Summer Fling (5 page)

Scott walked to the table and placed a
steaming cup of coffee in front of her. “That’ll make you feel
better.”

She sipped it thankfully, feeling the
warmth of the liquid travel right through her body. She looked at
Scott as she hooked a lock of hair behind her ear. She knew she
looked a mess, her long, tangled hair falling over her shoulders
and a tear-stained face. Her eyes stung and she knew they must be
red and swollen.

Yet the look Scott gave her was one of
adoration. He smiled at her with a tenderness she had never
known.

When he reached out his hand and covered
hers, she nearly gasped.

“You’re beautiful even when you’re
upset,” he said. He pushed Lorraine’s cup away and bent across the
table to kiss her softly on the lips.

“Why did you come to Blenheim?” Lorraine
asked suddenly, not even knowing why she said it.

Scott looked at her with a steady gaze.
“Because I wanted to see you again.”

It was the answer she had been fishing
for. “I didn’t think—”

“I know, I didn’t either. It wasn’t
until you left Christchurch that I realised you meant more to me
than anybody else has before.” He reached across and took her other
hand. “Then Donna confirmed how you felt and I just had to come and
see you.”

Lorraine closed her eyes and smiled. She
could hardly believe that Scott was sitting there saying all this.
That he actually felt the same way she did. But the soft touch of
his lips against hers confirmed it was true.

Scott moved around the table and took
Lorraine into his arms, kissing her tenderly. She put her arms
around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as they held
each other tightly.

All too soon, Lorraine felt reality
slipping in. “I have to ring the hospital,” she said, pulling away
from Scott and going to the telephone.

“Lorraine, what good is that going to
do?” Scott said, placing a hand on her arm.

Lorraine turned desperately to Scott. “I
feel so helpless.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I just can’t
sit around here and do nothing.”

“Yes you can, and you’re going to. I
think you should get a good night’s sleep and go up to the hospital
tomorrow with a fresh mind. He wouldn’t like to see you looking
like this. It won’t do him any good.”

She sighed. “You’re right. But I don’t
think I want to be in this house by myself.” She looked up at him.
“Will you stay? There’s a spare bed upstairs if you want it.”

Scott took Lorraine into his arms again.
“Yes, I’ll stay. For you.”

As she climbed into bed, dressed in a
short white nightshirt, she realised just what Scott’s words meant.
He cared about her. His feelings were as strong as hers and he was
in love with her as much as she was with him. He respected her, for
he had not asked to sleep with her, even though Lorraine knew he
wanted to.

She murmured his name softly into her
pillow as she rolled over to go to sleep. But she found that sleep
would not come. She got out of bed and brushed her hair until it
shone, then she walked out into the hallway.

Scott’s door was partly open and the
bedside lamp let out a dim light. She pushed the door open to see
Scott standing by the window, wearing only his jeans. He was facing
her, his arms hanging loosely by his sides.

She smiled, knowing that he had been
waiting for her.

“I knew it wouldn’t be long before you
realised you couldn’t sleep,” he said, returning her smile.

“You’re a wanker,” she said playfully as
she walked towards him.

“Don’t touch,” Scott said softly as she
drew near. He smiled. “Get as close as you want, but no contact. I
want to see who can last the longest.”

She moved her face close to his,
teasingly letting her mouth wander only centimetres from his mouth.
“Two can play this game,” she said, moving her body closer and
taking care not to touch him.

She slipped her nightshirt down over her
shoulders and let it rest just above her breasts.

Scott’s lips moved down towards her neck
but still did not touch her.

She moved her hands carefully to the
dome on his jeans, and without making contact with his soft, brown
skin, she undid them.

Scott tried to do the same with her
nightshirt, yet it was obvious he couldn’t control the urge when he
reached down and touched the creamy skin that lay beneath.

“Sucker,” Lorraine giggled as she kissed
him hungrily on the lips.

He led her to the bed and they slipped
quickly beneath the blankets.

* * * *

In the morning Lorraine woke to the
smell of hot coffee drifting up the stairwell. She got out of bed
and put on a bathrobe, then walked down to the kitchen.

Scott was busy making a pot of coffee
and he turned to greet Lorraine.

“Hi, gorgeous,” he said cheerfully.
“Sleep well?”

Lorraine smiled as she went to the
telephone. “I’m just going to ring the hospital,” she said as she
dialled the number.

“Hello, Wairau Hospital, can I help
you?”

“Can I have ward six please,” Lorraine
said as she watched Scott patting the cat. He picked him up and the
cat immediately began to dribble in ecstasy.

I know how you feel
, Lorraine
thought to herself with amusement.

“Hang on and I’ll put you through,” the
receptionist said.

When Lorraine got through, she asked
about her father, only to be told there was no change. Things were
definitely not looking up.

After Lorraine had showered and dressed,
Scott took her up to the hospital.

“I won’t come in,” he said as she got
out of the car.

“You can if you want to,” Lorraine said
as she bent over and looked back at Scott.

“There’s a few things I have to do,” he
said as he smiled at Lorraine. “I’ll be back in an hour. If not,
I’ll have a taxi waiting for you.”

“Okay.” Lorraine walked briskly into the
hospital, then turned to watch Scott as he disappeared from the car
park. The emotion she saw painted on his face was one she didn’t
understand, and it wasn’t until later that she realised what it had
meant.

As she went to see her father, the
doctor stopped her in the corridor.

“We have some good news and some bad
news,” he said.

“What’s the good news?” Lorraine
asked.

“Your father’s gained feeling in his
legs.” He gave her a big grin. “But that means he will be in a bit
of pain for a while. We’re doing all we can for him at the moment.
He’ll have to have skin graft operations and a lot of physio but
we’re confident that he’ll be able to walk again.”

Lorraine rushed to her father’s room.
She found him asleep, so she waited for an hour, but the drugs they
had given him had put him out for some time.

“Bye, Dad,” she whispered, kissing him
softly on the forehead.

As she walked back out to the carpark,
she couldn’t see Scott’s blue ford, yet she spotted a green taxi
and went quickly to it.

“You must be Lorraine,” the taxi driver
said as she climbed in.

She smiled and nodded, puzzled as he
handed her a note.

Her smile faded as she saw Scott’s
sloped handwriting.

Lorraine,

I couldn’t say this to your face because
I know how you would react. I know you have a lot on your mind at
the moment with your father, and it would not have been fair to ask
you to go back to Christchurch with me as was originally my
intention. However, I have my home there and I cannot leave it.
Right now, Tracey needs me as much as your father needs you. We
both have our separate lives and it is so unfortunate that yours is
here and mine is there. I don’t think I could cope with only seeing
you when you got a chance to come and visit. So, I guess it’s all
or nothing.

In our case it just happened to be
nothing.

It kills me to have to leave you behind,
but I know you would not leave your father now that he won’t walk
again. I wouldn’t ask you to either.

Your face deserves to smile, so keep
your chin up.

All my love,

Scott. xx

Lorraine’s eyes blurred with tears as
she folded the letter into her hand. She felt like dying. If only
her father had not been in an accident. Why was the universe so
intent on being against them?

If only Scott had waited a while
longer.

Indeed, they had their separate lives
and it killed Lorraine to think that they could no longer be
together.

But ultimately, he was right. Their
lives were too different right now for them to be together. He
couldn’t leave Tracey and she couldn’t leave her father.

Chapter
Six

For the next few days, Lorraine kept
herself busy, trying to keep her mind off Scott and on her father.
Unfortunately, the gorgeous blonde who had turned her life around
was never far from her thoughts. She felt a dull ache in her chest
every time she pictured him smiling at her.

Finally, after a few months, her father
was released from hospital. Ahead of them lay more months of
physiotherapy and Lorraine focused herself on his rehabilitation,
pouring her energy and focus into the task of getting him well.

One afternoon, while she sat in a pool
of sunlight in their spacious lounge, her father surprised her.

“So, do you miss him very much?”

She whirled to face him where he stood
by the window. She stared at him blankly.

He gave her a secretive smile. “Oh, yes,
I know. Scott Travers. Donna told me all about him and I know he
was in Blenheim when I was in hospital.” He sighed. “You’re very
much in love with him, aren’t you?”

Lorraine nodded blindly. There was no
use trying to hide the truth from her father. He knew her just as
well as she knew him.

She dug deep into her handbag and
removed the note Scott had left her, handing it to her father.

He read it silently, then looked up at
this beautiful daughter.

“He doesn’t know that I’m walking
again?” he asked.

“No,” Lorraine said. “He had gone before
we found out you were going to be okay.”

Mark laughed. “You’re just like your
mother. She strung me along for a while too. Go and get packed.” He
pulled her to her feet and hugged her before she could think about
what was happening.

“But, Dad—”

“Oh, don’t you worry about me,” he said,
giving her another big smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“I won’t leave you on your own,”
Lorraine protested.

Her father gave another secretive smile.
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll be on my own.”

Lorraine stared at him quizzically.

Mark pulled out his wallet and retrieved
a small photo of a pretty blond woman, who appeared to be about his
age. She looked familiar but for a moment Lorraine couldn’t place
her. “Remember Lisa?”

Lorraine grinned. The pretty blonde in
the photo looked very different out of her nurse’s uniform. She
couldn’t hide her happiness for her father, despite the fact she
felt slightly betrayed by his silence. And all this time she
thought she knew him.

They had been holding out on each
other.

His face turned serious for a moment. “I
want to see those suitcases packed in one hour,” he said, glancing
at his watch.

“But, Dad, I don’t even know if he wants
me. He left me, remember?”

“Do you want to be with him?” His brows
curved as he studied his daughter.

She took her lip between her teeth.
“Yes, more than anything.”

He smiled. “Then take the chance. If you
don’t, you’ll always regret it.”

* * * *

The taxi stopped outside the familiar
brick house and Lorraine got out of the car.

Struggling with her suitcases, she
walked up the drive and found the key under the doormat. She still
couldn’t believe that her father had so willingly handed over the
keys to the family sedan. But then, he wouldn’t be driving for a
while, and Lisa had her own car.

Letting herself into the house, she
walked through to the bedroom, knowing that Tony, Donna and Scott
would all be at work. She’d spoken to Donna just a few days ago and
knew they all had jobs. Donna, she was pleased to find, had proven
her wrong and had secured a good job at the mall.

Lorraine sat down to wait for Scott.
From what she knew, he would be home after his two o’clock shift
finished at the picture theatre. She’d been careful to not let on
to Donna that she was coming, even though she had been bursting to
do so. She needed to see the reaction she got from Scott when he
saw her for the first time. Would he be upset or pleased to see
her? She hoped, beyond anything, that he didn’t have another
girlfriend already. She had no idea whether Donna would have told
her or not, given that it might have upset her to know.

When she heard the familiar rattling of
his keys, she stood up, suddenly nervous.

She saw him before he even knew she was
there. His face looked drawn, she noted with sadness. He’d even
lost weight since she’d seen him last.

“Hi,” she said quietly.

Scott turned to face her and they stood
watching each other for a few moments.

In what seemed like only a second, he
crossed the distance between them and was standing in front of her.
The expression on his face melted to one of pure pleasure.

“Don’t touch,” Lorraine said, smiling
broadly as she watched the sparkle creep back into his deep brown
eyes.

“Get stuffed,” Scott said as he took
Lorraine in an embrace that told her she had been wrong in assuming
he didn’t care after all.

“Why, Scott?” Her eyes filled with tears
and forever afterwards she could not remember whether it was from
the pain of losing him or the relief that she had found him
again.

“That’s something I can’t answer.” He
shook his head. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but
I thought it would tear you apart having to choose between me and
your father.”