Chapter 16
When they pulled up to Ian’s house, it was beginning to get dark. There were no lights on at Bridie’s, as she and Gram had left for the pantomime and wouldn’t be home until late.
They got out of the car, and Ian glanced at Bridie’s darkened house.
“Why don’t you come on over? I’m sure we could find something to do . . . er, watch on the telly,” he added quickly. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t ready to part company with Jo yet.
“You’re not too tired, are you?” Jo asked.
Ian bristled. “I’m not eighty, Johanna.”
“Okay, but I won’t stay long.”
“You can stay as long as you like,” he said.
Once inside, he asked, “Did you want a cup of tea or something to eat?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t eat another thing.”
He nodded. “Make yourself at home.”
They removed their coats, but they hadn’t even gotten settled before there was a knock at the front door.
Ian answered it, and his smile disappeared. He couldn’t hide his surprise. It was Kevin Breen, the coach of his rugby club. Kevin had come up to visit him in the hospital and had tried to contact him numerous times, but Ian never returned his calls. He hadn’t wanted to see anyone.
“Come on in, Kevin,” Ian said tightly.
“You weren’t answering my calls or texts, so I thought I’d stop in and wish you a Happy Christmas in person,” Kevin said.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Ian said.
When the man spotted Jo, he said, “I’m sorry, Ian, I didn’t know you had company.”
“Maybe I should get going,” Jo interrupted.
“Not necessary.” Ian introduced them. “Kevin, this is my friend Johanna. Johanna, this is Kevin Breen, coach of the Irish Rovers.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jo said, shaking his hand.
He nodded. “I’m not staying long,” Kevin said. He held up a tin of Afternoon Tea biscuits and another, circular in shape, labeled Cadbury Roses.
“Thanks,” Ian said. His coach set the tins on the table.
Ian offered him some tea.
“As I said, I’m not staying long,” he said. “You seem to be doing well.”
Ian was about to protest, but he saw his coach’s gaze drift toward Johanna and then land back at him. He’d been spending so much time with Jo had he not noticed that he was starting to move on? Emerging from his dark abyss? If he was, he had Jo to thank for it.
“Just taking it one day at a time,” Ian said.
“That’s all any of us can do,” Kevin replied.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
“The invites have been sent out for the Christmas banquet, but they haven’t received your RSVP yet,” Kevin said.
“I’ll probably give it a miss this year,” Ian said. He used to love the annual Christmas party. A night to dress up, enjoy good food and drink, do a lot of dancing, and then go pub crawling afterward with his date, his teammates, and their girlfriends.
But Kevin wouldn’t take no for an answer. “You know it’ll be a good time, and your teammates would really like to see you.”
“Look, Kevin, I really appreciate it, but I don’t think so,” Ian said. He’d never missed the Christmas banquet, and every year he’d had a different girl on his arm. But not this year. It wouldn’t be the same: no dancing, and he didn’t think he could take the looks of pity from his former teammates. No, this year, it would be a quiet night in.
His coach sighed. “The team misses you. You were an integral part of it.”
“That’s when I played on the team. That part of my life is over,” Ian said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He’d had a pretty good day with Jo. The first one in a long time. He didn’t want grief over his old life casting a pall over the day. Or ruining it.
“There are other things in the organization you can do without actually playing on the field.”
Ian said nothing. Jo remained on the sofa, quiet.
“I’ll leave these with you,” the coach said, and with a glance at Johanna he dropped two tickets to the weekend’s banquet on the table.
“Thanks,” Ian said.
He followed Kevin to the door.
“Just think about it, Ian. You can’t hide out here forever.” Kevin paused. “Your girl might enjoy a night out.”
Ian didn’t bother correcting him or disabusing him of the notion that Johanna was his girlfriend. He could only wish. She was young and pretty and certainly wouldn’t be interested in a washed-up sports star. He said good night to his former manager and closed the door behind him into doing something he didn’t want to do.
“Do you mind if I open these?” Jo asked, holding up the tin of Roses.
Ian couldn’t help but smile. “Not at all.”
After studying the legend on the bottom of the tin, which turned out to be filled with individually wrapped chocolate candies, Jo peeled off the clear cellophane wrapper and chose two pieces, one an orange-wrapped candy and the other pink-wrapped one. “Hmm, Tangy Orange Creme and Strawberry Dream.”
“I suppose you think I should go to this banquet?” Ian set his crutches against the arm of the sofa and sat down next to Jo.
Jo shrugged and popped a piece of candy into her mouth. “It’s up to you, Ian. I can’t make that decision for you.”
Ian sighed.
Jo nodded toward the tin of candy. “Did you want one?”
He shook his head.
“What kind of Christmas party is it?” Jo asked.
“You know, the usual. Everyone gets dressed up, and it’s at some nice hotel where there’s a lot of food, drink, and dancing.”
Jo’s mouth opened slightly. “That sounds wonderful.”
“You probably do the same where you work?”
Jo snorted. “Not on your life. Our Christmas party used to consist of going to lunch at a local restaurant, separate checks, and the last two years I was scheduled to work, so I couldn’t go.”
He didn’t miss the disappointment in her voice. A thought occurred to him.
“If I were to go to this Christmas party, would you go with me?” he asked. He averted his gaze, afraid to read the reaction on her face. What was wrong with him that he was putting himself through what would obviously be a rejection? He didn’t have to wait too long.
“I’d love to go,” she said quietly.
His head snapped up. “You would?”
“Yes,” she said. “I would. Seriously. This is formal dress?”
Ian nodded. “Suits and frocks.”
She helped herself to another piece of candy. “I’d look forward to it.”
“It’s a banquet. Dinner. Then awards are handed out and there’s a lot of speeches. It might be boring. I wouldn’t be able to do any dancing.”
“That’s okay by me, dancing isn’t one of my strong points. Besides, I’d be more interested in the food. Is it good?”
Ian laughed, loving her honesty. “Usually.”
“Okay.”
Ian didn’t know what to say.
Jo said, “I should get going. Thanks, Ian.”
Ian held out his hand, palm up, and said, “No, thank you, Johanna. It was great to get out of the house.”
Her smile was brighter than all the Christmas lights combined.
“I really should get going,” she repeated, standing up.
He could only nod.
As he walked her to the door, he asked, “What are your plans for tomorrow?”
Jo shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I was thinking of taking a bus to Dublin to visit the National Gallery of Ireland.”
He knew he couldn’t monopolize all her time. Something unsaid was left hanging in the air.
“Why don’t you grab your bus to Dublin in the morning, go to your museum, and then maybe we could do something on Friday,” he suggested casually. He didn’t want to appear overeager, even though that’s how he felt. Or worse, desperate.
Her smile brightened. “That sounds like a plan. Where will we go?”
Ian grinned. “It’s a surprise, but it’s an atypical tourist attraction.”
“Oh, I like it!” she said.
He laughed, and she surprised him when she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “Good night, Ian.”
“Good night, Johanna.”