Living with Love (Lessons in Love) (17 page)

“Goldstone?” Mark’s eyes grew even wider. He’d heard of Goldstone, of course he had. He was an educated man
, and they were one of the most prestigious insurance companies in the world.

“That’s really impressive, Alex. I’m glad you’re doing so well.” And she knew he meant it.

“What about you?”

Mark shifted uncomfortably as the topic was reflected onto him. “I’m still working at the school,” he told her, his voice flat.

“Well, that’s cool.” Alex smiled kindly.

He left out the part that he was seeing someone, in fact living with someone. For some reason he didn’t want to tell Alex that.

Another shopper pushed past them. Alex glanced at Mark sheepishly, aware that she should soon go but also reluctant to let the moment between them conclude.

“This isn’t really the most convenient place to run into each other
.” Mark smirked.

“Even though it’s a convenience store
.” Alex smiled.

Mark’s eyes crinkled at the joke
, which pleased her.

“I’d better get going
.” Alex looked down at her feet. “I’m supposed to be helping my mom with some stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah
, of course.” Mark nodded, but she saw the flicker of sadness dance through his eyes at the announcement of her departure, which filled her heart with the hope that perhaps he still felt something for her.

Alex turned to walk away from him
, but he suddenly called her back.

“Listen, are you doing anything New Year’s Eve?” he asked, looking as terrified as a high school boy asking a date to the prom.

“Um.” Alex was caught off guard.

“Of course
, you’re probably busy. Are you heading back to New York to watch the ball drop in Times Square? Of course you are. It was stupid to ask. It’s just my friend is throwing a party, and I was thinking that if you’re not busy, we could maybe go together… as friends, but of course, you’ve already got plans.” Mark was rambling nervously as he spoke.

“That sounds great
.” Alex smiled fondly at him, her heart racing with delight at the invitation.

“So you can come?” Mark asked, unable to hide his surprise.

“Yeah, I don’t have any plans. A party sounds fun.” Alex smiled sweetly at him.

“Great
.” Mark beamed, and in his euphoria he turned too sharply and knocked down a row of magazines. Embarrassed, he began fumbling for them on the floor as Alex knelt down to help.

Once the magazines were all replaced
, they stood back up, Mark still blushing.

“So I’ll see you New Year’s Eve?” Mark confirmed.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Sounds good.”

Mark began to walk away from Alex, back up the aisle
, though he was struggling to take his eyes off her, as if frightened that she was just a figment of his imagination and if he looked away, she’d disappear forever from sight.

“Have a lovely Christmas,” Alex told him softly as he approached the end of the aisle.

“You too.” He smiled, finally disengaging from her gaze and heading towards the register.

****

As darkness descended, so did the snow. Alex sat in the trailer by the window with a mug of hot chocolate while
It’s a Wonderful Life
played on the small television that her mother and Andy were watching.

Alex’s attention was outside, watching the softly falling white flakes and hoping that they would stick. She loved the dreamy descent they took to earth, dancing delicately in the wind before finding their final resting place.

The sound of her iPad whirring broke her away from her thoughts with a start. She looked down and saw Ashley’s name flashing on the screen. Moving into the bedroom, she accepted the call.

Ashley was wearing a bright red Christmas
sweater with matching lipstick and smiling into her iPad.

“Alex!” she gushed when her friend answered. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Ash.” Alex smiled. “I thought we weren’t going to call each other until tomorrow morning, after we’d opened our presents?”

“Well
…” Ashley smiled coyly into the camera. “That’s just it. I got an early present that I simply couldn’t wait to tell you about.”

“Ooh, spill!” Alex said, sitting cross-legged on her bunk and leaning forward expectantly as she gazed into her iPad.

Ashley smiled into the camera but then her gaze settled on something beyond the screen.

“Come wave to Alex,” she said softly. There was a rustle of footsteps
, and then Ricardo appeared next to Ashley, wearing a crisp white shirt and a massive grin. He was just as Alex remembered from Italy, with perfect olive skin and dark, intense eyes.

“Oh my goodness, Ricardo, hi!” Alex waved eagerly into the camera. Ricardo shyly waved back.

“Hello, Alexandra,” he said in his European accent. “Merry Christmas to you.”

“And to you.”

“Okay, you can carry on helping my dad,” Ashley whispered to him, and he left the girls alone to continue their conversation.

“Did he surprise you with a visit?” Alex asked excitedly, her heart bursting with the romance of such a gesture.

“Yeah, he arrived this morning,” Ashley explained, still gushing. “He called and said could I pick him up, and I was like from Italy, yeah, you’re dreaming. And he said, ‘No, I’m at LAX, and I have your Christmas present with me.’ He’d been saving for months to come over. I couldn’t believe it!”

“That’s so romantic, Ash! You’re going to have an amazing Christmas!”

“I know!” Ashley beamed, unable to contain all her glee. “And my parents adore him!”

“Well
, he’s lovely.”

“But that’s not all,” Ashley said mischievously.

“It’s not?”

“He said he had a Christmas present for me that he couldn’t wait to give me.”

“What was it?” Alex asked, hanging on her best friend’s every word as she relayed the story to her.

Ashley didn’t say what the mysterious gift was; instead
, she showed it to her. She extended her left hand so that it fully filled the screen, revealing the large diamond ring, which she was now wearing.

In her trailer in Woodsdale Alex began screaming with delight. Across the country in Los Angeles Ashley was also screaming.

Jackie turned to her son with an anxious look upon her face.

“Do you think Alex is al
l right?” she queried.

“She’s talking to Ashley
. She’s fine,” Andy replied flatly. “Probably excited about who went out off
Top Model
last week,” he added casually.

Alex finally ceased screaming and admired the beautiful ring.

“It’s stunning,” she breathed. “I can’t believe you’re getting married!”

“Me neither!” Ashley beamed. “The ring belonged to his late grandmother, isn’t it exquisite? And we’re going to get married in Italy so all his family can be there
; they can’t all afford to fly over, whereas mine can. Which means that you get another Europe trip since obviously you’ll be my chief bridesmaid!”

Alex began to cry soft, happy tears. For so long in life she’d felt alone and adrift. But since finding Ashley she’d found the sort of friendship she’d always dreamed about having. Ashley was more than a friend, she was family. They had been through so much together since their first days at Princeton
, and now Alex would be present on one of the most important days of Ashley’s life, and it was a wonderfully humbling thought.

“Oh, don’t cry,” Ashley pleaded, looking sadly through the camera.

“I’m just so happy for you.” Alex wept, wiping her eyes and hiccupping slightly. “You deserve to be happy. Seeing you find happiness means the world to me.”

“Stop, you’ll make me cry too!” Ashley said, her voice breaking.

“Congratulations to you and Ricardo, you’re going to be so happy together. I just know it.” Alex smiled.

“Thank you
.” Ashley gently dabbed at her own eyes. “And you’ll find your prince charming soon, I can feel it.”

“Yeah,” Alex replied dreamily, remembering how she’d felt when she saw Mark at the store earlier. Seeing Oscar hadn’t reignited old passions, but with Mark, she was desperate to kiss him, to be back in his arms. It was such a strange sensation
, and she was still processing what it must mean.

“It’s snowing here,” Alex added suddenly, glimpsing some more flakes falling past the window.

“How perfect!” Ashley smiled. “It’s sunshine here,” she moaned. “It’s always sunshine here.”

“I love you, Ash
. Have an amazing Christmas with your fiancé.” Alex smiled fondly into the camera.

“I love you too, Alex. Go get drunk on mulled wine
, and then go make crazy snow angels outside your trailer! I expect photographic evidence!”

The girls giggled and signed off their call as outside the trailer Woodsdale was about to embark on a white Christmas.

****

Alex waited nervously within the trailer, glancing anxiously out of the small window. The snow on the ground had now hardened and turned to thick ice.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay tonight, Mom?”
She turned briefly and asked Jackie for the fifth time.

Jackie Heron smiled fondly at her daughter and nodded.

“You’ve stayed in with me all week. It’s time you went out and had some fun.”

“But Andy’s out too
. I don’t like to think of you home alone on New Year’s Eve,” Alex noted sadly.

“I’m too old to care about bringing in another new year,” Jackie said with the wisdom of one who knew that a new year on the calendar didn’t bring about any significant change. That even the best laid resolutions would eventually fall away.

“You and your brother should be out having fun. You’ve both been in with me all week. I’m sick of you!” her mother added teasingly.

Smiling, Alex turned back to the window. It had been a good week. Christmas had been wonderful, easily the best one they had spent together as a family since her father had passed. And in the days that followed, trapped i
nside by the snow, they passed the time playing board games, watching television and going through old photographs. It had been nostalgic in the nicest way, like a walk down memory lane where you skip past all the painful parts of the journey.

But now it was the final night of the year
, and Alex was waiting for Mark to pick her up. The scene was so reminiscent of when they were dating that she almost choked on the sentimentality of the moment. Wearing skinny jeans and a black glittery T-shirt, Alex feared she would be either under or overdressed for the party he was taking her to. She also feared what would happen when they were together. It had been so long; what if the spark was gone?

Alex was so nervous about seeing Mark that she hadn’t even confided in Ashley about their New Year’s Eve plans. She knew that Ashley would be supportive and offer advice
, but a part of her was desperate to keep their reunion secret, just in case nothing came of it. Not that she had any expectations. Or did she? Holding a hand to her temple, Alex sighed, realising that she’d not thoroughly thought everything through. The words on the letter loomed large in her mind as she wondered whether or not she truly wished them to still be true.

Lights beamed through the window into the trailer as Mark pulled up in his car. He was still driving the same Prius he had been when Alex had left. She smiled fondly to herself upon seeing the car, wondering if perhaps he’d held on to it for so long because it reminded him of her
, but then she chastised herself for being so foolish.

“Bye
, Mom.” She kissed Jackie on the cheek and headed out the door, not seeing her mother smile upon seeing a spring in her daughter’s step as she left.

Behind the wheel in the dim light of early evening
, Mark looked devastatingly handsome. Alex could see that he was wearing a shirt beneath a leather jacket. There was still a faint dash of stubble upon his cheeks, giving him a rugged, sexy look.

“Hi,” Alex breathed nervously as she slid into the familiar car.

“Hey.” Mark looked at her from the corner of his eye and smiled fondly. Then he guided his car back out of the trailer park, and they headed for the party.

****

The party was being held at one of Mark’s friend’s houses, he explained as they drove. When they arrived, there were already a dozen or so cars parked up the driveway and down the street. Mark had to park a little way away from the house, and as they walked together to the source of the music and lights, Alex felt awkward and nervous.

There was a time when he’d have held her hand as they walked
, but now he kept his pace just quicker than hers so that they weren’t side by side. Puzzled, Alex followed behind him, starting to regret her decision to come to the party. On the drive over he’d been quiet, making genial small talk. A part of Alex feared that he’d changed his mind, that he didn’t want her with him at the party anymore but had been too polite to back out of his plans.