You’re going to London in a few months’ time, she reminded herself. It would be idiotic to get involved. Especially with someone you could quite easily fall for.
Because she wasn’t stupid. Who wouldn’t fall for Eli? Her heart would have pounded at the sight of him even if he hadn’t looked at her as if he were imagining her without any clothes.
Like he was doing now. The regret in his eyes had vanished, to be replaced by white-hot heat. He was remembering having sex with her. And—if she was guessing correctly—thinking about doing it again. That wasn’t good. Because, as she’d already told him, he was like seventy percent cocoa chocolate. Mouth-wateringly tempting, and when he looked at her like that, she had absolutely no willpower.
Chapter Nine
They read for a while, until the van stopped outside Palmerston North. Everyone got out for lunch, and got back on after buying coffee and, in Eli’s case, a bag full of snacks. They set off for the next leg of the journey, across country up to Taupo.
“Tell me about the Delamar,” he said after a while, and bit into an apple. “What’s so special about it?”
Her coffee warming her hands, she turned in her seat to face him, glowing internally at the fact that he seemed interested. “It’s a prestigious makeup school in the UK. They’re based in Ealing Studios.”
“So what kind of things do they teach?”
“Well, most of the work’s done in workshops and in practical exercises. I’m getting a higher education certificate in professional makeup design. It covers camouflage and period makeup, wigs, facial hair, aging, and prosthetics, as well as haircutting. But mainly I’m just excited to be going to London.”
“I can see that. It’s supposed to be quite expensive to live in the UK though, isn’t it?”
“I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to pay for my fees, which helps a bit.”
“That’s really cool.”
“Yeah. And it should mean I have enough cash to hit Oxford Street occasionally. So you haven’t been there?”
“No. I’ve covered every inch of New Zealand, but I haven’t been abroad much.”
“I would have liked to travel across Europe afterward. I wanted to see the world before I settle down.” Unbidden, her thoughts turned to Lisa and her parents, and she toyed with the lid of the coffee cup. Now that her father was deteriorating so rapidly, traveling after the course was out of the question, but that was okay. If she could get her certification, she’d be happy to work in New York and look after him as much as she could.
After finishing his apple, he tossed the core into the trash bag before starting on a muesli bar. “‘Wanted’? Is your family putting up a fuss?”
She scratched at the lid with a fingernail. “Sort of. Lisa—that’s my sister—feels she has too much responsibility looking after our parents, because she also has three kids. And she’s right, of course.”
“You’re only twenty-three.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Your dad can’t be that old.”
“Fifty-two.”
“That’s relatively young—how much looking after does he need?”
She continued to pick at the lid. “He has early onset Alzheimer’s.”
Eli went quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
She cleared her throat. “Thanks.”
“So your mum’s…”
“Fifty-one.”
He frowned. “That’s hardly old. I’m sure it must be difficult with your dad, but surely she’s young enough to still be able to get around.”
“Oh, she is, but he has some really bad days, and she struggles emotionally as well as physically. I’ve suggested she get help until I come home—they’ve got enough money. But he was her first love—her only love, and I think she feels she’d be letting him down if she didn’t look after him herself.”
“But she’s struggling to cope on her own?”
“Yes. She wants her daughters’ support, which is fair. She’s a big believer in the family unit, you know? And so am I, don’t get me wrong. I want to help—I hate seeing my father like this, and Mom struggle. But I don’t see what’s so bad about getting some temporary help. She makes me feel disloyal for suggesting it, though.”
“Parents do seem to have a knack for making their children feel guilty.”
She grimaced. “Yes, they do. But I’m not going to be like that to my kids. I’m going to send them out into the world and tell them not to worry about me.”
“You want kids?”
“Yeah, I guess so, eventually. When I’m done traveling.” She studied him. “You?”
“Definitely. I want six. At least.”
She laughed. “Are you going to form your own stunt troupe?”
“Yep.”
“Would you want boys or girls?”
He thought about it. “Five boys and a girl. I’d like the girl to dress up in ballerina and fairy costumes, but it would be just my luck for her to be more at home sword fighting in a pirate’s outfit.”
Something shifted inside Tabby at the thought of a little girl with Eli’s dark hair and bright blue eyes standing before him, refusing to put on a tutu and instead demanding he show her how to fall safely down the stairs. He met her gaze, his eyes light, and smiled as if he could read her mind.
She cleared her throat and looked away. Now that was not a road down which she should be traveling. Distract yourself, Tabby. “Tell me about LA.” That’s it. You’re both going away, remember?
He shrugged. “Always wanted to go there. It’s the center of the universe for filmmaking, isn’t it? When you work in LA, you’ve really made it, you know?”
“Tell her the rest of it,” Mick said from behind them.
Tabby peered through the gap in the seats at Mick, but he didn’t look up from his book.
“Ask him,” Mick said.
She turned back to Eli, who looked exasperated. “What’s he talking about?”
“Nothing.” He picked up his book and opened it up.
She pushed herself to her knees and leaned over the seat. “He won’t tell me.”
Mick closed his book, and Madeleine looked up, interested. “He’s going to LA because he promised Charlie he would.”
“That’s one reason,” Eli said beside her, turning the page.
She glanced at him and then back at Mick expectantly.
“They talked about it as kids,” Mick said. “They were always saying about how they were going to go to Hollywood and be famous stuntmen. And when Charlie was dying, he made Eli promise he’d still go and do it for them both.”
Tabby met Madeleine’s gaze, saw the frown between her eyes, and slid down into her seat. She studied Eli for a moment, noticing his long black eyelashes, and the fact that he obviously hadn’t shaved that morning.
“What?” He glanced across at her. “Don’t go getting all teary on me.”
“I’m not teary,” she said. “It’s a sad story, though.”
His gaze shifted to the floor in front of him, but he didn’t say anything.
“Do you miss him a lot?” She asked the question, even though she wasn’t sure if he’d answer it.
He looked at her, something like surprise in his eyes. “Do you know, no other girl’s ever asked me that?”
“Seems like an obvious question to me.”
He looked back at his book. “The answer’s yes. Every day.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. She’d never lost anybody close, and couldn’t even begin to understand what he was feeling.
Lifting up her bag, she rummaged in it and produced another bar of chocolate. Without saying anything, she broke off a square and handed it to him.
He looked at it, then up at her, his lips curving. “Chocolate’s your answer to everything, isn’t it?”
“Yep. It always makes me feel better, anyway.”
He accepted it, smiling, and sucked on it as she curled back in her seat and retrieved her iPod. She handed him one of the
earbuds, and he took it and put it in his ear. Together they listened to her eclectic collection as the van ate up the miles.
After a while, she rested her head on his shoulder and let the motion of the van lull her to sleep.
…
The first five days of filming were frantic. They were put up in motels all over Lake Taupo and then driven to the film set early in the mornings. She soon got used to rising at 5:00 a.m. and watching the mist curl off the lake as she stumbled to the van.
She made up Eli in the morning and bumped into him occasionally on the set—usually at the food tent—but apart from that, she hardly saw him.
Saturday was the first chance she got to have any time to herself. Geoff Stone gave those people not involved in the morning’s work several hours off, asking them to return to set at 2:00 p.m. Nearly everyone took the buses back into town to do some shopping, but Tabby felt the need for some time alone and remained at the set.
She sat outside the makeup trailer and looked across at the view. The designers had found a nook of the Waikato River surrounded by forests and backed by a steep cliff face that was going to be the center of the island of Atlantis, and they’d built the castle into the cliff. The set was huge, breathtaking, and magical.
She was just thinking about finding her camera to take some photographs when her cell phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she checked the display and groaned as she saw her mother’s number. She was tempted to ignore it and let it go to voicemail, but Delia Rogers had called three times that morning, and Tabby knew she couldn’t ignore it again.
She pressed the button. “Hello?”
“Tabby.”
“Hi, Mom.” Tabby closed her eyes. Her mother had said the one word, and Tabby was already irritated.
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all morning.”
“I’m sorry, I was working.”
“Oh, of course,” Delia said, managing to make it sound like only the craziest people worked on a Saturday. “Perhaps I should call back…”
“I’m here now, Mom,” Tabby said as patiently as she could. “Is everything okay?”
Delia was silent. Then she said, “It’s Lisa.”
“Lisa?” Tabby frowned. “What’s Lisa done?”
“She’s being horrible to me,” said Delia. Then she burst into sobs.
Tabby’s stomach knotted with guilt and dismay. There was nothing worse than hearing your parents cry. “What happened?”
“I called to ask if she’d pick me up some bread and milk,” Delia said through her sobs. “And she said she was too busy. Luke had a soccer game or something. But I’m completely out of creamer and if Alan doesn’t get his cup of coffee with his lunch, it puts him in a funk. So I said a few words—I may have been a bit sharp—and she hung up on me.”
“Mom, you’ve got to find a way to deal with this without involving Lisa all the time.” Frustration made Tabby want to bang her head on the wall. “I know it’s hard, and you’ve got a lot on your plate, but you can’t keep asking Lisa to help you. She has three children and a busy life, and while I know she’s glad to help when she can, her family has to come first.”
“We’re her family,” Delia sniffed.
“I meant her husband and kids. They’re her first priority, and they should be.”
“I can’t do it.” Delia’s voice was curt.
“Do what?”
“Do this. Alone. I can’t do it, Tabby. You don’t realize what it’s like, with your father. Some days he doesn’t even recognize me. He’s confused and irritable. Sometimes he’s so rude to me.” She went quiet again.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Tabby wanted to cry at the thought of her father acting in that way. Before the illness, he’d been a quiet, respectful man with much dignity, and he’d adored his wife. He would be horrified to know how he treated Delia, and how they all worried about him.
She cleared her throat. “Look, I’ve got another few weeks of filming left after this, and then I can come and stay for a while. Maybe we can talk about ways you can get help while I’m away in England.”
“Don’t go,” Delia whispered. “Don’t go to England, Tabby. Stay here with me.”
Tabby clenched the phone tightly. “I can’t.”
“Please. I need you.”
Tears stung Tabby’s eyes, sharp as needles. She wanted to help, but she’d given up everything for Simon and it had been the biggest regret of her life so far. He’d taken her generous sacrifice and stomped on it, and it had nearly destroyed her. “I’ve got to do this now or I’ll never go.”
“Just wait another year.”
“Look, when I’m certified, I can come home and find a job. I’ll be happy to help then.”
“There must be makeup schools in New York you could go to instead.”
“Yes, but I’ve got a scholarship—it makes sense to go there if they’re paying for my fees.”
“So ask if you can delay it—I’m sure they’ll understand that we need you.”
“It only lasts a year, Mom. It’s now or never, and better now, before Dad…” She was going to say “gets even worse,” but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She massaged her forehead. “I’m trying to do the best thing for all of us in the long run. It might feel like a struggle at the moment, but once I’m done, I’ll be able to get better jobs, which means more money to help make your lives easier, as well as Lisa’s. I know it looks selfish—but I promise it’ll be worth it when I’m done.”
The phone was growing slippery in her hands as her palms grew damp with her raging emotions. “I’ve got to go. I promise, in two weeks’ time I’ll come and stay, and we’ll talk about it. Okay?” She convinced Delia they’d discuss it later, and hung up the phone.
…
Across the set, Eli leaned against the wall of a trailer, hands in the pockets of his jeans, and watched as Tabby put her face in her hands and cried. Fighting the urge to go over and comfort her, he stayed there for a minute or two. He wasn’t her boyfriend. But the sight of her in tears made him clench his fists. How could he help? Friends helped other friends in need.
Frowning, he pushed himself off the wall and walked toward his trailer. He had an idea to cheer her up.
Chapter Ten
The April sun was surprisingly hot considering it was supposed to be fall in this crazy, mixed-up country, and Tabby knew she should move out of the direct sunlight into the shade of the trees or she’d end up getting burned. But she couldn’t summon the energy. She sat quietly, holding a Sharpie, drawing tiny stars and moons on the back of her left hand, which still held her cell phone. Part of her wanted to call back and try to smooth things over, but she forced herself not to dial. Her head ached and her throat was sore from crying. She should have taken the bus into town. Now she had three hours to kill with only her miserable self for company.
A shadow fell across her, and she looked up to see a pair of long legs encased in black jeans. He wore a plain, white T-shirt that made him look incredibly tanned, and he was smiling. “Hey,” Eli said.
She lifted her hand to shade her eyes. “Hey,” she replied, surprised at how much her spirits lifted just to see him there.
“Whatcha doing?”
“Depressing myself.” No sense in lying—she knew he’d see her red eyes.
“Cool,” he said, tipping his head. “Are you happy doing that, or do you want to come on a picnic with me?”
“A picnic?” She stared as he turned to show her the backpack he carried.
“I’ve got a blanket, food—obviously—a bottle of wine, and a very old radio I found in the back of one of the vans.”
“I’d love to.”
He took her cell phone out of her hand and pressed a button until it turned itself off, meeting her eyes as he handed it back to her. Tabby looked at the phone. It was a bit of a liberty, but she couldn’t ignore the wave of relief at the thought that, for a while at least, she was out of contact. She couldn’t have turned it
off herself—she’d have felt too guilty, and somehow he knew that. She pocketed the phone and took the hand he held out to her.
He examined the moons and stars on her skin for a moment, smiling, and then led her away from the set and down the main road to where it branched, a smaller track leading into the forest. The sun filtered through the leafy canopy, warming the April air. Fantails flitted around them as they walked, and soon the trees swallowed them up, encasing them in a world of dappled leaves and rustling undergrowth.
They walked for about ten minutes, not saying much, enjoying the sunshine. Eli’s hand was warm on Tabby’s. His mere presence made her feel as if everything was going to be all right.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked.
“I thought you said you didn’t date women you worked with.”
“Ah, but this isn’t a date.”
“It isn’t?”
“Nope. It’s just an excuse to spirit you off somewhere quiet so I can make mad, passionate love to you.”
“We’re ‘making love’ now?”
He stopped walking and turned her to face him, still holding her hand. The look in his eyes made her breath catch—they were hot with passion. Before she could ask him what he was thinking, he slipped his other hand to the nape of her neck and kissed her.
Tabby’s heart hammered, but she made herself stand still and enjoy the moment. Tui birds called from the trees, and a shaft of sunlight slanted across them. She glowed inside and out as his mouth moved across hers. She parted her lips at the answering brush of his tongue, and slid her arms around his waist. He tightened his arms around her and kissed her until she was breathless and her knees were wobbly.
Eventually, he pulled away and took her hand. “You’re right,” he said, starting to walk again. “It’s just a fling.”
She linked her fingers with his, her cheeks hot. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, half-excited and half-nervous at the thought of having sex outdoors.
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