‘Then I can’t possibly object,’ Richie conceded, standing and holding his hand out to her. ‘Not that I would, anyway. If we could withstand the temperatures at the ice rink every weekend, I reckon we’ve got 2 a.m. in December nailed. Even if we’re ancient now.’

  The memory of those early dates made Cathy smile. As did his willingness to go along with her spontaneous and possibly death defying impulses now.

  When they passed through the lounge and told the younger ones what they were doing, she saw Helena open her mouth to object, but Eve immediately jumped in with a gentle, ‘Let them be, Mum. They’re happy.’ If only her daughter could embrace the concept of only living once and making the most of it, she’d be a lot bloody happier too. Maybe this whole situation would help. Cathy lived in hope.

  In the hallway, Cathy grabbed her thickest coat and pushed her feet into her warmest boots, then wrapped a thick scarf around Richie’s neck and gave him gloves that might just stretch enough to fit his hands.

  It seemed so perfectly natural to slip her arm through his when they got into the lift, and even more comfortable to drop her head onto his shoulder, and then feel the contact as he kissed the top of the woolly hat on her head.

  When the lift opened, they didn’t even have to communicate where they were going, as they made their way into the little park and down the path to their bench.

  Just like the last time, Richie’s arm went around her and her hand went into his pocket for extra heat, as they sat in the glow of a million fairy lights above them.

  ‘I can’t believe today,’ Cathy said softly. ‘It’s been one of the most incredible of my life. We found each other again, Richie. How amazing is that?’

  He exhaled, making clouds in the cold air. ‘You’ve no idea how many times I’ve imagined this happening and never once did it come even close to feeling as great as this does now. I want to tell you I still love you. I still feel exactly the same as I did when we were little more than kids. Is that crazy?’

  ‘Absolutely. But say it anyway.’

  ‘Cathy Farmer…’ It felt churlish to correct him with the married name she’d had for over half a century, so she didn’t. ‘I love you.’

  ‘Richie Clark, I love…’

  She didn’t get the rest of the sentence out because she was startled by a familiar sensation. Her hand. In his pocket. Touching something square and small. That had only happened to her once before in her life.

  ‘I kept the ring,’ he said, answering her unasked question. He gently slipped his hand in next to hers, then pulled out a tiny box, fifty-five years after he’d done it last time.

  He opened it and there was the same ring, a tiny silver band with a blue stone.

  ‘I found it when I moved out of my house and into the flat in my building. It’s been in my pocket ever since. I know this will sound like I’m losing the plot, but I felt that somehow it might help find you.’

  ‘I guess it worked. Well, that and the bloody great big billboard that was outside your building last year.’

  His laugh was pure joy and this time, she raised her face when he leant down to kiss her head and their lips met. Cathy wanted to freeze time and just stay in this moment for ever. Or at least, until the pneumonia threat became a reality.

  His hand stroked the side of her cheek, and she didn’t even care that her face had a hundred more wrinkles and creases than the last time he’d touched it.

  ‘Do you think that, in a while, I could give you the ring again? Maybe ask you the question I had teed up last time?’

  Cathy didn’t even hesitate.

  ‘Richie, I don’t need to think about it, and I don’t need to wait. And to be perfectly honest, did you hear the bit about us being seventy-five? Ask me again now.’

  He laughed so loudly she wouldn’t be surprised if some of the folks who lived around the square phoned the police to report suspicious late night noise in the park. Thankfully, his next words were softer, and only reached her ears.

  ‘Cathy, you were the first person I ever loved and I’d like you to be the last. Will you marry me?’

  Cathy moved her hand forward and the first love of her life slipped the ring on to her finger. It felt like some kind of wonderful omen that it still fitted. Sitting on their bench, under the twinkly lights, on a chilly December night not too different from the last one, Cathy nodded.

  ‘I will, Richie Clark. I definitely will.’

  EPILOGUE

  ONE YEAR LATER

  Christmas Eve 2024

  The fairy lights in the park were like a sea of tiny spotlights and every one of them was shining on Loretta Farmer, the seventies icon who was belting out ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ on a makeshift stage of six beer crates turned upside down and covered with the top half of a picnic table.

  Eve was standing in the corner of the garden, watching the performance, when she felt an arm snake around the neck of her favourite red padded coat. There was no snow this year, but it was near to freezing and she’d already come close to frostbite in this park once before.

  ‘So have we decided if they’re shagging again or not yet?’ Gabby’s voice drawled in her ear. This was the first year her best mate had forfeited the panto season, but her filming commitments in her new role as lead detective Shelley McDonald, a half-Scottish, half-American detective on the new cop show, Glasgow, gave her no time for anything else. It did, though, give her Christmas off to spend celebrating with them here today.

  Laughing, Eve followed Gabby’s gaze, until it landed on her mum and her dad - her non-fake one - sitting really close together on a bench over by the gate.

  ‘Almost certainly. Last weekend, I caught Harry sneaking out of Mum’s flat at eight o’clock in the morning. He said he was just out for a jog and passing by, but he was wearing odd shoes and his T-shirt was on backwards.’

  Not that she needed any other evidence of Helena’s new-found happiness. Just one glance over at her, head thrown back in laughter, was all anyone needed to see. Eve had no idea where this Helena had been for the last thirty years of her life, but she was happy to welcome her to the gang now. Although, it would need careful explanation that her mother was seeing her real father and her gran on her mum’s side was dating her grandad on her dad’s side. It was like one of those riddles that popped up on TikTok. Or in the occasional court case or a documentary about cults.

  There had been a dozen heart-to-hearts over the last year, and Eve had seen layers of her mother that had previously been smothered in regret and bitterness. Eve had always thought that her mother’s refusal to embrace love or happiness in any form came from the fact that she’d never got over Bruce’s betrayal, but she’d learned that it came from a completely different place – self-reproachment because she’d walked into a marriage knowing that she was doing a deal with a master manipulator but thinking that she could play on his terms. Turned out she couldn’t, and it had eroded every shred of trust in her own judgement, so she’d simply shut her emotions down.

  Eve would never fully understand it, and she would definitely not choose that life for herself, but now that she knew her mother better, at least she understood where it came from. And that single-minded focus had come in handy when her mum was working with the family law division of her company on a defence against Bruce Quinn’s potential court case to reclaim eighteen years of child support.

  Her old dad had been astonished that Helena had had the audacity to sleep with someone else. Which was, by all accounts, pretty fricking rich coming from him. Her mum had kept Eve and her gran updated with all the developments in the case during their newly established Saturday morning brunch commitment. Although her mum still only ate muesli and drank wheatgrass.

  In the end, the case had fallen through anyway, because Bruce had decided that the embarrassment of being cuckolded, even unintentionally, wasn’t worth the money he would win on the deal. Besides, he was distracted because his twenty-nine-year-old wife had buggered off and left him after having a very public affair with Bruce’s partner, who was also the guy whom Bruce had trusted to draft up their utterly ineffective prenup. Bruce was now in litigation to dissolve his company, in a fight against losing 50 per cent of his assets in a cut-throat divorce in which the validity of the prenup was being challenged, and his whole world had been thrown into turmoil. Her gran murmured, ‘Karma’s a bitch,’ every time his name was mentioned.

  Eve had seen him once since she’d found out he wasn’t her father. He’d wished her well and shook her hand as he said goodbye. Pretty much summed up their relationship. He hadn’t cared in the least when she’d changed her surname from Quinn to Clark, although her mum, gran and her new dad and grandad had been thrilled.

  ‘Are you two having a private chat or can I join in?’ came a voice from behind them.

  Eve felt a tiny bubble of joy pop in her heart at the sound of his voice. In the last year, he’d gone from being a friend, to so much more.

  ‘It still thoroughly disgusts me that you two are a couple,’ Gabby groaned. ‘I just need to try really hard to never picture you having sex.’

  ‘My sister, ladies and gentlemen,’ Nick announced, with mock ceremony. ‘Come dance with me under our tree,’ Nick asked Eve, taking her hand and leaning down to kiss her slowly, tenderly, but oh so sexily. Gabby made vomiting sounds and pretended not to look.

  ‘Their tree’ was on the other side of the park, just in front of her gran’s building. Nick had found her there last Christmas Day, composing a text to Sonny, to say she just wanted to be friends and nothing more. Words her gran had said had stuck in her mind. Don’t ever settle for less than a great love. She’d known Sonny for eight years and it had never felt like that. Deep in her heart she knew it never would, so she’d let him go.

  Before the text had even reached Sonny’s phone, Nick had sat down next to her and begun to chat. An hour later, the sound of music had reached them from her gran’s open window and before she knew what was happening, they were dancing and then she was kissing him. Since then, she’d spent her entire holiday allowance on trips to California to see him, and he’d done the same. He’d only landed the day before, so much to Gabby’s disgust, there was still a whole lot of that snogging going on. Eve wasn’t quite sure if he was her one great love, but she was happy to keep dancing until she knew.

  Sonny hadn’t had quite the same level of patience. On New Year’s Day, he’d reunited with Anouska, the ballet dancer he’d been dating right before he gave Eve the ultimatum, and they’d got married in the spring. Eve had happily lost their ‘benefits’ and in return had gained a new friend and client in Anouska. Eve was determined to get her on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.

  ‘Dad approaching, dad approaching,’ Gabby announced. ‘See, this is why I’m a detective now. Acute powers of observation.’

  Harry reached Eve and held out his hand. ‘Thought I might come have a swirl around the dance floor with my daughter,’ he said. ‘But we haven’t got a dance floor so that mushy bit of grass over there is the next best thing.’

  Eve giggled as she took his hand and let him twirl her around before enveloping her in a bear hug that technically became a dance because they were shuffling from side to side in time to the music.

  Nick may one day qualify as one of the great loves of her life, but getting to know Harry Clark had been one of the great joys of her life. He’d had a few long-term relationships, but he’d never married and he had no children, yet he’d been delighted to embrace his newfound fatherhood. They were taking it slowly, no pressure, just a weekly dinner date and calls whenever they felt like it. She wasn’t sure what having a real dad was supposed to feel like, but she was loving the friendship and the affection that grew between then with every passing day.

  The song had barely ended when Cathy’s voice permeated the garden. ‘Hello, everyone,’ she chirped, to a rousing applause, led, of course, by Richie and Loretta. The three of them had been inseparable since her great-aunt had returned from Benidorm in the summer. Gran had moved up to Richie’s penthouse on the top floor, one of the most beautiful apartments Eve had ever seen. Loretta was living in Gran’s apartment, although Richie was currently threatening her with eviction because Loretta and his sister, Betty, had a party last weekend that ended up with three calls to the police to complain about the noise.

  Cathy was beaming, as she scanned the crowd of everyone she loved. ‘My fiancé and I…’ That got a rousing round of applause. ‘Would just like to thank you all for coming to our Christmas party. And we just want to pay tribute to the loved ones who aren’t here to celebrate, but who made us the people that we are and gave us the wonderful lives that we’ve had. Richie’s wife, Marsha, and my husband, Duncan, will always be with us and Richie and I will always love them dearly.

  ‘And thank you to every one of you who are standing here in this special place, freezing your bits off, because you didn’t wear appropriate footwear.’

  There was a loud cheer of agreement for that one, then Richie held his hand out and beckoned to her gran to share the microphone. As she handed it over, Eve knew she’d never seen Gran looking happier than she did right now.

  Suddenly, a woman Eve didn’t recognise appeared behind them, but instead of being surprised, her gran and grandad took a step apart and beamed at each other as the lady took the microphone and began speak.

  What was this? If it was a police raid, her mother would go into full solicitor mode and she’d sue half the city authorities.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Val Murray, and I’m a humanist celebrant who has been asked to come along today by this wonderful couple, who have decided to pledge their lives to each other. However, Cathy has asked me to make it quick because apparently she’s seventy-six and time is ticking.’

  Eve’s hand went to her mouth and she gasped, as the rest of the crowd burst into laughter.

  Her mum suddenly appeared at her side, looking just as surprised as Eve felt. ‘Did you know about this?’

  Eve shook her head. ‘No. But it’s marvellous. I fricking love them.’

  Helena’s arm came around her daughter’s shoulders as she nodded in the direction of the happy couple. ‘I do too. She’s bloody fabulous.’

  This was all new. The hugs. The loving words. The emotion. It was little, and it was late, but Eve was open to every bit of it.

  The celebrant got right to work.

  ‘Richie Clark, do you take this woman, Cathy McLean, to be your lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, and to love with all your heart and soul for as long as you both shall live?’

  Her grandad took both her gran’s hands in his. ‘I do.’

  ‘And do you, Cathy McLean, take Richie Clark to be your lawfully wedded husband? For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, and to love with all your heart and soul for as long as you both shall live?’

  ‘I do.’

  Eve watched as her gran pulled a hanky out from up her sleeve and opened it to reveal two perfect white gold bands.

  ‘With this ring, I thee wed,’ Richie whispered, as he gently pushed the smaller band on to her gran’s wedding finger.

  ‘With this ring, I thee wed,’ her gran repeated, doing the same.

  The celebrant kept right on track with the speed-ceremony Gran had apparently asked for.

  ‘Then, by the powers invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss.’

  And they did, as everyone around them cheered.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here and apologies for springing this on you.’ Eve decided her grandad didn’t look sorry at all. He looked positively ecstatic as he went on, ‘I just want to let you know there will be food back at our apartment, and music and dancing too. It’s just like every other day of the week with this one.’

  Eve watched as her gran feigned outrage.

  ‘Well, I’m sev… Oh bollocks, never mind. Richie Clark, I love you. You make me want to do all those things. Thank you for making me the happiest woman on the planet today.

  Grandad only had eyes for his new wife now. He leaned down, kissed her again, before replying. ‘I’ll try not to keep bringing it up that it took you nearly six decades to say yes. Cath, my darling, I love you. I remember a million years ago, you used to say that we could see the people we loved and lost in the stars. I never forgot that. And I just want to tell you that in every lifetime, be it this one or the next, or the one after that, you will always be the brightest one of all.’

  The only things that sparkled more than the fairy lights in their special place, were the smiles of all the people who loved the newlyweds.

  Her mum stepped to the side to cheer with everyone else, clearing the way for another arm to snake around Eve’s shoulders. ‘What do you reckon,’ Nick whispered in her ear. ‘Us one day?’

  ‘I’ve no idea. But if I ask you, or you ask me, I just have one condition. Make it here.’

  Before he could say any more, the music started again, and there was Aunt Loretta with a microphone. As the bride and groom danced, they all joined in, singing a special song about sunshine on a cloudy day.

  MORE FROM SHARI LOW

  We hope you enjoyed reading One Christmas Eve. If you did, please leave a review. If you’d like to gift a copy, this book is available to purchase in paperback, hardback, large print and audio.

  One Moment in Time, another wonderfully uplifting story from Shari Low, is available to buy now by clicking on the image below. Or read on for an exclusive extract…

  Prologue

  LAS VEGAS - 19 MAY 1993

  Elvis threw his arms out to the side, making the tassels that dangled from his white leather jacket quiver. The Elvis Loves Me Tender Chapel of Las Vegas was his white-walled, plastic-flower-draped stage, and the four people standing in front of him were his audience.