by Lucy Clark
‘Let’s get Friday underway,’ she remarked, quickly drinking the rest of her coffee and trying not to burn her tongue in the process.
‘I’m really excited about tomorrow night,’ Pierce said as they headed towards their consulting rooms. ‘In fact, why don’t you come over around four o’clock and Nell can show the children her puzzles. She’s become quite good at sharing.’ He straightened his shoulders, brotherly pride evident in his stature.
‘That’s great. Has it been difficult to get her to the point where she is happy to share her things?’
He shrugged one shoulder. ‘It’s been more of an ongoing thing all her life. Our mother was determined that Nell’s autism would never be used as an excuse for bad manners, so Nell was taught from a young age the importance of being polite—and that included sharing. Like anyone, she has good days and bad days. But for the most part she no longer has a tantrum if people put a puzzle piece back in the wrong spot.’
‘What does she do now if they do?’
‘She waits until the person has finished playing with the puzzle and then she fixes it up before packing it away.’
‘Good strategy.’
‘It works. So—four o’clock sound good?’
She nodded. ‘That gives us plenty of time to get crazy Saturday morning done and dusted and to organise the rabbits.’
‘Crazy Saturday morning?’
‘George goes to soccer, Lydia has ballet at eight o’clock and then gymnastics at ten, and Jasmine has a guitar lesson.’
‘Guitar?’
‘Electric guitar.’
‘Oh, that sounds…fun—and noisy.’
Stacey grinned. ‘Actually, she’s pretty good.’
‘She can bring her guitar if she likes. Give us an after-dinner concert, perhaps?’ At Stacey’s grimace he chuckled. ‘Or not.’ He stopped outside his consulting room door and placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Listen, if I don’t get a chance to speak to you for the rest of the day, given just how hectic our clinics are, I’ll see you tomorrow at four.’
Stacey was having a difficult time focusing on his words as the simple touch of his hand on her shoulder was enough not only to cause a deep warmth to flood throughout her entire body but for her mind to comprehend little of what he was actually saying. It had been so long since a man had been nice and kind and supportive, and it was…exciting.
Usually she just battled on with her day, her week, her life, sorting things out to the best of her ability, trying to make everyone around her happy. But at the moment it felt good to actually have Pierce standing by her side, offering his support. She had the sense that he was someone she could talk to and confide in. He also had an understanding of what it was like to raise a sibling—in her case more than one. Pierce had had to raise Nell after their parents had passed away, which couldn’t have been at all easy.
Long after Pierce had dropped his hand from her shoulder the memory of his warm touch and the way his blue eyes had twinkled with calm reassurance were enough to get her through the rest of the day. However, by four o’clock the following afternoon Stacey’s nerves were taut with stress once more.
Thankfully Molly had driven the short distance from their house to Nell’s house, with the two rabbits safe in the cage on the back seat of the mini-van, placed between George and Lydia. Jasmine sat in the far corner, listening to her music on headphones and generally sulking.
‘Is this where you used to live when you were little girls?’ George asked as they climbed from the car.
‘Yes,’ Molly answered, handing Stacey the car keys as Stacey waited politely for Jasmine to precede her. The surly girl was clearly resenting being forced to come.
‘You never know what’s going to happen, Jaz,’ Stacey said softly as Molly and the two children made their way up the path towards the front door, carefully carrying the rabbit cage. ‘You might actually enjoy yourself. They really are very nice people. Especially Nell.’
As she spoke the words she sincerely hoped that Jasmine wouldn’t kick up a fuss, because despite Pierce’s reassurances she didn’t want to test Nell’s ability to cope with chaos.
With sullen steps and her arms crossed over her chest, Jasmine walked ahead of Stacey towards the front door. Stacey only remembered to lock the car at the last minute. She was a little disconcerted about their descending en masse, about her family creating too much noise, about seeing Pierce in a more social capacity. No. She wouldn’t dwell on the latter. They lived and worked in a fairly close-knit community, and as doctors at the family medical practice it was only right that they become friends.
Nell stood at the front door with Pierce, formally welcoming everyone, even though Stacey could see that she was more interested in the rabbits.
‘Please, come in to my home,’ Nell invited warmly.
‘Wow!’ George and Lydia remarked as they stared at the ornate ceiling before doing a slow perusal of the room.
When Lydia spied the puzzles she relinquished her hold on the rabbit cage and raced over to where Nell had set them up on the floor. ‘I love puzzles,’ she declared, before tipping one over and starting to figure out how all the little wooden pieces went back in.
George continued his visual observation while Stacey introduced Jasmine to Pierce and Nell. The teenager managed the smallest glimpse of a smile when she shook hands with Nell.
‘Right on time,’ Pierce stated, grinning widely at Stacey.
She smiled back, feeling highly self-conscious and trying desperately to ignore the butterflies that had just been let loose in her stomach simply because she was in close proximity to him.
‘Are you going to marry Stacey?’ George asked, breaking the silence.
‘What?’ Stacey and Pierce said in unison.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘GEORGE!’ STACEY WAS gobsmacked. She looked at Pierce in shock, then back to her brother. ‘What on earth made you say that?’
George stared at her with his big eyes—eyes that were so like their father’s. ‘Well…the last time we went to have dinner at a man’s house was when you told us you was going to marry him.’
George’s tone was a little indignant, and the puzzled frown on his face indicated that he wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong.
‘But then,’ Lydia chimed in from the lounge room, where she was busy finishing off the puzzle, ‘he decided not to marry you and you had to tell everyone in the church that he wasn’t coming.’
‘He didn’t want you,’ Jasmine added, and her words were spoken in a tone which was designed to hurt.
‘Jasmine! That’s cruel.’ Molly’s chastisement of the girl was instant. ‘Apologise to Stacey.’
‘What?’ Jasmine spread both her hands wide. ‘Why do I have to apologise and Lydia and George don’t?’
‘Because you know better,’ Molly interjected.
Stacey watched the conversation going on around her—her siblings arguing, the rabbits getting agitated in their cage, Pierce looking back and forth between them all as if he was at a tennis match—and all she could focus on was her increased heart-rate hammering wildly against her ribs. She saw Jasmine’s mouth move, the framing of an apology on her lips, but the sound of the words didn’t register, only the thrumming of the blood reverberating in her ears.
What must Pierce think of them all! No sooner had they stepped over the threshold than a family squabble had erupted. If this was Jasmine’s way of making them all wish they’d left her behind at home, then it was starting to work. Emotional punishment, especially from her siblings, was the one thing Stacey wasn’t good at dealing with.
‘Stacey? Stace?’
She was vaguely aware of Molly calling her name, but mortification at the situation was getting the better of her and before she knew what was happening Stacey had whirled around on her heel and exited the house. She walked quickly down the street, moving as though on automatic. For a moment she thought no one was following her, and was extremely grateful, but a second or two later she hear
d a deep male voice calling her name.
Stacey didn’t stop, didn’t look back, and even when Pierce fell into step beside her she didn’t speak a word. Thankfully he didn’t try and stop her, didn’t ask her to slow down, didn’t offer placating words. Instead he seemed content just to walk beside her, matching her fast pace with ease. When she turned down a small lane which led to the park, he simply continued on alongside her.
She made a beeline for the swings—her favourite. The equipment at the park had been upgraded since she’d been here last, but apart from that everything was exactly the same. The familiar childhood setting calmed her somewhat, and when she finally sat down on the swing, instantly pushing herself up, she started to feel the consuming tension abate.
Pierce sat beside her on the other swing, and after watching her for a moment he followed suit and started swinging back and forth, not bothering to speak or initiate conversation. After about five minutes of swinging to and fro in silence Stacey started to slow down, her breathing more natural, her head cleared of its fog. Pierce slowed down as well and soon both of them were just sitting on the swings, rocking slowly back and forth.
‘Sorry,’ she ventured.
‘No apology necessary.’
‘I hope Nell’s all right and that our silly sibling squabbling didn’t upset her.’
Pierce nodded. ‘Nell will be fine. She was absorbed with the rabbits, eager to get them out of their cage.’
‘Good.’
‘Wait a second.’ Pierce held up one finger. ‘Did you say siblings? Squabbling siblings? George and Lydia and Jasmine are your siblings?’
‘Yes.’ She looked at him with slight confusion, then her eyes widened slightly. ‘I thought you knew that.’
‘Nope. I thought they were your children—or at least that some of them were.’
She shook her head. ‘Nope. We were seventeen when Jasmine was born, so I could have been old enough to be her mother. But my father married our nanny, Letisha, when Cora, Molly and I were thirteen.’ Stacey looked down at the ground. ‘My mother walked out, abandoned us, when we were almost five.’
‘How terrible for all of you.’
Stacey shrugged. ‘Letisha’s the only real mother we can remember. She looked after us for so long, and then when Dad was finally divorced he could admit he had feelings for Tish.’ Stacey smiled sadly. ‘They died together in a car crash. I don’t think my father could have survived being left alone again.’ She kicked the ground with her foot and dragged in a breath. ‘Anyway, by the time the three of us had finished medical school we had three new siblings: Jasmine, George and Lydia.’
‘And now, with your father and your stepmother gone, you’re raising your siblings.’
‘Yes. Although the three of us share legal guardianship of the younger three on paper, I seem to have become the designated parent in practice. Though in fairness Molly and Cora are very helpful.’
‘But you’re the disciplinarian?’ He nodded, understanding what she was saying. ‘It’s not easy to discipline a sibling.’
‘No. It’s not.’ She sighed and shook her head. ‘I know psychologically that Jasmine is just going through a phase, that she needs to take her grief out on someone and that someone is me—especially as I’ve just uprooted her from her school friends and brought her to the other side of the country. I know how she feels because that’s exactly what my father did to me when I was fourteen. He took us from Newcastle to Perth.’
‘But coming back home was the right decision?’
‘I know it is. And I know Jasmine will forgive me one day, just as I forgave my dad. But I wish—’ She stopped and gritted her teeth, trying to control the tears she could feel pricking behind her eyes.
‘You wish what?’ His words were soft and encouraging.
‘I wish she liked me.’ She spoke softly. ‘Just a little bit. Just every now and then.’ Stacey sniffed, still working hard to gain some sort of control over her emotions. ‘At least she gets along with Molly, and Cora is splendid with her.’
‘Except Cora’s not here and Molly’s embarking on a new career path, leaving you to carry the burden of a grieving, angry young girl.’ Pierce nodded, completely understanding the situation. ‘It’s not easy when you’re thrust into the parental role when all you’d rather do is be their sibling, comfort them and cry with them and not be expected to have all the answers.’
‘Exactly.’ She dragged in another calming breath. ‘I just hope Lydia and George don’t develop over-active hormones when they enter their teenage years. It’s not an easy time for Jasmine. I understand that.’
‘But she has to realise that this isn’t an easy time for you either. How long is it since your parents passed away?’
‘Eighteen months.’
‘Well, that’s not going to be easy for any of you—regardless of how old you are. Plus, it sounds as though you’ve had more going on than just the loss of your parents…at least from what George said.’
‘Being jilted at the altar, you mean?’ There was no point in beating about the bush, especially now, thanks to her siblings and the way they’d blurted out her past hurts.
He stared at her for a second. ‘Oh, Stacey. What an idiot.’
‘You weren’t to know.’
Pierce reached over and took her hand in his. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world so she let him. Warmth spread up her arm and somehow filled her entire being, right down to the tips of her toes, and she just let it. Right at this moment she was tired of always being in control, of bottling up her own emotions and private thoughts.
‘No, not me. Him. What an idiot he was to let you go.’
Stacey looked at her small hand sitting inside his big one. ‘How could you possibly know that?’ Her tone was soft, her words tinged with confusion. ‘You barely know me.’
‘I met you three weeks ago, Stacey, and although I don’t profess to know everything about you the essentials of your personality are quite clear.’
‘They are?’
He gave her a lopsided smile and she had to work hard to calm the butterflies in her stomach. It was bad enough that the touch of his skin against hers was causing her heart-rate to increase. Did she have no control over her senses where Pierce was concerned?
‘Stacey, from the way you stood on the opposite side of the road, gazing with fond nostalgia at the house, I knew you were someone who had a big heart. The memories the place clearly holds for you are important, and you didn’t shy away from that.’
She stared at him for a moment, then glanced down at their hands, at his thumb gently rubbing over the backs of her knuckles. She wished he’d stop, but at the same time she wished he’d never stop. Was he feeding her a line? Was he being nice to her because he wanted something from her? If so…what?
It had taken her quite a while to figure out that Robert had had his own agenda when it came to their…union. He’d wanted a smart, pretty wife—someone who understood his work and who was dedicated to helping him climb the career ladder. What he hadn’t wanted was an instant family.
‘And if you want more examples of how I know your character,’ Pierce continued, his tone as intent as his words, ‘let’s start with your concern for Edna and Mike, or of the way you talked about sitting in the bay window sharing your secrets with your sisters. But most importantly for me it was the way you interacted with Nell. As far as I’m concerned that’s always the biggest indicator of a woman’s true nature, because the instant a woman discovers I’m guardian to my little sister, and not only that but she has a learning difficulty, it’s usually enough to make them head for the hills.’
‘A woman’s true nature?’ she couldn’t help quizzing.
It wasn’t until Pierce looked into her blue eyes that he realised she was turning the tables, lightening the atmosphere, wanting to remove the spotlight from herself.
‘There’s a story there,’ she said.
Pierce nodded and slowly let go of her petite hand. ‘Of course
there is, and it’s one which has been repeated time and time again.’
‘Which begs the question have you ever come close to matrimony?’
He nodded. ‘I was engaged. Catherine was her name.’
‘Was?’
‘Still is, actually. She’s alive and well, but—’
‘But she couldn’t take the responsibility of being guardian to Nell?’
Pierce shook his head. ‘No. No, quite the opposite, actually.’
‘Really?’
He exhaled slowly and looked down at the ground for a moment. ‘Catherine was…is—’ he glanced at her as he corrected himself ‘—the type of woman who loves to be of use. She loves helping others, being there for them. She’s a brilliant doctor, ended up becoming an eye surgeon, but I guess the best way to describe her is that she needs to be needed.’
‘So when she found out you had a sister with a disability she was happy about that?’
‘Yes, and I thought, Wow, here’s a woman who likes me, who likes Nell, who loves being with both of us, who understands what we’re about.’
‘What went wrong?’
Pierce paused. ‘She accepted a job overseas, working with Pacific Medical Aid like your sister Cora.’
‘Was this before or after your engagement?’
‘It was two weeks before our wedding?’
‘She just went overseas?’
‘She said that we didn’t need her as much as other people needed her. That being married would tie her down, would stop her from reaching her true potential which was to help as many people as she could.’ Pierce met Stacey’s gaze. ‘Hard to argue with someone who only wants to do good in this world.’
‘And is she doing good?’
‘I believe she’s presently in Iran, giving the gift of sight by performing cataract operations on those who otherwise could never afford it.’
‘She sounds like quite a woman.’
He nodded. ‘She sends me a Christmas card every year.’
‘It’s good that you keep in touch.’
‘It is.’ He nodded.
