by Leah Martyn
‘Please. You know how I am with corks.’
‘I do.’ Matt grinned, nudging her out of the way to get to one of the drawers.
Joanna added another egg to the omelette and found the remnants of some Cheddar cheese. Grated, that would bulk up the meal enough to go round, she thought quickly. Putting the egg mixture aside to sit for a minute, she raided the crisper for a pre-packaged salad mix.
Meanwhile, Matt had got down the flutes from a top cupboard and filled them with the golden wine. ‘There you are, champ.’ Solemnly, he passed a glass to Jason. ‘Joanna?’
‘Oh—for me?’ Joanna took a tight little breath, wiping her hands quickly on a paper towel before taking the glass from Matt’s outstretched hand. ‘What are we drinking to?’
‘To Jason’s success, obviously.’ Matt’s mouth curved a little and he shot the boy a quick glance.
‘To Jason.’ Joanna held her glass aloft, her eyes shining with pride.
‘Well done,’ Matt added with quiet satisfaction.
Embarrassed, Jason bit the edge of his bottom lip through a hesitant smile. ‘Thanks. I don’t have to make a speech, do I?’
His little effort at humour pulled at Joanna’s heart-strings. The past weeks hadn’t been easy for him. But, then again, they hadn’t been exactly a picnic for her and Matt either. ‘No, no speeches.’ She put a clamp on her negative thoughts. ‘Just let’s enjoy our champagne, shall we? And I wouldn’t mind a hand with setting the table either.’
They could almost pass for a real family. Joanna dipped into the salad bowl for a curl of lettuce, covertly watching the two males in her life. So far, they’d avoided any stiltedness in the conversation and that, she thought wryly, had probably been due in part to Matt’s deft handling of it.
And he’d made himself at home, for which she’d been thankful. Hadn’t stood on ceremony. Just parked himself comfortably on one side of the built-in nook, leaving Joanna to perch next to Jason on the other.
‘I saw you speaking to Fraser Owens from Sports Extra magazine.’ Matt directed the statement at Jason and then went back to forking up the last of his omelette. ‘Pretty high-profile stuff, wasn’t it?’
A flush crept over Jason’s cheekbones. ‘He’s doing a piece on me. Had his photographer with him.’ He shrugged offhandedly. ‘I did a couple of poses for him.’
‘You didn’t tell me!’ Joanna knuckled an admonishing little tap to his upper arm.
Jason rolled his eyes. ‘It was no big deal.’
Matt placed his knife and fork neatly together on his plate. ‘On the contrary, Jason, I’d say it was a very big deal. Fraser Owens doesn’t talk to just any old sportsperson. Especially, he doesn’t interview school kids—no slight intended.’ Matt held up his hands to negate any possibility of offence.
‘He’d made the connection between my dad’s name and me.’ Jason leaned forward, his youthful features suddenly alight. ‘Winters,’ he added, as if it needed clarification. ‘Mr Owens said it’ll make a good story. And he saw Dad play rugby a few times when he was a cadet sports journalist.’ Jason lifted a shoulder. ‘He must have a good memory for names and stuff, ’cos he’d have to be pretty old by now—about forty.’
Matt spluttered into his champagne.
Joanna bit her lips together to stifle her own mirth. After a minute, she said, ‘I’ve some honey and almond ice cream in the freezer. Anyone interested?’
‘Yes, please.’ Jason’s look was a bit sheepish.
‘I’ll pass, thanks, Joanna.’ Matt glanced at his watch. ‘In fact, I’d better make tracks. I’ve a bit of boning up to do before tomorrow.’
Joanna’s smile was a little strained. She hadn’t wanted him to leave so soon. ‘But it’s Saturday.’
Matt’s look was a clear, calm blue. ‘I’m operating.’
Jason’s gaze sharpened. ‘At the hospital?’
‘That’s right.’ Matt stroked a hand around his jaw. ‘Sporting injury to repair.’
‘W-will you be seeing how Michael and Dean are while you’re there?’ Jason dropped his gaze, his index finger making little circles on the white tablecloth.
‘As a matter of fact, I called the hospital just before I came over here.’ Matt kept his voice level. ‘They’re stable and they’ll recover OK.’
Jason’s shoulders slumped heavily, his relief almost palpable. ‘Stupid morons.’
‘They were,’ Matt agreed. ‘Incredibly stupid. And they should be eternally grateful to you for finding them when you did. Was it just luck you found them?’ Matt’s question was couched in the most non-threatening tone, suggesting only the mildest interest. Nevertheless, Joanna’s hand flew to her throat, a look of panic in her eyes. She went to open her mouth but Matt sent her a warning look. Leave it, the silent message clearly spelt.
‘I’d, um, gone to the locker room to change before my long jump.’ Jason’s throat tightened before he made faltering eye contact with first his mother and then Matt. ‘I’d taken an extra kit to school ’cos I knew I’d be all tacky after my sprint…’
And he had been. Joanna took a shallow breath. She’d felt him and could vouch for that.
‘I had my form master’s permission to be there but I’d got delayed ’cos the guys were jumping all over me after my win.’
Joanna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She could vouch for that as well. She’d seen how they’d swarmed round Jason with her own eyes. Oh, thank God, she breathed silently, gripped by a blinding relief.
‘I was so scared…’ Jason wound his arms around his midriff, the faint tremor in his voice reflecting the depth of his fright. ‘When I saw the guys…I nearly threw up. And afterwards…’ His throat jerked as he swallowed. ‘I kept thinking, What if I’d been too late?’
‘But you weren’t,’ Matt’s tone was firmly positive. ‘And thanks to your quick action in getting your mother, two young lives were saved.’
‘Yeah…’ Jason’s smile was all crooked and he took another shaky breath. ‘You reckon I did OK, then, Matt?’
‘Very OK.’ Matt’s voice roughened.
Blinking rapidly, Joanna looked at her son. ‘And I think you did OK, too.’ Her voice clogged and she couldn’t say any more but the bear hug she gave him, tight and warm, said it all.
A short time later, she walked Matt to the front door. ‘You were brilliant in there.’ Her voice was low, a bit unsteady. ‘There are so many pressures on young people nowadays to perform, I was so afraid Jason might have—’
‘Silly girl.’ Matt wrapped her into his arms. ‘You’ve raised your son too wisely and too well for him to have been mixed up in anything like drugs.’
She made a small face. ‘One part of me—the mother part—was telling me that. But then the doctor part kept reminding me he had access to my bag if he was so minded. He’s known for ever where I keep my keys—’
‘Enough now.’ Lifting his hand, Matt laid a finger gently across her lips. ‘No more doubts,’ he said firmly. ‘I’d rather talk about us.’
‘Us?’
‘Mmm. You and me, Dr Winters. I think it’s time you told Jason we want to get married. Or we could tell him together?’
Joanna stared helplessly up at him. He made it all sound so easy. And surely it should have been. She moistened her lips. ‘It’s better if I do it, Matt.’ She rested her cheek against the comforting wool of his jumper. ‘And I will—soon.’
CHAPTER TEN
JOANNA was thoughtful as she logged in the last of her notes. It had been a month since the frightening events at the school.
Fortunately, a scandal had been averted. The media, to their credit, had obviously chosen to ignore it, perhaps deciding that the youths involved deserved a second chance.
The school council had believed that as well. Michael and Dean had been sent for counselling and would not be expelled.
And Matt had given a series of talks to the students. On one such occasion Joanna had slipped in unobtrusively to listen and had been impressed by his war
m, down-to-earth approach. He’d undoubtedly communicated with the students on their level. Several had approached him afterwards to ask if they could talk to him privately.
Was it a case of all being well that ended well? she pondered, her head coming up at the tap on her door. It opened and Matt came in.
‘I was just thinking about you,’ she said softly, gripped by a blinding pleasure at just seeing him standing there. Sliding out of her chair, she ran to him, winding her arms around him.
‘Joanna…’ Their lips met and clung. ‘Is this a good time to talk?’ Matt drew slightly away, his hands continuing to knead her spine gently.
‘What is it?’ She blinked up at him, a slight frown in her eyes. ‘You…seem so serious. Are we broke?’
‘No.’ He huffed a dry laugh. ‘But we do need to talk.’ He touched a kiss to the curve of her throat. ‘Why aren’t we married, sweetheart?’
She sighed. ‘You know why. Jason—’
‘Jason’s come round a lot.’
‘He’s not come back to the club.’
‘That’s neither here nor there,’ Matt dismissed. ‘He’s concentrating on track and field. He doesn’t have time to take on anything else.’ He ran his fingers down the length of her arms and then let her go. ‘Joanna, I’m tired of all this secrecy. I want us to be out in the open, living together as husband and wife.’ The corners of his mouth turned in and then he said softly, ‘Isn’t that what you want, too?’
Their eyes met for a long moment. ‘You know it is, Matt.’
‘Then let’s set a date.’ Enthusiasm lent lightness to his voice. ‘We don’t want a big fuss, do we?’
‘No.’ Joanna pretended to shudder. ‘I’ve done all that.’
Matt looked relieved. ‘Me, too. So when and where?’
Just like that. Joanna felt a curl of resentment. ‘I can’t make a snap decision like that. I’ll have to talk to Jason and—’
A frown etched itself between Matt’s eyebrows. ‘I haven’t liked to push but he’s OK about us now, isn’t he?’
‘I haven’t told him.’ Her voice had got smaller.
‘Oh, Joanna…’ Matt’s eyes clouded with disbelief and disappointment.
‘I know.’ She bit her lip. ‘I said I would but it’s never seemed the right time.’
‘Joanna, we love each other.’ His voice resonated with husky conviction. ‘It’s right for us to be married, don’t you agree?’
She nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I’ll talk to Jason tonight.’
It had been a while since Joanna had got home first. When the front door slammed and Jason’s schoolbag hit the floor, the nerves in her tummy tightened like fine wires.
‘Mum? You home?’
‘Got an early mark.’ She manufactured a quick smile when he clattered into the kitchen.
‘Thought you might have got the sack.’ His mouth tipped into a teasing grin. Opening the fridge door, he helped himself to a carton of flavoured milk.
‘Not a chance.’ Joanna closed the oven door and set the timer. ‘Seeing I’m home early, I thought we’d have a roast.’
‘Cool. I’ll just get out of my clobber.’ Taking his milk, he shot through the door into the hallway.
I have to tell him. The mantra kept going round and round in Joanna’s head as she rolled pastry for an apple pie for dessert.
And she’d had plenty of chances, she fretted later.
For some reason her son had been following her around like a puppy—into the laundry while she ran through a load of washing, out into the back garden when she’d pegged it on the line. Now, as she bent over their little veg patch to gather some rosemary to go with the roast potatoes, he was there again.
She sent him a quizzical half-smile. ‘Do I look like I’m about to faint?’
‘Sorry?’
‘You’ve been hovering like you’re waiting to catch me or something…That should do it.’ She folded the sprigs of rosemary into the palm of her hand, plucking off several leaves of basil for good measure.
‘Uh, I need to run something past you, Jo…’ he said awkwardly. ‘It’s kind of important.’
Joanna ignored the kick in her heart rate. Was he in some kind of trouble? Play it cool, she warned herself silently. ‘Come and talk to me, then, while I get the veg ready,’ she said, buying time. ‘I thought we’d have new potatoes and rosemary, baby carrots and greens of some kind, OK?’
Jason grunted a non-reply.
Joanna set to work at the island bench in the kitchen, feeling her stomach churning beyond belief as Jason determinedly dragged up a high stool and sat opposite her.
‘I want to go back to Canberra to live, Mum.’
Joanna’s mind emptied. Whatever she’d half feared, it hadn’t been this. She forced herself to breathe slowly. ‘Aren’t you happy here?’
The boy lifted a shoulder. ‘I want to go back to my old school. I’ll have a better chance of getting into the AIS from there. There’ll be special tours through the institute during the term and stuff happening all the time. I’ll get to know the ropes beforehand and I’ll meet coaches who can help me.’
Oh, lord, he was deadly serious. Joanna stared blankly at the potato she’d begun peeling. And where did that leave her? Separated from Matt until Jason finished his schooling and become established at the institute? She felt her insides hollow out. She was going to have to choose again. And every instinct was screaming it would have to be Jason over Matt.
She could have wept at the injustice of it all. She couldn’t expect Matt to up stakes and follow her to Canberra. Not when he was only just getting the sports-medicine clinic up and running. He’d lose financially and no one could afford to do that in today’s economic conditions.
‘Come on, Jo…’ Jason cajoled, giving her an upside-down grin. ‘It won’t be the end of the world.’
Not for him, perhaps. But what about me? Almost mechanically, she brushed the potatoes with olive oil and placed them into the roasting pan. ‘I suppose I could try to get my old job back at the Canberra Medical Centre.’ She said it without too much conviction.
Jason looked startled. ‘Why would you want to do that?’
‘Because…’ Joanna licked her lips and stared at him. ‘Because I’m your mother and I couldn’t—I mean, you can’t go off and live on your own.’
‘I wouldn’t be on my own!’ Jason laughed in disbelief, looking as though the weight of the world had just dropped off his young shoulders. ‘I’d live with Nana and Grandad Winters. I already talked to Grandad about it on that weekend in Sydney.’
‘And you didn’t think to talk to me?’ Joanna’s relief that she wouldn’t have to be parted from Matt was lost in her hurt.
‘I’m old enough to take responsibility for myself,’ he said with youthful brashness. ‘I don’t expect you to come with me. I know you’ve got a life here—with Matt. You want to be with him, don’t you?’ he said after a minute.
Joanna swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. ‘He’s…asked me to marry him and I’ve said yes…’
Jason went quite still and then something quite incredible happened in the backs of his eyes. ‘That’s terrific,’ he said softly. ‘Matt’s a good guy.’
Joanna blinked the sudden wetness away from her eyes. ‘And you don’t mind?’
‘No.’ Jason looked amused. ‘I’m not a kid. I guessed what was going on. And that night Matt was here after the sports meet—he knew where everything was in the kitchen. He never missed a beat. I’d have to be a moron not to know he’d been here with you.’
‘Oh…’ Joanna felt the heat in her cheeks. ‘Well, yes, he has, but only once or twice.’
‘Mum.’ Jason reached across the pan of potatoes and patted her wrist. ‘It’s OK.’
‘Really?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘As Steffi would say, it’s fab.’ And to show he was really grown up, he added, ‘I’ll give Matt a call now and ask him to come for dinner, shall I?’
‘Oh.�
�� Joanna put a hand to her trembling mouth. ‘I’ll need to do more potatoes, then.’
They made the meal an occasion, setting the silky oak table in the dining room with the best linen, china and cutlery. And Matt brought roses, exquisite just-opening blooms of the most delicate apricot with a pearly sheen, which Joanna declared simply had to go on the dinner table.
The roast was superb and Matt carved it with surgical precision. And they had several toasts with a lovely unwooded Chardonnay from Joanna’s little cellar.
‘I should have a present for you guys.’ Rather overcome with sentiment, Jason swallowed hard.
Matt’s eyes sparked a brilliant blue. ‘You’ve given us the only present we wanted, mate—to allow us all to become a family.’
Jason’s ears turned pink and he mumbled something unintelligible. Joanna, empathising with his teenage embarrassment, announced it was time for dessert. The pie was warm, deep and full of crunchy apple, the pastry rich and sweet. She served it with ice cream and watched the two men in her life scoop it up with obvious enjoyment.
Over coffee and some rich, dark after-dinner mints, which Joanna had been keeping for a special occasion, she said thoughtfully, ‘Are you sure you’re OK about living with Nana and Grandad Winters, Jase?’
He snorted a laugh. ‘Nana will spoil me rotten. And I won’t get in the way,’ he promised with his new-found maturity. ‘Some weekends I’ll go out to Nan and Pop Davidson.’
‘They’re my parents.’ Joanna turned to enlighten Matt.
He nodded and looked from his bride-to-be to his future stepson. ‘And you’ll both have to meet my parents, Hugh and Margo. My dad is a mad keen rugby fan, Jason. I’d guess he’ll be interested to chat about your dad.’
Jason nodded and caught his lip, looking as though everything, although it was wonderful, was happening a bit too fast to take in. In a flurry of arms and legs he got up from the table, offering, ‘I’ll wash up if you guys want to start making plans and stuff.’
It was late when Matt left but the light was still on in Jason’s bedroom. Seeing it, Joanna tapped on the door and went in.
‘Can’t sleep?’