Page 35 of Meet Me In Central Park

‘Sadly I haven’t got 1 per cent of Parsy’s talent.’

‘But you know who he is?’ Rob and Dannie would never let me hear the end of it if they were right about DeShawn. The fact I’d be around to hear them say ‘I told you so’, made me smile.

‘I know who she is.’

‘She? Oh my God, it’s Paula.’ I didn’t need him to answer, I already knew I was right, but he nodded anyway.

‘It is. Sometimes she gets me in to help with parts of the wall she can’t reach, but mostly she just adjusts her chair to do it all. But you can’t breathe a word, she’s really insistent about that. She thinks that using the wheelchair is what’s helped her disguise that she’s Parsy for so long. And she even times her tweets, so that they appear automatically, and no one will work out that’s it her. Like she did at the Community Center.’ Harry smiled, and I looked at the artwork on the wall behind him properly for the first time. It was unmistakeably my parents, standing in the Ladies Pavilion that overlooked one of the lakes in Central Park.

‘And what about this one, did you help with this?’

‘No. Paula took a photograph of the screensaver on your phone weeks ago, with the picture of your parents. I think she originally planned just to do you a painting, but the recent turn of events required something more dramatic. I was five hours in the direction of Florida when she called me, so she had to get DeShawn to help her with this one. We cordoned off the arch when I got here, in the early hours of this morning, so no one would find out that another Parsy had appeared, before we were ready.’

‘It’s beautiful and I can’t believe she’s done this for me, that you all have. You don’t think the park authorities will cover it up, do you?’ I wanted to touch it, but I was scared the paint might still be wet, and I couldn’t bear for anything to spoil it. It was perfect, and my parents were finally in New York. Right there on the wall, in front of me. The kindness and friendship of the people I’d met here had been such an unexpected surprise, and no Christmas gift I could ever be given would even come close to how much all of that meant to me.

‘Not when it’s a Parsy; there’d be a riot if they even talked about covering it up.’

‘Is she called that because she went to Parsons?’

‘How did you know?’

‘Because I thought it was you, that day you came to the art jam and your sleeves were covered in paint. I remembered you said you’d gone to Parsons, and I just put two and two together and made five.’

‘She did that one without any help. I really was up most of the night, working on my submission for the agent.’

‘Have you heard anything?’

‘I got a call yesterday to tell me they want to represent me, and they’ll start sending it out to publishers in the New Year. I was going to tell you when we went to the Empire State Building, when I thought it was turning into the perfect Christmas Eve.’

The boulder was back in my throat. I’d ruined his perfect day, when he’d worked so hard to give me mine and to make me feel at home in his city. ‘That’s fantastic news, Harry, but I’m so sorry…’

‘You’ve got to stop saying that. I get it now, and I’m sorry that you were hurt, but in a weird kind of way, I’m glad about what happened to you last night, if that’s what it took to make you realise that this is where you should be.’

‘I’m glad too, but will you at least let me try and make it up to you?’ I moved to kiss him, but he stepped back. And for a moment I wasn’t sure if he’d forgiven me at all.

‘There’s one more thing I need to show you, first.’ I held on to his hand as he led me through the park towards the row of benches where he’d found me crying that first day, reading Grace and Charlie’s plaque. ‘I might not be able to produce something as spectacular as Paula, but there was only one thing I wanted to get you for Christmas, and I hope I’ve got it right.’ Walking another thirty feet or so past Grace and Charlie’s bench, he let go of my hand, and turned me round to face another bench, with such a bright and unblemished plaque, that it could only have been there for a couple of days, at most. I read the words out loud.

To Mum and Dad ~ From Libby

You loved this island without ever seeing it, but you gave me the world, so I could see it all.

The inscription he’d chosen was so perfect and all I could do was nod, until I finally managed to speak. ‘Those words… I don’t know how you knew, but it’s exactly what I would have chosen, because it’s what I realised last night. They only ever wanted me to be what I wanted to be, and to go where I wanted to go.’ It had been my father’s wish for me every New Year’s Day and they’d have been so happy I was here.

‘I’m glad you like them, but you can change the plaque if you want to. I had to call in some serious favours to get it done in time for Christmas; it usually takes months.’

‘But the website said it costs 10,000 dollars to get a plaque put up.’ I couldn’t believe this was happening, and the fact I had no idea how I was ever going to repay Harry had nothing to do with money.

‘Ah, but I have the benefit of being able to pay it back through my wages over ten years if I want to. I just hope I find a publisher, or a roommate, or I might have to take up extreme couponing to get by.’ He laughed. ‘Seriously, it was worth every cent, and I’ll hardly notice it going straight from my wages. It was never about the money, it was always about you.’

‘And there I was about to offer to be your roommate.’ I put my arms around his neck. I might finally have realised where the instant connection to Harry came from, but that still didn’t explain why I’d fallen in love with him as quickly as I had, from that first day in the park. Perhaps Charlie had it right when he’d written the message on the bench for Grace – maybe some people could be in love before they even met. Or maybe the lack of sleep was just making me crazy. None of it mattered. I had Harry back, and I wasn’t about to blow it again. ‘No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. You couldn’t have got me anything better.’

‘Wait until you see my final present!’ Harry’s dark brown eyes twinkled, and I knew he was up to something. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled it back out, with his fist tightly clenched.

‘What is it?’

‘Open it and see.’ Peeling Harry’s hand open, I laughed. There, in the middle of his palm, was a tacky plastic tree decoration in the shape of a Smurf. ‘I thought we could hang it on our first Christmas tree.’

‘Maybe around the back.’ I laughed again, as he pulled me into his arms, and I already knew we’d fill our tree with decorations that meant something to the two of us, in the years to come. I’d always have my snow globe, and the perfect image of the tree I’d had growing up with Mum and Dad, that was so like the one captured inside it. Thanks to Paula, they had their place on the island at last. And, because of Harry, I had mine. It was finally time to make new Christmas memories, and I couldn’t wait to start.

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