Always (Time for Love Book 4) (17 page)

“I’m assuming that since it’s Friday afternoon, you left work early to deal with problems of the heart?” Magda asked as they sat down.

Brenna flushed. “I don’t know what to do, Magda. I can’t see a solution to my problem that would give a satisfactory outcome to all concerned. I was hoping you could help me see things I’m not seeing.”

“Tell me what’s been happening so far,” Magda said.

She did, repeating some of the things she’d already told Magda when she last saw her at Zach and Bec’s pool party, and adding all the details that had happened since then. “I want to prove to Ash that he’s the one for me, not Darren. And I do want to stop all this pretension that Darren and I are doing. But I feel guilty about what it would do to Patty. And I know Ash would feel guilty too, if Patty were to be affected negatively because of a decision I made because of him.”

“What do you think is Patty’s motivation for wanting you and Darren to be together?”

“She wants someone to be there for Darren, primarily.”

“It seems that she likes you a lot. What was she like when you and Darren broke up the last time?”

“She was very disappointed, to say the least. She thought it was just another one of our breaks. But that time, Darren and I really saw that it was the end of the road for us. We’d tried our hardest for long enough. We knew we were better off apart.”

“Did Patty try again to bring the two of you back together?” Magda asked.

“She called me a couple of times. But I think she quickly realised we were serious about our decision. She left us alone after that, and we were only in contact with each other during important occasions like birthdays.”

“So if it weren’t for Darren not having anyone during this very trying time for them, she would probably still be okay with you and Darren not being together?”

Brenna thought about the question. “Yes, I’d say so.”

Magda grasped her hand. “Things like this are never easy. I admire you for being there for the both of them.”

She nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m glad I’m helping them in my own small way, Magda. But it seems hard for Ash to accept that Darren and I pretending to be together won’t lead to a reconciliation. And since I refuse to think that Patty will not get a donor in time, this pretense could go on for many more months. I just can’t see a way out.”

“Is all this making Darren happy?”

“He’s happy because Patty is happy. But this is hard for him too. He’s not free to be himself. He told me a few days ago he started seeing someone, but he couldn’t fully immerse himself in dating her because of this situation.”

“Ah, then that’s your answer,” Magda said.

She frowned, trying to figure out what Magda saw.

“If Darren is unhappy because he can’t be with the woman he wants, I doubt Patty would be happy. Isn’t Darren’s happiness and well-being her primary concern?”

Brenna nodded, hope starting to creep in. “But won’t she be devastated when she learns that we’ve been lying to her all along?”

Magda squeezed her hand. “Believe in the power of love, Brenna. Communicate to her from the position of love instead of fear. Trust that her love for her son will see her through. I’m sure she’ll understand why you did what you did.”

Brenna smiled, truly thankful for this amazing woman before her. “Rebecca and Sarah are really lucky to have you as their grandmother-in-law, Magda.”

Magda chuckled. “Come now, dear. Haven’t I already adopted you, Amanda and Gemma as my additional granddaughters? Please don’t treat yourself as an outsider in this family.”

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes watering with gratitude.

“Now, if only Gregory would get interested in settling down...” Magda said, actually pouting.

Brenna laughed. Magda always said that every time she saw her.

“Gemma’s a great girl,” Magda said. “If Greg doesn’t wake up to that, he might miss his chance completely.”

Brenna’s eyes widened. “Gemma and Greg?”

Magda sighed heavily. “Something’s brewing between those two, but they’re still oblivious to it. And I’m afraid my grandson will fight it all the way. Honestly, I don’t see what he sees in the single life.”

“Maybe we should simply trust that both Greg and Gemma will follow their hearts when their soulmates call,” Brenna said softly.

Magda smiled. “Now, that’s very wise.”

“It would be great if they end up together, though,” she mused, liking the thought of Greg and Gemma as a couple.

“It would. But
you
should concentrate on your problems first before getting distracted with other people’s issues,” Magda censured lightly.

“I will. Thank you, Magda. I think I’ll go see Darren now.”

*****

B
renna sat next to Patty in the lounge room, pleased to see the older woman looking relatively well.

“I’m glad you guys visited me tonight,” Patty said. “I didn’t think I’d see you until next weekend.”

Darren grabbed his mother’s hand, stroking it lovingly. “Mum, you know I love you, right?”

“Of course, darling,” Patty said.

“And you know Brenna loves you too?” Darren continued.

“Yes,” Patty said suspiciously, looking first at Darren, then Brenna with her brows furrowed.

Brenna tried to remain relaxed, focusing on sending Patty loving vibes. What she and Darren had to say to the sick woman wasn’t going to be easy.

“Oh, no,” Patty said. “You guys are breaking up again, aren’t you?”

Brenna exchanged glances with Darren.

“Mum, I know my happiness means a lot to you. If I’m unhappy, would you be okay with that?”

“No, of course not, Darren. Is this your way of telling me to be okay with the fact that you guys are no longer together?”

“Yes,” Darren said with a gulp.

Brenna rolled her eyes at him. “Patty,” Brenna said softly, taking Patty’s other hand. “Darren would do anything to make you happy. Do you know that?”

Patty nodded, her eyes round.

“Do you know that if you lose your hope and zest for life, it would make him lose his?”

Patty’s eyes widened even more, seeming to see that particular truth for the first time.

“It was hard for me to watch you be ill and not want to fight, Mum,” Darren said.

“I don’t want to be a burden to you,” Patty whispered.

“If you died because you gave up, instead of dying because it couldn’t be helped, it would be a big burden that I would carry with me for the rest of my life. I’d think I’d failed you.”

“Oh, Darren, please do not ever think that!” Patty cried. “I’m much happier now though, am I not? Because I see you happy?”

“Do you know that being with Brenna
doesn’t
make me happy?” Darren asked gently. “And Brenna feels the same way about me. We care about each other, but we’re not in love with each other.”

Brenna held her breath for Patty’s response, her heart pounding. To her immense surprise and relief, Patty nodded, a resigned smile forming on her face.

“I guessed there was something amiss when the two of you refused to get an engagement ring,” Patty said.

“You’re okay with this, right, Mum?” Darren asked hopefully.

Patty smiled. “Darling, why would I want you—the two of you—to stick with each other if you don’t love each other? I’ve been worried about how you were coping with my illness so soon after your dad’s death. As long as you promise me that you won’t hold your life back for me, Darren, even though you want to look after me, then I won’t worry.”

Darren’s eyes misted. “I promise, Mum.”

Patty turned to Brenna. “How are you with all this, Brenna?”

Brenna smiled serenely, letting Patty see her relief. “I’m fine, Patty. Thank you.”

“There's something else, Mum,” Darren said.

Brenna and Darren told Patty the whole truth, both of them letting her know that their actions were born out of love and concern for her.

Patty’s expression was horrified. “Oh, my darlings. You shouldn’t have.”

“It’s all my fault, Mum,” Darren said.

“I’m so sorry,” Patty whispered.

“Oh, Patty, why are you sorry?” Brenna chastised. “Please see what we did for you as a gift to make you feel better. Please.”

“Okay,” Patty said, tears choking her. “Thank you.”

“Um, and there’s another thing, Mum,” Darren said.

“There’s more?” Patty asked. “Oh, Lord, I don’t know how many more surprises I can take tonight,” she said, looking up to the heavens.

Brenna grinned. She knew Patty would be okay.

“I want to introduce you to someone I’m going out with,” Darren said shyly, flushing a little.

Brenna almost laughed out loud. Darren blushing? This new girl must be someone really special.

“You have a girlfriend?” Patty asked with restrained glee. “A real one?”

Darren laughed. “Yes, a real one.”

“Oh, thank God,” Patty said, slumping back in her seat.

Darren’s face went alight, his relief obvious. He looked at Brenna and mouthed ‘thank you’.

She nodded, smiling.

“What about you, Brenna? Are you going out with someone?” Patty queried.

The smile faded from Brenna’s face.

A
sh was in the middle of reviewing a patient file when someone barged into his office. He looked up and his heart skipped, before galloping a thousand beats per minute.
Brenna.

“I know you’re busy, Ash,” she said in a low voice, although the edge in her tone was hard to miss. “I’ll only take a few minutes of your precious time and then I’ll be gone.”

He stared at her, immobilised, except for the broken pieces of his heart that were jumping around madly in his chest, wanting to fly out to attach themselves to her.

“I am so mad at you,” she said, giving him a deadly glare. “I’ve been trying to contact you for the last few days, but you keep on ignoring me. You’re even avoiding your own sister so you can continue keeping your distance.”

He felt himself start to melt just because she was around—as was his tendency. But did she really not know how devastating it was for him to learn she’d gone back to her ‘great love’? He needed to stay away from her to keep his head together. If he didn’t have patients to see, he would even have gone overseas and disappeared for a while. In fact, he was working towards making that possible—

“How could you even think I was back with Darren, Ash?” she whispered furiously, halting the direction of his thoughts. “How could you even think I actually got engaged to him—for
real
?”

His jaw dropped. “But that’s what you told me. When I asked you,” he pointed out, finding his voice for the first time since she’d arrived.

“Everything I was doing with Darren was
pretend
, Ash,” Brenna said, her eyes filling up. “I didn’t see the need to keep on saying that word. I thought it was obvious.”

He stared at her. What was she saying? That she and Darren weren’t really engaged? That it was all part of the pretense?

“I admit I was wrong for keeping the engagement—the
fake
engagement—from you,” she continued. “I’m so sorry about that. But it hurts me so badly that you could even think I was lying when I said I loved you. And how could I be having amazing, incredible sex with you and be engaged to another man? How could you even think that of me? I thought you knew me better than that.” Tears flowed profusely down Brenna’s cheeks.

“Are you saying you and Darren never got back together?” he asked in a daze, his own eyes smarting.

“No! How could I do that, when I love you!” she cried, wiping her face with angry strokes. “Anyway, that’s all I want to say.”

Brenna turned around and left in a huff, leaving him to gape at her in disbelief.

She wasn’t engaged to Darren! And she loved him!

“Bren!” he called, rising from his chair so fast he almost stumbled. He caught up with her by the lifts.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I don’t have any excuse except that it drives me crazy thinking you and Darren are always together, holding hands, perhaps even kissing and... I’ve obviously lost my mind.”

“Obviously,” she muttered, not looking at him.

“For the record, it never occurred to me that you were sleeping with the both of us at the same time. I know you're not like that. What I thought was you were preparing to break up with me.”

The elevator doors opened, and out came a pretty woman wearing a low-cut top.

“Dr. Payne. Hi! I’m ready for my surgery,” the woman said, smiling at Ash and batting her lashes.

Ash mentally rolled his eyes. Just when he was having an important conversation with Brenna, his most flirtatious patient turned up five minutes early. “Thanks, Vivian. Go on in. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

With a sultry smile, Vivian sashayed to the clinic.

“What’s wrong with her?” Brenna asked after Vivian had gone inside. She crossed her arms and glared at the clinic’s front door.

He smiled at the little snark in Brenna’s voice. It made him feel good that she got jealous. “She’s having laser eye surgery today.”

“Well, I suppose you have to attend to her now.”

“Can I see you tonight?”

“No. My parents are back from Africa and I’m spending some time with them.”

“Oh, okay.” He wanted to ask if he could join them, but Brenna hadn’t seen her parents in a long time and she’d probably prefer to be alone with them. “Tomorrow night?”

She shook her head. “I’m with the girls.”

“Friday night?”

“I’m co-managing an expo that will be running from Friday to Sunday. I’ve agreed to do the night shift. It doesn’t close until ten each night. And I have things to do Saturday and Sunday days.”

His heart sank. “When can we talk?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, staring straight at the lift doors, waiting for them to open again.

“Are you too mad to want to talk to me?” he asked, hazarding a guess.

Brenna sniffed. “Partly. But I didn’t deliberately fill up my schedule just so I wouldn’t have to talk to you. I planned those after I tried and tried to contact you but you wouldn’t even return my calls.”

His heart pinched, guilt and regret poking him. He put his arms around her and kissed her hair. But Brenna kept her arms crossed, her stance stiff. He’d hurt her. Badly. And he had a lot of making up to do for his stupidity.