Coming Home for Christmas Read Online Free Page A

as close a bond with her when they were adults.
    ‘Well, I’m gaspin’ after that. Bring me home like a good girl and make me a nice cup of tea.’ Uncle Leo limped over to her, red-cheeked, white hair sticking up, wheezing
like a train. ‘Or would you like to get me one of those Snack Box things? I’m hungry too.’ He flopped down wearily on the chair beside her, puffing and panting. ‘They gave
me a right going-over in there. I’m banjaxed. You must be hungry too after all that waiting. I’ll treat you to a chippie, and I want to buy a few sweets for the girls.’
    Olivia’s heart sank. Friday was the worst day for the queues in the chipper, and the precious window she’d been carving for herself to get the spare room sorted before the girls got
home from school was rapidly dwindling away.
    ‘And do you know what I want you to get me? I want you to get me a nice pair of gloves for your mother, and a pair for your da – and would the girls wear gloves? It’s been a
fierce cold winter and I want something useful for them for under the Christmas tree. I could put twenty euros each down a finger for them.’ Leo looked at her enquiringly, his blue eyes,
bright and lively, belying his eighty-two years. Her heart softened. He loved the girls and took a great interest in the tapestry of their lives, and they loved him as much as they loved their
grandparents. Childless, his wife Kitty had died ten years previously.
    ‘Gloves would be great,’ she said kindly, taking his arm to walk down the corridor.
    ‘I’d say that lady’s up from the country. See, she has her case with her. Probably an overnight job,’ he commented in a fairly stentorian tone, raising his hat to an
elderly woman sitting on one of the chairs. The woman caught Olivia’s exasperated gaze and smiled back.
    ‘Come on, Uncle Leo, let’s go get a Snack Box.’ Olivia sighed, remembering she had to stop at the shops and get a dozen eggs for her mother while she was at it. She was going
to have to try and get her uncle’s Christmas shopping done, and she needed to order the flowers and cake for the surprise party. The sooner Alison was home the better: she could sort out the
flowers and decorate the private room Olivia had booked in the Golden Dragon, the popular Chinese restaurant on the Dublin road, a mile or so out of the village.
    Esther loved having a meal there, and she and Olivia would try and eat out there every six weeks or so. Her mother wasn’t expecting a birthday bash. As far as she knew, they were having a
meal out in the restaurant with the girls. She had no idea that Alison was coming home.
That
would be the best surprise of all for her, thought Olivia, and her sister didn’t even
appreciate the fact. Sometimes Olivia felt like the prodigal son’s brother, the one who was taken very much for granted and never had a fatted calf cooked in his honour despite all his good
work.
    Oh, get over yourself!
She scowled, annoyed at her childishness, then linked her uncle’s arm in hers and was rewarded with an appreciative pat on the hand.
    ‘You’re a good niece, Olivia, and I’m grateful to you for your kindness. You take after your mother in that regard. I just want you to know that,’ Leo said
appreciatively, leaning on her more than he usually did. The tests had taken it out of him today, she noted as they walked slowly down the steps of the hospital.
    ‘Thanks, Uncle Leo, you’re welcome. Now let’s get you home and feed you before I collect the girls from school, and you can go and have a good nap for yourself
afterwards,’ she said affectionately.
    One thing about her uncle, he appreciated what she and Esther did for him, and that made all the difference. Some of her friends had relatives who were utterly demanding and thoroughly
selfish.
    She’d get the spare room sorted one way or another – it wasn’t the Queen coming to stay, it was only her sister; and it was only for one night, because her parents