‘How’d he go?’ Kelli remembered from last night that Sean had some form of footy match today.
‘He won,’ Travis answered shortly, dropping down onto the towel, phone in hand, but his smile seemed forced.
‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ she looked from Travis to the others. Ana shrugged, and Pierce nodded.
‘Yeah. It is great. He even scored his first try,’ Travis told them with pride, but Kelli detected a level of pain in the smile he threw their way.
‘I’m surprised you’re not still talking to him.’ Ana shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand. ‘He normally likes to give you a play by play.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Travis let his breath out in a sigh. ‘But he’s out to lunch now. Steve has taken him and his friends to some beachside café for burgers and milkshakes.’
‘Ouch!’ Ana exclaimed.
‘That sucks,’ Pierce agreed. ‘Not for the little man, but for...’ but he didn’t finish the sentence, dropping his gaze from the thunder in Travis’ eyes.
‘Who’s Steve?’ Kelli asked, confused by the simmering undercurrents.
‘Ashlee’s new boyfriend,’ Travis bit out, glaring out at the ocean.
‘Oh,’ was all she could answer, looking down at the sand, threading her fingers through piles of warm granules. So, he wasn’t over the ex. ‘It must be hard, having to watch your ex move on.’
‘It’s not an issue,’ he said, almost absentmindedly as he stared out at the ocean.
‘No?’ She hated the way her voice caught on the word. Since when had this man come to mean so much to her that the thought of him pining for his ex could cause hot, painful needles to stab through her chest?
Some part of her vulnerability must have registered with him, because he pulled his gaze away from the surf to look down at her.
‘No. Ashlee and I are well and truly over,’ he told her, his eyes piercing her with the truth, before he looked back out at the ocean. ‘I just…He’s going to forget me. He’s getting another father and…forget it,’ Travis said, breaking off mid-thought.
Seriously? That’s what he was worried about?
It blew her mind that this incredibly intelligent man could be so very clueless when it came down to the basics of love and family. ‘He’s not going to forget you, Travis.’
‘How can you be sure?’ he asked, looking at her again, desperately searching for confirmation.
‘It’s a fundamental basic of life. You’re his Dad. He’s not going to forget you. Trust me.’ But she could see he still wasn’t convinced. ‘Look, it’s like…’ She paused, not sure she could go there but she had to try. ‘It’s like with Jimmy,’ her breath caught on his name but she pushed on, because this was too important. She wasn’t sure why but she hated seeing Travis torture himself like this, but she did. ‘I know I’m never going to see him or speak to him again, but he’ll always be here,’ she thumped a fist against her chest, ignoring the moisture building in her eyes. ‘I’m never going to forget Jimmy. I can’t. He’s too important. You don’t forget the people you love.’
Travis lifted his hand towards her, as though to offer her condolences but she batted it away. She wasn’t seeking his sympathy. That’s not what this was about.
‘Sean loves you, right?’ she continued, squinting against the sun as she looked up at him.
‘Yes.’ There was no hesitation in the reply, Travis clearly confident of his son’s affection. It was just what the future might hold that was scaring him.
‘And its different for you guys. You’re still going to see him, and talk to him. You talk to him like every day, or something, don’t you?’
‘At least,’ he said, and she could hear the start of a smile in his voice. ‘I keep waiting for him to get annoyed with how often I call. It’s a fine line between keeping in touch and being annoyingly overbearing.’
Kelli laughed softly at his self-deprecation. ‘At least he’ll always know how much you care.’
‘That’s something, I guess,’ Travis sighed.
This time Kelli reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it in hers, offering what comfort she could.
He looked down at their clasped hands, and she almost tore it back, afraid she’d been too bold, taken this friendship, this flirtation to a place he didn’t want to go. But then he leant forward and brushed his lips against her fingers and she knew she hadn’t got it wrong. Not any of it.
Her decision to come here, with him, today— it was the best decision she’d made in a very long time.
Chapter 5
Travis sank down into his cream leather sofa, stretched his legs out on the ottoman in front of him, and rested his laptop on his lap. It was Sunday night. Ana was at work so he had the house to himself. And, vapid socialite that he was, he was sitting down to work.
Man, he was sad!
To be fair, this was his usual Sunday night gig, preparing himself for the busy week ahead. Normally, he didn’t have an issue with it. But tonight, well, tonight there was somewhere else he’d rather be. Or, more specifically, someone he’d rather be with.
He tried to push the image of Kelli aside, her golden curls glinting in the sunlight, her mouth stretched wide as she laughed at him. But he was having enormous difficulty with the task.
Yesterday had been fun, hanging out at the beach with her. More fun than he’d had in a hell of a long time. Being with her was like a drug, and he was quickly becoming an addict.
He didn’t want to. After the mess his life had ended up during the divorce, he’d sworn off women. But then Kelli came along and, well, she just had the cutest habit of nibbling on the corner of her lip when she was trying to make a decision. It drove him wild. She drove him wild. He could watch her for hours and never get bored.
Maybe she was just good entertainment, but when he was with her, he didn’t care so much if people talked about him. No problem seemed too big. Hell, even Sean’s absence was less painful.
His hand crept towards his phone, itching to call her. How soon was too soon these days? Would he seem lame if he called her tonight? After all, he would see her at work tomorrow. But he wasn’t sure he could wait that long. It was a minimum twelve hours away, and he already had Kelli withdrawals pretty bad.
No. It would be far too desperate a move, and he didn’t want to scare her off. Though, what he would be scaring her from, he wasn’t quite sure.
Decision made, he opened up his work emails and started sifting through the new ones that had come through this weekend, looking for something to sink his teeth into.
Kelli lay on her little two-seater arm chair, her head resting on the cushioned armrest, tablet-device on her arched legs, the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine open. She was supposed to be reading it. She had every intention of getting through at least the first three articles tonight.
But at the moment, with the beautiful February breeze wafting through the open windows of the apartment, her attention was focused on the seven-year old child prodigy rocking out heavier than Korn on her television screen. She wasn’t sure if she was in awe of the child’s obvious talent, or horrified by the damage they must be doing to their vocal chords. She couldn’t wait to see what the judges made of this.
With one final, demon-like scream, the child was finished. The latest research on the impact of ethnicity and sleep apnoea severity completely forgotten by now, Kelli found herself feeling completely vindicated when the judges were clearly as divided as she was. She was waiting for the final judge to reveal their vote - and to find out if the child would be moving on to the next round - when a loud melodic ringtone burst from her phone.
With her eyes still trained on the television screen, she reached out and grabbed the device.
‘This better be good,’ she told whoever was on the other line.
‘No pressure, or anything,’ the voice answered, and Kelli sat bolt upright on the lounge, heart pounding in her chest.
‘Travis, hey,’ she manage
d to answer, once she’d got over the shock and could speak again. ‘What’s, ah, what’s happening?’
‘It’s a cray-cray Sunday night, you know. Wild parties, tequila shots, and what not.’
‘Mmm-hmm. Totally. Same things happening here,’ she answered, wrapping her arm around her legs to contain her excitement.
Seriously. She wasn’t a school kid anymore. Random phone calls from guys shouldn’t be this thrilling.
‘Sounds like we’re on the same page then,’ he said, and she could feel him smiling into the phone.
‘Oh, I don’t know, I’d never be caught dead saying “cray-cray”,’ she teased.
‘What?! I thought all the kids were saying it these days.’
‘I hate to break it to you Travis, but you’re not a kid.’
‘No? I’m not? No. Freaking. Way! Are you sure?’
‘Hmm... Maybe not. You are a little on the immature side.’
‘Whoa there, better start watching what you say little missy, or I might start getting offended.’
‘Oh, okay then,’ Kelli answered, laughing. ‘I’ll stop with the immature talk if you promise not to ever, and I mean ever, say “cray-cray” again.’
‘All right, sounds like a fair deal. I, Travis Reed, do solemnly swear to never sully your ears with those unspeakable words again,’ he promised.
‘Excellent.’
‘Now that we’ve got that sorted, I can get down to the reason I called -’
‘Wait, you had a reason?’ Kelli interrupted teasingly. ‘It wasn’t just to brag about your massive social life?’
‘No,’ he said, choking back his laughter. ‘Though all digs about said social life will go on the record, and I will be seeking retribution.’
‘Ooh, I’m trembling over here,’ she mocked.
‘You should be. Now stop distracting me. I have business to discuss with you.’
‘Really? On a Sunday night?’
‘Yeah. Is that a problem?’
‘No. No problem,’ Kelli assured him, although a little bit of her excitement dimmed. So, this wasn’t a desperately-need-to-hear-Kelli’s-voice call then. Of course it wasn’t. Despite the appearances of this phone call, Travis was a very sophisticated, mature man. She doubted he was ever desperate for anything. Except maybe his son.
‘All right, well I just wanted to pick your brain for a quick minute,’ he said.
‘Okay, shoot,’ she leaned back into the sofa, settling in to the conversation.
‘You’ve had a bit of experience with a variety of portable monitoring systems, haven’t you?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she answered automatically. ‘We used them regularly at the clinic I was working at.’
‘How did they compare with each other? I’ve only ever used the standard Somte.’
‘None of them are as accurate as the full overnight PSG, but there isn’t a huge difference between the portable systems themselves. As long as you still have EEG, ECG and respiratory monitoring, you’re going to get a similar diagnosis no matter which device is used. It’s just a matter of the staff adapting to the different analysis programs. Why?’
‘Do you remember Cam from the party?
‘Your friend?’
‘Yeah. Well, his brother has approached me. Brad Lewis is a G.P. and he wants to start running a portable monitoring service through his clinic. He’s suggested we might be able to do it in partnership with him, but before I take this to Carsen, I wanted to get your opinion on the devices themselves.’
‘What would our involvement include?’
‘That’s all up for negotiation. We could take a minor role, providing the analysis and reporting of the studies only. Or, we could take more ownership, providing specialist services within the practice. It would mean rotating a couple of physicians into these clinics to consult on a routine basis.’
‘There’s definitely a need for a more affordable, community-based approach. Not everyone has private healthcare, and the waiting lists in the public system are beyond ridiculous.’
‘Exactly. That’s why I’m quite hopeful about this proposition. This is a way of filling the widening gap of people requiring testing and treatment.’
‘It will need to be well thought out before you commit to anything, though.’
‘Of course. That goes without saying.’
‘So, is this really why you rang?’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked after a prolonged pause, sounding a little cagey.
‘This couldn’t have waited until tomorrow? You needed to have my opinion tonight, did you?’
This time the pause was longer, and Kelli found herself holding her breath. She hoped she hadn’t pushed him too far, but it really was a rather lame reason to call her, which would push this more into the category of a desperate-to-hear-Kelli’s-voice call.
‘Okay, maybe, technically, this could have waited until tomorrow,’ he conceded, ‘but I’m still going to stick with it as the reason for the call,’ he finished with a little self-deprecating laugh.
Excited pleasure raced through her, but she tried to keep her own little bit of lameness out of her voice when she teased him. ‘You stick to your story,’ Kelli told him, ‘but I think I can figure out the truth.’
‘Any-way,’ he sighed, stretching the word out. ‘How did you go with your parents today?’ he finished, not-so-subtly changing the topic.
It was stupid, she knew, to feel touched that he would remember her plans for the day. But she was. ‘Pretty good, actually. Mum’s decided to lay off the counsellor talk for a while, since I seem to be “adjusting” to life again. But she still wants to have Teegan over for Sunday lunch.’
‘And you don’t?’
‘No. I just…’ Kelli paused, trying to keep a tight rein on her emotions. ‘I can’t be around her right now. Not after what I did.’
‘You still haven’t told me what you did,’ he said gently, the question hanging down the line between them.
It was Kelli’s turn to be silent now. A part of her wanted to tell him. She needed to tell someone. But what if he hated her afterwards? What if he never wanted to see her again? She wasn’t sure she could handle that. Not when she was starting to like the idea of having him around.
‘And you haven’t told me how your marriage ended,’ she countered instead, falling back on the old offence being the best form of defence.
‘Whoa. That came from left field.’
‘I’m just saying we all have our secrets. You know, the thing we don’t want to talk about,’ she said, shrugging.
‘I guess…’
‘Unless you want to talk about your divorce?’ she asked leadingly.
‘Not particularly.’
‘You do know there are quite a few rumours flying through the hospital corridors about you.’
‘Still?’
‘Afraid so.’
‘Well, rumours aren’t always accurate.’
‘I know,’ Kelli assured him, before delving into another painful topic. ‘So, I’ve actually been wondering a bit about something.’
‘What’s that?’ she could almost hear him settling back into his own seat.
‘It’s about Sean,’ she said, easing her way into the tricky topic.
‘Oh-kay,’ he said cautiously.
‘Well, you’re like one of the most dedicated father’s I’ve ever seen. Especially with a kid who lives interstate. I don’t get why you let him go. I mean, you told me it wasn’t your choice, but your ex would have needed your consent to move him across state lines.’
The silence on the other end of the line was deathly. Maybe she’d over-stepped the bounds. But it was something that really concerned her.
‘You don’t have to tell me, of course,’ she said into the silence, unable to take it any longer. ‘If you want to keep it private-’
‘No, it’s okay,’ he said, but his voice was raw, almost broken. ‘Ashlee was miserable here after everything fell through. Her family all live in Sydney.
The only reason she was in Brisbane was to be with me, so of course she wanted to move home after the divorce. And I… my mum died when I was fifteen, Ana was only eleven. As much as Dad tried to fill the gap, he couldn’t. A kid needs his mum. It’s as simple as that. It was better for Ashlee to be with her family. And it was better for Sean to be with his mum.’
‘And so you miss out,’ Kelli concluded, her heart going out to him. She got the impression Travis rarely thought about his own needs. Everyone else seemed to come first for him.
‘That’s why I can’t miss out on anymore. I need to be here for him whenever he needs me. Everything else has to come second.’
‘But that’s crazy. You do know I’m right, don’t you? From what I’ve seen, you’re there for him more than most father’s that live with their children. Sean’s not missing out on your love. I can assure you, he knows his father loves him -’
‘But as you said, I’m missing out.’
‘You were always going to miss out, Travis. This might sound harsh, but you signed that death sentence when you let him move interstate, and sacrificing your own enjoyment is only going to hurt you. It’s not going to give you any more time with him, or if it does, it will be an insignificant amount.’
‘You don’t know-’
‘Anyone with half a brain knows that. But, look, if you want to sacrifice yourself at the altar of unnecessary parental sacrifice, go ahead. It’s no skin off my nose,’ she assured him.
Liar!
But she ignored the little voice in her head that wanted to speak the truth.
‘Well, when you put it like that, of course it sounds crazy,’ he answered with a husky laugh that caught her unawares.
‘It doesn’t just sound crazy,’ she assured him, desperately trying to calm her own crazy feelings down. Why was it so damn sexy how much he loved his kid?
‘Ha-ha,’ he said, but she could tell he was smiling again. ‘That still doesn’t change- Wait, what’s that noise?’
‘What noise?’ Kelli asked innocently as she dove for her remote to turn the volume down. The crowd had just massively booed one of the judges, but she hadn’t thought it would be loud enough to be heard through the phone.
A Heart Worth Mending Page 9