‘And you think she might with Kyle? Have you told her?’
‘Yes, and I shouldn’t have done because she twisted it around to mean I didn’t want her.’
‘She surely doesn’t believe that.’
‘No, of course she doesn’t. But she did use the conversation to point out how crap a dad I was to her when she was little. I was young and I didn’t handle the responsibility all that well. I went out a lot, I partied, I did as many extra hours at work as I could.’
‘A career can be a great escape, take it from someone who knows. But for what it’s worth, Kyle doesn’t seem a bad kid and he seems to really like Scarlett. And Mitch is impressed with the job he’s doing helping at the Garland Street markets. He’s even invited Kyle out to Inglenook Falls to help at his farm and see what it’s all about. I think the kid needs a focus. I’m not here to sell him to you, but maybe give him a chance. I’m pretty sure he won’t be kissing Scarlett again without checking where you are first.’
‘I’m really sorry, again, that I made such a scene at the party.’ He cringed, thinking of all their faces when he lost his temper.
‘Don’t be silly, you did no such thing.’ A smile began to form.
‘What’s that look for?’
‘The Inglenook Inn actually has a bit of a history.’
‘In fist fights?’
‘No, in romantic liaisons. Myles and I hated each other when we first met – long story – but he proposed on the stoop on Christmas Day. Mitch and Holly took a while to get to where they are now and they made it up here at the inn when he surprised her at one of our parties. A couple here for Thanksgiving got engaged by the Christmas tree. Maybe this place is a good omen for Kyle and Scarlett.’
‘You’re saying I should let this thing between them run its course.’
‘Why not? They’re young, they’re having fun.’
‘You might be right.’
‘Don’t forget to make time for yourself too.’
‘I’m seeing plenty while I’m here.’
‘That’s not quite what I meant. A certain woman, also from England, seemed taken with you at the party.’
‘Amelia? No, we were just talking.’
‘Trust me, the look she gave you told me it could be more than that. Don’t shut yourself off to possibilities, that’s all I’m saying.’
When Darcy got on with the task of talking with Rupert about the menu for that evening, Nathan headed up to the suite. Scarlett had pulled on sparkly socks and was sitting by the tree using her phone. He wondered what would happen if he was brutally honest about what really frightened him about Kyle. But how could he? He may have wronged Scarlett by not being there for her when she was little, but how could he explain the extent of his fuck ups? How could he tell her that what really worried him about Kyle was that he saw a lot of himself in the boy and he didn’t want her dragged into any kind of mess. Nathan had been lucky, his parents had stuck by him and bailed him out countless times, they’d set him on a path to sort his life out. If they hadn’t, he may have ended up living a totally different life; he could’ve got himself into so much trouble he would’ve ended up in prison, not university. And Scarlett wouldn’t have wanted to have known him then.
*
The tension between Nathan and Scarlett didn’t ease much when they headed to the Guggenheim Museum. He tried to make conversation when they arrived in the foyer with its spiralled layers going up and up and people looking down at them as they made the adventure all the way towards the top.
He did his best to make semi-intelligent remarks as they looked at painting after painting, sculptures he was indifferent to. But what the visit did do, as he watched his daughter talking with someone who worked there about a particular artist she admired, was bring it home to him how fast she was becoming her own person. She always had been independent-minded but now he was starting to see that it was time to embrace her opinions more, respect them even, and, while guiding her, let her make her own decisions. He needed to work out the magical balance between laying down the law and backing off enough to let her find her way.
When they emerged from the building and the bite of the New York winter got them both straight away, Scarlett suggested they go to see Carrie’s brownstone, fromSex and the City. She’d gone from art lover to television devotee in an instant. ‘Let’s do it before the rain starts again,’ she urged.
An hour ago the heavens had opened and it had been lashing down as they took refuge in the café area of the Guggenheim and wondered how long they would have to hover to avoid getting a soaking when they left. ‘Why don’t we walk round the Central Park Reservoir first? I need a breather before we go full-on into tacky girls’ television mode.’
‘Fair enough. You gave me art, I’ll give you a scenic walk. But can we at least eat something before we go on a trek?’
They found a hot-dog vendor and ordered one each with the lot – onions, mustard, sauce – their fingers enduring the cold without gloves until it was time to screw up the napkins and drop them in the nearest bin.
They headed into Central Park and even the dreary day couldn’t detract from the beauty of the green space in the middle of Manhattan.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘this way.’ Everyone seemed to be walking or running in one direction around the lake so they followed on and talked about the park some more, what it would look like beneath a foot of snow or when it was icy, they discussed movies they’d seen it in, they talked about snow back in England, school closures when the country came to a halt, how different it was taking a holiday in winter compared to summer.
They completed the loop of the reservoir, found the exit and he ushered them towards the nearest subway station on 86th Street on the Upper East Side.
