MIRACLE ON KAIMOTU ISLAND/ALWAYS THE HERO

by Marion Lennox

  The other volunteers had no idea of the real reason he’d come back so soon but there were a lot of locals in and around the working parties and it only took a day or two before Tom realised he was getting some significant looks along with friendly slaps on the back here and there that other volunteers didn’t seem to be given.

  How could he have forgotten how small communities worked? He might have stayed in blissful ignorance a little longer, too, except that a Jeep slowed and then stopped just in front of him on a morning when he was headed into a site on the main street. A route that Ben McMahon was taking to get up the hill to the hospital.

  Ben got out of the Jeep and leaned on the door as he waited for Tom to catch up. ‘Hey, Tom... Haven’t seen you for a few days and I’ve been wanting to say hi. How’s it going?’

  ‘Great. I think we’re beginning to see a bit of progress. Still a lot to be done, of course.’

  ‘It’s people like you that are going to make it happen faster. We’re all very grateful.’

  Tom shrugged off the praise. ‘How’s it going up at the hospital? I heard you’ve had to evacuate a ward after they found some cracks.’

  ‘Safety precaution. It’s probably only cosmetic but there’s a team of engineers coming to give it a thorough inspection today.’

  ‘Abby says you’re pretty stretched for manpower still. It’s great news that Ginny’s going to come on board.’

  Ben’s grin lit up his face. ‘Sure is. I’m the luckiest man alive.’

  Tom grinned back. Everybody knew that there was a wedding in the near future for Ben and Ginny. That Button was going to have a real family. An amazing family, from what Tom had been hearing. The kind that cemented communities like this together in the best possible way. Ben’s parents were astonishing in their capacity to care for so many people. It was always a highlight of Jack’s day when he got to go to the McMahon homestead after school to be looked after by Hannah.

  He was wearing Abby down at the moment, begging for one of the kittens that Ailsa was caring for. Button had a black one with a white nose, apparently. Jack wanted the one that had odd black and white splotches all over it. He had already named it Checkers.

  ‘And I’m not the only one with great news,’ Ben added. ‘I think Jack’s the happiest little boy alive right now.’

  ‘He’s got the kitten?’

  ‘What? No, I don’t know anything about a kitten. I’m talking about him not only having a dad but having one that everybody knows is a real hero.’

  ‘Ohh...’ Tom was embarrassed. ‘He told you?’

  ‘Actually, it was Button who told us, but I think he’s told everybody else. It was news at school the day after you got here.’

  Tom’s embarrassment deepened. This was pretty personal stuff to have broadcast. And what would people think? That he hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with his son until now?

  ‘I didn’t know,’ he said quietly. ‘I probably never would have known if the earthquake hadn’t brought me here.’

  Ben nodded. ‘Abby made that very clear. That she hadn’t told you she was pregnant. That it wasn’t your fault.’

  Tom winced. ‘I wouldn’t go quite that far. It was my fault that the relationship didn’t work out.’

  There was a genuine sympathy in Ben’s gaze and his eyebrows had an encouraging lift but he didn’t say anything. Maybe his own current state of bliss made him want things to work out for everybody. And he knew Abby, didn’t he? He had to know what an amazing person she was. But he didn’t know him that well and they were blokes, for heaven’s sake. Neither of them would be remotely comfortable getting onto emotional territory. Besides, they both had important jobs to get on with.

  ‘I’m working on that.’ Tom managed a grin.

  Ben’s face lit up again and Tom got another one of those friendly back slaps. ‘Good luck. And consider yourself invited to the wedding, if you can make it.’

  * * *

  ‘The reception’s going to be a beach party,’ Abby told Tom later that night, when he mentioned meeting Ben and getting an invitation to the wedding. ‘And I’ve had a sneak preview of what the wedding dress is going to be like. Ginny will look stunning.’

  ‘I’m sure she will.’ Tom’s smile looked a bit strained and Abby wasn’t surprised. Men like Tom weren’t into the whole marriage thing, were they? It was the kind of anchor that heroes functioned better without.

  Hmm. Awkward. And Jack wasn’t even around to defuse this sudden atmosphere by launching yet another campaign that would result in him getting his own kitten. That morning’s attempt had been a portrait of Checkers that was now held in place by magnets on the front of the fridge. He wouldn’t be bursting into the room any time soon, either, because this was the sleep-over night for Nathan’s birthday party.

  It was, in fact, the first night that Abby and Tom had been alone together in the cottage.

  Oh...help. Awkwardness had just gained an edge of real tension.

  As if she wasn’t totally aware of Tom all the time, anyway. Having him sitting to eat with them at the table or crowding the small kitchen to wash up afterwards. Seeing him come out of the bathroom after a shower with his hair in spikes and his chest still bare, or, worse, when he passed close enough for her to smell the clean dampness of his skin. To feel its heat.

  Having Jack always there had made it easy to fight the awareness. And the desire that licked at its heels. Until it was safe to go there when she was in her own bed, wrapped in the privacy of darkness.

  How was she going to distract herself now? Keep herself safe?

  The meal was over. The dishes were done. The little house was very quiet without Jack. Abby could hear the wash of the nearby waves and the forlorn cry of a seagull.

  She could wash her coffee mug, at least. Pushing her chair back, Abby got to her feet. ‘It’ll be a real island do,’ she said a little too brightly. ‘Something happy everybody can look forward to. You should come...’ Oh, Lord, why had she said that? ‘I guess you won’t still be here, though...’

  Tom had got to his feet, as well. He was following her with his own empty mug. ‘Would you like me to still be here, Abby?’

  ‘I...’ Abby shook off a wave of longing. Her next words came out more harshly than she’d intended. ‘What’s the point in even asking, Tom? There’s nothing here for you.’

  Tom’s mug went down onto the bench with a loud thud. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think the fact that I’ve got a son means nothing to me? That you mean nothing?’

  ‘N-no...’ Abby gulped. She meant something to him? What, exactly? ‘I was talking about your career. What’s most important to you. You couldn’t live here.’

  Tom took a step closer. ‘But you and Jack could come and live in Auckland.’ He was speaking more quietly now. With an intensity that revealed this wasn’t the first time he’d thought about this. ‘We could be a family, Abby. We could...we could get married.’

  It was that tiny hesitation that broke Abby’s heart. That...reluctance. Or an acceptance of the inevitable? He would be marrying her only for Jack’s sake. To make them a family.

  The result might be something Abby had dreamed of countless times but the means of getting there was not enough. Not nearly enough. She shook her head with a sharpness that spoke of despair.

  ‘Kaimotu’s our home,’ she said. ‘We’re happy here.’ Up until a few weeks ago she would have automatically added, We’re safe here. They still were, emotionally.

  Or were they? Jack already adored his father and she...well, any safety barriers she’d had around her heart had been showing cracks ever since Tom had shown up so unexpectedly in her life again. And those cracks were widening as she stood here in the silence. Tom seemed to be waiting for her to say something more.

  ‘What makes you think it could possibly wor
k?’ she whispered. Okay, maybe the sexual tension had been there on both sides but he hadn’t even tried to kiss her, even though they’d been living in the same house. Jack’s house. ‘It didn’t before.’

  ‘We were good together.’

  Abby’s breath huffed out in an incredulous snort. ‘Good? You told me I was holding you back. Clipping your wings. How does that suddenly become good?’

  ‘It’s different now.’

  ‘Because of Jack?’

  ‘No.’ Tom was still standing very close. His eyes were fixed on Abby’s. ‘I was wrong. I didn’t understand.’

  ‘Understand what?’

  ‘What happened to you when you were just a kid. When you lost your mum and dad.’

  Abby huffed again. It was almost a sob. ‘And how exactly does that make a difference?’

  ‘If you understand why someone feels the way they do, you can work around it. Find a way through.’

  When had she wrapped her arms around herself like this? She hadn’t even noticed but now she was holding herself tightly, as if she needed comfort.

  What was going on here? Why was she feeling so devastated? This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? For her and Tom to be together again? So why was she arguing? Trying to push him away?

  Because nothing had really changed. If they were together, she would still have to live with that fear of losing him, even if Tom thought he could ‘work around it’.

  But...she understood, too, now, didn’t she? What drove him? She’d felt it herself, when they’d rescued Jack. She’d told him she understood.

  No wonder he was looking bewildered. As confused as she was feeling. She screwed her eyes shut tightly, trying to sort out the whirl of conflicting thoughts.

  She could feel Tom moving closer.

  She felt his breath on her skin. The touch of the pad of his thumb on her lips that made them part instantly in a response that had become hard wired years ago and simply couldn’t be overridden. The soft touch continued to trace her bottom lip and Abby couldn’t fight the wave of sensation that rocked her all the way to her toes.

  She felt her head tipping back. This track was well worn into her cell memory, too. In a heartbeat it would be Tom’s lips instead of his thumb touching hers and...yes...he would slide his fingers into her hair like that—the press of his fingertips as arousing as the magic he could make with his lips and tongue.

  The desire Abby had been fighting ever since she’d first laid eyes on Tom again became incandescent. The heat was obviously contagious because Tom stripped off his T-shirt moments later and then helped Abby shed hers. The garments puddled on the floor beside them and then there was a moment’s absolute stillness as they stood there, simply looking at each other.

  Abby drank in the sight of him. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. All that glorious, olive skin covering sheer masculine power. The irresistibly vulnerable copper discs of his nipples and the invitation of that soft arrow of dark hair that dragged her gaze down to where the denim of his jeans cut low across the ridges of a totally ripped abdomen.

  Her fingers itched to release the button on those jeans. To hear the delicious slide of the zip opening. She knew what she would find and...dear Lord...she’d never wanted anything this much.

  But Abby dragged her gaze up because she could feel the touch of Tom’s gaze warming the soft swell of her breasts as they pushed against the lacy cups of her bra. She could sense that his fingers were itching, too. To reach behind her and unfasten the clasp of that small undergarment.

  But as she looked up, so did Tom. No wonder it’s called ‘eye contact’, Abby realised. The touch wasn’t physical and yet this was the most powerful grip in which she had ever felt herself held.

  The touch of souls rather than bodies.

  Abby felt as though some force was lifting her. As though her feet were no longer touching the floor, and she recognised this feeling as easily as her skin cells remembered Tom’s touch.

  This was love.

  For both of them.

  Could they make it work? Really work this time?

  Impossible to think into the future right now. Abby’s ability to leap ahead and think of everything that could possibly make something not work failed her completely this time. She couldn’t think a week ahead. Or even a day.

  Ten seconds was about all she could manage. No, less than that. Just as long as it took her to stand on tiptoe and lean forward so that she would feel the press of Tom’s bare skin against her breasts. To wind her arms around his neck and pull him in for the kiss that would take them straight to her bed.

  The future could wait.

  Thinking could wait.

  All Abby wanted to do was to sink into this astonishing explosion of sensation. Pure bliss.

  All she wanted was Tom.

  CHAPTER NINE

  BLISS HUNG AROUND.

  Somewhere very close to the surface of your skin, Abby decided. The memory might not be as intense as the real thing but it was still magic. It sparked little curls of something delicious deep in her belly, and made her feel as if her bones had softened. And she knew it made her smile because Jack noticed sometimes.

  ‘Why are you smiling, Mummy?’ he’d ask.

  ‘Because I’m happy,’ she would tell him. ‘Because I love you so much.’

  And that would send little Jack on his way. Before his busy day could be interrupted by one of those annoying squeezy hugs.

  It didn’t take much to scratch the surface and release a little bit of that bliss, either. Just the sound of her phone indicating a text message could do it these days because it was usually Tom. He’d be asking about what Jack had been up to that day or how work was going for Abby and he’d sign himself ‘T’ with an ‘x’ for a kiss.

  The sight of a particularly dark head of wavy hair or some other physical similarity that reminded her of Tom could lift that release catch, too. Of course, Jack reminded her of what Tom looked like on a daily basis and always had but that never triggered the bliss thing. No. That sparked a much softer sensation as she thought of a small boy worshipping his father as he grew up and the two of them getting closer and closer. Eventually being men together.

  With a small sigh that acknowledged the complexity of what was happening in her life, Abby let something else trigger a release of that seemingly endless supply of bliss—the soft caress of a sea breeze on the bare skin of her arms, which made her think of a whisper of touch from Tom’s lips.

  ‘Are you happy, Mummy?’ Jack asked. ‘You’re smiling again.’

  ‘Mmm. I’m happy, hon.’

  ‘Because we’re going to Auckland?’

  ‘I guess. It’s a beautiful day for a ferry ride, isn’t it?’

  ‘I haven’t seen a whale yet.’

  ‘You might. We saw lots of dolphins, didn’t we?’

  Jack cupped his hands around his eyes to pretend they were binoculars but he couldn’t keep his attention on the sea. ‘Are we going to live in Auckland, Mummy?’

  ‘No, hon. We’re just going to visit for a day or two.’

  ‘To see my dad.’ Jack bounced up and down in excitement.

  ‘Hold on to the rail,’ Abby ordered, but she was still smiling. Despite repeated warnings to herself not to get her hopes up too high, she had to admit she was feeling more than a little bit of that excitement herself.

  Or was it trepidation? Would Tom ask her to marry him again? And if he did, would he expect an answer this time? What could she tell him? That one night of bliss wasn’t enough to turn her life upside down and hang her future on? Or, more importantly, Jack’s life and future?

  Not that she and Tom were likely to get any significant alone time. Just as they hadn’t in the remainder of his visit after the night of Nathan’s birthday party. It had
been two weeks now since his volunteer stint had ended and he’d gone back to the mainland. The idea of marriage hadn’t been raised again before he’d left, or since, in any text message or phone call. He was giving her space to think about what he’d said in the wake of their amazing night together, thanks to Jack’s sleepover.

  His words had hung in the darkness of her bedroom, almost shining with their intensity.

  ‘I have to go back to Auckland soon, Abby. To my job. Like you said, there’s nothing here for me on Kaimotu, career-wise.’

  And there was everything for Abby and Jack. A home. A job. An amazing community.

  ‘But I’m Jack’s father and it’s...it’s incredible. He’s incredible. I can’t tell you how it makes me feel because I can’t even describe it to myself but it’s...it’s huge, Abby.’

  She had only been able to nod, her head brushing the side of Tom’s chest, right beside his heart. She’d felt like that when she’d first held Jack as a baby, seconds after his birth. The world had changed for ever in that moment and her tears had been born from both amazement and joy.

  ‘I want to be the best father I can be,’ Tom had told her, and Abby had only been able to nod again.

  Those tears at Jack’s birth had held sadness, as well. That there had been no father for her baby boy by her side to share the miracle. Guilt that she had been keeping this all for herself.

  ‘I know it would be a big move for you and Jack to come to Auckland and it’s too much to ask for right away but...I need to see Jack. As often as I can.’

  And Jack needed to see his father. Abby had known that. She’d accepted it without question.

  ‘Just come,’ Tom had whispered into her ear as he’d held her close. ‘Please. Even if it’s only for a day or two.’

  When Abby had booked the ferry tickets within days of Tom’s departure, it had been his final words she’d kept hearing.

  ‘Come soon. I’m going to miss you. Both of you.’