Let Me Love You (Australian Sports Star Series Book 2) (5 page)

“Who?”

“Your girl.”

Oliver stopped and glared at his friend. “Will you give it a rest?”

Tyson opened the door for his friend as he grabbed his phone. “Mark. See you at Oliver’s in a little while. He’s fucked up his knee. I’d say he needs some distraction.”

Oliver didn’t hear Markus’ answer, but appreciated Ty’s gesture.

“And bring along Grandma Hazel. Tell her she’s got a patient to look after.”

Oliver stopped in his tracks. “You’re a bastard.”

Tyson grinned.

Grandma Hazel was Ty’s grandma, and a lovely person. He and his friends had spent a lot of time at her place as kids, enjoying her delicious cakes or dinners. And still did.

But having her babysit him? No way would he survive having her around for twenty-four hours, seven days a week. He’d have to come up with some kind of excuse.

***

Tamara was cursing all the way back to the stadium and into the office. How could she have let herself go like that? Why had she been so tense knowing it was a simple knee problem and not life threatening? Throwing herself into her office chair, she groaned. She rubbed her neck and grimaced at the thought of her behaviour at the hospital. Even now, her cheeks heated with embarrassment. As exhaustion took hold of her, she wasn’t able to hold back the tears and walked over to the desk for tissues to blow her nose.

“Hey there.”

She startled.

Erik came closer to pull her into a hug. “Are you all right?”

Shaking her head, she sobbed into his chest, “Going to the hospital wasn’t a good idea.”

“Sorry, Tammy. I should’ve thought about that, but I think the frustration of it all took over and I thought he’d be in good hands with you. Asking one of the girls in the office to accompany him would’ve possibly resulted in the news being spread all over the Internet within minutes. I need to keep this at a
need-to-know
basis, so the rest of the team can focus on the games ahead.” He hesitated and then added, “Without neglecting Oliver, that is.”

Tamara put some distance between them. “It’s okay. I thought I’d be fine, but obviously—” She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to, her tears said it all.

Erik nodded. “I just called him. He said you seemed a bit out of sorts. He asked me to assure you that everything is all right. With the knee anyway.”

She looked up at him.

Erik shrugged.

With a frown, she asked, “What?”

“The baseball career seems to be over, though. We need to see how the surgery goes.”

With a big sigh, she sat down on her chair. She hadn’t known Oliver long, but she knew how hard the guys on the team trained towards a career in this sport. The season was nearly over, yet for the first time they were doing fine, in part thanks to Oliver. Spirits were high. They didn’t need a setback like this.

“How will he take it?”

Erik shrugged again. “It won’t go down well, but Oliver is not one to give up easily.”

She could only imagine.

Two hours later, Tamara sat in the car, driving through Melbourne’s streets to the address she’d found in the office files half an hour earlier. Fortunately, it wasn’t far away, and within minutes, she found herself in front of Oliver’s house. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking of him, and the idea that baseball might be over for him. It had to hit him hard. What she’d understood from her uncle was that baseball was his life, even if he hadn’t chosen a career overseas. It was still in his heart and soul. She didn’t know him, but she hadn’t been able to suppress the urge to see him, to make sure he was all right.

Tamara stared at the small house and was surprised to find something so suburban. The house looked more like a cottage with an English garden in the front. Wild, but looked after. She couldn’t picture him down on his knees, digging for weeds or planting seeds, and assumed someone else helped him out. There were two small trees in the back corner next to a little path that led behind the house and to the garage. She hoped he was home. Carefully, she lifted the latch of the front gate to step through. A small wooden sign hung loosely next to the door ‘Enter at your own risk’. She shook her head and smiled.

Tamara gently knocked at the door. Her heart was doing somersaults but she wasn’t sure why. All she wanted to do was make sure he was all right and to explain her behaviour earlier that day. Explain what had happened to Jason. As she heard someone approaching the door, she moved a step away from the door.

The person who opened the door, however, wasn’t Oliver. She should’ve known. The steps should’ve told her someone else was with him. Of course, someone else was there to care for him, but not this good looking woman.

She swallowed and tried to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Did Oliver have a girlfriend? Of course, he would’ve. He was gorgeous, sexy, charming and—

“Hi,” the woman said as she tugged her wavy hair behind her ear. “Can I help you?”

Tamara took another step back. “I’m…I—” Damn, why was this so hard? “My name is Tamara. I work for Oliver’s baseball club and I’m really just here to—”

But she wasn’t able to finish the sentence. The woman waved her in. “Come on in. Oliver told us about you.”

Surprised, Tamara followed the woman inside and closed the door behind her. The sound of voices came from the end of the house. Suddenly, her mind was packed with doubt. Was she supposed to be here?

The woman looked over her shoulder as she walked down the hall. “By the way, I’m Sarah. Oliver’s friend from way back.”

“Nice meeting you, Sarah.”

She tried hard not to let her relief show through in her words, although she wasn’t sure why.

They walked into the back room, which Tamara assumed was Oliver’s lounge room. There he was in the middle of the whole group, sitting on the sofa, with his leg up on a few cushions. He just stared at her as if to say, ‘what are you doing here?’ She knew that look. It was the same as earlier that day in the hospital.

There was a voice behind her. “Nice meeting you, darlin’.”

Tamara turned, only to look into the eyes of an old lady. The lines of her face told the story of a long life and her eyes expressed kindness and love. Tamara assumed her to be in her late sixties or early seventies, wearing her hair up in an old-fashioned bun, in stark contrast to her bright makeup and lipstick.

“Hello, dear. I’m Hazel. I’m Tyson’s grandmother, but I have been looking after the boys and Sarah since they were children. Oliver told me you’d be looking after him for the next two weeks.”

Tamara’s head shot around to look at Oliver, but he avoided her gaze, the little weasel. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the guy she’d met a few weeks ago, when she’d run into Oliver at the beach in St. Kilda. He sported a big grin on his face, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Hi, I’m Ty.” The third guy came closer, holding out his hand.

She took it and tried her hardest to smile. “Nice meeting you.”

“Grandma Hazel wanted to move in for the next few weeks to look after Oliver, but he explained that you were kind enough to help out.”

She gave a slow nod, trying to meet Oliver’s eyes, but he still stared at the ceiling. “Y-yes, right,” she stuttered.

“Anyway, I’ve gotta run and pick up Katie.” He turned and gave Oliver a casual wave before he placed his hand on his grandmother’s shoulder. “C’mon, Grandma. He’s in good hands.”

“Thank you, dear,” Hazel said to Tamara. “That suits me quite fine. But I will get Ty to drop off a few meals over the next few days to help you a bit and to check all’s right.”

Again, Tamara nodded. “Thanks,” she said. “I appreciate your help.”

Sarah stood. “Let’s hit the road, Marky. You promised you’d drop me off before seven.”

Markus stood as well, gave Oliver a high-five, and came towards her. “Nice meeting you again.” And with the biggest grin, he added. “Ahh, yes. And thanks for looking after him.”

Tamara watched as one by one, they left the room. When she heard the front door close, she stood, hand on hips, in front of Oliver. She wasn’t even sure where to start with all her questions. Everything inside her screamed at her to leave as well. Was it worth finding out what had just happened?

She took a deep breath and asked, “Ever had an out-of-body experience?”

He finally looked up to meet her gaze, but didn’t say a thing. She nearly lost it, she was so mad. Looking around, she shrugged out of her jacket and sat down in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” he said after what seemed a long moment.

She sighed. “Right.”

“Look, Hazel is a wonderful person, but having her here for two weeks would’ve killed me. I certainly didn’t expect you to come, did I? So I made up the story.”

Was he serious? Out of all the people he knew, he came up with the crazy idea that she’d help him.

She bit her bottom lip to think about the situation she was in all of a sudden. “What about your family?”

Oliver closed his eyes and leaned his head back, like talking into the void. “Mum’s in a wheelchair and they live up in the Dandenongs. My sister has two little kids.”

There was another moment of silence until he opened his eyes again and met her gaze. They both stared at each other for a minute or two.

“So who is looking after you?” she asked as she leaned back into the chair.

“I can look after myself,” he replied, stubbornness screaming out of every single word.

“Yes, right.”

He stood, grabbed his crutches, and left the room. Tamara looked around and took in the room as well as the view into the backyard. It was the complete opposite of her house. Oliver’s house radiated warmth and a charming cosiness that had
home
written all over it. The furniture as well as the walls were in natural colours, the carpet a beautiful cream, and in the far corner was an open fire.

Through the partially closed white shutters, she saw the nicely established garden with a large paved area leading towards a shed and a barbeque area.

She was impressed.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” he shouted from down the hall.

Snapped back from her thoughts, she turned towards the hallway. Yes, what was she doing here?

The idea that she was looking after him had thrown her so much, she had to dig a bit deeper to remember the initial reason she came here. Had she really wanted to open up to him? She clenched her mouth as irritability took over.

***

Oliver took a glass of water and swallowed two of the pain reliever pills. His knee hurt like a bitch, and he had no idea how he’d cope the next few days. The idea of driving up to his parents’ seemed to be more and more appealing to him. Who would’ve thought that a simple wrong step could cause so much trouble and pain?

He raked his hand through his hair before heading back into the lounge room. He collapsed onto the sofa and relished having his arms away from the crutches. Tamara helped him put his leg up on the cushions again.

He looked up at her. “Thanks,” he said. “Anyway, you haven’t answered me, yet.”

He watched her step back to the chair and sit down. She met his gaze with a small smile. With a deep sigh, she leaned back and turned to look out of the window.

“My husband died last year in hospital,” she finally said, barely audible. “We got robbed. Coming home earlier than planned, we ran right into them.”

Oliver studied her face closely. Erik had already told him about her husband’s death, but he was still unsure why she was so apprehensive when he was around. Not to mention her behaviour in the hospital. He stared at her, soaking up every word she fed him. His body was relaxed from the pain killers, yet his chest was tight from the thought of her loss.

“They beat up Jason, and he never regained consciousness after that.” She paused to look at him. “It was silly what I said today, and I apologise. I overreacted.”

Oliver was quiet for a moment, trying to absorb her words. He struggled to figure out how to respond. A plethora of feelings bombarded him, all fighting for his attention—disbelief, confusion, hurt, but above all, anger against the people that had not only invaded her life, but so cruelly changed it for good.

Her gaze turned away from him, and she stared into the distance. His heart was heavy at the thought of how much she must have suffered over the last twelve months.

He cursed his handicap and would have given anything to just take her into his arms to make her feel safe. Even if it was just for a moment. Her gaze darted back to him, her green eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, feeling stupid for not being able to say something more substantial.

Tamara lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. “It’s okay.” With another heavy sigh, she stood and added, “Well, I suppose it’s eating humble pie for you and call the nice lady from before.” She leaned forward to get her purse. “Because I won’t be looking after you for the next few weeks.”

Ignoring the pain in his leg, he made a dash forward to grab her wrist. Gently, he pulled her next to him. His mouth inches from her ear, he murmured, "Believe me, if I knew how, I’d make your pain go away.”