‘OK,’ she would instantly agree, dragging his Thomas the Tank Engine/Wallace and Gromit/Fred Flintstone tie over his head. ‘I’ll be your personal trainer.’
Lisa had read about being in love, she’d heard other people talk about being in love; she’d once even fancied herself in love with Dillon Taylor. But nothing, nothing prepared her for the way she felt about Dan Brogan, and being Lisa she didn’t hold anything back. She gave every particle of herself. She wanted to share everything about herself with him.
Dan couldn’t believe the gift he had been given. Lisa filled up all the empty spaces inside him. For the first time in years he didn’t need to bury himself in his work to escape the pain of his failed marriage. Instead he dragged his feet each morning when it was time to leave, he called her during the day to tell her something funny one of the kids had said or done, knowing she would appreciate the story.
Lisa loved Dan’s wry sense of humour. She loved watching his usually serious face dissolve into laughter. He enjoyed teasing her until she either laughed or leapt on him, hitting him with her girly fists. ‘Pathetic,’ he’d say, shaking his head. ‘You need to work out more.’
Which she did—but it wasn’t her abs, pecs or glutes that got a workout.
When Dan went to the beach to windsurf Lisa sat on the sand with a picnic, wrapped up against the winter wind tossing sand into her sandwiches. He promised to teach her how to surf as soon as her leg was stronger. She promised to teach him how to play the guitar in his office.
Their relationship was almost perfect.
Almost.
Dan still wouldn’t accept Lisa was who she claimed to be. Whenever she spoke about something that had happened to her in the past, he listened in silence then changed the subject.
It hurt her deeply. Dan had opened up a whole new dimension in her life. But there was one aching, empty part of her he would never be able to fill and that was the place in her heart her family would always occupy.
When Lisa tried to share a story or memory with him, he listened politely and then changed the subject or distracted her with sex. Lisa tried to pretend it didn’t matter, but each time it happened it spawned a few more weeds in their paradise.
Dan had demons of his own to grapple with. He felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was always the chance that Linda would resurface if Lisa regained her memory, and Dan didn’t know what he’d do if that day ever came. The feelings he had for Lisa were far more profound than those he’d ever had for Linda, even at the very beginning of their marriage. She understood him in ways Linda never had. Lisa had self-esteem. Watching her struggle the past few months had proven she would never allow herself to be a victim.
Lisa let Dan take over from Slade with the flash cards. She got annoyed then laughed at her mistakes, and soldiered on until the night she managed to read an entire article from the daily newspaper out loud to Dan.
‘I did it!’ she yahooed, waving the paper in the air.
She was sweating and exhausted, strands of her hair stuck to her forehead. Dan didn’t think he’d ever seen Lisa look more beautiful. He thought he’d burst with pride at her achievement. Swooping on her, he caught her about the hips and, lifting her high against his chest, spun her around the kitchen.
She shrieked, clutching his shoulders and ducking the light fitting. ‘Hey, this is great! I’m in giant land!’
Laughing, he took her to bed. When he finally ran out of stamina and condoms, Lisa mumbled, ‘If I’d known this was going to be my reward I would’ve done it weeks ago.’
Dan was increasingly preoccupied by the possibility that Lisa might be pregnant. While the logical, sane part of him knew an unplanned pregnancy would be a disaster, not least because Lisa was still recovering from a serious accident, Dan was gripped by a powerful desire to bind her to him in the most elemental way possible.
As the awards night drew closer, Lisa became obsessed with making Dan see her as herself. She decided to get her hair cut and enlisted Sherry’s expert advice on the style to choose and which of Linda Brogan’s clothes to wear. Because Dan had been so hostile the last time Sherry had come to the house, the sisters kept this visit quiet.
‘You’re beautiful,’ Sherry told her over the phone. ‘You could wear a sack and shave your head and you’d still look good.’
‘I need your help, Sherry Jackson!’ Lisa insisted. ‘Get yourself over here!’
Sherry wasn’t keen on being in Dan’s house and hated touching Linda Brogan’s clothes. She swiftly selected a black, tight-sleeved jersey-knit dress with an asymmetrical hem and deep V-back. ‘The hem will cover that ugly bandage. Have a look at her bras, but I doubt you’ll be able to wear one,’ she instructed, looking Lisa up and down with a critical eye. She pointed at the white Tubigrip on Lisa’s leg. ‘Do you have to wear that thing all the time?’
‘I take it off when I go to bed or have a shower.’
Sherry pulled a face. ‘Lose it tomorrow night.’
‘Dan won’t like it.’
‘Dan’s not the one wearing it.’
Lisa tugged her hair. ‘What about this?’
Sherry pursed her lips and considered. ‘You really want to look different?’
Lisa nodded vigorously.
‘Then cut it off.’
‘All of it?’
Fishing in her handbag, Sherry handed Lisa a card. ‘Ask for Russell. And while you’re there, ask if Lauren can give you an eyebrow tidy; they look like a pair of caterpillars.’
‘Flatterer,’ Lisa muttered.
Ignoring her, Sherry took one last distasteful look at the racks of gorgeous clothes and shoes, and closed her bag. ‘I’m out of here.’
As Lisa walked Sherry to her black SUV, Slade pulled into the neighbouring driveway on his motorbike. Her heart sank. Slade was sweet but not the most discreet of souls and she really didn’t want Dan to know about Sherry’s visit.
‘Hi, Lisa,’ he called with a curious glance at Sherry.
Sherry frowned. ‘Hey, aren’t you the kid who works a—’
Lisa jabbed her in the side with her elbow and smiled at Slade. ‘Hi, Slade. How’s it going?’
‘Cool,’ he replied distractedly, still looking at Sherry. ‘Isn’t your dad Mr Jackson at the garden centre?’ he asked.
Sherry snapped her fingers and stabbed one in Slade’s direction. ‘I knew I recognized your face! You work there on weekends, don’t you?’
Slade nodded. ‘Lisa said she knew Mr Jackson.’
Sherry made a noncommittal sound, said goodbye to them both and drove away.
Lisa hovered beside Slade, twisting her fingers. ‘Ah, Slade?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Can you…er…not mention to Dan that you saw my sis—I mean, friend? They don’t get along very well.’
‘Oh? Oh!’ Slade bobbed his head understandingly. ‘Of course. I know how to keep my mouth shut.’
Lisa smiled weakly and patted his shoulder. She seriously doubted that.
When Dan came home and saw Lisa’s new haircut, his jaw just about fell to the floor. ‘Uh, hi,’ he said cautiously.
‘Hi,’ Lisa replied, smoothing a hand self-consciously down the feathery strands lying against the back of her neck. She had been dreading seeing him, guessing that like most men he liked long hair. Russell had shorn her like a sheep.
He continued to stare at her. ‘You’ve been…busy.’
With a sinking heart, Lisa ducked her head and turned away to open the oven door. He hated it. ‘Dinner’s ready,’ she said.
Dan murmured agreement and continued to watch her warily.
Lisa threw him an irritated glance and banged the oven door shut with her elbow, a casserole dish between her oven-mitted hands. ‘I couldn’t wear plaits for the rest of my life.’
He looked confused. ‘Plaits?’
Oh hell, what did Americans call them?
‘Braids,’ she tried. ‘Pigtails.’
Dan’s expression cleared
, but he knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet. Hell hath no fury like a woman with a new haircut she thinks you don’t like, he thought.
‘I looked like a schoolgirl,’ Lisa continued, slapping beef casserole onto two plates so forcefully that Dan was surprised they didn’t break in half. ‘You would have ended up looking like some sort of a pervert.’
‘Me?’ He was baffled. How the hell did her wearing her hair in braids make him a pervert? ‘You’re trying to tell me you cut it for my sake?’
‘No,’ Lisa lied. ‘Mine.’ She dumped the dinner plates on the dining-room table. ‘And if you don’t like it, it’s…it’s…tough!’
‘I do.’ He tried not to laugh. ‘You look cute.’
He moved cautiously towards the table, his stomach growling at the smell of the food, but wishing even more that he could pull Lisa into his arms and kiss her. ‘I like it,’ he insisted.
Lisa seemed unconvinced.
While they ate their meal, Dan kept sneaking looks across the table at her. She did look cute. And sexy as hell, too. The cropped, feathered cut drew attention to her long, white neck and high cheekbones. Her big, cornflower-blue eyes watched him through the wispy fringe. Like most men, Dan was a fan of long hair and had always loved Linda’s. She had been particularly vain about it, so it both disturbed and shocked him that Lisa had cut it. Linda never would have contemplated cutting her hair. Not in a million years.
The morning of the awards dinner, Dan saw Slade wheeling his motorbike out of the next-door garage when he went to collect the newspaper from the letterbox.
‘Hey, Mr Brogan.’
‘Hi, Slade.’
No matter how many times Dan told Slade he could call him Dan, the boy couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it.
Slade kicked the bike onto its stand and began to strap on his helmet. He was wearing his favourite leather trousers and a black leather jacket with a silver chain across the back. ‘Lisa said you’re going to an awards dinner tonight.’
‘That’s right,’ Dan agreed. He was going into the hospital to check on a couple of kids he’d operated on the previous day and he wanted to get a move on, but he liked Slade and was deeply appreciative of the way he had befriended Lisa, and at times deeply jealous as well.
‘She was really worried about getting her hair cut and what to wear,’ Slade continued.
Dan tried not to show how much it irritated him that the boy living next door to him still knew more about the things that worried Lisa than he did. ‘I think her hair looks great.’
Slade nodded. ‘Yeah, me too.’ He reached for his leather gloves and the silver chain draped across his narrow back clinked. ‘And her friend helped her pick out some clothes.’
Dan stiffened. ‘What friend?’
Slade froze, his mouth a round O of dismay.
‘What friend?’ Dan repeated.
‘Um…’
‘Come on Slade, which of Lisa’s friends came to see her?’ Dan stared hard at the boy, his heart thudding heavily in his chest.
Slade made a big production of checking the straps on his boots. ‘I didn’t get a name.’
He was a terrible liar.
Dan tried to tell himself he was being paranoid, but all he could think about was Jack Millar coming to see Lisa—no, Linda—while the coast was clear. Maybe the new haircut had been for his benefit. Seeing Slade’s panicked expression, Dan forced himself to back off.
‘It was a woman!’ the boy exclaimed, which made Dan even more suspicious. His expression hardened. He knew how loyal Slade was to Lisa and how strong their unlikely friendship had become.
‘Have a nice day, Simon,’ he said abruptly and stalked to his car.
Dan stayed late at the hospital. When he finally came home to change, he was in a filthy mood. All day he had brooded over just who her friend might be. Common sense told him Slade had been telling the truth, but memories of Linda’s betrayal and the night he had found her wrapped around Jack Millar kept filling his thoughts. To make matters worse, he had found out that Janice and Jack Millar were attending the dinner tonight. Well maybe it won’t be such a bad thing to see just how Lisa behaves around him, he told himself.
Dan could tell Lisa was excited by the glow in her cheeks when she finally came out to where he sat waiting in the lounge, pretending to watch a rugby match on the television. He was wearing a pair of black trousers and a fine black rollneck sweater beneath a dark, beautifully cut blazer with a fine, beige check. He stared at the slinky, black dress with its long sleeves, high neck and crooked skirt. He couldn’t recall ever having seen it before, but then Linda had so many clothes it wasn’t unusual that Dan didn’t recognize it. He wasn’t happy with the way Lisa’s breasts thrust against the clinging fabric; the dress lashed beneath them like some sort of bondage outfit all the way to her hips where it tied on one side.
‘Don’t you think you should wear a bra?’ he asked disapprovingly.
Her face fell. She hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms over her breasts. ‘I can’t.’
He scowled. ‘What do you mean, you can’t?’
She silently turned to show him her back.
Dan clenched his jaw when he saw the way the dress dipped in a wide V all the way to her waist. ‘You’ll freeze,’ he said curtly.
Lisa felt crushed. It was on the tip of her tongue to offer to change, but she forced herself to keep quiet. Why was he acting like such a pig? She had looked forward to getting dressed all day and showing him how good she could look, not Linda, but her—Lisa. And he was ruining it, sitting there looking handsome as sin and totally unapproachable. It was a few seconds before she realized he was speaking again. ‘Pardon?’
‘I said, where’s your Tubigrip?’
Lisa stared at him. She was wearing a gorgeous, sexy dress and all he cared about was an ugly elastic support sock? ‘I took it off.’
‘Put it back on.’
She gritted her teeth. ‘No.’
Dan stared at her shoes. ‘What the hell are you doing wearing high heels? You’ve only just got out of plaster. Are you mad?’ His voice trailed away.
Lisa looked stricken.
He flushed guiltily.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said uncomfortably. ‘That came out wrong.’
That was an understatement if ever she’d heard one.
‘Dan?’
‘Yes?’ He eyed her warily.
‘Get stuffed.’
Refusing to cry, Lisa walked carefully back to her bedroom to remove her makeup and clothes, leaving Dan in a state of shock unable to believe what she’d just said to him.
He laughed for the first time that day.
Climbing to his feet he went to make some sort of peace.
Lisa gave in simply because she wasn’t prepared to let him ruin her night. She hadn’t been out at night like this for months. She didn’t understand what had put him in such a bad mood and racked her brain for a possible reason. Dan was not a moody person; he was even-tempered and easy-going. Perhaps he was just tired.
Or perhaps he was losing interest in her.
The dinner was being held at the nearby North Harbour Sports Stadium. They hardly spoke in the car on the way. Dan silently switched on the car heater when Lisa began to shiver in the cool night air. Once inside, he kept a firm grip on her elbow as she navigated her way in the high heels and tried to ignore the fact her nipples were poking out the front of the silky black dress.
There were a lot of people crowding a large upstairs room, which was filled with boards displaying posters about the different projects being considered for awards that night. People were expected to vote on the poster they thought was the best and the winner of that category would be announced later that night.
Several people called out Dan’s name and came across to talk to him. Each time they looked at Lisa, he said simply, ‘This is Lisa.’
Not, this is my wife.
Lisa spotted a very familiar face and gasped.
‘What?’ D
an asked sharply, turning his head in the direction she was looking.
‘I’ve just seen Janice Millar,’ she exclaimed, craning her neck to keep the other woman in sight.
‘So? What’s it to you?’
Where Janice was, her husband wouldn’t be far behind. Searching the crowd, he spied Jack Millar watching Lisa, a hungry, intense expression on his face. Sensing he was being watched, Jack looked up into Dan’s cold, unblinking stare. He hesitated, clearly torn between wanting to ogle Dan Brogan’s wife and the promise of retribution in her husband’s eyes if he acted on the impulse. Jack gave Lisa a final, perplexed look before disappearing into the crowd after his wife.
Lisa was baffled by the fierce look on Dan’s face and the hostile way he had spoken to her. She was astonished that the mention of mild-mannered Janice Millar could have caused such a reaction.
‘So I’ve been used to seeing the woman’s head between my knees for the past five years,’ she explained. ‘I hope she isn’t sitting opposite me at the dinner table. It would freak me out.’
Dan felt the beginnings of a headache. Janice Millar had never treated Linda. She’d been as healthy as the proverbial horse until her accident. And he didn’t want to think about Janice’s association with Lisa Jackson.
Taking Lisa’s elbow in his hand, he said brusquely, ‘I think we’d better go in.’
Lisa allowed him to escort her into the room where the awards ceremony was to be held. She didn’t know what she’d done to cause Dan’s sudden coldness. He’d been acting out of character ever since he’d arrived home. The night loomed in front of them as a potential disaster.
When they found their places in the dining room, she was further disconcerted to find Craig Fergusson seated at the same table. And at the opposite end of the table sat Janice Millar and a man Lisa presumed must be her husband, who kept staring at Lisa like he wanted to put her on his empty plate and gobble her up. When Lisa looked at him, he lowered his lids and gave her a wide smile. She looked away, feeling repulsed.
How did she manage to do it? She had to be the only woman in the world unlucky enough to share a table with her gynaecologist and her psychiatrist. She liked Janice, but of course the other woman didn’t remember her and in fact seemed to be avoiding looking at her. Lisa wondered glumly what Linda had done to upset a gentle soul like Janice. By contrast, Craig seemed delighted to see her and said hi.
Bonkers Page 27