Jamie takes a huge bite and winces. ‘Ouch!’
He spits something onto his plate and pokes it dubiously with his finger. ‘What’s this? It’s the ring. That means marriage. Wasn’t Annie supposed to get that?’
He rinses it carefully in his glass of water and hands it to me. I throw it back at him.
‘What’s all this?’ asks Dad.
‘Nothing!’ I say.
‘Your daughter hooked up with Alex Fielding at the party last night,’ says Jamie with an innocent look.
‘Don’t say hooked up. It’s a horribly vulgar expression,’ says Mum.
‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘I mean she’s courting.’
‘Alex Fielding?’ says Dad. ‘He’s a nice lad. Are you going to see him again, Annie?’
I slam down my spoon. ‘I didn’t hook up with anyone last night. And neither did I get drunk. Leave me alone, please.’
Dad glances at me. ‘That’s enough, Jamie. Don’t spoil a perfectly good meal. Anyway, I want to hear about your new girlfriend. You’ve hardly told us anything. Her name’s Melissa, I think?’
Jamie launches into an enthusiastic recital about the absent Melissa and all her virtues, making her sound like a cross between Mother Teresa and The Archbishop of Canterbury.
Jamie and I clear up after lunch. He gives me a shamefaced look as he opens the dishwasher. ‘Sorry about that, Sis. I went a bit far.’
I’m not yet ready to forgive him. ‘More than a bit.’
‘A lot far,’ he says. ‘Come on, Annie. It’s Christmas. Peace?’
‘I suppose so,’ I grudgingly agree. ‘But if you bring up that subject again, I’ll tell Mum about the time you set fire to the boxes in the garage when you were smoking and blamed it on Paul Fisher.’
He laughs. ‘I didn’t know you knew about that.’
There are a lot of things I know about you,’ I warn him. ‘Just drop it, ok?’
He keeps his word, and the subject of Alex Fielding doesn’t come up again either today or Boxing Day. It’s always nice to see our uncle and cousins, but this year I hardly have patience to listen to their news and play all our usual Christmas games.
I keep looking at the clock, thinking how slowly the time is passing. And I still haven’t decided where to take Alex tomorrow.
I’m thankful when they finally leave, and I’m able to go to bed, pleading exhaustion after all the festivities.
Chapter Six
Iwake early the following morning. I know exactly where I’m going to take Alex. I open my phone and text.Are you free at eleven?
He texts straight back.As a bird. Where are you taking me?
I smile to myself as I answer.That’s a secret!
His answer appears a minute later.Fine, but you’ll have to give me some clues. What’s the dress code - ball gown, wetsuit, or ice hockey gear?
I quickly type.None of the above. Although now I’m worried about what you’ll choose when it’s your turn. Jeans and a warm sweater. Thick shoes too if you have them. Meet you at the spinney near the bus stop?
I don’t want to suggest meeting at either of our houses. I haven’t met his mother, but if she’s anything like mine, the whole thing could be excruciatingly embarrassing. For the time being, I’d prefer to meet him well away from both of them.
My phone pings.I’ll be there.
I stare at it, wondering if he’s still looking at his screen, waiting for me to message back. Of course, he isn’t. We’ve said everything we need to. He’d probably gone to put away his wet suit for a later occasion.