Page 13 of Every Christmas Eve
‘Women, beer and poker, that’s what he’s taught me,’ Ben said with a nod in my direction, which I knew couldn’t be further from the truth. ‘Everything bad, I’ve learned it from my Uncle Eric. He is the definition of a rebel, or the black sheep of the family if you want to put it bluntly.’
Uncle Eric threw his head back and laughed so heartily, I thought he might explode. He was a handsome man in his late fifties, and like his nephew – who I was by now totally besotted with – he oozed charm and good manners and was a treat to be around. But he certainly wasn’t a womaniser in any shape or form. He’d told me about his secret one truelove one morning in this very room when we indulged in coffee and scones smothered in jam and cream while putting the world to rights.
‘I stand over all of my bold behaviour with pride,’ he said, keeping the joke going. ‘On that note, have I told you about the new lady in my life? A barrister from Malahide called Sue with the most beautiful set of—’
‘All right, Uncle Eric!’ I said quickly. I wasn’t sure if this part was true or not.
‘Teeth, I was going to say, Lou,’ Uncle Eric continued without so much as a pause. ‘Honestly, I’ve no idea what you thought I was going to say.’
I was mortified at that, while Ben chuckled beside me. Uncle Eric was on a roll.
‘Her late husband was a dentist, so she has a smile that would light up any room.’
‘Is Sue a real person, though, that is the question,’ Ben said, which made me giggle. Uncle Eric could give out banter, but he could also take it. ‘Cordelia and I have this long-held idea that our dear uncle might not be telling us the whole truth about his love life. How would we really know? Mary the former beauty queen was never to be seen in real life, Maggie the actress disappeared into thin air, and now there’s Sue the barrister with the perfect set of teeth. Sometimes we think they’re all a figment of his imagination. We’ve never actually seen or met any of them. And don’t get him started on his secret one true love.’
‘Oh, I’m totally up to speed with that one,’ I chirp in. ‘Though her identity remains a mystery to us all.’
‘As if I’d bring any of my lady friends here to Ballyheaney House,’ joked Uncle Eric in return, rubbing his hands together again. ‘I’d never hold on to them if they met my crazy family.’
‘Crazy?’ said Ben. ‘Look who’s talking!’
‘I’m kidding, Lou, you do know that?’ Uncle Eric declared. ‘My niece, my nephew and their parents are my actual favourite people, and you, my darling, are right up there too. You earned that place when you brightened up Ballyheaney House all summer. And now it’s Christmas Eve. How blessed are we to have you on our team.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, pursing my lips with pride.
‘And she’s my favourite too,’ said Ben, which made me drop a silver spoon right out of my hands and on to the round mahogany table. ‘I may be dressed like I’ve been dragged out of a ditch, but doesn’t Lou look stunning in her red, Uncle Eric?’
‘Truly scrumptious,’ said Ben’s uncle. ‘Absolutely splendid and with all the grace of her dear … all the grace of a swan gliding along the still waters on Lough Beg.’
I wondered if Uncle Eric was going to say something else and then changed his mind, but I didn’t have the courage to ask so I quietly accepted the compliment instead. I’d bought a new woollen red dress especially for the occasion, one which both my parents and even my grandmother complimented without me even having to ask. I’d worn lipstick to match and applied an extra layer of mascara to emphasise my brown eyes.
‘I mean this earnestly when I say that without Lou duringthe summer, I don’t know how your parents would have managed,’ Uncle Eric said, clasping his hands together as he spoke. ‘And that is no exaggeration. Little Eve is like a baby to her, isn’t that right, duck?’
Uncle Eric had affectionately called me ‘duck’ since a day in the summer when I’d had a run-in with Ballyheaney House’s flock of mallards which left me in hysterics. Once I’d got over my shock and embarrassment, I too saw the humour in it, and I named him ‘goose’ in return.
‘Little Eve holds a very special place in my heart and always will,’ I replied, much to Uncle Eric’s satisfaction. ‘It’s her birthday today, of course, so I’ve brought her a gift. It’s a new blanket, so I’ll slip off and give it to her later when everything is up and running.’
Ben put a friendly hand on my shoulder while I polished the last batch of knives, forks and spoons. They were heavy and were stamped with a silver hallmark, a bit like the fancy set my parents used for special occasions only.
‘Well, in that case I’ll let you both get on with it,’ said Uncle Eric. As much as I had come to adore the older man, I was more than happy for him to read the room. I was keen to have Ben all to myself as much as possible. ‘I’ll see you on the dance floor later, eh, Lou?’
‘That’s a date,’ I told him as he strode out, leaving me with a huge smile on my face and what felt like an orchestra of crickets in my tummy.
‘As long as you save the last dance for me,’ said Ben, moving his chair closer to mine. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am to be here with you at last, Lou.’
I carried on polishing the cutlery, unable to wipe the grin off my face. If happiness was a person, it would have looked exactly like me.
‘Same, Ben,’ I whispered. ‘This is cosy, isn’t it?’
I could hear him breathe beside me, then we both sang along to the Christmas songs on my CD like we were the only two people in the world.
When our first set of chores were done, we made a point of slipping off to see Little Eve at the stable, feeling like Romeo and Juliet hiding their attraction out of plain sight, though I didn’t stop to wonder why.
Ben had been very open and honest with his uncle when he said I was his favourite, and that was good enough for me. After all, I hadn’t told my parents how close he and I had become either. I feared they’d warn me off, that they would be concerned that someone like Ben Heaney would never be serious with someone like me.
So I said nothing to my family. And Ben, it seemed, hadn’t said anything to his either.
‘Hey, Sally. Happy birthday, Little Eve,’ I cooed as soon as we reached our hiding place. It was warm in the stable – well, warmer than outside, where the morning dew had frozen crispy and white at the lawn’s edges. ‘Look what I have for you.’
