Page 20 of Could It Be Magic?
Nick took a breath to reply, but before he could think about what the hell to say, another voice, overly bright and trying hard to disguise its shock, emanated from just inside the shop.
‘I’ll be off now, Nick,’ Thea said. ‘See you on Thursday.’
As Tally gave him a long look, and Thea’s departing back hurried across the car park, Nick cursed the mistletoe that was hanging innocently above his head.
18
Thea couldn’t disguise the green, sick feeling of jealousy that shot through her, and continued to do so, as she hurried to her car and drove home. This is stupid, she thought. She had no claim on Nick, other than as his friend. If he wanted to kiss the glamorous and confident Tally under the mistletoe, then he was more than able to. The rational centre of her brain made all of these arguments calmly as she commuted the short distance between Saints’ Farm and her house. The emotional core of her body just screamed louder and made her feel nauseated.
Nick Saint wasn’t hers. He’d never been hers, and he never would be hers. They were friends, nothing more. To say the truth, reason and love keep little company these days, she thought wryly. The memories of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which Year 6 had performed a version of in the summer, provoked her face into a brief smile, despite her racing heart.
She pulled into her driveway and hurried through the front door, relieved, finally, to be able to sit down at last. Waves of exhaustion washed over her, and she was so tired that the sight of Cora briskly filling the kettle and popping tea bags into two mugs, made her eyes fill with tears.
‘Thanks, darling,’ she murmured, placing a kiss on the girl’s forehead as she ambled into the living room and collapsed on the sofa. It felt like the most comfortable seat in the world after a long, long day.
‘Biccy?’ Cora called from the kitchen.
‘Two, please,’ Thea replied.
‘Must have been a tough night.’
You have no idea, Thea thought.
Five minutes later, she and Cora were sipping tea and deciding if there was enough time before bed to slip in a quick episode of Friends on Netflix. That might be another thing that would have to go in the new year, so Thea decided that there definitely was time. As Ross pined after Rachel for the umpteenth time, Thea wanted to scream at the television.
‘Everything been all right here?’ she asked.
‘Fine,’ Cora replied. ‘Dylan crashed out about half an hour ago, but he asked me to remind you that you said you’d get the Christmas decorations down when you got back.’
Thea groaned. ‘The last thing I feel like doing right now is going into the crawl space.’
‘I don’t mind doing it,’ Cora said eagerly.
‘Nope, sorry kiddo – there’s no way I’m letting you loose up a ladder!’
‘Well, you can break the news to him tomorrow, then,’ Cora said.
Thea sighed. She knew she should really stand firm on it, but she had promised Dylan.
‘Let me just finish this glorious cuppa and I’ll get the stepladder out.’
The two of them drank their tea in companionable silence, and as the credits rolled on the episode of Friends, Thea heaved herself back up from the sofa. ‘Can you hold the steps for me?’
‘Yeah.’ Cora ambled through and put the mugs in the dishwasher.
A short time later, Thea was trying to locate the two boxes of decorations, along with the artificial Christmas tree that she’d stowed in the crawl space a year ago. She wasn’t sure if it was tiredness or the darkness in the loft that was causing her to struggle.
‘Can you grab my phone, darling?’ she called down to Cora.
‘Yup. Hang on…’ Cora let go of the ladder and Thea waited. Then, just as Cora was returning, her phone started to ring.
‘Bit late for an actual phone call,’ Thea muttered, trying to stave off the inevitable sense of worry that the ringing phone evoked. She was of a generation that always felt instinctively concerned when the phone rang after eight o’clock at night, and she hoped it wasn’t Lorelai on the other end, or Tristan.
Thankfully, caller ID on the mobile was a godsend in these situations.
‘Nick’s ringing you, Mum,’ Cora called up. ‘Do you want me to answer it?’
Thea nearly lost her footing on the stepladder. ‘Nope. Let it ring.’
