Lightning Storm

by Anne McAllister

  ‘Poor Jake,’ Addie clucked sympathetically. ‘Victoria will get you a beer.’

  Jake looked sceptical, as though he doubted Torey would do much more than haggle with him or scream at him if her past behaviour was anything to go by. They had existed in an uneasy truce since he came to get her that afternoon. At first Scott had been in the truck, his chatter making a welcome barrier which neither of them crossed. But once he had been dropped off at kindergarten, the silence lay like an ocean between them. Finally, during a particularly long wait at a stop light, Jake had cleared his throat and muttered, ‘Sorry.’

  Torey looked over at him, amazed. ‘Sorry?’

  He shrugged. ‘I seem to irritate you without even trying.’

  How perceptive of him. ‘It’s partly my fault,’ she acknowledged. It was mostly her fault, to be frank. He could have no idea of the disruptive effect he still had on her even after all these years. But she couldn’t quite accept that he wasn’t trying to annoy her—she wasn’t the one doing the baiting, after all.

  The light changed and he eased the truck into the intersection, waiting patiently to make a left turn. ‘Truce?’ he asked.

  Torey’s eyes flickered down the length of him, still seeing the firmly muscled body on the beach beneath his blue jeans and open-necked blue sports shirt. A retreat seemed more sensible—clear back to Illinois—judging from what just looking at him did to her. But then she remembered Vince and Harlan, and knew she couldn’t go back at all. ‘Truce,’ she agreed, and he nodded, apparently satisfied.

  But he was surprised when she handed him the beer and even more so when she made them all sandwiches unasked.

  ‘Ground glass, is it?’ he said, taking it suspiciously.

  ‘And let my grandmother know what I really think of you?’

  Jake made a face. ‘You’re doing this for Addie?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘You’ll give her ideas,’ he warned.

  It was possible, Torey acknowledged. Addie would think that her matchmaking efforts were not all in vain. But she was counting on Jake to squelch that. All he wanted was to go to bed with her. She would keep him out of bed. Let him convince Addie that marriage wasn’t on his mind. ‘I’ll take my chances,’ she said, and left him chewing his tuna sandwich thoughtfully while she got Addie another cup of tea.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Addie was too exhausted from her move back home to do more than make them wash dishes together the first night. But Torey thought her grandmother was going to be a formidable pest when she felt up to par. She spent every waking moment extolling Jake’s virtues until Torey began to think up excuses to go on errands alone. By Wednesday, all conceivable errands accomplished, she was ready to tear her hair. Addie had spent the entire morning alternately playing snap with Scott and telling Torey what a gem Scott’s father was.

  ‘Which war did you pick up your techniques in?’ Torey asked finally, interrupting Addie’s monologue about Jake’s ability to diagnose and repair the ailments of her highly unpredictable car.

  ‘What, dear?’ Addie was driving one of Scott’s jeeps across her quilt, trying to avoid the motorcycle policeman who was Scott.

  ‘This brainwashing, Gran. Where’d you learn it?’

  ‘Whatever do you mean, dear?’ Addie asked, dodging the issue as successfully as she did Scott’s motorcycle man. ‘I’m just making conversation. Telling you about a good friend.’

  Torey rolled her eyes. ‘Who also happens to be “available” as you told me the other afternoon.’

  ‘That, too,’ Addie agreed, smiling beatifically. ‘Goodness, Victoria, you are becoming very touchy.’ And she became touchier as the week wore on. She might have found Addie’s enthusiasm amusing if she hadn’t been the object of it—she and Jake. But she didn’t. And Jake was no help at all. If she had expected him to resist Addie’s matchmaking ploys, she was sadly mistaken. He was the one who was amused. And he seemed to see nothing wrong with going along with whatever scheme her grandmother concocted.

  Torey lost no time in realising that however much her grandmother might, in fact, need her services as a physical therapist, Addie thought Torey needed a matchmaker more. And she had no hesitation about working in her scheme wherever there was an opening. Even during her exercises.

  ‘Gran, that’s enough,’ Torey said as Addie raised her leg slowly.

  Addie shook her head obstinately. ‘Just a few more, Torey, dear. What’s a few more?’

  ‘Too many,’ Torey said in exasperation. ‘Because fifteen lifts are good for you, it doesn’t stand to reason that thirty are twice as good.’

  ‘It doesn’t?’ Addie didn’t look convinced. ‘What do you think, Jake?’ she demanded of the man leaning against the fireplace and cradling a coffee mug in his hands.

  A few days ago Torey would’ve dismissed him with a ‘What does he know?’ but the past week had taught her that what Jake thought was gospel. If Jake said fifteen was enough, Addie believed. If he didn’t, God help the physical therapist who did. ‘Jake?’ she deferred to him sweetly, her eyes belying her honeyed tones.

  ‘Better do what Torey says, Addie,’ Jake advised, an unrepressed twinkle in his eyes. ‘Torey’s the boss.’

  There’s a laugh, Torey thought. Anyone with less control of a situation would be hard to find. She might know the proper sequence of exercises to help Addie develop her walking ability again, but she couldn’t make Addie do them if she didn’t want to. And Addie had turned into a tough bargainer. She seemed to think every five steps was a negotiating point.

  ‘I’ll walk tonight,’ Addie would say, ‘while you go out for a walk with Jake.’

  ‘I don’t want to go out for a walk with Jake,’ Torey argued.

  ‘Don’t blame you,’ Addie said complacently. ‘I don’t much want to walk between here and the sink either. But I will if you will.’

  Fuming, Torey agreed. The next night, Thursday, it had been a bike ride to the Redondo Harbour. ‘I’m too tired,’ she groaned, and Addie nodded agreeably.

  ‘Me, too,’ her grandmother said, flexing her leg carefully. ‘Think I’ll just take it easy tonight. No exercises.’

  ‘You need to,’ Torey argued, annoyed as much by the grin that Jake wasn’t hiding very successfully as by her grandmother’s machinations.

  ‘Of course you’re right,’ Addie said. ‘I hate to be watched though. Just a little bike ride, hmm, Torey?’

  ‘You shouldn’t be left on your own.’

  ‘Scott’ll be here,’ Addie reminded her. ‘We can keep an eye on each other. And you can keep an eye on Jake.’

  Which was exactly what she didn’t want to do. Every minute she spent in Jake’s presence was torture. She didn’t want to want him but, damn it, she did. She had stayed out of his way as much as she could figuring that their ‘truce’ stood a better chance of surviving if it wasn’t put to the test too often. But it didn’t stop her thinking about him, fantasising about him, mooning about him like some lovesick teenager. It would have been faintly tolerable if he had been as indifferent to her as he had been seven years ago. Unfortunately that was not the case. He was positively encouraging her idiocy. And Addie wasn’t helping matters at all.

  Either she couldn’t do anything unless Torey humoured her by going out with Jake while she did it, or she did too much in a misguided effort to get well immediately. Only Jake seemed to be able to convince her to slow down these efforts, and much as she resented having to do so, Torey bowed to his influence over her grandmother.

  ‘I’ll stop then,’ Addie said, collapsing into her rocker, ‘if you’ll go to the end-of-the-year assembly at the PTA meeting with Jake tonight.’

  ‘Can’t,’ Torey said immediately, wishing for a split second that she could have. Jake at a PTA meeting would have been worth seeing.

  ‘What do you mean, you can’t?’ Addie demanded, her bright blue eyes boring into her granddaughter.

  ‘I have a date,’ Torey said smugly, tossing a silent thank
you to Francesca.

  ‘A date?’ Addie sounded mortally offended.

  ‘Isn’t that the general idea?’ Torey teased. ‘That seems to be everyone in the family’s main goal: find Torey a date. Well, I took pity on you all and found one of my own. So you can relax and stop trying to palm me off on Jake. I would appreciate it, and I’m sure he will.’

  ‘I never!’ Addie bristled. ‘Have I ever forced you to take Torey out, Jake?’ she demanded.

  ‘Never,’ Jake denied, lips twitching.

  Torey shot him an irritated glance and got to her feet. ‘Well, if you’ll both excuse me I have to go and get ready.’

  Jake gave her a mocking bow as she passed him and she barely contained a desire to kick his shin as she went by. ‘Have a nice time tonight, Dad,’ she said sweetly.

  ‘I’m sure I will,’ he lied genially. ‘Pity you can’t come. Scott would have liked it.’

  That turned out to be an understatement. When Scott hurtled in from playing in the garden, Torey was just emerging from her room wearing a thin peasant blouse and a flowery wrap-around skirt, and he skidded to a stop in front of her and said, ‘Boy, those kids’ll really think you’re somethin’.’

  ‘Kids?’ Torey was confused for a moment, then said, ‘Oh, but Scott, I’m not going to your meeting. I have a date.’

  Scott’s face fell a mile. ‘You aren’t?’ His voice was hollow, crushed. He spun away from her and raced into the living room where Jake and Addie were talking. ‘She isn’t comin’!’ he yelled.

  ‘Scott...’ Torey heard Jake’s voice, gentle and weary.

  ‘You said ...’ Scott accused, voice breaking.

  ‘He didn’t know she couldn’t,’ Addie put in, trying to smooth things over.

  ‘He promised!’ Scott wailed.

  ‘Scott! Stop it!’ Jake was angry now. ‘I never promised you any such thing!’

  ‘But...’ Torey could hear the tears in his voice.

  ‘I know,’ Jake soothed, ‘you want somebody besides me to come, don’t you?’ His tone was conciliatory now.

  Scott sniffed. ‘It’s the last assembly of the year,’ he mumbled. ‘All the Moms and Dads come. Both of ‘em.’ His voice was heavy on Moms and both.

  ‘Well, your mother isn’t here,’ Jake said flatly. ‘And Torey can’t come. How about...’ he seemed to cast around for a suitable replacement. ‘How about Auntie Lola?’

  ‘I don’ care,’ Scott said sullenly.

  ‘Well, don’t do me any favours,’ Jake said, exasperated.

  ‘I wanted Torey,’ Scott said stubbornly.

  ‘I’m sorry, Scott,’ Torey said then, coming into the room and kneeling beside the little boy, not looking up at his father. ‘If I had known before I would have planned to come with you.’

  Jake snorted sceptically. ‘Like you planned to go bike riding,’ he muttered darkly.

  Torey glared fiercely at him. ‘That is not the same thing at all. I would have liked to go to Scott’s assembly.’ She gave the little boy a hug and didn’t even flinch when he rubbed a grimy fist against his tear-stained cheeks before hugging her neck. ‘Another time?’ she asked him, a hint of promise in her voice.

  Scott sniffed again and nodded. ‘Okay.’

  ‘You invite me next time.’

  ‘I will,’ he promised. ‘See,’ he said triumphantly to his father, ‘you shoulda let me ask her.’

  Jake’s teeth clenched. ‘I—oh hell—’ He glanced out the window. ‘Your date’s here,’ he said tersely to Torey, and if she thought he muttered something about being saved by the bell, she couldn’t be sure. She gave him a quick smile and hurried to open the door.

  ‘Gino, how marvellous to see you!’

  He did look marvellous too—even more the stunningly handsome Viking than she remembered. ‘Torey, you did grow up!’ He swung her into his arms, giving her a bear hug that blotted out almost all sensations except the distinct sound of Jake gritting his teeth.

  ‘Gino,’ she said when he set her back down, ‘I’d like you to meet my grandmother, Mrs. Harrison.’

  Gino shook hands with Addie, giving her a warm, good-natured grin that seemed to erase the penetrating gaze that Addie had fixed him with at first.

  ‘And this is Gran’s tenant, Jake Brosnan,’ Torey went on hurriedly, and stepped back as though she might get caught in the crossfire. Gino’s blue eyes were warm and smiling; Jake’s were chips of ice. It took him an eternity to accept the handshake that Gino offered, and Torey wanted to step on his foot. He was acting like a very suspicious father whose daughter was about to go out with a convicted rapist. ‘And this is Jake’s son, Scott,’ she finished.

  ‘You’re Torey’s date?’ Scott was giving Gino an even more thorough inspection than Jake had.

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I wanted her to come to my PTA meetin’,’ Scott said guilelessly.

  ‘Scott!’ Jake growled.

  Gino pulled a face. ‘Sorry, old man, if I’d known we could’ve worked something out.’ He looked at Jake speculatively and then shrugged, slanting Torey a grin. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Yes.’ Definitely, she thought. Not a second too soon. She plucked her shawl off the back of Gran’s rocking-chair and bent to kiss her grandmother. ‘See you in the morning,’ she said.

  ‘What makes you think I won’t be up when you get in?’ Addie asked, pecking her cheek.

  ‘You’d better not be,’ Torey laughed. ‘You need your sleep. Jake will see that you behave yourself.’ She tried to give him a comradely smile but he was staring stonily at her. ‘Well, er, bye now,’ she said, flustered at the look in his eyes, and practically bolted out the door ahead of Gino.

  ‘He own you or something?’ Gino asked as they walked up the hill to Manhattan Avenue where Gino had parked.

  ‘Jake? No, of course not,’ Torey said more breezily than she felt. The hairs on the back of her neck were still standing on end.

  ‘Tell him that,’ Gino said, directing her towards a shiny black Datsun 280Z. ‘Your grandmother should get a sign in her yard that says, “Beware of attack tenant”.’

  Torey laughed. ‘He’s not that bad.’

  ‘It wasn’t your arm he was trying to break.’ Gino disagreed.

  He drove them to an authentic-looking Mexican restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway where he plied her with enchiladas and margueritas, telling her outrageous stories about what he had been doing for the past seven years, making her laugh until tears came to her eyes.

  ‘Oh Gino,’ she told him as he helped her into the car again and drove towards the pier in Redondo. ‘I’ve needed this.’

  ‘In love with me already, are you?’ he grinned, brushing his lips across her hair before straightening up to ease the car away from the stoplight.

  ‘Well,’ she said, considering, ‘it’s not exactly love, Gino.’

  ‘Not yet,’ he amended.

  Don’t I wish, she thought. Would that it were that easy. He seemed to be everything she wanted in a man—kind, funny, intelligent, handsome, talented, loving. If ever there was a worthy successor to Paul, Gino was probably it. But that something special wasn’t there. She didn’t feel the same zing when his lips caressed her hair that she had with Paul. She didn’t have the urge to snuggle up next to him and rest her head on his shoulder, toying with the blond hair at the nape of his neck. No, there was only one man now who incited those responses, one man who made her heart beat faster, one man who seemed able to melt the ice that had held her captive since Paul had died.

  Oh Jake, go away, she begged silently. Let me be.

  But Jake’s was not an accommodating spirit. Where she and Gino went that evening, he went. Over the past two years she had got used to Paul’s face intruding on her thoughts, but it wasn’t Paul haunting her tonight. It was Jake.

  ‘Have you had a good time?’ Gino asked her as they stood on the broad pathway in front of Addie’s house.

  ‘Oh yes.’ If only Jake hadn’t come along in spirit it would h
ave been fine.

  ‘Then I can call you again?’

  Jake’s dark face flashed in front of her eyes. ‘Yes, of course.’ Her voice was more enthusiastic than it should have been, designed, she supposed to banish his devilish blue eyes from her mind. But maybe if she saw more of Gino, she could fall for him. It was worth a try. Proximity might do the trick. It seemed to work with Jake whether she wanted it to or not!

  ‘Good.’ Gino leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

  No melting, no conflagration. Not even a spark. Damn, Torey thought. But Gino didn’t seem displeased, and Torey decided that even if she didn’t hear violins or angels singing, at least she felt comfortable with Gino. Time, that was what she needed. Love hadn’t been a whiz-bang affair with Paul either.

  Thanks for a lovely evening,’ she whispered, grateful that Gino didn’t press to come in.

  She slipped off her shoes in the dark entry way, hoping that her tiptoed entrance wouldn’t wake Gran. Smiling slightly, she sent a thank-you winging to Jake who, for all his faults, must have persuaded her grandmother to get some sleep. Thank heavens. She didn’t need a grandmotherly inquisition tonight.

  ‘Ten more minutes and you’d have turned into a pumpkin,’ a voice drawled out of the living room’s darkness.

  Torey spun around to glare into the unlit room. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’

  ‘Meditating?’ Jake offered, and Torey heard the creak of the rocking chair as he got to his feet.

  ‘Why aren’t you at home?’ She moved to switch on the light, but Jake put out a hand and caught hers.

  ‘Don’t. It shines into Addie’s room.’ He led her into the kitchen where he released her hand, then shut the door and flicked on the tiny light over the stove. It gave just enough light for her to make out the ruffled dark hair that drifted across his forehead and the unbuttoned state of his shirt. ‘Coffee?’ he asked with disarming calmness.