My jaw dropped. We'd been having such a nice relaxed conversation and now this? I started to understand why some women preferred women. I didn’t know what to say. I had so much running around in my head from ‘Who the hell does he think he is’ to ‘What am I missing about Marcus?’
“I’m all for people learning their own mistakes,” Luke said. “But you’ve not even lived yet.” He shook his head and climbed off the bed. “I’m going to talk to your dad.”
I jumped off the bed. “Whoa, hang on. No, you’re not.”
“I am. He needs to know that Marcus isn’t the fantastic guy everyone thinks he is.” He studied me glaring at him and then said, “I don’t care if this makes you hate me. I'm only looking out for your best interests.”
“Since when do you care about my best interests? This is nothing to do with you, Luke.”
“You’re the daughter of someone I care about and respect very much. It may be nothing to do with me but that doesn’t mean I can’t express my opinion about it.”
“You are expressing it, you’re expressing it to me, so leave it at that.”
He shook his head. “You won’t listen to me about him, but your dad might.”
“Ha. Good luck. Dad thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread. Plus, he doesn’t need the added stress, Luke. I've got issues to resolve with him remember, he doesn’t need to be worrying about me getting mixed up with the wrong guy.”
He sighed and ran his hands through his hair as he paced up and down the side of the bed. This was either an extreme overreaction or there was more to this feud between him and Marcus than what either of them were telling me.
“Ok, you’re right,” he said, finally standing still and looking at me. His face had creased with worry lines and his eyes were full of despair. “You said he was going to wait for you to call him?”
I nodded.
“Drag it out for a couple of days at least. Just promise me you’ll give this proper thought. And if he’s as honourable as everyone thinks then he’ll keep to his word and not contact you.”
I let out a long breath. “If I agree to this then you’ll leave Dad out of it?”
He nodded.
“Ok. I'll not contact him for a couple of days.”
He strode up to me and took my hands in his. “Thank you.”
I smiled back at him but not without wondering what the hell all the fuss was about. The more they made a deal out of this ‘shared abhorrence’ of each other, the more I wanted to dig into it.
Chapter 14
I felt I had a point to prove to Luke, so I went beyond a couple of days. In fact, the day I decided to speak to Marcus happened to be the day Joanna came back to work. When I wandered into the kitchen for breakfast, I found a full room with Sophie, Luke, Joanna and Cora and Karina in their pushchair.
“Caitlyn!” Joanna shrieked, jumping from her chair and rushing towards me. She jumped at me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “It’s so good to see you.”
I stumbled back a couple of steps from her exuberant greeting before hugging her back. “It’s good to see you too.”
“I hear you’ve been dating already, and you’ve only been here a week. You’ve got to tell me everything!”
Naturally, my eyes flickered towards Luke. He grinned at me as he bit into a piece of toast and waved. I narrowed my eyes back at him and scowled. His grin only grew bigger.
“All in good time,” I said, stepping back from my hug with Joanna. “We have all day to catch up as we’re doing the rooms.”
“Oh no,” she said, squeezing my forearm. “I’ve been off for a week. You can take the day off, relax.”
I shook my head. “Honestly, it’s fine. Luke has been helping me and I had a day off the other day anyway.”
“I insist. I’ve been going stir crazy at home all week with these two. I’m itching to do something.”
“How’s your knee? You tore a ligament or something?”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Tripped over a bunch of balls that the girls had thrown out of their ball pool. I twisted as I fell and that was it, couldn’t walk. I’ve got a knee support to wear for the next few weeks as well as taking some anti-inflammatories.”
“There’s no way you can do the rooms on your own.”
“It’s fine. Besides, Luke can help me.”
I glanced back at Luke. His grin fell from his face like a sinking stone. Now it was my turn to grin. He threw his bit of toast on his plate and frowned.
“Ok, well how about I take the girls off your hands for the day then?”
Silence. I couldn’t believe I’d actually said the words myself. What had I let myself in for? One child I could handle but two? And in the terrible twos stage?
“Oh, Caitlyn, you really don’t have to do that. They’ll be fine following me; they’re quite used to it.”
I looked over at the two gorgeous blonde girls, their big blue eyes bright and shining, cheeky little smiles on their faces. How much trouble could they get into, really?
“I was going to go for a walk on the beach anyway, it makes sense to take them. We can build sandcastles and dig for worms. Then have some chips for lunch.”
Joanna pulled her lips into a thin line, her brown eyes flooding with uncertainty. “I…I don’t know. I mean they can be a real handful at times.”
“I’m only going to be ten minutes away at the most. It gives you a break. Come on, you deserve it.”
“Oh, what the hell, you twisted my arm.” She flung herself at me again, her straight blonde hair covering my face. “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s my pleasure.”
I sighed. “I guess the real question is if they’re happy to come with me.”
“Please,” she said, letting go of me. “A new person to test boundaries with and squeeze treats out of? You’ll be their new favourite person.”
Damn it. Damn me and my stupid impulses. What had I gotten myself into? “Great, let’s have some breakfast first.”
After an egg and bacon bap, it was time to face my fate for the day. I loved kids, they were definitely something I wanted in my future. I’d done some babysitting for a year or so when I turned sixteen, just for some pocket money and I loved every minute of it.
Twins though, I’d never handled twins. I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans and took in a deep breath. I could do this, it’d be fine. Whilst the girls were identical twins, I could tell them apart. Cora had a freckle on the end of her nose, dead centre, whilst Karina’s freckle sat off to one side, just slightly. It was the only physical giveaway between the two.
Cora always had a mischievous glint in her eye and a beaming grin on her face whilst Karina sat and watched everything and everyone. She soaked all the details in around her and seemed to sit and brood over it whilst her sister stole all the attention.
“You sure you’re ok with this?” Joanna asked, giving me a sideways glance as I looked at the girls.
“I’ll be fine. We’ll have lots of fun, won’t we?” I said, bending down in front of them.
Cora grinned and threw her toy bunny at me, smacking me square in the face. Karina stared straight ahead, her forehead creased into a frown and her arms tightly folded across her chest.
Luke chuckled. “Let me know if you need rescuing so I can laugh.”
I glared at him. “I’m insulted you think I can’t handle two-year-old children.”
“Two-year-old children, no problem. That pair of two-year olds however are a different story.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Joanna pointed to a navy coloured bag under the seats. “Nappies, snacks, juice bottles, wipes, and dummies are all in there, but I am trying to wean them off the dummies. There's spare clothes in there as well in case of any accidents. Sun cream, hats, and Karina’s toy sheep are in there too.”
I stood back up and touched Joanna’s shoulder. “Joanna, I got this. Stop worrying. If I get any p
roblems, I'll call you.” I looked at Luke. “Not you.”
“Spoiling all my fun,” he grumbled, flicking through the morning newspaper.
“Ok,” Joanna said, letting out a deep breath. “Have fun.”
“We will,” I said, pushing the pushchair towards the door.
Luke opened the front door for me and helped me down the few steps onto the street. “Seriously, any issues, ring me. I'll be there like a shot.”
I sighed. “Luke, they’re a pair of toddlers, not a pair of wild beasts.”
He glanced down at the two girls and smirked. “You have no idea.”
I swatted his arm playfully and said, “Just go and help Joanna. Stop tormenting me.”
Laughing, he disappeared back inside the house. We took a steady stroll down to the beach, the summer sun already warming the air and a cloudless bright sky promising the risk of sunburn. I cursed myself for not remembering my own sun cream. I'd have to borrow some of the girls.
“You want to go to the beach?” I asked, peering down at them both from behind the pushchair. We were about to cross the road to hand down the walkway to the beach.
Cora giggled and kicked her legs excitedly. “Beach!”
“Yes, beach. Sand. Sea. Karina?”
She sat still for a moment then unfolded her arms, threw her head back in the chair and screamed, “No!”
The high pitch squeal made me want to rip my eardrums out. I stopped and ran around to the front of the pushchair. I knelt down and tried to talk to her in soothing tones, but she seemed completely oblivious to my presence. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her entire face had gone beetroot red, her little body rigid and tense as she carried on screaming, “No!” over and over again.
Cora whacked her in the face with her bunny and frowned. “Stop.” Karina didn’t stop. Cora hit her harder. “Stop!” Still no reaction from Karina. Cora reached over and slapped her sisters face and yelled, “I SAID STOP!”
A car passing by on the road screeched to a stop, its rear end sliding out. I looked up to see everyone staring at me and the twins. My face exploded with heat. All eyes were on me to contain the situation. It had all happened so fast, I didn’t know whether to tell Cora off or try and calm Karina but at Cora’s screeching demand, which in itself shocked me, Karina actually stopped.
She turned to her sister and said, “Stupid. Stupid Cora. Beach not good.”
Cora thrust her index finger in her sisters face and said, “You stupid. Beach fun.”
Karina flung an arm out and whacked Cora’s head. “No. Bad. Listen.”
“You listen.”
As the pair continued squabbling, I didn’t know whether I had the strength to stand up. Joanna had said on my last visit that they were developing at a phenomenal rate and their speech and cognitive abilities were higher than any other child their age. This was quite something though. The way they interacted with each other as well as their understanding of words and forming sentences blew my mind.
I stood up, trying to hide my shaking legs and made a point of making eye contact with nobody. The car on the road that had come to a stop still just sat there, the driver looking very pale and shocked. I pushed the girls over the road, in front of the car, and gingerly made my way to the driver's side of the car.
“Are you ok?” I asked, through the open window.
The man nodded, his eyes wide and glazed over. “I...I think so. Are your little ones ok?”
“Yes, thank you. I'm terribly sorry if they frightened you.”
“It’s quite alright, dear. No harm done.”
“Well if you’re ok, I'm going to keep these two moving. Don't want to be causing any more accidents.”
“Of course, yes. Before you go, do you happen to know any local mechanics? I think my car needs looking at.”
“The closest one is about ten miles out of town. Watson’s Auto Repairs it’s called.”
“Thank you. Think I need to get my brakes looked at. Have a good day.”
“You too,” I said, carrying on towards the beach.
Why would he need his brakes looking at? He stopped perfectly fine. Shaking the thought away, I ignored curious stares and whispers as I took the girls down to the beach. Pushing their pushchair across the sand would be impossible with both of them in it so I unstrapped them and gave them strict orders to follow me.
Karina grabbed hold of my left leg, hugging me as if her life depended on it whilst Cora skipped along on my right, swinging her bunny through the air. The cumbersome double stroller wanted to do nothing but sink in the sand.
“You know, it’s easier if you drag it behind you.”
I turned around to see a middle-aged woman with silver hair smiling at me. Crows feet gathered at the corner of each eye and the wrinkles in her skin suggested a love of sunbathing. Her green eyes were bright and warm, and she had a friendly energy about her.
“Oh, ok. Thanks for the tip,” I said. “I’ll give it a try.”
Switching things about, I tried the lady’s suggestion and found it a lot easier. I glanced behind me to see her following me, still smiling.
“Thank you so much.”
“Happy to help. You looked like you needed it. They seem quite the handful.”
My cheeks raged with heat. She obviously must have seen the display up on the road. “I thought it would be easy but apparently not. I'm babysitting them for a friend whilst she’s at work.”
“That’s very nice of you. Not regretting it yet?”
I laughed. “Not yet. It’s all good practice for the future.”
I found a shaded spot around the west side of Battery Parade, a little seafront area with a couple of small cafes on. It sat above beach height, in between the cliffs and the harbour’s west lighthouse.
“Donkey!” Karina said, her voice all high and excited.
I looked across to see a line of donkeys ambling across the sand, the bells around their necks jingling and smiling kids on their backs.
“If you and your sister behave, I'll let you go on the donkeys. Ok?”
Karina nodded, her eyes now shining with joy. She jumped up and down and clenched her free hand in excitement.
“Shall we build a sandcastle?” I said, sitting down on the sand. “Like a Cinderella castle?”
That piqued both of their interests. I rifled through Joanna’s bag and pulled out their sun hats and managed to put sun cream on them without a spot of bother.
“Juice?” I said, shaking a bottle at them both.
“No. Castle,” Karina said, pointing at the sand.
I smiled. I spent the next goodness knows how long teaching them both how to compact sand properly and shape it how they wanted. Once they’d practiced with a few square blocks of their own, they were off, each of them building their own Cinderella castle. They worked quickly and in silence. As they busied themselves, I glanced around for something to define things with, like a twig, or a pen, or something thin and pointy.
“Even a straw would do,” I said, muttering to myself.
I leaned back against the hard wall of the parade and sighed, frowning.
“Here,” Cora said.
I looked at her to see three straws being held out to me. “Where did you find them?”
She pointed at the sandy hole next to her. Thankful my prayers had been answered by some stranger who couldn’t throw rubbish in the bin, I took them from her and twisted the ends into thin points so they could use them to define windows.
“They’re quite the masters of sandcastles, aren’t they?”
I looked up to see the silver haired lady stood to my right, smiling down at the girls. I thought she’d left. Why had she come back? A feeling of unease started to unfurl inside me. Still, being the polite person, I'd always been taught to be, I humoured her.
“Yes, they are.”
“Remarkable young girls. Is their mum a local?”
Something inside me told me to lie. I couldn’t explain what or even why, but the woma
n’s previous friendly energy now felt nothing but creepy. “No, she’s not.” I had a brainwave. “She’s just moved up here from Devon as her father is terminally ill.”
“Now, now, dear,” she said, twisting her thin lips up into a knowing smirk. “We all know that’s your story.”
My heart froze. My brain stopped working. I couldn’t think of anything but the words she’d just spoken. How did she even know that? Who the hell was this woman?
I stood up and glared at her. “I think it’s about time you told me who the hell you are and what you want.”
She tipped her head back and cackled. “All in good time, deary. Don’t you worry. You keep an eye on those girls, now. They're very special.”
I quickly turned around to see Cora and Karina playing, still building their castles. Thank goodness for that. When I turned back to the woman, she’d gone. I scanned up and down the beach for her for several minutes but found no trace of her whatsoever.
“Told you,” Karina said.
I looked down at her to see her shaping the roof of her castle. “What do you mean, sweetheart?”
“Beach not good.”
Chapter 15
I didn’t know what to do or say. My body and brain seemed paralysed by what had just happened. The girls were enough to deal with let alone some strange sinister woman. When my brain finally kicked into gear, the only thing I could think of was to call Luke. I felt way out of my depth here and I wanted some security.
He answered the phone, laughing.
“Luke, stop it, this is not the time. Don't say anything to Joanna. Just come down here and get me now. Please. I'm on the beach near Battery Parade.”
I hung up, my hands trembling and my mind racing. Nothing made sense and because of that, I couldn’t make any decisions on what to do. I wanted to sit back down but at the same time I was on full alert, nervous, agitated, wondering if this woman would appear again.
Wait for Luke I repeated over and over to myself.
It felt like forever as I waited for him. I checked my phone to see I'd rang him only two minutes ago. “Come on, come on, come on,” I said, muttering to myself.
Love, Lies and Immortal Ties: A young adult paranormal romance (Love, Lies and Ties Book 1) Page 12