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We all stared at him silently. No one expected him to reveal such shocking news, and certainly not Shay, it seemed, whose expression displayed his surprise. I wondered if he was a little bit relieved, too, given he’d never been Stephanie’s biggest fan.
“So, we’re not even allowed to ask why?” Dawn ventured carefully, her eyebrows rising.
Rhys shook his head. “No.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” she went on. “We’ll certainly respect your wishes not to talk about it.”
She sent him a soft, compassionate look I suspected made Rhys uncomfortable, given the way he bristled. Eugene stepped forward, giving his shoulder a firm pat. “But we’re here if you ever do want to talk about it.”
Rhys grunted and took another swig of whiskey before sitting down at the table. Slowly, as his family began to talk of other, more mundane topics, the tension in him seemed to subside, and dinner was an easy-going affair. Still, I felt awful for him. I couldn’t imagine how painful it was to call off an engagement on Christmas.
Later, after Eugene dished up large bowls of trifle for everyone, I sat in the living room watching the kids so Dawn and Ross could go upstairs for a nap. Shay and Eugene were taking care of the cleanup in the kitchen, and Rhys sat in an armchair, broodily flicking through television channels. I left him to his quiet channel surfing, sensing he was in no mood to talk.
Shay appeared in the doorway then, his gaze soft when he saw me sitting on the floor and taking part in a very detailed game of Barbies with Shauna. She was an adorable kid, and I didn’t mind at all. Actually, I was very invested in the storyline she’d come up with. It was a love triangle with Barbie at the centre. Her affections were torn between clean-cut Ken and the bad boy wrestler action figure I presumed she’d stolen from her brother’s toy collection.
Shay glanced at Rhys, signing something that looked like.
You good?
Fine, Rhys signed back gruffly.
I interpreted Shay’s next question as, Sure you don’t want to talk about it?
Rhys’ only response was a glower, and Shay held his hands up.
Fair enough.
Leaving Rhys to his brooding, Shay joined me on the floor, and we sat with the kids until Ross and Dawn woke from their nap looking much more rested. Shay decided to leave the car with his dad so he could walk with me back to my flat. I loved how quiet it was, barely a soul outside as we strolled hand in hand through the empty streets. Christmas day was the only time of year the city was this quiet. It felt peaceful. Silence was a comfortable state of being for me and Shay. We could sink into the noiseless pleasure of each other’s nearness, no need to utter a single word.
I was almost regretful to break the quiet, when a little bit into the walk, I asked, “So, what did you say to your dad?”
Shay shot me a questioning look.
“Well,” I continued. “You obviously said something to him. He was nothing but smiles and kindness with me all day.”
Shay’s phone emerged from his pocket. “He’s always been nothing but smiles and kindness with you,” he typed.
“Right, but the last time I saw him, he was telling you to be careful and take things slow with me. Advice you obviously didn’t heed, so what changed?”
He didn’t respond right away, then finally he began to type. “I told him I was in love with you, and you were in love with me. He was also there to witness me slaving over your painting all week. It was like I was possessed, determined to finish it. Dad said you were obviously very special to me because he’d never seen me so engrossed in a painting before.” Shay paused, tilting his head down at me, his voice quiet and sincere. “I told him you were the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
My breath caught as I stopped walking, pushing down the swell of emotion that filled my chest. “Do you really mean that?” There was a catch in my voice.
Shay slid his phone back in his pocket as he stepped close and signed, Yes, I really mean it.
Air got trapped in my lungs and I had no words when he palmed my cheek and pressed a hard, meaningful kiss to my lips. When he withdrew, I finally found the words I wanted to say.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too.”
***
To my dismay, Shay had to go back to work on the twenty-seventh. It was probably for the best though. I was in serious need of groceries, and my flat could do with a spring clean. I spent the first half of the day running errands and doing chores. At lunch time, the buzzer for my flat sounded, and I wondered who it could be.
