CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) (43 page)

Honestly!
She’
s like a bull in a
china shop sometimes, but
I love her so. Tristan looks up and winks at me, making my heart flutter as
fast as a bird.

Debs comes teetering over to me in her
heels.
Uh-oh!

“
What
’
s
up with you?”
she whispers.

“
Nothing
,”
I whisper back.

“
Could have fooled
me
,”
she a
rgues.

“
Alright then, I'm
upset
,”
I bite back.

“
What about now?
”
she drawls.

“
Spain!
”
I hiss keeping my eyes locked on little
Lily –
I’
m not going
to see her grow up, not properly.

“
Oh!
”
she answers somberly.

“
Yeah
oh!”
I mock, just like Tristan does with
me. “
Could have told me Debs, warned me. I
’
d have spent more time with Lily
’ – “
Oh don't give me that!
”
she snaps
interrupting me. “
Besides its best this way, she hasn
’
t got too close to you, so it won't be so
hard for her
.”

“
Nice. What are you
saying she
won't miss me?”
I
bite.

“
Probably not
,”
Debs retorts.
I
grit my teeth and glare down the garden, if I look at her I swear I’
ll lose it. At least Gladys had the decency to tell me to my face.

“
Why didn
’
t you tell me?
”
I ask, crossing my arms in defiance.

“
Mom said she would
,”
she answers sharply.

I shake my head at her. “
Chicken shit!
”
I
blurt, because she is a chicken.
I'm not that scary, and
it’
s not like we have
an
amazingly close relationship like Ellie and Erin, but she should have said
something. She finally has the decency to look guiltily at me.

“
I...I
’
m sorry Coral. Mom told me how it made you
feel. I didn
’
t think you knew
something was going on, I would have told you if I
’
d known. I really am sorry. And if it makes you feel any better
Scott
’
s re
ally mad with me, said we should have told you straight away.”

I turn and look at Scott, he and Malcolm
got it
so right, but I'm tired of feeling pissed off
all the time. Tristan’
s made me realise how much I still
feel like that
, and I'm done with it, I want a
different life, a happy one!

Debs continues. “Scott was right, I should
have told you’ – Chicken!”
I blurt. Debs snaps her head
round to argue, but when she sees that I'm grinning at her, she starts smiling
too.

“
Are you going to
come and see us?
”
she asks
, linking her arm in mine.

“
Try keeping me
away
,”
I answer.
She nods her head and smiles back at me.

“
That
’
s good. Lily will miss you Coral, we all
will
,”
she says
, resting her head on my shoulder, it’
s such
an unlikely thing for her to do
.

“
I know, I
’
ll miss you all
too,”
I
say.

I try not to think too deeply about that, I
know it’
s going to be a very emotional day when it
happens, but I'm trying to think like George has taught me, it
’
s in the future so there
’
s no point dwelling on it.

“
I'm going to check
on Lily
,”
s
he says.

“
Later Alligator
,”
I chuckle, remembering how we used to say
that as kids.

“
Stay loose Bull
Moose
,”
Debs retorts grinning
widely.

We laugh heartily with each other, hug
briefly, and I watch my big sister go check on her little girl...

WE ALL SPEND ANOTHER
hour
outside, chatting away with one another. I feel happy, contented, relaxed, but
there’
s one thing that
’
s really bugging me –
Dresses!

It’
s a beautiful
hot sunny day, and for the first time in my life I wish I was in a dress,
tanning myself fre
ely like Gladys and Debs. All the
women have them on, Joyce, Erin and Ellie and so do Erin’
s little girls,
and Lily.

I decide in that moment that I want to go
out tonight. I want to be brave, put that dress on and go out for a nice meal
with my sexy man. I still feel vulnerable and nervous about it, but I know I
can handle that because I have Tristan with me and he’
s
not going to let any freaky pervert anywhere near me.

“
He just can't take
his eyes off you can he?
”
Joyce
says pulling me out of my reverie.

I smile shyly at her. “
No, but he
’
s hard to
resist too
,”
I say feeling
proud.

“
Yes, I heard all
about that
,”
she says smiling
coyly at me –
Huh?

“
It
’
s one of the most brilliant ways to get a
man, tell him it won't work. Men love challenges, so they go for
it with everything they’
ve got
.”
Joyce adds.

I gape at Joyce. “
No,
I didn
’
t do it to get him
…”
I squeak
.

“I know Coral,”
Joyce says. “I was just teasing you,” she softly placates –
Phew!

“
Ok, good. I don't
want to be cast like that
,”
I
mumble.

“
So, how did it go?
”
she asks.
Go?
What go?

“
Hmm?
”
I can't help watching Tristan.

“
The date and the
dress?
”
Joyce asks a little
bewildered by my reaction –
Oh that!

“
Oh, we
’
re doing that tonight. Tristan got back
late last night, so we stayed in
.”
I lie.

“
Well
, have fun darling. Don't get too drunk,”
she teases.

We both chuckle, then I think about the
talk Tristan and I are going to have about Susannah when we get back. “
Joyce, did you speak to Tristan about Susannah by any chance?
” I ask.

“
No
darling. Now’
s not the time. I will speak to
him on Monday t
hough, in private.”

“
Did he say
anything to you, ask you anything?
”
I question.

“
No,
darling he spent most of our time talking about you.”

I gape at Joyce again. “Me?”
I squeak.

“Yes, he told me all about the wonderful
gift you had made for him. You really are very sweet Coral,”
she adds.

“Oh.” I smile shyly at her, not really
knowing what to say to that.

Turning to look at Tristan I see he’
s looking a little worn out, Gladys has been talking to him for at
least forty minutes
now and she’
s tipsy, so she
’
s
got her jabb
ery head on, Tristan could be there all
night. I’
d better go rescue him!

“
Well, it
’
s getting late. We
’
d better get going
.”
I say to Joyce.

“
It
’
s been lovely seeing you two together
,”
Joyce says smiling at Tristan
. “
You really do suit each other
,”
she adds.

“Thanks,”
I say
gazing adoringly at Tristan.
He’s done very well today,
he’
s not faltered once, even when Gladys and Debs
harped on at him over lunch about the two of us.

Saying goodbye to Joyce, I wander over to
Tristan. Standing behind him, I lean down, wrap
my arms
around his shoulders and kiss his cheek, feeling completely and utterly in love
with him.

“
Ready to go?
”
I ask wondering if I'm saving him.

“
Darling, so soon
…”
Gladys slurs.

“
Yes
.”
I giggle, leaning down to kiss her
goodbye, wondering if
Gladys is seeing me through
different eyes.

“
Well alright then,
I want you both to come and see us again soon
,”
she says standing to hug me.

“
We will
,”
I say
savouring
the
feeling of her arms around me.

Once we’
ve said our
goodbyes to everyone, Trista
n takes my hand in his, and
we walk down the hallway with Gladys following so she can wave to us from the
front door, she’
s always done that.

“
Well that was interesting
,”
Tristan says as he helps me into the car.

“
I want to go out
tonight
,”
I say as he gets in
the driver’
s side.

“
Yeah? Where to?
”
he asks starting the engine.

“
I know a place
,”
I tell him. It
’
s perfect, sea-views, great food and up-market enough so I won't
feel silly in a dress.

“
Your wish is my
command
,”
he tells me. Pulling
out into the road, we
both wave goodbye to Gladys.
Taking my hand in his, Tristan asks me, “
Are you
alright? I can't believe they started talking about that fucker
,”
he growls.

“
Who?
”
I ask.

“
Savile!
”
He bites menacingly.

“
Oh, well I don't
really kno
w...but I can guess,”
I ans
wer shivering slightly.

“
You don't want to
know baby, trust me
.”
I look up
at Tristan; he’s caught the sun, his face has bronzed and his hair looks a little
lighter.

“
You
’
ve caught the sun
,”
I say reaching up and running my hand through his hair.

“
Yeah?
”
I
nod and smile
back at him, he places his hand on my knee and softly squeezes me. “
So what are we doing? Get ready, go straight out?
”
he asks.

I look down at the clock on the dashboard,
it
’
s only four o
’
clock.
“
I have a better idea
…”
I say as seductively as I can.

Tristan instantly reads my mind. His smiles
his most sexy smile as his foot hit
’
s the accelerator.
I giggle in delight as he
zooms in and out of traffic, getting us home as quickly as possible...