Aidan reached for the leather-bound book with the gilded gold pages that sat next to his football trophies. He took it over to the sofa where the light was better. The album cover was embossed in gold letters that read, “Aidan and Sarah,” along with their September wedding date. He looked through the photos from the happiest day of his life and smiled at the picture of him standing with Sarah in front of the white Rolls Royce Dennis had surprised them with. On the next page, the four O’Malley brothers were dashing in their gray tuxedos. They wore the cocky grins of men too young to believe anything bad could ever touch them.

And Sarah. She was so breathtaking, with her mane of thick dark hair and hazel eyes. Aidan’s gaze lingered on the photo of her in her wedding gown, with the sun setting over the water behind her. He was stunned when his eyes filled with tears, and he closed the photo album abruptly.

He’d lied to Clare when he told her he’d never been married. The lie had been told so often in the last ten years, he almost believed it himself. He found it easier to lie than to talk about it. Only when he was here at home did he ever hear her name or that of their son who would now be ten years old.

After attending an early mass, Clare kept herself busy on Christmas Day preparing for the girls’ visit. She made lasagna, cooked a turkey, and baked several batches of their favorite cookies. The phone rang all day. When the girls called a second time, Clare got to say hello to Frannie and Jamie. When Jack came on the line to say Merry Christmas, Clare wanted to cheer when she felt no physical reaction to the sound of his voice, but she realized she missed him. It was an odd mixture of relief and sadness.

She also spoke to her mother, her sister Sue, and brother Tony, as well as her nieces and nephews. The nonstop calls gave Clare little time to be lonely, and by nightfall she was proud of herself for getting through Christmas alone for the first time in her life.

At nine, she curled up on the sofa with Christmas Vacation, which made her laugh like she’d never seen it before. The phone ringing again at ten surprised her. Who was left?

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Aidan said. “How’re you doing?”

Delighted to hear from him, Clare smiled. “I’m fine. How are you? How was the O’Malley Christmas?”

“To quote my brother Colin, it was a freaking madhouse. I just took a second dose of Advil.”

Clare laughed. “Sounds like fun.”

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see them all, but I live alone. It’s always a shock to my system to come home. How was your day?”