For a second she stiffened, then slowly she turned. Her wary eyes had a strange dignity about them. ‘So you could humiliate me further by not cashing it?’
She stared at him for the longest time, trying to somehow entrench his features on her memory, to capture the indigo of his eyes, the beauty of his face, scanning them, filing them, storing them. Saving them up for the dreams she was destined to live on.
‘Why the acrimony, Tabitha? We both knew what we were getting into.’
‘Maybe you did, Zavier,’ she said softly. ‘It seems I was naive enough for both of us.’
And then it was over. All she had to do was close the door and he was out of her life for good. The worst part of it was that he didn’t even call her back.
She hadn’t really expected him to.
‘Tabitha?’ Aiden met her as he came out of the lift. He was dripping wet, his hair for once out of place. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Tying up a few loose ends.’ She forced a smile, forced a normal voice. ‘I read that your dad’s off the ventilator; that’s good news.’
‘Better than that—they moved him out of ICU today. The cardiac surgeons are still shaking their heads in disbelief that Dad actually survived the surgery.’ Taking her elbow, he steered her nearer the wall, away from the traffic of people in the corridor. ‘Dad knew all along about me, Tabitha; about me being gay, I mean.’
‘He knew?’ Even in her emotionally drained state, Tabitha still felt a surge of interest and shock.
‘Yep. When the nurses were prepping him for Theatre he called me in; I guess he thought it was going to be a deathbed talk. All that stuff about wanting me to grow up—well, he actually meant to stop living a lie, to face the truth.’
‘And did your mum know?’
‘Yep.’ He gave a low laugh. ‘Apparently she knew all along; she just didn’t want to upset my father in case he couldn’t cope with it. She’s fine with it. At least now it’s all out in the open, and apparently it’s even quite fashionable these days to have a gay son. It gives her something new to talk about at the tennis club. I’m officially out of the closet now. We should have a party to celebrate.’
When she didn’t respond he looked at her sadly.
‘Poor Tab. I feel so guilty.’
‘Why…?’
‘Because for everyone else things have worked out. My father’s got a few years left in him, my secret’s happily out of the closet and no one seems to mind, but as for you, darling Tabitha—well, you’re the one who got hurt. You do love Zavier, don’t you?’
The tears came then, fast and furious, big sobs that racked at her body. And Aiden stood there, his arm around her shoulder, offering her a handkerchief as she fought for control.#p#分页标题#e#
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s me that should be sorry—sorry for all that I’ve put you through. It was me that started the whole thing.’ He gave her a long hug. ‘Oh, Tab, I did try to warn you. I told you he’d only…’
‘Crush me in the palm of his hand.’ She finished the sentence for him. ‘It’s a pretty accurate description of how I’m feeling.’
‘You’ll get over him,’ Aiden assured her. ‘You always do…’
‘Not this time.’ She blew her nose noisily.
‘I did try to talk to him, to tell him what a wonderful woman you are, but he just wasn’t interested. Maybe I could have another go…’
‘No.’ She shook her head firmly. ‘He’s not interested in excuses. He still insists it was all about money.’
‘Which is so bloody like him,’ Aiden replied. ‘You were doomed, darling, the day you cashed the cheque. My dear brother believes the rest of us should be as infallible and as honest as he is.’
‘I can see where he’s coming from,’ Tabitha said defensively. ‘You can hardly blame him for being suspicious of love, given the examples he’s been set. I don’t exactly come out of this as a paragon of virtue.’ She blew her nose again. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’s over now.’
‘We’re still friends? I’ve been terrified to come over in case you throw a saucepan at me or something.’
She gave a strangled laugh, but it changed midway and she cried instead. ‘Of course we’re still friends; it’s just different, that’s all. I can’t see you for a while, Aiden. I can’t look at you and not think about him. Do you understand?’
He nodded sadly. ‘I’ll miss you.’