She took time then to gaze approvingly out of the windows to the harbour beyond, and she gave a decisive nod as if the thing was decided. She took Harold’s hand again and faced Lily. ‘It was wrong of you to run away,’ she said severely. ‘You knew I’d be worried. However, I’ve decided to forgive you and rather than you coming back to Lighthouse Cove we’ll stay here with you. This looks much more fun.’
She smiled then, a cat-got-the-cream smile that turned Luke’s stomach. ‘So you’re having a party.’ Her smile encompassed the whole room. ‘Are you all Lily’s friends? I look like her sister, but I’m really her mother. I know, it’s unbelievable but I was a child bride.’
She giggled.
No one giggled back.
The Harbour might be Sydney Scandal Central, Luke thought, but the team was a close-knit community. It protected its own.
As did Tarrawalla. Lily had been living in Tom’s house for only a few weeks, but she’d been seen as Tom’s family and therefore she belonged.
Consequently she had two communities who were looking at Gloria with outright mistrust. They were moving imperceptibly toward Lily. Their body language spoke of protection.
Gloria was beaming at Teo now, a full-on beam which made Luke see exactly what Lily contended with. Gloria thought she was a sex goddess, as simple as that. She was wearing a tight-fitting, leather dress, which pushed her cleavage to impossible limits, stiletto heels and fishnet stockings. She beamed and pouted all at once, and even though she stood beside the vicar, her eyes were darting from male to male, and her invitation was obvious.
This was the woman Lily had promised to protect, Luke thought, feeling ill. He thought of Lily as a child, a twelve-year-old, being asked to commit her life to the impossible.
He thought of all the things he wanted to say to Lily’s mother. He glanced at Lily and he thought, Not here. Not now.
Lily had wanted to be anonymous, he thought, and now he knew why. That’s why she’d come here. She’d embraced—and been embraced by—the Harbour community, she’d abandoned her anonymity, but things needed to be said now without an audience.
‘Let’s take this to the foyer,’ he said in a voice that brooked no argument. ‘Now. Ginnie, make sure the door’s shut behind us.’
‘Sure,’ Ginnie said, and suddenly Gloria and her vicar found themselves propelled outside. Luke towed Lily out after them, and Ginnie closed the door behind them.
Lily was so white. He put his arm around her waist but she was rigid in his hold. She was helpless against a promise made when she’d been twelve.
Enough. If Lily couldn’t say it, he’d say it for her.
‘Gloria, Lily’s promised to care for you,’ he said into the deepening silence, and Gloria’s seductive smile turned onto him straight away. She’d seemed stunned when he’d ushered her outside but she was making a good recovery.
‘Yes, she did,’ she agreed. ‘She’s a good girl, my Lily.’
‘But did you know,’ he said, and his voice took on a ruthless edge because ruthless was how he was feeling, ‘that a promise made under duress is not legally binding? Neither is a promise made by a minor. A minor, Gloria. That would be someone under the age of eighteen. Lily made her promise when she was twelve. The way I see it, Lily’s promise to care for you was made to reassure her father, who was under such pressure that he killed himself. If that’s not duress, I don’t know what is. And she was twelve. She was six years under the age when a promise is valid.’
‘Luke, don’t,’ Lily said, distressed. ‘Go back to the party. This is my business.’
‘No,’ Luke said. ‘It might not be my business but I care, and because I care I need to speak the truth. Lily, this is line-in-the-sand time. You should have this out with your mother, right here, right now. You’re sixty years old,’ Luke said to Gloria. ‘How can you still live your life dependent on the promise of a child?’
‘I am not sixty years old,’ Gloria snapped, aghast. ‘How can you …?’
For answer Luke flicked her dyed black curls from her face, exposing the scars of myriad past cosmetic surgeries. He wasn’t in the mood for games.
‘I’m a plastic surgeon,’ he said. ‘Sixty? I was being generous. I’m thinking older.’
‘How dare you?’ It was a scream of outrage. ‘What gives you the right?’
‘I have the right because I love your daughter,’ he said, ‘and Lily needs to see you as you really are. Lily also needs to see her promise for what it really is. It’s unjust and unreasonable and she shouldn’t be bound by it for a moment longer. She’s cared for you almost all her life but it’s time it stopped.’ He turned to the vicar. ‘You love this woman?’
‘Y-yes,’ Harold said, but he sounded doubtful. ‘But Gloria needs her daughter.’
‘Nonsense,’ Luke said bracingly. ‘How can one grown woman need more than you? And, Lily … are you saying that your father would have seen your mother settled with a man of the church, and not said you’ve done your duty and more? That you’ve fulfilled his promise over and over, and now it’s time you stopped? It is time you stopped, love. Right now.’
‘What are you suggesting?’ Lily looked aghast.
‘That you let your mother go,’ he said, his voice softening. ‘Not completely. I know you won’t do that. But I also know you own the apartment in Lighthouse Cove—that somehow against the odds you’ve bought it and managed to pay for it. But it’s in your name and your name only. So what I suggest is that your mother takes Harold back there, that you give her permission to live in your house, that you’re happy to chat to her once a week or so on the phone but that’s it. That’s your twelve-year-old’s promise fulfilled with honour, and with a lot more courage than your father ever could have expected of you.’
And then, as Gloria stared at him, speechless, as Lily stared back, white-faced, he took her hand.
‘Tell her, Lily,’ he said. ‘Your dad did his best for your mother but he reached his limit and he couldn’t take any more. Think about your dad right now. You loved him and he loved you. If he’s looking down now he’s seeing his ex-wife with another man. He’s seeing his daughter who’s been robbed blind. He’ll be thinking … what will he be thinking, Lily? What would he be asking that you say right now? And more. What do you want to say?’
She looked at him and he met her gaze, pure and strong. You can do this, his gaze said.
She must.
And finally, finally, she did.
‘Luke’s right,’ she whispered, and then her voice firmed. ‘No. I should say that louder. Enough, Mum. I’ve done enough for you and more. Yes, you’re my mother, but we’re both grown women with independent lives. Go home to Lighthouse Cove with your vicar.’
‘You have to come home.’ Gloria was suddenly as ashen as her daughter. ‘You can’t leave me.’
‘You have Harold,’ Lily said, her voice growing more sure by the moment. Luke linked his hand with hers and she held on, but she didn’t need it. He knew she didn’t need it. The strength was there.
‘You have Harold and whoever else replaces him,’ she said. ‘But I’m not there as a stopgap any more.’ She glanced at the unfortunate Harold. ‘Harold seems nice. Solid. What about holding onto him?’
‘You’re expecting us to go home?’ Gloria’s voice was a screech of outrage. ‘We can’t. How can you expect us to? Besides,’ she added and there was triumph in the outrage, ‘we flew here on one-way tickets. And we don’t have enough money to get home.’
‘What have you done with my money?’ Lily closed her eyes, but then opened them and shook her head, as if shaking off a nightmare. ‘No. It doesn’t matter. It’s past. Mum, when I was twelve I promised Dad I’d look after you. Dad was so distressed … All I wanted was to fix it and I would have promised him anything. But I can’t fix it. He couldn’t and neither can I. But that’s it. I don’t know how you’re getting back to Lighthouse Cove but it’s not my problem.’
Luke tugged her tight against him and she let he
rself be tugged.
‘There’s no need for you to feel bad,’ he said, holding her close. ‘Your mum’s not on her own. She has her vicar.’
‘And help from me.’ It was Finn—of course it was Finn—appearing without notice from the elevator. ‘My secretary’s buying one-way tickets back to Adelaide as we speak,’ he said jovially. ‘Don’t thank me, Luke,’ he said, expansively. ‘This is a birthday party, isn’t it? Don’t all guests bring presents? If not, we’ll call it an early wedding gift.’
He turned to Gloria and the full force of Finn Kennedy power focused on her and her alone. ‘Mrs Ellis, I have a hospital car waiting outside to take you to the airport. Lily, give your mother birthday cake to go, and two balloons—it’d be sad if the Harbour was seen as less than generous. Luke, escort your future mother-in-law to the car to make sure she’s properly gone. Right, I need a whisky. Enough. Are you intending to let me into this party or not?’
Finn escorted her back into the party while Luke took her mother to the car. To her amazement there was no buzz of gossip; no one talking behind her back. The room sort of closed in around her. She had approval and warmth and support. She was hugged by people she hardly knew.
So much for being anonymous. Why had she ever wished for it?
‘Good girl,’ Finn said, gripping her hand. ‘One problem fixed. Now fix Luke.’
‘So what about you, sir?’ she asked, wondering at her temerity. She’d seen him wince as she’d taken his hand, and she’d heard the talk. ‘Rumour is you have a problem you won’t do anything about.’
‘Nothing that this won’t cure,’ he snapped, motioning to his whisky, but then he shrugged and smiled. ‘And we can’t fix everything in one day.’
Luke returned. ‘She’s gone,’ he said.
Lily felt … Actually she didn’t know how she felt. Weightless? Happy?
Free.
Luke hugged her and she hugged him back and she thought … she thought …
That he needed to make a speech. And that this was only part one of a two-part problem.
But as Finn had said, ‘We can’t fix everything in one day.’
Tom returned to his ward, exhausted but happy, looking forward to a long sleep to celebrate his last night at the Harbour. The birthday party went on without him.
Luke’s colleagues weren’t abandoning this excuse to celebrate Luke’s long-awaited inclusion into their social network. Hints failed. Threats failed. It was two a.m. before the last giggling partygoer staggered towards the elevators.
‘That was some party.’ Lily turned and looked at the carnage of the living room. ‘This is some mess.’
‘You want to clean up now or go to bed?’ Luke said into her hair, and she thought about it. For about a nanosecond.
‘Bed. But, Luke …’
‘Mmm?’
‘Thank you,’ she said softly. ‘I should have done that so many years ago. It seemed impossible. For you to make me see …’
‘Think nothing of it, my lady,’ he said, sweeping her into his arms. ‘Have I asked you to marry me lately?’
‘No,’ she said, her heart seeming to skip a beat. ‘I don’t believe you have.’
‘I don’t have a ring,’ he said, settling her on his bed with care. ‘But hypothetically …’ He kissed her long and deeply, and lowered himself onto the bed beside her. ‘If I was to go down on bended knee with a crimson box …’
‘I’d probably giggle.’
‘And then say yes?’
‘I’d say I’d think about it,’ she said, trying to make herself think when he was doing truly delicious things with his tongue; with his fingers. ‘And I can’t think about it at two in the morning surrounded by chaos.’
‘I can’t see any chaos,’ he said, searching for the zip to her dress. ‘I can only see you.’
‘That’s a problem as well,’ she said, and she tugged him close and held him tight. ‘How can I think about anything when all I see is you?’
CHAPTER TWELVE
SUNDAY they were due to take Tom back to his farm. Home.
They planned to collect Tom at ten and take him in Luke’s car, with Lily following behind.
‘We need a bigger car,’ Luke said as they woke, and Lily stirred in his arms and thought she didn’t need anything at all.
But… A bigger car?
‘A family car?’ she ventured, feeling like she was on the edge of a precipice. A warm and delicious precipice.
But … ‘No,’ Luke said, revolted. ‘But something like John’s SUV. If I’m to cart uncles and women around the countryside …’
Keep it light … ‘Buy a roof rack, then,’ she suggested. ‘It’s cheaper. And one of those luggage pack things. Tom and I can pack down small.’
‘Ridiculous,’ he said, kissing her nose. ‘Lily, will you stay at the Harbour? You have a permanent job here any time you want. We could try living together.’
‘You mean before you think of giving me that little crimson box?’
‘I mean before you accept it,’ he said. ‘The crimson box is metaphorically on the table already.’
‘That’s a very big word for the day after the night before.’ She snuggled into his arms and felt delicious. ‘I guess …’ She thought about it. ‘Tom has an attic room with a huge cast-iron bed. Maybe we could set up there,’ she suggested.
He frowned. ‘Live with Tom, you mean?’
‘He’ll need us.’
‘I guess … for a week or so.’
‘A week or so.’ She stilled. ‘Luke, he needs you.’
‘Not permanently. We’d drive him nuts if we shared a house.’
‘You’re very sure.’
‘I’m like him.’
She stilled. ‘Would I drive you nuts if I shared a house?’
‘No!’
‘I might,’ she said. ‘I hog the bathroom. My mother calls me a selfish cow.’
‘Your mother’s gone,’ he said, kissing her. ‘We have each other. We’ll do what we need to do for Tom, and then we can come back here.’
‘And leave Tom?’
‘Not while he’s unsafe, but after that … We’ll install a housekeeper. Someone. We’re loners, Tom and I. This is huge for me, loving you.’
‘I should be grateful?’
‘No, but—’
‘Luke, Tom isn’t like my mother,’ she whispered. ‘We love Tom because he’s special, like I love you because you’re special. You shouldn’t love me because you think I can fit into a niche in your life, leaving the rest undisturbed.’
‘Lily—’
‘No,’ she said, closing her eyes for a second, coming to a decision. ‘You’ve made me see the problems in my life but I don’t know how to do the same for you. But until you do … All I know is that you need to leave that crimson box in the undecided basket.’ She took a deep breath. Regrouped. ‘Right. Let’s get Tom home and settled. I’ll take on another month at the Harbour …’
‘Not night duty.’
‘Okay, not night duty.’ She glowered at him. ‘Is that because you want to be with me or you’ll worry about me when you’re not with me?’
‘Both,’ he admitted.
‘We do need time,’ she said softly, and she tugged him back into her arms. ‘I shouldn’t stay. I know I shouldn’t. I see this whole black chasm where hope should be. Oh, but, Luke …’
‘I do love you,’ he said, strong and sure, and she kissed him and held him tight.
‘I’m figuring that out,’ she said. ‘I just need to know what it means to be loved that much.’
They made love. They dressed and headed to Tom’s ward with Lily feeling more confused than she’d ever been in her life.
Things felt so right, yet there was a niggle of doubt that wouldn’t disappear.
Love without conditions … That was the dream, she thought, but Luke’s love seemed to be conditional. On her being safe. On him keeping her safe. On him keeping his boundaries with Tom. On him keeping his own boundaries.
Maybe I need to change, she thought. He won’t.
Still … she thought back to where she’d been four weeks ago and she wondered why on earth she was worrying. She’d met Luke and she’d fallen in love. Luke had rescued her in true heroic style. He was, quite simply, the most gorgeous guy she’d ever met. He wanted to marry her.
She should be over the moon.
A niggle …
The cramps were back again. That was another niggle. Tom. She put niggles aside and greeted Tom with smiles. They gathered his belongings. With Luke on one side and Lily on the other Tom walked slowly out to the doctors’ car park and almost half the Harbour’s staff wished him well on the way.
But they weren’t leaving yet. They’d just reached Luke’s car when Evie came flying out the emergency entrance.
Walk, don’t run. It was a medical mantra.
Evie was running.
‘Sit in the car,’ Lily told Tom, and Tom sank gratefully into the passenger seat, unaware of impending problems.
‘Luke …’ Evie called. She looked … scared. ‘Thank God I caught you. Can you come?’
‘What’s happening?’ Luke was already striding to meet her.
‘Road trauma,’ she said. ‘Four guys, all needing Theatre. I had to call Finn in as back-up. He was to cope with a ruptured spleen. He started—but he’s just downed tools.’
‘Downed tools …’
‘His hand’s shaking, Luke. Carl’s doing the anaesthetic—he’s got the guy under but Finn’s backed from the table. Carl said he tried to pick up forceps but his hand shook and he put them down again. Luke, it’s Sunday morning and there’s no other surgeon who can step in. If you come now we can keep this under wraps, we can get a good result, but if you can’t, we need to transfer him now.’
Lily saw Luke’s shock.
A ruptured spleen … a patient already anaesthetised.
Lily's Scandal Page 17
