He took it, running his finger over the crenelations in the glass, a faraway look in his eyes. “She had dozens of them, and each year, she’d hang them as though they were the finest objects in all the world. Once, she dropped one, and it was though the world was ending.” His smile was tight.
“What happened to them after she—,”
His eyes pierced Skye’s. “Died? I don’t know.” He placed the bauble down. “My father dealt with her estate.”
“Perhaps he kept them for you?” She asked.
“No. He didn’t keep anything of hers, except the jewellery he’d given her.”
Her heart broke for the little boy who’d lost so much. “Now you have your own set,” she said quietly, lifting a hand to his chest and resting it there.
He looked towards the tree and she suspected he was about to change the subject. “She’d have loved this tree.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“She always said fresh trees were best. She hated the idea of plastic.”
“In Europe, a fresh tree is a lot more practical than in Australia,” Skye said with a wry smile.
“Yes.”
“Did you have a tree each year?”
A muscle throbbed in his jaw. “Yes. Her last Christmas—not that we could have known that at the time—I didn’t get to spend with her.”
Skye waited for him to continue, eyes feeling heavy with the threat of tears.
“My grandparents insisted it was their turn. My mother wasn’t welcome. She spent the holiday alone.” His jaw tightened. “I’ve never forgotten how she sounded that night, when we spoke. She tried to keep her voice upbeat for me, but I could tell she’d been crying.”
Skye’s heart twisted. “It must have been so hard for you.”
He lifted his shoulders. “It’s not like their relationship was solid. From when I was a boy, they fought.”
She shook her head sadly. “I can’t even imagine what that was like.”
“Your parents were happy?”
“Blissfully.”
His smile was the work of an instant, and got nowhere near his eyes. “It shows.”
“Oh?”
“You’re very well adjusted.”
She laughed. “That’s a matter of opinion.”
“You think you’re not?”
She lifted her shoulders. “I guess I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere. I’ve always felt different, ever since we went to live in Sydney. It’s only since coming over here that I’ve started to feel like I’ve found myself, you know?”
He cupped her cheek gently, the contact so light it sent little waves of awareness ricocheting through her body. “I’m glad you feel that way.” He looked towards the tree once more. “My mother was also an outsider. She had no family of her own, but fell hard for my father. He became everything to her.”
“Their divorce must have devastated her.”
“It was more than the divorce,” he said darkly, the words almost dragged from him. “It was everything. My father’s family made her a pariah. They exiled her. They were the only family she’d ever known, but they turned their backs on her when she needed their support most of all.” His smile was tightly dismissive. “And yet they doted on me.”
“And you were conflicted about that,” she guessed.