodded and silenced the engine. He hopped down into the snow. ‘I’ll help you get the fire started.’

6

Faye put her key in the door and Conor followed her inside. They both knelt in front of the stove and he helped her to pile the logs into it, while she stacked up the firelighters and then lit the match. The whole room glowed orange as the flames licked the timber when the fire eventually took hold.

‘Will you stay for a drink?’ she asked. ‘I mean unless you have to get back… It’d be my way to say thank you for a lovely day.’

‘Alright then. I need to fortify myself before heading back to the madness,’ he laughed.

She took one of the bottles she had bought in O’Herlihy’s out of the cupboard and uncorked it. She found two wine glasses in another press and poured two generous glasses. They both sat down on the sofa with the crackling of the logs as the only sound. They left their coats on and only when the room eventually began to heat up, did they dare remove them.

‘Right then, I’ll leave you to it,’ Conor said when he had finished his glass.

‘Don’t go–’ the words slipped out before she even realised it. ‘

He cocked his head and looked at her sceptically.

‘I mean… only if you want to stay…’ she added.