Mistletoe Not Required (16 page)

‘I promised not to tell,’ she said, ‘but have you wondered why Livvie’s so driven? Why everything’s got to be done yesterday? How she can study, work, run a charity and plan a retreat?

‘Why she’d push you away when her eyes tell you something entirely different?’

And in his mind’s eye he saw her New Year’s Day when they’d made love on the dining table in the hotel. Radiating such a vibrant energy it was
as if she was trying to live an entire life in those few crazy moments.

He had his answer.

And the bottom plunged out of his world. ‘She’s dying.’

‘No.’

Breanna smiled but her eyes were different and he knew he had part of it right. ‘Then I don’t get it. Her mother, her family history...’

‘Go back. Make her talk to you.’

* * *

Olivia didn’t hear him come in, didn’t see him until he sat down on the floor beside her and a half-empty box of tissues. ‘Olivia.’

His voice—calm seas. But she got a glimpse of dark, stormy ocean in his eyes before she looked down at her hands twisting in his jumper. ‘How did you get in?’

‘Breanna gave me her key.’

She swiped at her wet cheeks. ‘She told you. She promised—’

‘She didn’t tell me,’ he said quietly. ‘She gave me her key so
you
could tell me.’

She closed her eyes. ‘Why have you come back?’

‘Some treasures are worth sticking around for—so are some troubles. And sometimes they’re one and the same.’

‘Not this trouble.’

‘Let me make my own decisions about the kind of trouble I want to get involved in. And it
is
my concern, whether you like it or not. Because I love you. I’ll always love you. Whatever happens.’

Tears filled her eyes and spilled over in her heart. ‘You shouldn’t.’

He shifted closer, so that their shoulders touched. ‘Just answer me this. Do you love me back?’

She could no longer deny her heart. ‘I do. I love you.’ She sighed, drained to the bottom of her soul. ‘But it doesn’t matter.’

‘You’re wrong. It matters. Look at me.’ Tucking a finger beneath her chin, he turned her towards him so she could see the truth in his eyes. He brushed her hair off her face and said, ‘It matters more than my next breath. You’ve trusted me before—do you still trust me?’

‘Yes...but this is dif—’

He pressed a finger to her lips. ‘No buts. I promise I’ll still be here in the morning. And next week. Next year. For however long you love me.’

‘I’ll always love you, Jett. But I don’t know how long that “always” might be.’ She turned away. ‘I’m not a long term kind of girl.’

‘You’re
my
kind of girl. Who knows how long any of us have? We could be swept away in a flood tomorrow. Talk to me, sweetheart.’

‘I’m waiting on some test results.’

‘And...?’

‘And...the women in my family all carried the same gene mutation. The test will show whether I do too.’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m scared.’

‘It’s okay to be scared.’ He wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her in a comforting blanket of warmth and security. ‘I’m scared too. But we’re going to deal with it together. You’re tough, resilient, formidable even. We’ll get through this even though you tried to spare me and make a difference to others facing the same illness. Which also makes you the most unselfish person I’ve ever met.’

She shook her head. ‘Not so unselfish. I’ve crammed my life with work and fundraising as a distraction as much as anything else.’

‘You could have distracted yourself in plenty of other, more self-satisfying ways.’

‘I did. That’s why I messed around with you.’

‘A very good decision.’

His arms tightened and she leaned against his chest and said, ‘When I knew I was falling for you...’ she took a stuttering breath ‘...I tried to keep it casual. I pushed you away because maybe you’d meet someone who wanted long term, with...kids and everything.’

‘Who are you to make that decision for me? I deserve to make that choice myself. I thought we agreed on making our own choices a while ago.’

‘I guess I didn’t see it clearly in this instance.’

‘What are the chances of a positive result?’ he murmured into her hair.

‘High.’

He kissed the side of her face. ‘Better to know the worst now than to have it nagging at the back of our minds. Whichever way it goes, we can make plans. Together.’

‘But what about kids? Family?’

‘Without you? Not a chance.’

He was risking his own happiness, his shot at a family. He’d stay with her for however long or short that might be. Relief and happiness were washing over her like waves. ‘I didn’t realise how much I needed you until you walked away.’

‘No one’s ever needed me before. Do you know how that feels?’

‘Wonderful. Special. Amazing. Because now I know you need me too. I was wrong to deny you that chance.’

‘So get it into your head, I’m with you all the way. But I’m confident it’s going to be good news.’

‘Good news. But if it’s not, there are important decisions to make, like whether to have surgery or—’

‘Not now.’ He stopped her with a finger to her lips.

‘If you’d gone...’

‘I wasn’t going anywhere without answers. I don’t give up that easily. But when I realised what was going on I didn’t know the best way to get through to you. Lucky I have Breanna.’

She wrapped her fingers around his and squeezed. ‘Lucky. Families are the best.’

* * *

‘Satellite number two, right on time, skipper.’ Jett pointed to the night sky a couple of weeks later. They’d taken
Chasing Dawn
out for a short sail while the weather was calm, and were lying side by side on the deck and watching the stars. Only their fingers touched and for Jett it was the most spiritual feeling he’d ever known. The two of them alone beneath the wonders of the universe.

‘Well spotted.’ His stargazer, satellite-spotter sailor lover tapped the back of his hand with a fingernail.

‘I read up on how to interpret the test results,’ he said, still tracking the satellite’s slow steady arc across the sky. ‘If your results are negative for a known family mutation, your risk of developing cancer is no greater than mine. It’s called a true negative.’ He turned his head to look at her. ‘But I guess you already know that.’

‘Yes.’ She turned her head on the wooden deck and looked back at him, her eyes reflecting the star sparkle. ‘We just have to wait.’

‘There’s something I don’t want to wait for,’ he said, and raised himself up on one elbow. She looked so beautiful lying there, bathed in starlight, his pink snowflake charm winking at her throat. ‘This is as good a place as any to ask you to marry me.’

Her eyes went round and wide. ‘Marry you? But don’t you want to wait until—?’

‘Not another word.’ His eyes narrowed.

‘I only meant until the moon rises.’ She cast her gaze to the growing shimmery glow on the eastern horizon, then smiled back at him. ‘In ten minutes, give or take.’

‘Okay.’ He relaxed again and rolled towards her. ‘I guess I can find something to do for ten minutes. Give or take.’

‘Are you planning on getting
nautical
with me, Chef Davies?’ she said, reaching for his belt.

‘With a dash of piratical flavour,’ he promised.

‘Marriage...’ Olivia tried out the word a short time later, feeling incredibly lazy and loose and loved, as they watched the first sliver of moon rise over the rugged coastline.

‘Commitment. Now. No matter what happens we’re in this together. And to prove it...’

He slid a ring onto the third finger of her left hand. A snowflake mounted on a rose-gold band to match the one around her neck. ‘Oh, my. Pink diamonds. Again.’ She grinned at him and caressed it with her other hand. ‘It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. And it matches my necklace.’

‘I doubt it’s practical for everyday use but when I had the other one made, I decided I wanted this too.’

Laughing, she threw her arms around his neck. ‘I love impractical. And I love you... Hang on—’ Pulling back, she watched his expression while she replayed his words in her head. ‘You had it made
when
exactly?’

He didn’t reply but his trade-mark cocky grin spread over his face.

She grinned back. ‘I do love a confident man.’

EPILOGUE

‘Brie’s late. I
don’t know why we didn’t pick her up on the way.’ Olivia tapped her fingers on the snowy cloth in one of Hobart’s premier restaurants. Which drew her attention to her engagement ring glittering like a million dollars. She couldn’t keep the grin from her lips. She’d spent a lot of time gazing at her left hand over the past couple of weeks, reminding herself that no matter what the future held, she’d not be alone.

That if the going got tough, Jett wasn’t going anywhere.

Even though it made no difference to their plans, she and Jett had kept their upcoming nuptials a secret until Olivia had her test results in her hot little hand. Today’s negative result meant she was no more at risk of cancer than anyone else in the community. And she couldn’t wait to tell her best friend and future sister-in-law.

‘Relax.’ Jett poured chilled champagne into two glasses. ‘Breanna’s not famous for her time-keeping skills. She was meeting someone first.’ His lips twitched. ‘She texted me they were having car problems.’

‘Oh?
Oh...
’ Olivia nodded. That said it all.

She spotted Brie making her way between the tables a couple of glasses of wine and an entrée later.

‘What are we celebrating?’ Brie wasted no time asking as she sat down and took the glass Jett held out to her. ‘We did the engagement, so it has to be something else.’

‘Two things, actually.’ Olivia clasped her hands together in front of her mouth, unable to contain her joy a second more. ‘I got my test results today. And it’s negative.’

‘Oh, Livvie!’ Brie jumped up and came around the table to hug her. ‘I’m so, so happy for you. For both of you.’ She moved on to Jett and hugged him too. Finally, she leaned back, her gaze flitting between the pair of them. ‘You said two things.’

Jett looked at Olivia and all the love and promises and future shone in his eyes. ‘We’re getting married in a week.’

‘A week?’ Brie squealed. ‘My brother the fast worker.’

Olivia laughed. ‘We want to be a family. And, my wonderful sister-in-law-to-be, that includes you. The ceremony’s going to be on
Chasing Dawn
at sunset on Sunday and we want you and a friend to be our witnesses.’

‘So romantic.’ Brie nodded, a playful smile around her mouth. ‘Count me in. Oh, wait up.’ She whipped out her phone and began snapping photos. ‘I want memories for that album of yours, starting now.’

Olivia met Jett’s persuasive chocolate eyes and, as always, felt herself surrendering to his wicked sense of fun, to his easy friendship. To his love. And she knew they’d make a long and happy lifetime of memories. ‘I think it’s time we posed for a kissy photo to put on the front cover.’

Jett smiled and leaned down, stroking a strand of hair behind her ear and cradling her chin in his cupped palm. ‘I reckon it is.’

* * * * *

Keeping reading for an excerpt from
WHAT THE BRIDE DIDN’T KNOW
by Kelly Hunter.

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PROLOGUE

Seventeen-year-old Lena West
didn’t understand the question. It had
something to do with Euler’s formula and complex
z
but, beyond that, Lena had no clue. Groaning, she dropped her pen on top of her
grid paper and put her palms to her eyes so that she couldn’t see the sweep of
ocean beyond the screen door. Summer and school work never mixed well. Not when
there was a beach a few metres from the house and a swell that had seen her
older brother take to the water the minute they’d arrived home from school.

It wasn’t fair that Jared could do his maths homework in his
head. It didn’t help that her two
younger
siblings
were bona-fide geniuses—one evil and one not—and could have answered question
six in under ten seconds. Fourteen-year-old Poppy—who was not evil—would have
helped her had she been around, but Poppy had been seconded to the University of
Queensland’s mathematical think tank and spent most of her time in Brisbane
these days. Thirteen-year-old Damon wasn’t around to ask either. He was pulling
yet another after-school detention—his theory being that if he was unruly enough
and sneaky enough, he might just manage to avoid the land of secret-squirrel
think thanks altogether. Lena applauded Damon’s initiative, even if she didn’t
like his chances.

When you were that bright, people noticed.

Not that Lena had anything to worry about there.

Sighing, Lena opened her eyes and picked up her pen. Question
six. There it was. Mocking her. One simple little question that everybody else
in her freaky family could do in their sleep.

‘Moron,’ she grumbled.

‘Who is?’ said a deliciously deep voice from behind her and
Lena nearly slipped her skin because she hadn’t heard anyone come in. She knew
the voice though, and her scowl deepened as she turned to glare at Adrian
Sinclair, their neighbour from two doors down and Jared’s best friend since
kindergarten. ‘Don’t you
knock?
’ she asked grumpily
and knew it for a stupid question even as it left her mouth. Adrian didn’t have
to knock—he practically lived here.

‘Didn’t want to interrupt your thought flow.’

‘And yet, you did.’

Adrian’s grin kicked sideways. ‘You said “moron”. I thought you
were talking to me.’

‘Moron.’

‘See what I mean?’

Hard not to smile right along with Adrian’s laughing brown
eyes. ‘Smiling crooked will get you nowhere.’

‘That’s not always true. Jared around?’

‘Out there.’ Lena nodded towards the Pacific. It was still
blue. It still beckoned. Jared was heading out of the water, board in hand. ‘Why
aren’t you out there with him?’

‘Thinking about it,’ said Adrian. ‘Why aren’t you?’

‘I have a maths test tomorrow.’ Lena eyed him speculatively.
Adrian had chosen the same school subjects that Jared had. Same subjects she’d
chosen, give or take a language or two. He and Jared were a year ahead of her in
school. ‘What do you know about Euler’s formula and complex planes?’

Adrian moved closer, edging in over her shoulder. ‘Which
question’s giving you trouble?’

‘Six.’

‘The bonus question? You know you can always leave it?’

‘How about we pretend that’s not an option?’ It wasn’t. Not in
this household.

‘All right.’ Adrian reached for her textbook and started
flipping through it as if he actually knew what he was looking for. Long wrists.
Big hands like paddles. Thick, strong fingers with callouses that came of hours
spent kite surfing. Lena had the insane urge to put her palm against his and
take measure, note down exactly how warm and big and rough those hands of his
were...

And then the textbook thunked down on the table beside her, and
Adrian’s chest brushed her shoulder as he pointed to a particular section of
text, and...
damn
but it was getting hot in here.

‘You want a chair?’ she asked, the better to put some breathing
distance between them.

‘Been sitting all day. ’M good.’

Lena shifted restlessly and got a nose full of Adrian’s
body-scent for her trouble. He smelled spicy clean, tantalisingly fine—and this
after an afternoon of school sport. As if he’d taken the time to shower before
heading over here, which made no sense at all given his tendency to end up in
the ocean regardless.

‘So...’ he prompted, his voice gruffer than usual. ‘Question
six.’

Right. Question six. Lena dragged her attention back to the
matter at hand. No! Not the hands! Question six. ‘So I tried to find a—’

‘What’s going on?’ said a voice from the patio doorway, and she
knew every nuance of that voice too, no need to look up to know that Jared was
standing in the doorway or that he’d be wearing a scowl.

She looked up anyway and met her brother’s narrowed gaze with
curiosity. He had unruly black hair—a trait they shared, although hers was
considerably longer and considerably more unruly. He had bluer eyes than she did
because hers often tended towards grey in the right kind of light. They both had
athletic builds. Lena had a yearning for curves, but it wasn’t going to happen.
She had a scowl just like the one Jared was wearing. The family resemblance was
strong.

‘What’s wrong with you? Not enough Jared West groupies on the
beach?’ Jared was a wanted man as far as the girls around here were concerned.
Most of those girls made friends with Lena in order to get closer to him, which
wasn’t a problem except that Jared changed girlfriends with dazzling speed and
not many of them stayed friends with Lena afterwards.

‘Their loss,’ Jared had told her when she’d complained about
the defection of her friends, and, while his curt words had soothed her ego, the
fact remained that Lena was still appallingly low on company because of him.
Jared had been more inclined to let her tag around with him after that, probably
out of pity.

Lena could have done without the pity, but beggars couldn’t be
choosers.

‘I
said,
what are you doing?’
repeated Jared, heavy on the ice.

‘Trig,’ said Lena, figuring a straight answer might appease
him.

Jared’s gaze shifted to Adrian. ‘That what she’s calling you
these days?’

Adrian held Jared’s bleak gaze with an enigmatic one of his
own. ‘If something’s bothering you, J, spit it out.’

Jared’s gaze shifted between her and Adrian once more. Adrian
straightened slowly and some message flashed between him and her brother that
Lena didn’t have the cipher for.

‘You know the rules,’ said Jared curtly.

‘Do I know the rules?’ she asked. ‘What rules?’

‘He thought I was hitting on you,’ said Adrian, after another
long and loaded silence. ‘It’s not encouraged.’

‘
Excuse
me?’ said Lena. There were
two issues buried in that simple little statement, and while her mind shied away
from the implication that Adrian might actually
like
her enough to hit on her, it had no trouble whatsoever grappling with the
second. ‘Jared
West,
are you scaring away my
potential boyfriends? Because if you are...and I find out you are...’ Lena
narrowed her gaze. ‘Is this why Ty Chester didn’t ask me to the year eleven
dance? Because he was going to—I know he was. And then he
didn’t
.’

‘Nah, that one was all you,’ said Jared. ‘He probably thought
you were going to ask him hang-gliding in return. I hear he’s scared of
heights.’

‘And kittens,’ added Adrian. ‘Possibly his own shadow.’

‘Maybe I was after a refreshing change,’ she grumbled. ‘Maybe I
wanted
to see how the quiet, handsome half
lived.’ Facts were facts. Ty Chester
was
uncommonly
handsome. Nor would it have killed her to spend some time with people she
hadn’t
hero-worshipped since birth.

‘You’d have eaten him alive,’ said Jared.

‘Yes, that was the plan. Jared, I swear, if I ever catch you
interfering in my love life I will make your love life a living hell. Yours
too,’ she told Adrian for good measure.

‘Mine’s already a living hell,’ murmured Adrian and Jared
snorted. More silent communication passed between them, effectively cutting her
out of the loop. They did it all the time and mostly it didn’t bother her.
Today, it did.

‘Lord, you two, get a room.’

‘Yeah,
Trig,
’ said Jared, darkly
gleeful. ‘Let’s get a room.’

‘If we go surfing this afternoon, I’m going to drown you,’ said
Trig, formerly known as Adrian.

Jared flipped him a friendly finger.

‘Is this foreplay?’ asked Lena. ‘Because if it is, can it
happen elsewhere? I’m trying to concentrate on my homework here.’ A valid point
as far as she was concerned. Unfortunately, it focused Jared’s attention back on
her books.

‘Since when do you need help with maths homework?’ he
asked.

‘Since it got hard. What kind of idiot question is that?’

‘Seriously? You really can’t do basic trigonometry?’

‘This is why I don’t think I’m fully related to any of them,’
Lena told Adrian. ‘I’m the milkman’s baby.’

‘Yeah, baby, but you’ve got a lot of grit,’ offered Adrian.
‘Who cares if it takes you a fraction longer than the rest of them to figure out
a trigonometry proof? You’ll still get there.’

‘Yeah, but not fast enough. And then they’ll disown me. That’s
what happens to people who can’t keep up.’

‘Since when have you ever not kept up?’ This from Jared who’d
never had to work to keep up with anything. He was always out front; always the
leader. And Lena had always worked her butt off to make sure that she wasn’t
that far behind.

It was costing her, though. More and more, she could feel the
gap between what her siblings could do and what she could do widening. It was
the curse of being an ordinary person in an extraordinary family.

‘Would you disown me if I did fall behind?’ she asked.

And shocked Jared speechless.

Adrian was looking at her funny—as if he’d known all along that
her insecurities were there but he couldn’t quite figure out why she was voicing
them now. Lena didn’t know why she was voicing them now either. It was just a
maths question.

‘Never mind,’ she said awkwardly.

‘You won’t fall behind.’ Jared had finally found his voice. ‘I
won’t let you.’

He just didn’t get it. ‘But what if that’s where I’m meant to
be? Water finding its own level, and all that?’

‘No,’ said Jared grimly. ‘The hell with that. That’s just
defeatist.’

‘No one’s leaving anyone behind,’ said Adrian soothingly. ‘No
one here’s defeated. Jared’s never going to disown you, Lena. He’s insanely
protective of you. Did you not just see him go caveman on my arse for daring to
look at you sideways?’

‘Sure I did,’ said Lena. ‘But he’s protecting
you,
not me.’

‘Maybe I’m protecting you both,’ said Jared. ‘Anyone ever think
of that?’

‘Overachiever,’ murmured Lena and Adrian nodded his agreement,
and it made Lena laugh and broke the tension and she was all for it staying
broken.

‘How about I start this conversation again?’ she offered.

‘Can you do it without the emo infusion?’ asked Jared.

‘You want the bare basics?’ She could do that. She pointed the
pen at her chest. ‘Imbecile in need of a little help with her maths homework,
before
she
can go surfing. I’m stuck on question
six.’

Which was how Lena scored
two
maths
tutors for the rest of the year and how Adrian Sinclair earned the nickname
Trig.

Nothing to do with being trigger happy at all.

Even if he was.

Copyright © 2013 by Kelly Hunter