Page 77 of The Wedding Proposal
He settled her more firmly against him, stroking the roundness of her bottom through her shorts. ‘That’s really kind of him. It’ll save me a lot of messing around with taxis.’
‘So everything’s taken care of and you can sleep.’
‘Right.’ And he let sleep have him.
Later, when his alarm went off it took him several moments to locate his phone and switch off the alert. But only an instant to realise that Elle had gone.
* * *
Picking up his parents went without a hitch. They swept into the gleaming arrivals hall towing cabin baggage suitcases, Fiona’s short salt-and-pepper hair neatly styled, Geoffrey wearing an open-necked shirt. They were visibly relieved to be introduced to Joseph and find that he was to transport them to their erring younger son.
‘It was Elle who arranged it,’ Lucas pointed out as they shook Joseph’s hand.
Joseph drove them past palm trees and the pink and white oleander that lined the busy roads as Lucas filled his parents in about the accident. ‘Elle played a pivotal role. While I went to Charlie, she shot along the quay shouting for help. Sometimes, people just freeze, or they scream incoherently. But she made herself loud and accurate, told people exactly what had happened and that we needed help. Without help I wouldn’t have been able to get Charlie onto a makeshift backboard and out of the water.’
‘All because Charlie was showing off.’ Fiona shuddered. ‘Thank God you were there, darling.’
Lucas contented himself with a diplomatic ‘All’s well that ends well.’ The huge bollocking he had saved up for Charlie could wait until his little brother was well enough to leave hospital. That’s if there was anything left of Charlie after Fiona had had her say. He tried not to yawn as the sun beat down on him through the glass of the car.
Joseph dropped them at Mater Dei, a large modern building with a lot of blue-green glass. Charlie had been moved out of the emergency admissions ward, where Lucas had left him earlier that morning, and into an orthopaedic ward on the third floor. As it wasn’t currently visiting hours they had to explain about Fiona and Geoffrey having only just arrived in the country; then they were allowed to visit Charlie if they promised to be quick and quiet.
Charlie woke as they arrived.
Lucas was shocked by the black eye that had doubled in magnitude since that morning and seemed to be smeared halfway across Charlie’s cheek. Around this luridness, his freckles stood out against his pallor. But the big grin was reassuring and, after a few words, Lucas went to wait in the corridor to allow his parents time with their son. Fiona would need to give him a good scolding and then cry all over him.
In view of stern notices on the walls about mobile phone usage, Lucas snuck off into the Gents’ and texted to Elle, All OK? xxx before taking up station again in the corridor, trying not to give in to the fuzzy arms of fatigue.
It wasn’t long before Fiona and Geoffrey reappeared, leaving Charlie to sleep now they’d assured themselves that he’d got off lightly from what Geoffrey referred to as ‘his bloody stupidity’. They traversed the corridors to an exit where they could call a taxi.
As they waited in the shade of the building for the car to arrive, Lucas felt his pocket vibrate. A text from Elle. All OK. I’m at the centre. He wasn’t terribly surprised to learn she wouldn’t be awaiting them at the Shady Lady. The impending arrival of his parents had taken the joy out of Elle’s eyes. This uncomfortable situation occupied his woolly brain during the ten-minute drive back to Ta’ Xbiex. His parents were almost silent, probably thinking about Charlie’s narrow squeak.
His stomach gurgled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since yesterday evening, which might be some of the reason he felt so spaced-out. Once he’d got his parents settled he’d arrange something about dinner. Maybe if Elle met his mum and dad again over a civilised meal in a restaurant it would be easier than staring at one another across the Shady Lady’s saloon.
The taxi pulled up on the quay and Lucas paid.
The boat was all shut up, as he’d expected. ‘Welcome aboard,’ he said, shoving the gangplank across, unlocking the door and leading his parents through.
Fiona and Geoffrey’s smart little cases had been left on the floor of the master cabin, underlining Elle’s determination to vacate. The bed had been changed and neatly made. He sighed. He’d had a lot of pleasure in that bed in the last week and a half. Not just awesome sex, but talking to Elle, sharing jokes, holding and being held, waking up with her golden hair tickling his face and her blue eyes sleepy. Tracing his way around the willowy body that had been haunting his dreams.
He shook his head to clear it. ‘You’re in here,’ he told his parents. ‘I’ll use the guest cabin.’
But he didn’t like his new situation. Shocked by Charlie’s accident or not, it was time he got a few things straight with his parents. ‘I need to talk to you about Elle.’
Fiona sat down on the edge of the bed with a tired sigh.
Geoffrey rocked awkwardly on his feet. ‘Actually, we need to talk to you about her, too.’
Lucas frowned. ‘Why?’ Then an image of Elle swam before his eyes, the wary, troubled Elle who had never coped with his parents’ attitude. A thump of his heart told him how much he liked the other Elle, the happy, open Elle. The Elle who had begun to slip from his grasp the moment that she knew his parents would be around.
He cut across Fiona, who had opened her mouth to speak. ‘Is it something negative? Because if that’s the case I’m not comfortable with discussing her behind her back.’
He watched Fiona and Geoffrey exchange looks, as if trying to communicate telepathically. ‘Maybe it would be best to have her there?’ suggested Geoffrey, to Fiona, not Lucas.
Fiona looked wary. ‘Would it really be “behind her back”?’
Lucas watched his mother curiously. She looked the nearest to shifty that he remembered seeing her. Firmly, he said, ‘I think that if you want to say something negative and we discuss it when she isn’t here, then she’d definitely have a right to feel that we were talking about her behind her back.’
Into the strained silence he added, softly, ‘And I don’t want to have to take sides.’
