KRISTAL
“Shuv, why are you crying?” Declan asks.
Hayato’s bodyguard steps into view from behind Siobhan’s tow truck, and he wears an expression almost as pained as the one I imagine Siobhan must have on her face if she’s crying like Declan said.
Shuv, as he calls Siobhan goes still as a statue from my vantage point. But her tears must still be falling because the next thing Declan says is, “Hey…hey…don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry,” Siobhan says, her formerly harsh Maine accent now watery with tears. “But look at you!”
She waves her hands at him, “You’re still so wicked handsome. And look at me. I’m….” she waves her hands at herself. “Me! This huge mess. I broke up with you because I didn’t think you’d come back. But then my dependable second choice was anything but. My whole life…I messed it up. Ayuh, that’s what I did. And now I can’t stop crying…”
Declan shakes his head at her. “Don’t cry,” he says again. And this time he draws her into his arms. “I’m here. I’m right here. I finally came back. Don’t cry, Shuv.”
His show of comfort only seems to make it worse. Siobhan’s shoulders shake with a new torrent of tears as he hugs her.
But instead of pushing the sobbing woman away as I imagine Hayato might if he were in the same emotional situation, Declan pulls her in even closer.
“Nah, babe, you didn’t ruin nothing,” Declan croons, rocking back and forth with her in his arms as snow flutters down all around them. “Everything’s going to be okay. I promise you.”
As the best friend/cousin of a gifted matchmaker, I’ve witnessed more True Love moments than I can count. But this one touches me somewhere deep.
And now I am sure my suspicions about this pairing is totally right. They aren’t just a second chance. They are True Love finally reunited.
I can feel their magic sparking in the air as I watch Declan smooth Siobhan’s bird nest hair back into place with just a few passes of his hand. And I have a feeling, that promise he made will definitely be kept.
Everything is going to be okay for them.
* * *
Maeve informs me over lunch that the doctor diagnosed her with COPD.
“Most likely from sneaking too many ciggies behind the inn. Always figured it was safe if no one caught me doing it. But according to the doctor and Dec, not so much.”
“Yeah, not so much,” I agree with a laugh. “I’m sorry you’re having to go through this, Maeve, but I’m crazy glad I can erase the expiration date on your sketch for now.”
I lower my voice to tell her this. We’re sitting side-by-side at our usual round table in the mostly empty dining room. But the inn finally has a few more guests now that the blizzard’s done and New Year’s Eve is only a couple of days away.
I don’t want anyone else to hear us talking about magical things. Actually I don’t want to deal with anyone else, period.
It’s hard enough having to draw Jae-Hyun over and over every morning. I don’t want to have to make more soon-to-be-departed sketches for the new guests trickling into the freezing dining room. So I’m keeping my voice down and putting lots of effort into making zero eye contact with anyone but Maeve.
“Well, mind you, I will have to cut down on salt and start exercising.” Maeve pulls a face on “exercising,” as if it was even worse than the chemo she suspected she might be in for when the nighttime cough first appeared. “But if I do that, Dr. Foss says I’ve got a lot of years left in me. Might even live to fuss over some grands!”
Maeve glances hopefully in the direction of the front sitting room where Declan and Siobhan have been catching up by the fireplace ever since they reunited in the inn’s driveway.
* * *
By the time I come back downstairs for dinner, Maeve’s upgraded from hopeful glances to full-on beaming.
“Just took a tray into the sitting room for Deckie and Shuvvie,” she tells Hayato and me when she joins us at our dining table. “They’re still talking. I can almost hear the pitter patter of future grans.”
As a lifelong purveyor of bad news, it feels great to be part of someone’s joy. However, Hayato doesn’t appear nearly as moved by Maeve’s update as me.
He spent most of the day at the beach, despite the weather. And now he seems even more focused on his plate than I was at lunch.
“You like long walks in the cold even more than us Irish,” Maeve says, trying to draw into our conversation.
But Hayato just says, “Yes, the beach at winter is beautiful,” before returning to the simple meal of shepherd’s pie Maeve prepared.
He looks pensive and miserable.
And I think back to our conversation from earlier. “I’m just trying to understand why a big business guy like you would believe a weird elf like me?”
Why do I have the feeling his all-day disappearing act has something to do with him not answering that question?
“Is everything all right?” I ask when we go back up to the room.
“It is better than all right,” he answers, bending down beside the door to take off his shoes. “Declan left his conversation long enough to text me that the airport has opened back up. The pilot has filed a flight plan. Tomorrow we will leave for Japan.”
“Japan?” I repeat, kicking my shoes off. “We’re going to Japan?”
“Yes, that was my original plan, before all of this came up. And I would like to get back to work.”
His face is a perfect blank, but I frown at his tone of voice. He sounds a lot like Maeve did when she talked about a future that included exercising.
I’ve been glowing all day because ROMANCE ACCOMPLISHED in huge bold-faced kanji with fireworks in the background and big hearts drawn in place of Declan’s and Siobhan’s eyes. But my heart deflates as I realize that where I see an epic romance come true, all Hayato sees is inconvenience.
“What about Declan and Siobhan?” I find myself asking. “Can’t we stay a few days longer? Give them some more time to reconnect?”
He stares at me for a long silent moment, then he says, “I’ll take a shower while you pack. I’d like to be ready to go if the pilot calls early tomorrow.”
His refusal to even consider my request hits me like a snowball to the face.
I know, I know… it’s not his fault that I’m falling for him. Even though I’ve told myself not to—like, several times. No promises, remember? Only negotiations. And I know I can’t expect him to think exactly like I do. How many times did Santa remind us orphaned elves from all over the world that we had to respect each other’s cultural and personal differences?
I also know we have a deal. Two-hundred and forty hours of companionship in exchange for him meeting with Jae-Hyun. And I’ve come too far and given up too much to risk him backing out on it now.
But something inside of me, just can’t let him go off to the bathroom while I pack my magical bag like a good little escort. “Wait, Hayato, wait…”
I run after him and grab onto his arm before he can get all the way to the bathroom. “Are you at all moved by what happened between Declan and Siobhan? What we helped make happen?”
He looks at the hand I’ve got wrapped around his wrist, then back up at me. “I am aware there might be confusion over this matter, given what transpired this afternoon. I will clear up that confusion now. This trip isn’t about romance or reunions. It is a mere closing of the deal. One that’s gone on far too long.”
We’re talking about Declan and Siobhan. But we’re not talking about Declan and Siobhan.
Us. We’re really talking about what’s happening between us. And he’s warning me not to attach more meaning to what he did for me than there actually is.
The melancholy melody to “Got a Feelin’” unspools inside my head as Denny Doherty comes to the realization that the person he’s fallen for is just playing head games with him and has no intention of ever loving him back.
I adore The Mamas & The Papas, but a lot of their songs held this dynamic. Love given and not returned.
Feeling like a fool, I drop his arm. And he walks away to the bathroom without looking back.