by Lucy Clark
‘And honesty. My son is a stickler for honesty.’
‘A highly commendable attribute for a boy with big shoes to fill.’ They both watched him for a moment, laughing with Bradley before they settled down to play a game.
Summer couldn’t have been prouder of Tommy and it was moments like that which helped her to realise that removing him from the stuffy grammar school he’d been attending in Sydney had probably been the best thing she’d ever done. If he was going to be a great man, he needed to start on the bottom rung of the ladder by becoming a great friend, which was exactly what he was doing.
He was definitely a firecracker with an extremely sharp mind. Often he would speak not only with a vocabulary far exceeding his years but he appeared to have knowledge to match. At other times he seemed small and lost but Jason had complete confidence in Summer. He’d seen at first hand what a wonderful mother she was and the only thing he felt the boy needed was a strong, male role model. The big question was, how could he apply for the job?
When Tommy had hugged him, Jason’s heart had leapt into his throat. Of course he’d been hugged in appreciation by his patients time and time again over the years, but there was something about Tommy that simply made everything far more personal. The fact that Jason was certain he was in love with Summer only made things more delicate. He’d made many mistakes in his life and he’d learned long and hard lessons from most of them, but he knew if he wanted to have these two people in his future, he couldn’t afford any mistakes. They were just far too important to him.
The trip back to A and E was made in a companionable silence, both of them lost in thought. Without a word both of them avoided the lift and decided to take the stairs. Jason was acutely aware of Summer’s presence beside him.
A new string of patients greeted them on their arrival and it was close to six o’clock before things started to settle down to a more normal level. In total, six children had been admitted to the paediatric ward for observation but all were responding to fluid and electrolyte replacement.
‘When do I turn them over?’ Tommy asked Jason an hour later as he cooked fish fingers in Jason’s apartment. Jason gave him instructions and showed him how to do it with the tongs so he didn’t burn his fingers.
Both of their front doors were open, allowing access between the two apartments, with Summer sitting in her living room, trying to sort through the mound of decorations Jason had insisted on purchasing during their mad dash to the shops once they’d left the hospital.
‘There’s far too much here,’ she remarked to herself.
‘You can never have too much,’ Jason said, and she turned to find him lounging in the doorway, a glass of milk in his hand.
‘Where are we going to put them all?’
‘Around the apartment.’ He held out a hand to her. ‘Come. Look at my place.’
She willingly took his hand in hers and headed to his place. ‘See? Tinsel strung from the ceiling. Little ornaments on the tree. Stockings hung over the fireplace, which never gets lit because it’s a fake fireplace.’
Summer laughed as they made their way back into the kitchen. Her son was standing on a step-stool next to the stove, carefully watching the fish fingers in the frying pan.
‘Are they ready now?’ he asked Jason.
Jason checked, nodded and then turned to Summer. ‘Right. Out. Out you go and sit down at the table.’
‘It’s all right. I can help.’
‘No, Mum,’ Tommy told her. ‘JD and I are doing the dinner tonight. You get a rest.’
‘Oh!’ She was touched. Deeply touched, and looked from her son to Jason. ‘Well…thank you.’
‘You deserve it. Now, go and sit, please.’
She did as she was told, astounded at such personal service. It was true that she’d had servants waiting on her during her entire married life but this was nowhere near the same thing. Tommy was learning different skills and he was learning them under Jason’s guidance.
Tommy chattered through their comfortable family-type dinner, telling her exactly how to cook fish fingers. Afterwards, they stacked the dishwasher—still refusing her help—before they returned to Summer’s apartment to string the decorations.
At half past nine, Tommy had fallen asleep on the sofa. Summer watched as Jason put a star on top of the Christmas tree before turning on the twinkle lights. She turned off the ceiling light and the room was flooded with a twinkling glow from the tree.
‘Perfect,’ Jason remarked, and stood back to admire their handiwork. ‘See? Isn’t this fun?’ He looked over at Summer and she could tell by the lilt of his voice that he was smiling.
‘It’s better than fun. It’s family fun.’
Jason didn’t move. He could hear a hint of regret and pain in her voice, and decided to stay silent, hoping she’d open up a bit more to him.
‘My parents died before I met and married Cameron.’ The words were soft and had a far-off tinge to them, as though she was talking about someone else. ‘When I met him, I thought, Here’s my chance to have a family of my own. To be a part of a family again. I wasn’t sophisticated. I wasn’t polished. I used to wonder what Cameron saw in me. It was like he was the most popular boy in the school and he wanted to go out with me. Me? A girl who was only tolerated by the cool kids because her parents made lots of money.’
Jason raised his eyebrows. He’d presumed as much but now it was confirmed. It didn’t matter to him. Money wasn’t the be-all and end-all of life and Amanda had helped him to learn that lesson. Now, though, he wanted to go to Summer, to hold her while she spoke, to let her know that he was there for her, but at the same time he didn’t want her to stop talking.
She laughed without humour. ‘I told myself that Cameron must have been interested in me—as a person—because he had heaps of money of his own. With him, I wasn’t a target for someone who just liked me for my money.’
She sighed and walked slowly over to the tree. ‘The Christmas before my parents died was the last time I had a tree like this. It was the last time I felt like myself—like the real me. We didn’t have servants. My parents never flaunted their money and they’d worked so hard to achieve all their goals. They used to tell me that anything was possible if I just put my mind to it.’ She smiled with a touch of sadness. ‘That was how I got myself through medical school. The power of positive thinking. They did good things, my parents, and they were true to themselves. Honest, hard-working people who’d been a lot luckier than others.’
There was that word again. Honest. It had come up time and time again ever since they’d first met. Jason moved now, walking over to place his arm about her. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do and equally as natural for Summer to lean into him, resting her head on his shoulder as they stood and watched the tree lights cast their merry glow about the room.
‘Thank you,’ she said softly.
‘You don’t have to thank me, Summer. I did it because I wanted to.’
‘I’m not thanking you for the tree or the decorations, Jason, although I do appreciate them. I’m thanking you for listening. For letting me talk. For letting me be myself.’
‘I haven’t let you do anything, Summer. You are who you are and it’s important that you be that person. I accept you for who you are but you do the same thing for me.’ He took a deep breath in and knew it was time to tell her more, more about his old life. ‘The past couple of years haven’t been easy, with the separation and then the divorce. Amanda loved money and power and prestige, too. It didn’t matter how much she got, she wanted more. I didn’t. Money has never impressed me. It can’t buy happiness or love.’
‘You mentioned you moved to Melbourne and didn’t really see much of each other. Both of you were working?’
‘Yes.’
‘There’s more.’ It was a statement.
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘I guess the long and short of it all is that I wanted children and in the end it turned out that Amanda didn’t.’
‘She said she wanted them when you first got married?’
He nodded. ‘It was all planned. She’d model for a few years, have a child or two and then go back to modelling if she wanted. There was no way I wanted to stand in the way of her dreams but back then I thought we both had the same one. Turned out I was wrong.’
‘She got a taste of real success?’
‘Exactly.’
‘A baby would ruin her figure?’
‘Yes.’ Jason frowned but there was a slight smile touching his mouth. ‘Did you know her?’
Summer chuckled. ‘I know a lot of women like her. A lot of men, too. Willing to put family and everything else on the back burner, willing to sacrifice the realities of life for their fix of power.’
There was something in the way she spoke that made him realise she spoke from a personal hurt. ‘Cameron?’
‘Yes.’
‘Summer, I’m sorry but I have to ask.’ He turned her so she was facing him. ‘Why didn’t you leave him? It doesn’t sound as though your marriage was all that happy. Why did you stay?’
Summer shifted away from his gaze and looked at the sparkling tree again. ‘He told me if I made any attempt to leave him, he’d fight for sole custody of Tommy. He said he’d move heaven and earth to take my son away from me.’ She shrugged her elegant shoulders. ‘I was caught.’
Jason shook his head, hearing her pain at the thought of losing Tommy. It was clear that her son meant everything to her and he knew then and there that Summer’s words were real. Her actions blended with her behaviour, not only towards her son but towards everyone she met. Where he’d first thought she was an aloof and stand-offish princess, he now realised she was more shy and reserved, playing her cards close to her chest.
Well, she’d trusted him enough to show him those cards, to lay herself open to him, and in turn he respected her for it.
‘What about you?’
‘What about me?’
‘When did you realise you were caught between a rock and a hard place?’
‘When Amanda told me she’d been accepted for a show in Europe. I didn’t want to go.’ He shook his head. ‘That surprised me because when we met I thought I would be willing to follow her to the ends of the earth. Turns out I didn’t.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘Milan, darling.’ He put on a fake accent and she couldn’t help but smile. ‘On the catwalks in Milan.’
They stood there in silence for a few more minutes before turning to look at Tommy, who was still sound asleep. ‘He’s a good kid, Summer. You’ve done a great job in raising him. The more I know him, the more I like him.’
‘My sentiments exactly,’ she said, but she wasn’t looking at her son when she spoke.
* * *
For the next two weeks the hospital was not only hit with Christmas fever but talk of the charity ball to be held at the Ballarat Country Club. Apparently the event consisted of two parties, one for the adults and one for the children. Supervision was provided, activities were planned and, given that it was daylight savings and the sun remained up until almost nine o’clock in the evening, the list of activities for the children was quite extensive.
‘Can I go, Mum?’ Tommy begged.
‘I suppose Bradley’s going?’
‘And Damo and Mikey. Aw, go on. Say yes.’ He turned to Jason. ‘JD. Tell her. It’s safe. It’s monitored. She’ll be in the next room and it’ll be great.’
‘He has a point,’ Jason said as he carried in two cups of coffee and placed them on the table before sitting next to Summer. ‘We’ll be in the ballroom, they’ll be down the corridor, and my parents and their childminding staff will be responsible for the children’s party.’
‘And it’s for charity, Mum,’ Tommy added, as though that was the clincher.
She looked from one to the other. ‘Well, as you’ve both worked so hard on your scripts to convince me this is the right thing to approve, I guess I can’t disappoint Brad and Damo and Mikey, so OK. You can go.’
‘Yes!’ Tommy, her previously quiet and reserved son, punched the air. ‘I’m gonna go call the guys and let them know.’
‘He never walks anywhere any more,’ Summer protested, but smiled as she spoke. She took a sip of her coffee and tucked her legs beneath her on the lounge. Over the last few weeks she and Jason had taken things slowly, spending time with Tommy, enjoying quiet evenings together either at her place or his. Then around ten-thirty, Jason would take his leave, kissing her once on the lips before he left.
The kiss they’d shared in the lift had been powerful, so much so that they both knew things needed to calm down a bit or they’d risk getting carried away too far, too fast.
‘I can’t do that again,’ Jason had explained to her one night. ‘I can’t rush into a relationship because of an attraction. We need a solid foundation, Summer, and the only way we can get that is to keep spending time together.’
And that was what they’d done. Now it was only two days before the big charity event which would raise money for new equipment in the A and E department. As usual, the event had been sold out about a day after the tickets had been released. There would be raffles and prizes throughout the evening as well as the acceptance of donations from large companies in support of the hospital.
‘So. Do you know what you’re going to wear?’ Jason asked as he watched her, shifting around again so she was comfortable. When she’d first come to town, he doubted whether she would have sat the way she was now. However, slowly but surely, she was letting go of the groomed socialite she’d been forced to become and was getting in touch with the woman who’d been repressed throughout her marriage.
‘Wear?’
‘To the ball?’
Summer grimaced. ‘I don’t know. I guess I can find something.’
‘No. Actually, that won’t do.’
‘What?’
‘You can’t just pull something out of your closet and throw it on for this type of event. This is the highlight of Ballarat’s Twelve Weeks of Christmas. It’s the event of the year and from what I hear, as far as the ladies are concerned, it’s all about the dress. Once you have the dress, everything else falls into place.’
‘What are you going on about?’
Jason rolled his eyes and shook his head. ‘Subtlety was never my strong suit. My sister Cassandra wants to know if you have a dress for the ball because if you don’t, she apparently has the perfect one in mind.’
‘Oh.’ Summer’s interest was definitely piqued. ‘I forgot that she’s a dress designer. Is she coming to the ball?’
‘She wouldn’t miss it. She’ll be here tomorrow and she’s asked that you go round to my mother’s house for a bit of pre-event pampering and the choosing of the dress.’
‘Uh…well… OK, then. I’ll go around after work tomorrow.’
‘And I’ll look after Tommy.’
‘Jason, you don’t have to.’
‘I know. I want to. Besides, we have some camping business to discuss.’
‘I’m beginning to doubt that we’re ever really going on this camping trip. It’s a month today until Christmas. School breaks up in a week’s time and then the big day will be rapidly upon us.’
‘I’ve had some strict criteria to adhere to, don’t forget.’
Summer reflected. ‘Yes, you have.’
‘Still, it’ll happen. Don’t you worry about that.’ He tapped the side of his nose and winked at her. ‘Leave it all to me.’
When Summer knocked on the door to Jason’s parents’ house on Friday after work, she wasn’t sure what to expect. The door was flung open and female laughter filled the air. Where she’d thought it would just be Jason’s sister, it appeared there were a few more ladies around for a bit of pampering.
‘Summer. Glad you could make it.’ Cassandra embraced her as though they were long-lost friends. ‘Come on in. Champagne?’
‘Um…all right.’ Summer smiled as she saw Alyssa, Rhonda and Ma
gs sitting on chairs in the living room. Dresses in all colours and styles were hung around the room and the discussions as to who should wear what was definitely under way. Elsie, Jason’s mother, greeted her just as warmly as her daughter had.
‘I’m so glad you could come. Here you are.’ She slipped a champagne flute into Summer’s hand and led her over to a chair. The other ladies welcomed her, the conversation natural and free. Social gatherings where only ladies were present had played a very big part of her life in Sydney but, again, this wasn’t held in a hall or a banquet room. The ladies here didn’t automatically size Summer up by what designers she was or wasn’t wearing. There were no conversations that started with ‘You’ll never guess what I heard at the spa the other day’ before malicious gossip was revealed with utter glee.
No. These were hard-working ladies, getting together to enjoy themselves and to choose a dress from the brilliant creations Cassandra had made. When they started trying them on, the fun and laughter only started to increase, Summer joining in and having a wonderful time.
‘I have the most perfect dress for you,’ Cassandra declared, taking Summer’s hand. ‘I put it in the back bedroom because I didn’t want anyone else to have it but you. It’s going to knock my brother’s socks right off.’
‘It is?’
‘You’re in love with him, right?’
Summer was a little stunned but one look at Cassandra told her the woman practised honesty, just like her brother did. ‘Is it that obvious?’
Cassandra laughed. ‘Would it bother you if I said yes?’
Summer pondered this and realised that it didn’t matter at all. She was certain most of the hospital staff knew how much time she’d been spending with Jason lately and while they didn’t flaunt it at work, it was no doubt clear in the way they looked at each other.
‘You know he feels the same way,’ Cassandra prompted.
‘He does?’ Summer wasn’t so sure. Jason was cautious, taking things slowly so neither of them got hurt, but did that mean that he loved her?
‘There’s this great saying my parents live by and they’ve passed it on to both Jason and me. “Only the soul that loves is happy.” It’s by Goethe.’ She pulled a dress still zipped into a plastic cover out from the closet. ‘Jason thought he’d found love but, sadly, it wasn’t to be. And then…there was you.’ Cassandra stopped what she was doing for an instant and shook her head, smiling warmly. ‘I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s happy—truly happy—and that’s how I know he’s in love with you.’