CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) (57 page)

I clap my hands to my face. “
No way!
”
I squeak in
delight.

“
Yes way
,”
he laughs
. “
But it won't be for a while, we
’
re adopting from china
.”

I launch myself into his arms again and squeeze
hi
m tight. “
Oh Rob, I'm so glad
you
’
re ok and Carlos, I was so
worried. That must have been so nerve wracking waiting for the results
.”

Rob squeezes me tight.
“
It was
,”
he say
s darkly. “
The
worst week of our lives
,”
he
adds solemnly.

“
Don't you ever do
that t
o me again,”
I scold
. “
I had all sorts of horrible things racing
round my head
.”

“
Sorry, but Carlos
didn
’
t want anyone to know
.”
He tells me.

I sigh heavily.
“
That
’
s
understandable, but you could have just told me anyway. I wouldn
’
t have said anything to anyone!
”

“
I
know…” Rob shakes his head. “Never mind about us, are you ok?”
he asks pushing me back so he can look at me.
“
Look at the state of your eyes woman
!”
I smile back at
him. “
Come on
,”
he says grabbing my hand and leading me outside to the table and
chair
s.

“
No
!”
I say, pulling on his hand
. “
I need to see Tristan. C
an you drive me over to his place?”
I ask. I
have to see him now! He has to know about Susannah.

“
Why?
”
Rob questions seeing the panic in my face.

“
Please
,”
I beg
. “
As soon as I
’
ve
seen him I’
ll come straight over, see you
and Carlos, but I really need to see Tristan
– now!”
I add.

Rob frowns at me then pulls me into him for
a hug. “
You ok?
”
h
e asks, his voice sounding worried.

“
No…
yes…I don’
t know
,”
I croak, feeling anxious about s
eeing
Tristan.

“
Has he hurt you?
”
Rob asks, his voice going deep.

“
No
,”
I pull back from him
.
I really need to see Tristan
. “
Rob,
please can we go?
”
I ask
jigging up and down.

“
Alright, alright
let
’
s go!
”
he says waving his hand in the air.

“
Thank you!
”
I kiss his cheek.
“
I
’m so glad your home.”

“
Me too,
”
Rob
takes hold of
my hand. “
Come on let
’
s get you over to him.
”

On the short drive over, I briefly tell Rob
about Susannah, what’
s gone on and the report I
’
m about to show Tristan.

“
Your fucking ki
dding me?”
he gasps.
“
You think she was in your place?
” I nod my head at him. “
Jesus, you need to
be
really careful Coral,”
he
warns.
“
She sounds like she
’
s really lost it,
”
he adds.

“
I know,
”
I whisper.

Rob pulls up outside the gates and
whistles. “
You
’
ve
certainly fallen on your feet there
kiddo,”
he says.
I sardonically
raise an eyebrow at him. “
And he
’
s gorgeous to boot,
”
he says, teasing me.

“
Rob!
”
I scold.

“
Sorry,
”
he chuckles.
“Good
luck,”
he adds.

I lean forward and we kiss each other. “
Thanks for
the lift,”
I smile weakly at him
.

“
Anytime,
”
he says.

“
Rob,
”
I look up at the house
. “
If t
his goes
wrong…”
I swallow hard.
“
Will you come and get me?
” I squeak.

“
You don
’
t even need to ask
that,”
he says.

“
Ok, good,
”
I say taking a deep breath.

“
Let
’
s go for it doe
s
work,”
he says.

I smile weakly at him and
exit the car. Rob holds his hand up and waves, I wave back as I watch
Rob drive away. Taking a deep breath, I head down the driveway to Tristan’
s house – our house – I can't get used to that.

Using my keys I take another deep breath,
and open the do
or. The moment I step in the house, I
see Tristan running towards me.

“
Baby!
”
He breathes pulling me up and into his
arms, squeezing me tight.

I don't know why I don't hold him back –
maybe I'm subconsciously protecting myself from the onslaught I may receive –
and I'm still feeling sore about earlier.

“
Come, sit down.
What do you need? A drink, something to eat?
”
he
frantically asks as he walks me over to
the sofa.

I shake my head in reply. I seem to have
lost the courage to speak.

“
I'm so sorry about
yo
ur Mother,”
he says solemnly,
sitting next to me on the sofa.

“
I'm sorry too, for
freaking out at you. I shouldn
’
t
have
,”
I say feeling ashamed
that I did.

Tristan smiles tenderly at me, picks up my
hand and kisses it.
“
You don't
need to apologise baby
,”
h
e says. “
And I'm sorry about earlier
,”
he adds.

I stare down at
our
entwined fingers. “
Why did you act like that?
”
I whisper.

Tristan shakes his head he looks mortified.
“
I was angry you hadn
’
t told me
…that I had to hear it from Joyce,”
he says shaking his head. I keep my gaze on
our fingers. “
I can't be seen to be taking sides
,”
he reiterates.

“
But it was just me
and Joyce, you could have given me the benefit of the doubt
,”
I squeak.

“
I know, I was
wrong, and again I'm sorry. You
’
re not really going to q
uit are you?”
he asks.

“
Well yeah..
.you...you’
ve given my job to
her
,”
I say.

Tristan shakes his head at me, his lips
twitching with a smile. “
No, I haven
’
t
,”
he tells me.

“
But you
’ –“
No you said it, not me. I just didn
’
t tell you
, that’
s all
,” he interrupts.

“
But that doesn
’
t make any sense, why would you do that?
”
I ask in astonishment.

“
I needed to see
your reaction when I told you about the complaint
.”
I frown
back at him. “Please say you’
ll stay in the company
.”

I shake my head at h
im, I’
ve quit, made my decision. I
n a way, I think what happened today made me realise I won't like
it, that it won't be the same without Joyce.

“
Can you forgive
me?
”
he asks with puppy dog
eyes
. “Because I don't quite know how to live without
you,”
he
says melting my heart
all over again.

“
Of course I
forgive you
,”
I tell him
. He leans down to kiss me, but I push him back with my hand. “
I need to know Tristan
…do you believe I
threatened Susannah?”
I swallow hard, waiting for his
answer.

“
No
,”
he says after an eternity.

“
Then why didn
’
t you say that earlier
?”
I question.

“
Why didn
’
t you tell me she upset Joe?
”
he asks ignoring my question.

“
Joyce told me not
to get involved
,”
I repeat.
This is getting us nowhere!

“
Look Tristan,
there
’
s something I need to
tell you. I don'
t think you’
re
going to like it, so I'm going to ask you to wait
until
I'm finished before you judge me,”
I say scrutinizing
his reaction.

His cheeks flush and his pupils dilate with
worry. “
Ok
,”
he murmurs looking down at our hands.

“
Ok
,”
I breathe.
You
can do this!
“
Firstly, I
need you to keep an open mind. Can you do that for me?
”
I ask hesitantly.

“
Anything for you
,”
he tells me.
Ok,
here goes!

With shaking hands, I reach into my bag,
open the envelope and pull out Susannah’
s report.
“
Here
,”
I place it
in his hands.

“
What
’
s this?
”
he asks, his eyes going darker.

“
Just, read it
,”
I say my heart in my mouth.

I watch Tristan open the pages and start
reading, then he stops, his eyes shoot up to meet mine. “
This is a report on Susannah
,”
he says frowning dee
ply.

“
Yes
,”
I whisper.

“
Why do you have
this Coral?
”
he questions.

“
Just…please read
through it. You can
ask me whatever you want when you’
ve finished.
”

Clenching his jaw several times, he carries
on reading it. “Her husband died?” He whispers. I say nothing. I keep watching
as he turns over to the next page,
the medical history
one, and continues to read, he looks horrified
–
Good,
maybe he won’
t think
she’
s all holy and great
anymore.

“
Jesus
,”
he whispers
running his hand through his hair. He stops reading and looks up at me. “
She lost her husband
and
her baby?”
he says.