Never Say Never (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 3)

by Melissa Hill

  How sad it all was, Olivia thought, yet how easy to imagine. As a child, knowing she was different and trying to prove herself to the other kids meant that Robin was a danger to herself. Yet being kept inside at playtime obviously didn’t help her social skills or her friendships. No wonder she was so ill at ease with herself, and so embarrassed about the attack.

  “Well, you must have been the most intelligent one in the school, then.” Olivia said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

  Robin smiled and rolled her eyes. “Another reason for my classmates to tease me,” she laughed.

  “So tell me, what’s it like now? How do you manage now – with the nut thing?”

  “It’s not too bad,” Robin replied. “I still can’t touch nuts, or anything that might contain them. As for last week, the doctor reckons I reacted to the oil that they used to coat the bap – it may have been some derivative of peanut oil.”

  “Something you couldn’t possible know,” Olivia said, beginning to realise just how dangerous the allergy could be.

  Robin nodded. “There’s lots of hidden stuff,” she said. “I have to avoid some packaged foods like the plague, as they’re often processed in the same factory or on the same line as products containing nuts. Same with most standard chocolate bars.”

  “Gosh, how do you do it? I can’t imagine what it would be like not being able to eat chocolate.”

  “It’s not a big deal really. You don’t really miss what you’ve never had. You can get special nut-free chocolate, but I’m not that bothered. It’s still taking a chance because you just never know. Human error and all that.”

  Olivia couldn’t get her head around it.

  “So what about when you eat out? Can you eat out?”

  “Sometimes, but I have to be careful. You just can’t be a hundred per cent certain that the staff know the ingredients of each and every dish. Chinese or Oriental food is totally out because they use a lot of nuts. I’ve never actually eaten Chinese food – how’s that for an admission?”

  Olivia smiled. She adored Chinese food.

  “But I’ve heard some horror stories though,” Robin went on. “I remember hearing about a fellow-sufferer who was assured in a restaurant that satay sauce didn’t contain nuts – imagine? Luckily, the person didn’t take any chances, but still you’d have to be sure you came out with your adrenaline kit that night.”

  “So how does that adrenaline thingy work then?” Olivia enquired.

  “It’s called an epinephrine pen and most allergy sufferers carry one around with them all the time. Say, if you eat something, and have a serious reaction like I did the other day, a shot of adrenaline takes you out of it, and stops you losing consciousness. It’s easy enough to use normally, but I was so far gone the other day that I really needed help. It’s a total lifeline.”

  “A lifeline,” Olivia said, the reality of what Peter had done only now truly sinking in. “So, you really could have died?”

  “I was heading for unconsciousness, definitely. After that, who knows?” She shook her head. “It’s been a while actually. I thought I’d finally learned to control it. But I think it’s the kind of thing you can never fully control – you just have to live with it.”

  “I must say, I think you’re amazing,” Olivia said. “I really can’t even imagine what it must be like. It’s like every day could be … well, you just never know. Sorry,” she said, shaking her head, “I don’t mean to sound morbid.”

  “I know what you’re saying,” Robin said, laughing now, “but it’s been a part of my life forever, so I don’t know what it’s like to be ‘normal’. You do learn to live with it. I think it’s harder on parents – I know my own mother had a really terrible time with me. She only had the one child, probably because of my allergy and the difficulties in dealing with it. I don’t think she had a day’s peace once I started school.” Then she grimaced slightly. “Sorry, I’ve just remembered I hardly know you, and I’m already boring the face off you about this thing. You must be ready to explode.”

  “Not at all,” Olivia said smiling. “I think it’s fascinating, and I know Peter will be dying to hear every detail. Tell you what – why don’t you pop over to our place tonight for dinner?” Then she paused. “Now, I don’t want to put you under pressure or anything and don’t worry, I’m a very plain cook, so I could make anything you like …”

  Robin laughed. “I’d love to, but I don’t want to put you out. Cook what you like and I’ll bring a sandwich or something.”

  Olivia didn’t push it. “Great, I know Peter would love to meet you.”

  “Peter’s your boyfriend?”

  “Yes,” Olivia smiled when she thought about him. “It’s a sad story really – we met here on registration day – and we’ve barely been apart since.”

  “Oh – I thought you meant sad as in sorrowful.”

  “No, as the rest of our friends keep telling us, it’s just ‘sad’.” She laughed. “But he’s great – from day one we just connected and – two years later we’re still together.”

  “But that’s lovely – good for you,” Robin said. “The two of you are obviously very well suited and you were great to me that day. I don’t think I could ever find a man like that – not one that would put up with me anyway.”

  “Ah, don’t be silly – you’re like my friend Leah. She reckons most of the men around these days are complete nutters, but I just keep telling her …what?” she broke off, as Robin burst out laughing. “Oh, right, ‘nutters’, yes, I see what you mean.”

  The two girls laughed together easily, and both realised that this was the beginning of what could be a great new friendship.

  9

  “I have a surprise for you,” Ben said, his eyes mischievous as he led Robin along Lexington Ave.

  “What kind of surprise?” she asked, intrigued. She loved it when Ben did things like this, although at the same time she was a little concerned as to what he had up his sleeve this time. He’d rung her at work earlier and, full of obvious excitement, had asked her to meet him outside his office building when she’d finished for the day.

  Although, knowing Ben, he most likely wanted to go and do something tacky and touristy, she thought with a smile. The two had met shortly after he moved to New York, and in the very early days he was like a child in a sweetshop, eager to experience all that this magnificent city had to offer. Robin was a million miles away from being jaded – in New York she didn’t think it could happen – but at that stage, having lived in the city for years, she had already done most of the touristy things.

  Back then Robin hadn’t intended on meeting anyone. Still feeling the effects of a particularly disastrous fling with a totally unsuitable guy – one she’d tried her utmost to forget – the very last thing on her mind was meeting a man, least of all an Irishman, and certainly not at a New York society wedding.

  Robin’s close friend and workmate, Anna, was marrying her high-school boyfriend, a lovely, gentle – and loaded – man called Burton Greene. Robin had been thrilled when the two announced their engagement, but was even more thrilled when she discovered that they planned to hold their wedding in the Plaza Hotel. If there was one place in New York that held special memories for Robin, it was the Plaza.

  Many years before, on her very first visit to the city, she and her American cousin Fiona had one night sneaked into the foyer while the doorman was helping one of the hotel guests out of a limousine. Robin still clearly remembered her absolute awe at stepping inside the luxurious hotel for the very first time. Home Alone – Lost in New York was one of her favourite Christmas movies and, as this particular visit occurred over the holidays, it seemed as though she was reliving parts of the story herself. Earlier that day, she and Fiona had fed squirrels in Central Park, gasped in appreciation at the toys in FAO Schwartz, admired the skating rink at the Rockefeller Centre and then, to complete the most memorable Christmas Eve she had ever experienced, stood open-mouthed in wonder at the most amazing
and truly beautiful Christmas tree in the Plaza foyer. The hotel’s famous and overly elaborate crystal chandelier almost paled in comparison to the magical, fairytale-like tree standing majestically above them. It was probably right there, staring at the tree’s decorations twinkling brightly in the light, that her love affair with New York truly began – which was why the Plaza was one of her favourite spots.

  And on Anna and Burton’s wedding day, the hotel – or more likely, the wedding co-ordinator – didn’t disappoint. Robin had decided to wear an understated but sexy Robert Cavalli mini-dress for the occasion and, in such sumptuous surroundings, she felt almost justified in blowing most of the previous month’s wages on the delicate wisp of jade-coloured silk. Her lack of funds for groceries as a result of her splurge had done no harm in helping her fit into it either, she thought wryly. The style here today was utterly spectacular, and Robin hoped desperately that, as one of Anna’s pauper friends, she would be able to hold her own in the fashion stakes alongside Burton’s megabucks relations. Making an impression was of the utmost importance in Manhattan, but never more so than at a society wedding. In truth, Robin found it all terribly shallow.

  Speaking of impressions, she thought as she sat down, that very cute guy with the warm chocolate-brown eyes sitting across from me at the table is definitely making one on me. He had caught her eye on a number of occasions and twice she had to look away from the weight of what she hoped was his interested gaze. Despite herself, and unused to such obvious flirtation – especially in this town – she had to smile. He was sitting alongside Robin’s date Gary, another work colleague, and was chatting away easily to him.

  Just then, Gary looked across at Robin. “Hey, you two might know each other. Ireland’s a small country, isn’t it?”

  “Sure, we’re probably related,” the other man said, in a highly exaggerated ‘Oirish’ accent, before Gary could make the introductions. “You look terrible like my cousin, Eileen Dooley, so you do.” With this he gave her an almost imperceptible wink.

  Robin’s eyes widened in mock-surprise. “Not Eileen Dooley from Letterkenny?” she replied giddily, immediately getting into the swing of things, the few glasses of wine she’d already consumed helping considerably. “I’m her second cousin – twice removed.”

  “Go ‘way out of that,” he replied laying it on thick. “Jaysus, ‘tis a terrible small world all the same, so it is.”

  “Wow.” Gary sat back, impressed. “So you two are actually cousins then? It is a small world. I’ve never travelled further than New Jersey but you Irish – you guys get everywhere, don’t you?”

  Robin and her ‘cousin’ exchanged a mischievous smile.

  “Well, look, why don’t I let you two catch up,” Gary said, sensing that he would have little to contribute to a conversation between two long-lost Irish relations. Unfortunately, his own crowd had originated in France, so he couldn’t even pretend he knew who or what they were talking about, more’s the pity.

  “Aye, thanks.”

  Gary turned to speak to the person sitting next to him, and Robin raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t ‘aye’ supposed to be a Scottish expression?” she said, taking the opportunity to have a good look at him. He was remarkable in that he had exceptionally clear skin, not a mark, not a trace of acne, nothing. It was as though he had come straight from a beauty salon before the wedding, and knowing some of the men in this town, Robin thought wryly, perhaps he had.

  “Scottish, Irish – I think it all sounds the same to these ‘guys’,” he shrugged and Robin couldn’t help but notice what a remarkable smile he had, leading her in turn to wonder whether or not those Tom Cruise teeth were natural. There was also a very good chance that his deep brown eyes might simply be the result of a good pair of contact lenses. The only snag was, she’d noticed earlier that he kept tugging at his collar, a sure sign he wasn’t comfortable with wearing a suit. It was highly unlikely then, she deduced, that he would go to all that trouble with his appearance, and something instinctively told her that he wasn’t the type.

  “What?” he asked then, his expression amused.

  “Sorry?” Robin sat back, startled.

  “You were making some kind of judgment, weren’t you?”

  “Judgment about what?” she said, unnerved that someone she’d just met could read her so easily. She was generally a cagey person, and, as she’d been told many times before, often difficult to get to know.

  “About me.”

  “What? What makes you think that?” she replied defensively.

  He smiled. “You were, weren’t you?”

  “I was not.”

  “Were too,” he said, feigning a childish tone, and Robin couldn’t help but laugh. He was lovely. “Tell me what you were thinking,” he asked, sitting forward and resting his chin on his hand.

  “I was …” Robin thought quickly, “I was just wondering how you know Burton and Anna.”

  “Don’t know them at all,” he said, glancing towards the head table. “Apparently one or other of their dads – possibly Burton’s, I think – is a major shareholder in my boss’s company. Jeff, my boss, couldn’t make it today so we went along in his place.”

  “Oh.” At the mention of ‘we’ it suddenly hit her that he must have a date.

  “What about you?” he asked in return.

  “Anna’s a work friend.” She followed his gaze towards the top table where Anna was beaming from ear to ear.

  “She seems a bit cracked to me,” Ben said. “Spending good money on those fancy ice sculptures that’ll end up as plain H2O in a few hours’ time.”

  Robin looked at him. “I haven’t heard that one in ages,” she said with a smile.

  “Heard what?”

  “That expression ‘cracked’. I have a friend back home – Leah – she used to say it all the time.”

  “Leah – pretty name.”

  “Yes, it is,” Robin replied, and at the mention of her friend’s name, she felt an uncharacteristic bout of homesickness. She wondered what Leah was doing now, what everyone was doing now. Probably in bed fast asleep, she thought wryly, remembering the time back home and trying to snap herself out of it. She really should ring her soon.

  “Do you know – you seem to spend an awful lot of time daydreaming,” she heard him say.

  “What?”

  “Well, I’ve spent the last ten minutes trying to chat you up and you keep looking dreamily into the distance.”

  “You’re trying to chat me up?” Robin smiled at his directness.

  “Well, why else do you think I begged your man to swap places with me?”

  “What man?”

  “The one sitting over at that table, joking and laughing with all my workmates. He seems to be having a right old time.”

  She looked at him. “You’re telling me that, before dinner, you sought out the person sitting across from me and asked him to switch places with you?”

  “Yep.”

  “But … but what made you think I was fair game?” she asked, feeling a little bit put out. “I mean, didn’t you stop to think I might be here with a boyfriend, or a partner or – ”

  “Didn’t matter,” he said, with an indolent shake of his head.

  “What do you mean – it didn’t matter?” she repeated, stunned at the size of his ego. Yes, he was good-looking but … “You can’t go around assuming that every woman you like the look of is willing and available to fall at your feet at a quick flash of that smile – that’s just so – so arrogant.”

  “You like my smile? Cool,” he said, annoying her even further.

  “Look, I really don’t know who the hell you think you are,” she continued, having had it up to there with men like him. Good-looking men were all the same – so full of themselves and cocksure that they could pick any girl up at the drop of a hat. “But if you think you can just –”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, let me introduce myself,” he said pleasantly, cutting her off. “My name’s Ben McKenna. I just
moved here a couple of weeks ago and, assuming I play my cards right, I fully intend to be the man you’ll be spending the rest of your life with.”

  THINKING BACK on it now as she followed Ben down Lexington Avenue, Robin couldn’t help but smile. Even funnier, he had thought it was such a killer line, and the poor guy couldn’t understand it when right afterwards she had simply burst out laughing.

  “What? What did I say?” he asked, when Robin had recovered.

  “You idiot,” she grinned, hardly able to speak for laughing. “What made-for-TV movie did you get that from?”

  “What? That came right from the heart,” he said, looking hurt as Robin’s shoulders continued to heave with laughter.

  “Was it really that bad?”

  “It was absolutely brutal.”

  But the fact that Ben had genuinely assumed it to be a romantic overture had been one of the most endearing things about him, and the main reason they began seeing one another after that wedding.

  It was difficult not to be endeared to Ben. He had such a childlike, almost naïve, sense of wonder about everything in the city, that with him it was as though Robin was living her earlier days in Manhattan all over again. For the first few weeks of their relationship, he and Robin behaved liked tourists and did everything from carriage rides in Central Park, trips across the river on the Staten Island Ferry, theatres on Broadway, shopping on Fifth Avenue, and Ben’s favourite – viewing the city from the top of the Empire State Building.

  But for Robin, there was sadly nothing that could ever beat the view from atop the Twin Towers. That day on the Empire State with Ben, looking out at the panoramic view of the island below, Robin’s gaze drifted across towards Battery Park and she felt once again the gaping void the destruction of the Towers had left deep in the hearts of everyone living in this wonderful city.