Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Orla, aged 14. December 9 th

Orla was sitting on the beach the next night when she heard the noise of someone carrying something down the steps from Starlight Cottage. It sounded like someone was dragging a body. She really hoped she wasn’t going to be witness to a horrible crime and then she remembered she lived in Apple Hill Bay. The worst crime that happened here was kids accidentally breaking a window with a football.

Just then Shay appeared and although she knew he wouldn’t be dragging a body with him, he was definitely dragging something that was big enough to be a body.

He dragged it closer to where she was sitting and she realised it was a Christmas tree.

‘Shay, what are you doing?’

‘You said you were going to miss decorating the tree this year, so I thought we could do it together.’

She smiled, her heart filling with love for him.

‘I can’t believe you brought a tree down a hundred and thirteen steps just for me. It’s not even a small one.’

‘Well, if we’re going to do it, we should do it right.’ He ripped open the netting surrounding the tree. He pulled a large bag off his shoulder, removed a tree base and slotted the Christmas tree inside, so the tree stood up, at least six or seven foot tall. He pulled out a big bag of baubles. ‘My mum has thousands of baubles, as she has a different colour tree each year, last year it was gold, the year before it was red, this year it’s pink. So she said I could take these blue and purple ones. I figured these ones would suit you best,’ he gestured to her purple boots.

‘Thank you, this is really thoughtful, and purple is my favourite colour.’

She selected a purple glittery bauble that looked like it had peacock feathers printed on the sides and hung it on the tree.

‘I even brought solar-powered lights so we can leave it down here on the beach and we’ll have a little bit of Christmas joy every time we come here.’

‘Don’t we run the risk of having it stolen if we leave it here?’

‘I don’t think anyone is going to be able to drag a seven-foot tree up all those steps; it was hard enough bringing it down, and the school kids tend to hang out on Blackberry Beach, not Cranberry Cove, so it will probably be quite safe, but we can always hide it at the back in one of the caves when we leave.’

‘Good idea.’

Shay selected a bluey green bauble and hung it on the tree. ‘What is it you love about decorating a tree?’

‘I don’t know, I suppose it’s just that cosy family time together. Mum would always make mugs of hot chocolate with lashings of cream and marshmallows. Dad would make paper chains that would fall apart every time he lifted it to go on the tree. They would always dance together to some cheesy Christmas song. They were so in love, so happy. I have so many memories like that, not just at Christmas but lots of other times throughout the year where we were this tight, little happy family. And now they can’t even stand to be in the same room as each other. I suppose it’s just that nostalgia for happier, simpler times.’

‘So I guess this isn’t really ticking that box for you, in that regard.’

‘I don’t know, I think I will always remember the year my friend dragged a Christmas tree down to the beach for me to decorate. Maybe this is about making new memories.’

He smiled at that. ‘I’m a big fan of that. The first time I ever decorated a tree was the first year that Carrie fostered me. I was thirteen. I don’t have any Christmas memories from my birth family. I don’t remember any decorations or a special day of presents or turkey. I don’t know why. Maybe we celebrated it in some low-key kind of way, but I don’t remember if we did. When I was in foster care, I always felt in the way at that time of year so although there were always celebrations, I didn’t feel like I was a part of it.’

He hung another bauble on the tree. ‘With Carrie, she made sure I was a big part of the celebrations, the decorating, the day itself. I’d been with her for around four months at this point, which I think was the longest ever foster placement. Theo’s adoption had finally come through and I remember how happy he was. As we finished decorating the tree she asked if I wanted to help her decorate the tree every year and asked if she could adopt me. I was stunned that anyone could ever want me. I think that was the first time in my life I felt loved and I’m not ashamed to admit I sobbed like a baby. I never thought she’d go through with it, I kept expecting her to change her mind, but she never did. Every Christmas since then has been a happy one. Christmas for me now means something different. So I’m all about making new memories.’

‘I like that we can make new memories together,’ Orla said.

He smiled and nodded. ‘I do too.’

She watched him as he held her gaze and she felt something shift between them, a deeper connection perhaps, or was it something more?