Page 9 of Skipping Stones
“Thanks, Aiden,” Derek said, as they stood in front of the diner preparing to part ways. “I needed this break.”
Aiden clapped him on the back. “Glad to help. Now go back to your fiancée and make some decisions!” He turned to go the opposite way from Derek and threw a final goodbye over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow!”
Derek walked home and opened the door to a dark condo. As he expected, Olivia wasn’t home. He dropped his briefcase inside the door and flipped on the lights. He thought about texting Linney, but glanced at his watch and added five hours. It was too late.
The thought briefly flitted through his head that Linney would never make a wedding such a big production and that Mac was a lucky guy to have such an accommodating girlfriend. Derek thought Linney could do better, but this was the choice she had made and so he was there for her, even though he didn’t always like what Linney had to say about Mac. And he heard a lot. Derek was always there when Mac’s sharp comments stung. He gave Linney space to vent and tried to give her good advice.
Kicking off his shoes and dropping onto their comfortable couch, he picked up the latest issue of Maclean’s from the coffee table and had almost read through it when the door flew open and Olivia rushed in, cheeks red from her brief walk from the streetcar. She looked stunning. Derek met her at the door as she hoisted up a takeout bag.
“I stopped for food at?—”
“Shhh.” He silenced her with a kiss that left them both breathless. Hunger instantly forgotten, Derek put his hand on the small of Olivia’s back, pulling her close before leaning down to kiss her again. Before he knew it, they were leaving a trail behind them as they shed their clothing on the way into the bedroom.
Long afterward, Olivia threw on a negligee, retrieved the Ethiopian takeout and let her fiancé feed her in the comfort of their big bed before the stress of another day of law—and dreaded wedding planning—caught up with them.
* * *
“I just don’t understand why you want to go back there all the time.” Mac sounded more than a little whiny in his orange Christmas cracker crown as the candles burned low. “I am so tired of you always talking about a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. You outgrew that place years ago—you’ve told me as much. Many times. There’s nothing there for you now. Close the chapter.” The ice clinked as he gulped his drink.
“It’s Christmas Day, Mac, can you not just let it go?” Linney threw her napkin down on the table she’d so carefully set with flowers and candles several hours earlier. He was well on his way to ruining what had been a lovely day. They’d lounged in bed that morning with the sun spilling across the room, a rare treat with neither of them working. When they opened the gifts under the tree, Mac found a new briefcase and Linney was spoiled with a beautiful necklace with matching earrings. And then there was the silky red lingerie that had taken them back in the bedroom until lunch. While Mac poured over the latest issue of The Times in the afternoon, the flat filled with the scents of the holiday feast Linney cooked while talking to her friends and family back home. Mac called nobody.
The weather had turned just before dinner, and Linney closed the heavy curtains against the cold rain. They’d dined on turkey, roasted root vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes, accompanied by a magnificent bottle—which had mysteriously become two—of crisp Sancerre. Linney had even warmed up a Christmas pudding, which she’d lit on fire before bringing it to the festively decorated table with accompanying hard sauce, to Mac’s amusement. It had been a glorious day.
But now, over post-dinner brandy, everything was falling apart. All Linney had said was that she was planning to spend a couple of weeks in Silver Lake over Easter and then again in the summer for Derek’s wedding. She could feel Mac’s instant annoyance with her. And it frustrated her. He just didn’t get it. Despite having all of London at her doorstep and Europe just beyond, Linney simply missed home.
“Your career is here. I’m getting tired of you being gone all the time.” Mac’s words were beginning to slur together.
“My grandmother is there,” she said quietly. Linney was acutely aware from their weekly calls that Gran’s hearing was deteriorating. She was forgetting more as well, and Linney knew she’d need to start going home more frequently. Mac had to understand that. But then again, he didn’t spend time with his own family. “And I have other friends there.” Talking with everyone on the phone wasn’t enough for her. She missed seeing the holiday excitement on the faces of Anna and Danny’s girls.
Mac sloppily poured more of the topaz-coloured liquid into his snifter, spilling a bit as he missed the glass. Linney winced as the stain spread on the vintage tablecloth she’d thrifted recently. “I’m here. That should be enough.” Linney was starting to wonder how much Mac had been drinking that afternoon while she’d been cooking.
“You could come with me,” she suggested quietly, although she knew the answer before she opened her mouth.
“The city’s the place for me. And for you.” Mac leaned over to kiss her. She tasted the brandy on his lips, but the kiss made her quiver just like it did every time, and she leaned into it. She was rewarded with a low growl from Mac and he led her to the bedroom. She laughed as he playfully tossed her on the bed and then they celebrated Christmas once more.
* * *
Derek and Olivia’s Christmas morning was spent on the couch wrapped up in cozy cashmere blankets, watching the snow gently fall. They had promised each other no gifts that year, as they saved for the wedding, but neither of them had been able to resist the temptation of at least one gift.
Derek had found a pair of unique hand-thrown ceramic mugs for Olivia. They were not quite identical, their colourful asymmetrical walls ideal for warming hands. They would be perfect for coffee on the quiet Saturday mornings he hoped they’d have one day once they were established and had children. He wanted at least two—growing up without siblings had been lonely sometimes, even with good friends.
“They’re lovely,” Olivia said, looking somewhat confused as she unwrapped them and held one up. When she got up to get them another cup of coffee, she poured it into the decorator china they used every day, but Derek shook it off. For him, there was an elegant set of cufflinks. Olivia said they’d be perfect for charity events, and they were growing in number, to his dismay. They were getting invited to more and more dinners, mostly through her work, and they were seen as the perfect upwardly mobile couple. Derek knew this was important for their careers—more hers than his, to be fair—but he sometimes bristled at the cost of the events, when that money would mean so much to his clients. Still, it was important to support his fiancée, and he would always put on the uncomfortable penguin suit for her.
They had lunch with Olivia’s parents and then drove up to the lake to have dinner with his mother. As the three of them did the dishes, Derek reflected on how lucky he was. He’d grown up in this wonderful place under the loving eye of his mother, with great people he still considered friends. He’d achieved career success in the city now with the woman who was about to be his wife. He had it all. His eyes flickered to the darkened house next door.
“It’s strange seeing it dark at Christmas, isn’t it?” his mother said.
“Mrs. McDonnell went down to the city for the holidays, then?” he asked.
“Jake came up to collect her a few days ago. I’m sure she’ll have a good time, but it’s never the same as when the family comes to Silver Lake. I know she loves watching her great-grandchildren playing in the snow and skating on the lake.” She looked at her son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law, her expectation obvious.
“It’s very pretty here,” Olivia said agreeably, skipping over the clear hint about children. “But the city is beautiful when it’s all dressed up for the holidays. And there’s so much to do.”
“Bored already?” Derek joked. Although he loved city life, in recent years, he’d rediscovered, much to his surprise, how much he liked Silver Lake. He had a fleeting thought of building snowmen in the yard with their future children.
Olivia leaned over and kissed him. “Not as long as I’m with you.”
On Boxing Day, Derek took Olivia around to Anna and Danny’s house. Their daughters, Emma and Gabby, came bounding out to meet them. Derek, who saw them often when he visited Silver Lake, pulled them both into a big bear hug and swung them around, listening to their gleeful shrieks. Olivia stood back, taking in the chaos with wide eyes.