Page 42 of Must Love Christmas

“It’s the nineteenth already,” his father said. “Might go to George Square tomorrow night for the tree lighting. There’ll be fireworks.” He held up a hand. “Sorry, I shouldn’t talk about fun things I’m doing without you.”

“I want you to enjoy yourself while you’re here.” Simon looked back at his tablet, where the advert showed a menagerie of flawlessly CGI’d animals bouncing on a child’s backyard trampoline. “Talking of Christmas, you should make plans to go to Greece without me.”

Simon’s dad halted mid-stretch. “Absolutely not. We’re staying home with you.”

“Look, Da, you said yourself that this could be your last chance to see Yaya and Papou. I don’t want to be the reason you lose that chance.”

“I’m sure there’ll be other—”

“And what about Nana? It’ll definitely be the last time she can make such a long trip.” His mother’s mum had joined them for their last three Greek holidays, ever since losing Simon’s granddad.

“Then we’ll all go in the spring when you’re well again. By then it’ll be warm enough to swim in the sea.”

“You’ll be too busy with landscaping work. Winter is the only time you can take off.” He also knew his parents couldn’t afford to change their nonrefundable flights.

His father gave a defeated sigh, then switched to the other leg. “Maybe you’ll be well enough by Christmas to go with us.”

Simon wanted to at least saymaybe, but then he pictured himself trying to use a wheelchair or walking frame on the steep streets and alleyways of Lindos, his grandparents’ village. Also, the long journey to get there would be torture. Every step of the way, he’d be dependent on others. The mere thought sent a shock of panic through Simon’s chest.

“Anyway,” his father said, “there’s no need to worry about it now.” He grasped Simon’s foot and flexed his ankle back and forth. “We’ll take it one day at a time.”

Simon nodded, though right now, a day felt like too big a chunk. A day meant three meals spoonfed, eight cups of water drunk through a straw someone else had to hold, twelve repositionings to avoid bedsores, and approximately seventy-two hundred times he wanted to scream until his throat gave out.

Oneminuteat a time, more like.

Chapter 9

30 Days UntilChristmas

“What’ll you have?” asked Garen’s counterpart on Team Laing as they entered the warm room to the customary round of applause. Since Laing had just won, it was on them to buy drinks for the traditional post-game “broomstacking” hangout.

“Just an Irn Bru, thanks. Saving my liver for later.” Garen headed for their table with his head held high, hiding his dismay over his first day’s performance at Aberdeen Curl Fest.

He kept up the facade as Team Laing relived the game’s pivotal moments, clearly marveling at their rare defeat of Team Riley.

“You nearly had us in the sixth end,” skip Tommy Laing said to Luca. “You’d have scored five if we’d not got lucky with the frosty ice on the left side.”

“You lads were on fire the whole game.” Luca raised his glass to their opponents.

Garen added a few well-deserved compliments, then checked his phone for texts from Simon. His friend’s mobility had grown by leaps and bounds this week: He’d regained control of his arms and upper legs, could sit up on his own, and could even move between the bed and a wheelchair with assistance.

Best of all, they could now communicate directly instead of through Mr. Andreou. Simon’s fingers were still too clumsy for texting, but he could press the microphone button to dictate, which was usually good for a laugh.

Garen reread this afternoon’s message:

Happy Birthday exclamation mark explanation mark no just put an exclamation mark for fuck sake why is this so hard! There got it

Seeing no further messages since he’d answered that one, Garen texted,Lost again. Hope your day has been better than mineHe hit send, then immediately felt like an insensitive prick.I mean apart from being in hospital with a serious illness. Sorry, he added, then put the phone down with a sigh.

Luca leaned over and murmured, “Don’t worry about today.”

“We can’t win this tournament after losing our first two games.”

“There’s still Challenger Tour points for finishing at least fifth, which we should do if we win all three games tomorrow.” Luca nudged him with his elbow. “Remember the key to our success. When people ask us why we win so much, what do we tell them?”

“Because we’re not afraid to lose.”

“Exactly.” Luca ruffled Garen’s hair. “Maybe we could try a meditation session in the morning to clear our heads.”

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