CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) (41 page)

“
Oh believe me
Tristan, they already do
,”
I
blurt
laughing as I do. He cocks his head to the side,
quizzically.
Ok, explanation needed!

“
Debs thinks you
’
re hot, and Gla
dys
thinks the sun shines out of your backside, so believe me baby,
you
have
nothing to worry about,”
I say.

His face bursts into his cheeky school boy
smile – Then I think about Tristan’
s proposal.
Fuck, he doesn’
t know I haven
’
t told anyone!

“
Tristan, th
ey don't know you proposed to me,”
I whisper,
feeling bad for not wanting to tell everyone.
“
I just thought..
.it’
s you know, a little early and I don't want....
”
I break off, feeling stupid!

“
It
’
s alright Coral, it
’
ll be our little secret
,”
he s
ays winking at me. My heart raps
against my chest and my stomach blooms with that strange soulful feeling.

“
Thanks
,”
I whisper in relief.
Leaning down Tristan takes my face in his hands, and kisses me so
softly I feel my legs wobble in response.

“
W
ay hey!”
I hear Debs shout from behind me.
Crap!

I pull back in surprise and embarrassment,
as Tristan starts laughing, evidently he doesn’t care that we just got caught
kissing. I turn and glare at Debs as she struts her stuff across the road, her
hands full of games for the children.

I double take when I see she’
s wearing a
skin tight beach dress, it
doesn’
t leave much to the imagination,
at least she’
s wearing a bikini underneath
it.
I grit my teeth feeling slightly jealous. Debs has
always known how to flaunt her body in the right way. She looks very tall, slim
and tanned; I guess she’
s been making the most of the
good weather!

“
Debs!
”
I snap, scolding her for embarrassing me.
She stops in front of us, completely ignores me and smiles up at Tristan,
batting her eyelashes a
t him.
Oh god, this day is
going to be hellish!

“
Well hi there
handsome
,”
she says blatantly
flirting with him.

Tr
istan chuckles at
her. “
Hi Debbie, nice to see you again
,”
he says leaning down to kiss her
cheek.

“
Ooh, don
’
t you smell nice,
”
she says, her cheeks flushing.
Oh god!
I
can just imagine what fantasy is bobbing around that head of hers!

“
Can I hel
p?”
Tristan asks politely
, ignoring her flirting.

“
Well sure you can
handsome!
”
Debs winks at
Tristan,
and starts to pile all of the games in Tristan’
s open arms, then
she flicks her long blonde
hair and smiles up at him.

“
Debs!
”
I scold.
This is beyond embarrassing!

“What?”
She turns
and titters at me. I narrow my eyes at her. I swear there’
s smoke coming out of my ears, a
nd I have a
whole day of this to look forward to!

“
Come on Tristan,
let
’
s introduce you to
everybody
,”
she says, manhandling
him down the garden path.
As he reaches the steps to
the front door, he turns to me – I think it’
s going to
be in desperation – but when our eyes meet, he winks at me then smiles his
cheeky grin.

I chuckle at him and shake my head. Debs
leads him up the steps, and through the open front door. Walking forward, I
feel myself relax a little; at least Tristan is taking all this in good
humour
. As I step inside the hall, I can hear Debs introducing Tristan to
all the people in the kitchen –
As my boyfriend!
– He sounds happy,
animated.

As I continue down the hallway, it suddenly
dawns on me, maybe there’s a reason why he’s taking this all so well. Tristan
doesn’
t ha
ve this anymore, no
folks to introduce me to and no other family. I finally realise how lonely he
must have been since his folks died, I try to imagine what it must have felt
like to be him, being totally alone in the world. It makes me question what it’
s
going to feel like when my family move
away.

“
Darling!
”
I look up and see Gladys gliding towards
me –
What is she wearing?

“
Hi
,”
I squeak as she reaches me, squeezing all
the air out of my lungs.
“
You
look nice
,”
I say
questioningly.

“
Oh! Do you think
so?
Malcolm bought it for me,”
she says twirling round. I think Malcolm may have bought a size too small!
What is this wear next to nothing day?

“
Um...yeah it
’
s...
it’
s a lovely colour
,”
I say gazing at her breasts that are nearly popping out of the lemon halt
er-neck-see-though-dress that just about covers her backside –
Thank
god she has a costume on underneath it!

Gladys giggles in delight. “
Tristan looks nice
,”
she says linking her arm in mine.

“
Yeah he does
,”
I agree, picturing him in his
cream t-shirt, his navy blue combat shorts and flip-flops –
Very casual,
very summery, and very sexy!

“
So how are you two
getting along?
”
I smile shyly
at her
–
Why do I feel so awkward talking about it?

“Gladys, you know he’
s not
’ –“
Just a
friend
?”
she interrupts.
“
Da
rling I knew from
the moment he took you home after Lily’
s party
,”
she says, waving
her hand in the air.

I gape at her –
I didn’
t even know we
’
d be together back then.

“
Some things are
transparent
,”
she
whispers smiling knowingly at me. My mouth pops open in shock. I
don't know what Malcolm’
s doing to Gladys, but she
’
s really changing, she never would have
said something like that to me before.

“
Soul
Mates,”
I whisper.
Gladys
gasps and turns to me with wide eyes. I quickly bring my finger to my lips. “
Shhh
, don't say anything,”
I plead.

Her eyes fill with unshed tears then she
unexpectedly pulls me into her chest, her bosoms suffocating me again –
Oh god!

“
Darling!
”
she chokes. I try to
say something but it just comes out all muffled. “
What
was that?”
she
asks.

I pull back from her. “
I said
…it’
s early
days
,”
I whisper
. “
So please don
’
t make a big deal out of it
,”
I
beg. Gladys pouts at me then resigns when
she sees the look on my face.

“
Alright, alright
, I won't ask when you’
re tying the knot!
”
she
teases. I go
to argue but she continues before I can. “
Now come along
d
arling, lots of new people to meet,”
she says as she walks down the hallway.

I take a deep breath and follow he
r through the kitchen door...

TRISTAN HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED FROM ME
. Everyone wants to speak to him, so I make myself useful by helping
Malcolm in the kitchen. He’
s wearing his funny apron
again – I should rephrase
– he’
s
only wearing his funny apron and a very scanty pair of
white
swimming trunks. I don't really think it’
s ideal for
barbecuing!

As I watch Tristan entertaining Lily from
the kitchen window my heart pangs with sorrow, he’
d
have made such a good Dad.
Brushing the thought away, I
look around the garden at all the other people I’
ve got
to meet today.

Malcolm
’
s identical twin daughters
are lovely, but
it’
s hard to tell which one you
’
re talking too, but I know that Ellie is a beautician who is married
to Darren and they have identical twins Matthew and Martin, and Erin is a
Graphic Designer who is married to Ed and they have twins Aimee a
nd Katie. I know that they both married their Uni sweethearts and
got pregnant at the same time, and that their kids are eight years old. They all
seem really close which is nice, and Malcolm seems to adore his girls, as a
father should – I halt that line of thinking, I don’t want to get emotional
today.

Looking out the window again, I see Lily
take Matthew’
s hand and lead him into the paddl
ing pool that’
s been erected for the
occasion.
Scott, Darren and Ed are chatting animatedly
about football, personally I can't stand the game, but each to their own, I’
m so glad Tristan doesn
’
t like it though
; he’
d go to a lot
of games on his own if he did.

Tristan is sat next to Joyce, chatting freely
with her. I think she has mind reading powers because just as I think that she
looks up, catching me staring at them both. Joyce smiles teasingly at me, and
waves. Feeling embarrassed, I smile and wave back, and as I do, I see Tristan
chuckle to himself, no doubt at me.

Erin, Ellie, Gladys and Debs have done
nothing but sip cocktails, and lie on the sun loungers for the last hour. No
wonder Gladys and Debs weren’
t wearing much,
I can't help giggling aloud; I think Spain is going to suit them.

“
Share the joke!
”
Malcolm booms making me jump – I
’
d forgotten he was there!

“
Nothing
…”
I chuckle
. “
Just...
”
I turn and
look up at him
. “
I'm really
happy you met Gladys
,”
I tell
him
. “
She seems like a
different woman. Like she
’
s
…she just seems so happy, so thank you Malcolm for making her that
way.”
I smile up at him, his bright blue eyes s
mile back at me.

“
She makes me very
happy too
,”
he says, smiling
broadly.
“
Ready with the salad?
”
he adds.

“
Yep, all done
,”
I answer.

“
Good. Let
’
s get cooking!
”
He says. I giggle as I follow Malcolm outside; h
e’
s so funny and likeable. I feel that
melancholy feeli
ng try to wash over me again; he really
would have made a great Dad…

An hour later and we are all tucking into
Malcolm’
s delicious meal. There
’
s marinated steaks, sausages, burgers, chili salmon, king prawns
, and an array of barbequed vegetables.
I'm in my element! –
I
am sitting next to Tristan who’
s tucking into a steak.