Beautifully Unbroken (26 page)

“I just …. Please, could you just ask him to call me? It’s important that I speak with him.”

“Sure,” I sighed.

“Oh, and Jo? About that night and everything I told you … I—”

“Forget it,” I said, cutting her off. “I have.”

“Well, I am sorry, and I hope that it didn’t cause any bad feelings between the two of you.”

“Goodbye, Christina,” I said before hanging up the phone and placing it back on the bedside table.

Blake emerged from the bathroom and placed his phone into his pocket. “Ready?”

Deciding not to tell him at that moment that Christina had called, and not wanting yet another argument about why she was even calling Blake, I nodded and followed him out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen, where Julia and Marti were preparing dinner.

“Well, you two took your time,” Marti said dryly. “We will have drinks outside later. Dinner is almost ready.” He smiled. “Sit yourselves down,” he said, gesturing to the well-laid-out table.

“Marti, get Jo a glass of wine, will you darling.”

Rolling his eyes, Marti placed the pot roast in the centre of the table and headed to the fridge, from which he pulled a bottle of crisp white wine.

“One thing I can tell you about the Mackenzie men, Jo, is that you need to keep them on a tight leash,” she teased before thanking Marti for his help with a kiss on his cheek.

“I’m beginning to realize that,” I said in a low tone, unsure if anyone had heard me.

Blake’s smile faded as his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

I threw him a quick smile before picking up my glass and taking a large needed gulp of wine. I was wishing now that I had told him about the call. Since leaving the bedroom only a few moments ago, I had allowed myself to imagine all sorts of scenarios. Why would she need to talk to Blake all of a sudden? Was there something going on that I knew nothing about? But surely Blake wouldn’t lie to me? Keep anything from me?
He loves me … I know he loves me … I’m pretty sure that he loves me.

During dinner my stomach continued to knot up at the thought of Blake and Christina. I had allowed the sordid thoughts back into my head, and the longer I sat there, the more and more I convinced myself that something must be going on between them.

“You’re not eating much,” Blake said as he leaned in to whisper against my ear.

“I’m not very hungry,” I replied quietly as I looked down at the food I was pushing around my plate.

“Do you still feel ill?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Nothing,” I replied firmly.

“What are you two lovebirds whispering about over there?” Marti asked.

“Nothing for you to worry about, Dad.” Blake smiled and got back to eating his dinner. His eyes turned to me every now and then, but I didn’t return the glances.

“If something is bothering you, then tell me, please,” he said, leaning into me once more.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

I stiffened when Blake’s hand touched my knee, but he didn’t move it away; instead he kept on watching me, his eyes burning into me. I had got myself into a complete state over one stupid call that was probably innocent.

“So Jo, I can’t believe you’re gonna be in
Perfect Alibi
; that’s fantastic. I don’t know if Blake’s told you, but that is my all-time favourite sitcom,” Marti said excitedly.

“No,” I said, looking up to Marti and trying my best to look happy, “Blake hasn’t told me that; must have slipped his mind.” I threw Blake a quick look before turning my attention back to Marti.

“You should both come along on Friday; both Fridays, in fact. I’ll speak to Marcus about getting you in to watch us record if you like?” I said enthusiastically.

“Well, I would love that,” he replied excitedly. “She is definitely my favourite,” he said to Julia as he pointed his fork in my direction before winking at me.

“Marti!” Julia said as she tapped his arm playfully. “What he meant to say, dear,” she said, turning her attention to me, “is thank you.”

“Yeah, thank you, Jo; I’m looking forward to it already.”

“No problem.” I smiled as I felt Blake squeeze my knee gently with appreciation.

“I’ve got to ask,” Marti said before wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Your mother” – he placed his elbows on the table as he studied me – “is she
the
Diana Summers, the one who was in one of the Carry On movies?”

I nodded and smiled as I swallowed the small bite of food I had managed to eat. “She was in three.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Marti said, sitting back in his seat. “I knew I could see a resemblance. I love those movies.”

“Marti won’t admit it in front of you, dear, but when those films came to the cinemas; he had a massive crush on your mother.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

“She was a real beauty,” he said in defence. “An English rose” – he smiled – “just like our girl Jo, here.”

“Thank you,” I replied shyly.

“Okay, that’s enough embarrassing the guest,” Blake said.

“I’m not embarrassed,” I said, turning to face him. “It’s a compliment. You saw it as a compliment when I was called an English rose on national TV, so why not from your dad?”

Blake eyed me suspiciously for a moment before replying, “I do.” He forced a smile. “I just know that you get embarrassed sometimes; my apologies.” He focused back on his dinner, and conversation began again.

“Is that your phone I can hear, Blake?” the vibrating had started again, and my heart rate picked up once more.

Blake reached into his pocket and checked the screen before putting it back into his pocket.

“Who is it?” I asked calmly.

“Just Alex; I’ll call him back after dinner.”

Like the previous time the phone had rang, it started vibrating again straight after it had cut off. “He’s obviously calling you for a reason,” I said. “Answer it.”

“We’re in the middle of dinner,” he said, moving his eyes between the three of us at the table. “I’ll call him later.”

I sat looking at Blake knowing that, one, that wasn’t Alex calling, it was Christina; and two, he had been lying to me when we had agreed to no more lies and no more secrets.

Blake and I barley spoke for the rest of the meal. Julia went on to tell us the plans for the following day, which was Marti’s birthday. It was forecast to be a red-hot day, so it was decided that we would spend the most part at the beach, where we would meet up with Blake’s sister Jasmine again along with her husband Robert and little Fraser. Then it would be back here for one of Marti’s famous barbecues in the evening. It all sounded lovely, and I tried to feel enthusiastic about it; I just needed to know first what the hell was going on between Blake and Christina.

We were just finishing dessert when Blake’s phone started vibrating again. “I’m gonna have to take it this time,” he sighed before standing and leaving the table. He headed out through the patio doors onto the decking area. He was just out of reach for me to hear the call, so excusing myself, I headed upstairs. I had been standing at the open window just a couple of hours ago, and it was directly above where Blake was now standing.

“What part of ‘Don’t call me over the weekend’ was so hard to understand?” I heard him say. “Jo is already suspicious; she’s been acting weird during dinner and is going to start asking questions if I have to keep lying to her. She knows that something is going on.” My breathing quickened, and a sick feeling filled my body. “Tell her not to call me again, okay? I will call her on Monday when I have left for the airport.”

My mind went into overdrive. Why would he need to call her Monday on his way to the airport? What exactly was going on between them that he couldn’t tell me about? There was only one explanation: he obviously still had something going with her that he just couldn’t seem to let go of.

Nothing made sense: how much he claimed to love me, how he couldn’t go on without me, how much he needed to protect me and prove to me that you can be happy without paying a price. Here he was having secret phone calls with the woman who took his virginity and, according to her, taught him everything he knew, the woman that I couldn’t bear to be around anymore since the night that she took my happiness and ripped it from me.

I couldn’t bear to hear any more. I would see the night out for Julia and Marti’s sake, and then I would confront Blake before I got on a bus or whatever I could manage and went home. I was sick of fighting for happiness, sick of constantly trying to trust someone only to get burnt over and over again, sick of trying to make myself feel happy when inside. I was dying a slow and painful death.

I could hear no more. I turned and headed back downstairs just as Blake re-entered the kitchen. His eyes met mine, and he could see that something was wrong. I refused to cry. I’d cried too many tears as it was lately; I couldn’t do it anymore, so I took a deep breath, plastered on a smile that physically hurt, and walked to the table to help Marti and Julia to clear away.

Blake’s body pressed against my back as I reached for the glasses on the table. “Something is wrong, and you are going to tell me what it is,” he said into my ear. Slipping away from him, I carried the glasses to the kitchen, where Julia was loading the dishwasher. Blake followed closely behind.

“Ah, Blake, now you’re back, you and your father can continue to clear away while I spend some quality time with your lovely girl. It’s time us girls got to know each other, don’t you agree?” she asked with a smile.

I felt relieved at Julia’s offer; getting away from Blake right now was just what I needed. “Definitely,” I replied.

“Come on, I’ve got some lovely albums of Blake to show you.” She winked, and I forced a smile before following her out of the kitchen and through to the sitting room.

I felt Blake’s eyes watching me as we left the room. Was he really so clueless that he had no idea what was wrong with me?

Julia and I had been gone for just ten minutes when Blake appeared in the lounge, concern still etched on his face. Refusing to show any emotion in front of Julia, I kept my eyes firmly on the photo album that she had placed into my lap, which was filled with photos of Blake as a baby – a beautiful baby, in fact. For a moment I allowed my mind to wonder whether our babies would look as beautiful as he did as a baby. That obviously would never happen now I knew he was lying to me about the woman I had now decided that I hated.

Julia didn’t give him a chance to sit down, however; she ordered him and Marti to “go watch some sport or whatever you men enjoy doing.”

I could tell he tried desperately to get my eyes to meet his before he left the room, but I wasn’t going to give him anything, not in front of his parents.

“I’ve never seen him so happy as he is now, dear,” Julia said before polishing off her glass of wine and refilling it. “I hope you don’t mind” – she paused before resting back down on the sofa – “but Blake told me what happened to you,” she said sympathetically.

“Oh,” I replied.

“Blake will look after you now,” she said, patting my thigh as I continued to look at the photos. “He is very protective over you.”

“Do you think I can trust him?” I asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?” she asked defensively.

“I just find it so hard to believe I can finally be happy, you know?” I asked as I closed the book and turned to face Julia. “He’s beautiful, inside and out, and even now I find it hard to believe that we can be happy and have a future. How do I know that he will never do the same to me that Michael did?”

Julia smiled, not knowing the right words to say.

“I suppose you just have to trust him,” she said simply.

“Have you always trusted Marti?”

She thought for a moment before replying, “Not always, no.” She turned to face me. “When he was at his peak in the game, he wasn’t just a sport star; he was quickly turning into a global superstar.”

I nodded. I had been there with Michael.

“He thought he was God.” She snorted. “And like you, our lives were put under the microscope a lot. I couldn’t trust that he wasn’t up to no good when he was away from me. There would be pictures of him and his team players out in clubs, and even though there was nothing sinister about the pictures, I often wondered whether that was the life he would prefer. The children were only young; I felt like a mess. I even had to stop working at the hospital, and I loved that job so much; but because people knew who I was, it was impossible to lead a normal life. He was living his dream, and even though I had everything I’d always dreamed of, I always felt like I was put on the back burner while he swanned around like the God he thought he was. That’s partly why we brought this house. It was our escape, a place that we could just be Julia and Marti, not what the press wanted us to be. In a way I think it saved us.” Her voice had become very quiet as she remembered the good that came from the bad. I felt my eyes fill up with sadness for her, as it was as though she were describing my life, only twenty years before.

“Look at me getting all sentimental.” She wiped her own tears and took a deep breath. “Let’s blame the wine,” she laughed sadly.