‘I just had an early dinner filled with healthy vegetables and lean meat.’ Robert patted his coat-covered stomach. ‘No hot dogs for me. Unless I sneak one in when Violet’s not looking. I’ve put on a bit of weight over the last few years and I know I need to cut down. The same can’t be said of you.’
‘Prue was forever nagging me about healthy eating and keeping fit. Healthy body, healthy mind she used to tell me on more occasions than I care to remember. Now I enjoy the exercising, more than I thought I would. Maybe we could go running some time. You never know, you might find you enjoy it.’
‘Sounds like a plan. Maybe in the New Year. I’ve got so much work on right now and I want to have a clear fortnight over the holidays with Violet and the kids.’
‘Family time; that’s what it’s all about.’ Dylan looked at families all around them: moms and dads sharing a connection as they watched the delighted faces of their kids soaking up the holiday atmosphere.
‘I still can’t believe you have an ex-wife I’ve never met,’ said Robert.
Dylan laughed. ‘I suppose it does seem a little strange.’ He screwed up his napkin and leaned past the crowd to the side to check his kids were still marvelling at the train on one of the front lawns. They were. And it was impressive. Stretching from one end to the other, it was all lit up from its front engine and chimney to its end carriage. ‘Prue has been round a few times since we last spoke.’
‘Are you guys going to give your relationship another go?’ Robert waved over to Violet who had finally appeared with two bundled-up children, snuggly warm in their coats and mittens, treading carefully along the sidewalk in case of ice.
‘In some ways I think it’s the right thing to do for the kids, but then again, she’s a flight risk.’
‘You mean she may walk out again?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Let me ask you something.’ They moved along to the next house, and then the next so the kids could see all the decorations. ‘If she wasn’t likely to leave again, would you hesitate to take her back?’ Dylan’s pause gave him the answer he needed. ‘So something, or someone, is holding you back.’
Before Dylan could speak, Violet nudged him. ‘Cleo likes you. She’d kill me for saying anything, but don’t give up on her just yet.’
Dylan smiled. ‘Look, I appreciate the advice, but I think Cleo and I are probably not as suited as I thought.’
Ruby came over and dragged Dylan away to see the gingerbread house. It was impressive, with candy canes going up the walls, coloured decorations, white lights lining the roof tips exactly as icing would be, lights dangling as though it was icing dripping from the structure. It was such stunning imagery that you could almost imagine the brown bricks, darkened beneath the starry sky, were made of delicious, crunchy gingerbread and the whole thing was edible. It truly was magical. Maybe he’d make more of an effort next year, even get the whole street involved just like this. Prue had thought too many lights on a house was tacky. She’d loved the lights in the city – Macy’s window, a favourite every year; Central Park lit up and truly one of the most amazing places on earth; New York Botanical Garden where they’d be surrounded by illuminated trees – but other than that. she wanted her home just as it was. Or at least she had at the time.
Dylan sighed and puffed out his breath so it made white clouds. Ruby and Jacob did the same, in their own little world, playing their own family game, and he wondered where Prue fitted in any more. They were both different to how they were when they’d first got together. She’d met and wanted the lawyer, heading towards the top of his game. She’d been attracted to the power behind the suit, the money that came with it, the lifestyle. He found it impossible to believe she’d changed so much those things no longer mattered.
Violet, Robert and the kids joined Dylan at the gingerbread house with equal exclamations at how wonderful it was. This street had, according to Robert, been working on these lights since early December, and although they’d seen many of these before tonight, this party was the culmination of all that effort, all the holiday spirit and a neighbourhood coming together.
‘All I’m saying is with Cleo…’ Violet began, ignoring her husband’s warning to stay out of it, ‘…with Cleo what you see isn’t necessarily what you get.’
Dylan felt sure she was right and there was much more to Cleo than he knew, but did he have the time to find out, when Ruby and Jacob were the priority in his life now?
‘Who’s for hot chocolate?’ He changed the subject when he saw a sign on a front lawn a few houses up. ‘Come on, kids.’ He hoisted Jacob up on his hip and held Ruby’s hand as they moved along and joined the short line.
He had a choice to make this Christmas, and it wasn’t easy at all. He had two very different women in his life and he had no idea whether to follow his heart or his head. All he knew was that they both got under his skin in very different ways.
20
3 CRANBERRY CLOSE, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
‘So you’ve spent some time with your stepmom?’ Grandpa Joe lowered himself onto the burgundy sofa once Cleo had made the coffee and told him all about the last couple of days. ‘About time too.’
‘Grandpa,’ Cleo admonished.
‘You’re so stubborn.’ He set his cup on the table beside him. ‘You’re just like Diana.’ His gaze hovered on the photograph of his daughter, laughing alongside him and Eliza, their faces lit up by the sun. Diana had on a mortarboard and gown. She’d graduated from Yale University that day.
‘I’m glad I’m like her.’ Cleo looked at the photograph as though she had permission to stare at it for longer than usual today. She moved to sit on the arm of Grandpa Joe’s chair. ‘I wish I’d had her with me for longer.’
‘I know you do, Buttons. So do I.’
‘I sometimes blame myself.’
His hand reached out and took hers. ‘Whatever would you do that for?’
Cleo looked down so he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. Last night she’d told Teresa everything. She’d unburdened herself to a woman who turned out to be the easiest person to tell after keeping everything to herself for so many years, but doing so had triggered emotions, feelings of guilt, that Cleo had done her best to bury along the way. ‘If I’d been more attentive to her, perhaps she wouldn’t have died. If I’d watched out for her the way she did for me, she might still be with us.’
