A Fire That Burns

by Kirsty-Anne Still

  “You’ve got to forgive me if I have a hard time believing you,” Tyler told her and just put his hand out, “Friends, Sunny?”

  Austin looked at his hand and knew this was as good as she got, “Friends,” she replied to him and took his hand and shook to their truce.

  Feeling relieved, Tyler took Austin in a tight hug. He had never felt worse in his life for calling such a truce, but he knew he shouldn’t have felt guilty for moving on. It was a natural progression for him to do after her leaving so long ago. It was the least he owed to himself.

  He felt guilty for still loving Austin and wanting that safety net with Natasha at the same time.

  Chapter Eight

  YOU know, Babe, the best way to keep your claws in that man of yours is to give him something that he can’t just give up,” Natasha’s friend, Adele told her while she took the olive out of her martini. “Something that will trump everything.”

  “Yeah I’m with Addy,” Natasha’s other friend, Leanne mentioned. “It seems that this Austin needs to know what she lost once and for all and she needs it quick.” She then put her hands to Natasha’s to make it show that she wasn’t being horrible with what she was going to say, but her friend needed the truth. “The way I see it, Tasha, is that Tyler is still more than a little hung up on Austin and he’s falling in love with her an-”

  “If he ever fell out of love with her,” Adele chucked in.

  Leanne agreed, “There’s that, but, T, the man obviously feels more than a little something for Austin and her being back isn’t some short fling. She’s back in Point Arena for good and while you’re here doing working lunches and running a business, he’s back there in walking distance of her. Hell, they just brought a house to renovate. She is getting back under his skin already.”

  “Let’s face it,” Adele started, “She’s back for one thing and one thing only – Tyler.”

  “I can tell you now if she thinks she’s getting Tyler back she can think again,” Natasha replied almost venomously. “I know all about her little secret from six years ago and I saw her leaving as my opportunity to trump what should have always been mine and you best believe me, girls, I will do anything to make sure she never gets Tyler back.”

  “Sounds ominous,” Adele prompted as she swallowed the rest of the martini and looked around for the waiter to bring her another.

  “Oh believe me, she won’t forget who Tyler belongs to after I’m done with her,” Natasha spoke with absolute glee.

  “You need to think fast before this turns deadly,” Leanne commented, not wanting to acknowledge just what vindictive acts Natasha could be capable of when in the midst of a jealous fit.

  “Oh, don’t worry, I have an idea already,” Natasha finalised and almost wanted to rub her hands in glee. She knew she had her friends intrigued as they both moved inwards a little more, their eyes hungry like vultures for this piece of gossip.

  Chapter Nine

  IT seemed like things were destined to happen fast now she was back, and Austin had to blow out a deep breath and look to Tyler as he gazed on proudly. She then looked at their newest challenge and after a lot of debates and heated chats with Natasha they had not only gotten her acceptance but, had finally bought their old house with plans to ready it for whatever family wanted to buy it.

  “It is still pretty much the same as I remember it,” Austin pointed out stating the obvious as she looked up at the near worn down, derelict house.

  “Still remind you of the house from ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, Sunny?” Tyler asked her as he reminisced on the day they watched that film and she had told him she always wanted to take an old house and make it into a perfect home.

  “Really does,” Austin responded and looked at him, “So how much have you and the boys done so far?”

  Taking her hand he began to drag her towards the house, but she quickly slipped her hand away. Tyler tried to get used to the barrier Austin was now putting up between them and in the last two weeks he was finding it more than a little difficult to do. Yet he persevered with this and stuck by her as he was prepared to not lose her just yet. He had called the truce; he had to deal with the fall out.

  “Well the living room’s ready to be painted so you can start that today if you want?” he asked and she nodded as they pushed the freshly placed front door and entered. “The floorboards are replaced and are now safe, the piping’s fine, water and heating now both work and I’m going to work on the rest of the electrics today while Daniel and Dean finish putting the windows in.”

  “Wow,” Austin sighed happily, “It’s finally happening.” As soon as she had said it, she knew she had said wrong, “I meant really happening. It’s really happening now.”

  “It was always bound to. No one else wanted this place in all these years so now’s our time to spend together and get this house looking respectable.” Tyler said and went over to the window to look down the road at the ridiculously short distance between their parents’ houses and this one.

  Austin watched him, knowing he was expecting Natasha back mid-afternoon. She smiled sadly remembering the mornings they had laid in bed and dreamt up the possibilities of this house. How they had visualised each room down to the finest of details – things like the style of outlets and the thread count in the bedding. They had it all planned and that dream – like so many others – had shattered.

  Looking back, Tyler could see Austin’s saddened expression and it was a look he was getting used to seeing on her nowadays. She had come back the darker version of herself and she might be able to provide good cover up and smile through, but in moments like this when she was at her rawest he saw it all – her regret, her desolation, her loss. It was like something extinguished her fiery nature and brought out a docile replacement.

  Deciding he needed to distract her, he clapped his hands before he rubbed them together. “Right you okay to get started?” he asked piercing the silence quickly. “I mean I know you’re more than capable, but do you want me to help out?”

  “No, Ty, I’m good,” Austin said with an easy smile. “Those electrics won’t do themselves.” She said and Tyler gave her a wink before leaving, “Oh, and Tyler?” she called out and he looked back at her questioningly. “Be careful. I don’t want you having any nasty shocks that aren’t coming from me.”

  Tyler chuckled as she winked at him this time and turned to grab the paint and get ready to tackle the main room of the house. She didn’t know he had chosen the same color she had told him she wanted for the room and he wanted to see if she still remembered.

  Going up stairs, Tyler couldn’t deny his thoughts from running rapid on him, and he smiled about the future of the house. The children that would grow up in it, the husband and wife that would cherish it and make the house a proper home – he was thinking of the potentials this house truly held and everything was looking bright and perfect.

  As the hours passed Tyler grew tired, he realized he needed to go and find a drink before dehydration caught him short. His mouth tasted like he had inhaled dust and grime from sanding the windows down and he had no saliva left to give him any other taste apart from sawdust. He knew that the entire upstairs now had perfectly fitted windows bar the bathroom and once he was done with getting a drink he could move onto his second job of the day. It would mean they would have perfectly working lighting and nearly half done electrical outlets.

  He heard the music as descended step by step, but the only other sound was his boots on the bare untreated wood and a loud hum over the tune, and knew exactly what he was going to find. It was even better than he remembered. He remained motionless; he just watched Austin paint and dance in her own little world.

  Coughing to break into the moment he called out, “How’s it going in here?” Tyler stood in the doorway watching Austin as she danced and painted and he had almost been mesmerised by the sight for minutes but he realized it was now inappropriate of him to do such a thing when he was engaged. He watched her turn and he chuck
led, “I thought you were meant to be painting the wall more than yourself?”

  Immediately Austin felt herself blush and giggled as her hand came up to wipe her face free of dried paint, “Well,” she began and took a slow, seductive step forward. Before she could let Tyler react or even step away she caught him across the cheek with a brush of the paint brush, “Seems we’re even now.”

  “Oh it’s on!” Tyler said and grabbed another brush and got her back. He watched her dodge him and he followed her until he caught her and the pair messed around for a minute or two before stopping to look at how stupid they were being. “We’re not going to get this room painted this way are we?”

  “Okay, we’re nearly done,” Austin became serious. “Once we’re done then the real fun and games can begin, Stud.”

  “Let’s do this then,” Tyler prompted and headed to one end of the wall and worked to complete what Austin had started.

  Taking one last look at Tyler, she smiled brightly and went back to work.

  Chapter Ten

  NATASHA stood in the doorway and watched the two laugh as they stood covered in paint trying their hardest to clean themselves up.

  “Having fun?” she interrupted their fun and stepped into the room. The pair jumped as though caught in the act and turned to face Natasha. “I thought you were meant to be painting the walls?” she asked them as she tried to see the fun and games in this. After all they were getting messy and wasting money and not much else.

  Tyler wanted to pull a face and tell Natasha to lighten up a little, but he refrained. He couldn’t change Natasha to be as fun as Austin or make her see the fun side in things. She was too serious and professional now. However this was what he liked - the clear fact that Natasha and Austin were the polar opposites of one another. So much so he couldn’t sit and compare them on anything because they were so far from being alike that it was impossible. He couldn’t pull Natasha up to see the fun in this, so he lived with her attitude to it.

  “Sorry, we got carried away when we were done,” he apologized to her and then smirked. “You’re back a little earlier aren’t you?” he asked checking his watch only to find the clock face covered in paint.

  “Well I thought we could go out, or get takeout. I just want to spend some time with you,” she told him and smirked hoping he would catch her drift, but he didn’t. Natasha felt the sudden jealous twinge in her stomach and thought of a plan immediately. She turned shy on him then, and moved meekly to cover the gap, “We need to talk, Tyler.”

  “You know you can say whatever you need to in front of Austin,” Tyler countered as he watched his fiancée nod, “C’mon, T, what’s up?”

  “Tyler, Baby,” Natasha said as she stepped forward to Tyler, taking his hand in hers. “I’m pregnant,” she said and flashed her gaze to look at Austin, and dramatically placed a hand to her stomach. She saw how the news struck the woman from their past and she was happy with the result so far.

  Letting her go, he took a step back in shock, “Are you for real?” he asked her, “Like really, really real?”

  “Really, really real, Baby. We’re going to have a baby, Ty,” Natasha told him, showing that she ignoring Austin’s presence only a few feet away. “The doctor confirmed it only an hour ago when I was out for lunch and the scan showed that I’m almost nine weeks.”

  “Whoa,” Tyler said as his eyes went wide, “You’re just over two months?” he asked her and his mind conveyed to the fact that in six months he would be holding his newborn son or daughter and his excitement was already building. “I can’t wait to tell my parents!”

  “I don’t want to make a big thing of this, Tyler,” Natasha told him. “I really want to keep this baby news on the down low until I’m used to it, okay?” she asked him, “It’s all new. Do you understand?”

  “I understand, of course I do. Anything for you, T,” Tyler smothered her all of a sudden. Feeling a new lease to his responsibilities he felt a need to mollycoddle her and then he realized that he needed to back away from Austin’s unknown hold on him and invest more time with Natasha. He had to do it hard and fast.

  Natasha turned to Austin all of a sudden, catching his still shocked attention, “What do you think, Austin? Tyler will make an amazing father won’t he?”

  Austin nodded, “He really will.” She doted on the image in her head of Tyler with children and she knew he would be number one; he would be father of the year. “Th-that’s great news,” Austin managed and smiled hard trying to cover up her true emotions. “You must be thrilled, Natasha,” Austin finished.

  “Happiest day of my life,” Natasha returned, not shocked that Tyler was silenced by the news. It was big after all! “That and the day I become an Armstrong for good, of course.”

  Austin felt swallowed by that moment. Her heart breaking was clear and evident as her beating heart slowed down even more than ever before. She glanced at Tyler’s face and saw pure, unadulterated happiness and completeness and she knew she needed to get out of there. She needed to escape that look and get away from the claustrophobic feeling that was now setting in this house.

  “Well,” Austin spoke up and she saw Tyler’s eyes still staring at her with a glance of concern, “Congrats are in order here.” Keeping herself calm, she praised herself inwardly as she didn’t cry immediately. “I’ll leave you two to it! Go and celebrate!” she said and she left, not looking directly at either of them.

  Just because she didn’t look entirely didn’t mean that she missed seeing the satisfaction scrawled across Natasha’s face.

  Everyone would know from this day forth that Austin Pearson was Point Arena’s biggest loser and she had to accept it.

  Chapter Eleven

  AUSTIN looked out at the shore, waves crashing in and sinking out. She wished each day was just like a new wave, it’d crash in but within seconds, it would be washed out again. A new level of sand would be left on the shore like a slate wiped clean.

  “Always was your favorite place in this town,” Tom said as he sat down next to her on the rocks. He knew she had done well to hold back everything she felt as a kneejerk reaction to Natasha’s sudden burst of news. “Used to find you out here whenever you got stressed out or you worried too much.” He had followed her only moments after he had heard the news broke out. He was helping his brothers with the final windows and both Daniel and Dean pushed him to follow her and make sure she was okay. To be honest, all of them had been shocked that the least maternal woman in town was now three months pregnant.

  “The one place no one ever bothered me,” Austin admitted with a small smile. She loved this place, always had and always would.

  She’d been here so many times before. When life got too much or she had an argument at home and she needed some head space. This place was her peace, her comfort, her haven. Hell, she had been here recently when Tyler had agreed to her random bid of buying their old house. She hadn’t expected him to say yes, but here they were, remodeling their old home. Now here she was back here and feeling like her heart was splintering away in her chest with every beat. This was the last place she had found herself before she fled town all those years ago and right now, she was feeling all those emotions rush into her body. She knew what was happening – flight or fight was kicking in.

  Point Arena Cove was where she had released her grief years ago and here she was again, releasing a new bout of grief from her soul.

  Tom took her words to heart and went to stand, but his sister moved her hand and pulled him back down, silently telling him not to leave her. As he sat back down he noticed Austin was crying. The tears wrecking her cheeks by stealing her mascara and running tracks down the contours of her face.

  “It never went away,” Austin finally spoke to him and shook her head trying to halt more tears from falling. She knew her life was spiraling out of control and she needed it to die down now, before it consumed her. “I left because I thought it would help me get over it, but every single day I sit and think about it.�
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  “That’s because that was your downfall,” Tom told Austin back.

  Austin snorted, “You can’t blame a baby for that. Mine and Tyler’s downfall was beginning long before I even found out I was pregnant.” She breathed out as she finally spoke about the one thing that had driven her from town all those years before. “You did so good with keeping my secret, Tom.” She swallowed hard and looked at him, “Six years and counting.”

  “If it were up to me, I would have told Tyler just what that doting fiancée had done though,” he ground out as he remembered the way Austin had vowed him to secrecy. “Tyler deserved to know what happened that night, Aus. He needed to know, he still needs to know.”

  “It’s my burden now, Tom. He deserves to have what makes him happy,” Austin stated firmly. “Even if the rest of the world tells him it’s no good, it’s his life.”

  Tom sat up, that irked him, he was angered at his sister’s selflessness, “And what about you in all of this, Austin? For fuck sake, you’re at your happiest when you’re with him. You’re the old you, the one that everyone loves and remembers. When he isn’t around you’re a stranger and I know that when you look in the mirror that’s all you see.”

  “All a part of growing up,” Austin shrugged off nonchalantly. “This is life, Tom. Deal with it like I have had to.”

  “Bullshit, Austin!” he shouted and stood up as his anger riveted through him. “I get that you were scared and that you were in pain, but Austin, we love you, we would have been there, whatever. Tyler would have been there for you.”

  “Really, between what, nights out at the bar and work meetings?” Austin asked her brother as she stood and began to make her way up the rocks. She then turned around and felt pleased that she wasn’t crying any longer, “Hell, he had Natasha all along to make sure he was never lonely. So where in that mix would he have been there for me?” Austin shouted and breathed in slow and deeply to cool her nerves, “Every day since I’ve been back all I have done is cry and cry and cry. Tom, I’m tired of crying. I am sick and tired of feeling so miserable and down.”