Let Me Love You (Australian Sports Star Series Book 2) (9 page)

Arching a brow, Mark said, “That’s all?”

Oliver stared at his friend for a long moment before he turned and walked off.

“Wanna tell me about it?” Markus persisted.

“Nope.”

They walked to Markus’ car in silence, but he didn’t unlock the doors.

Oliver stared at him, yet his friend simply returned the stare.

“What the—”

“So a girl got to you and you’re scared like a kitten. Is that it?”

Oliver let out a long breath, but didn’t answer.

“C’mon, Oliver, it’s me. You’ve never been shy with women, so what—”

“I slept with her the other day, despite Erik threatening to kick me off the team if I did. Mark, no woman is worth losing my career.”

His friend nodded and unlocked the car. No more words were spoken, or in fact were needed. They’d been friends for over twenty years, and Oliver knew Markus understood his predicament.

At least half of it. Oliver wasn’t ready to share, yet, how much sleeping with Tamara had stirred his emotions.

***

On Monday morning, Tamara walked into the office with a fake smile on her face. It’d been a long weekend. She’d tossed and turned all night trying to sort the puzzle of Friday night.

Cindy’s invitation.

Markus’ statement about one-night stands.

Oliver’s messages all weekend, which she had decided to ignore.

She greeted everyone as usual and chatted a few minutes with those she’d talked to on Friday night.

She wasn’t really sure anymore whether the invitation had been genuine or a nasty set up. It’d been on her mind all weekend, but now that she was here seeing everyone, she decided to move on. Play their game and pretend all was okay.

After all, she was good at pretending.

An hour into her day, her uncle came into the office. Closing the door behind him, he glanced around before finally sitting on one of the chairs. An eerie feeling crept up in Tamara, not sure how to take his silence. Several scenarios played in her head, and her chest tightened.

“What?” she finally asked.

Erik leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. Tamara’s patience was near breaking point. Why didn’t he say something? Anything. Just then, he spoke, and she wished he hadn’t.

“We have two hundred dollars missing out of petty cash,” he said.

He spoke so softly, Tamara had to strain to hear him. She didn’t say anything, but waited for him to continue.

“Apparently, management has proof you stole the money.”

Her blood begun to pound in her temples. The words stung like salt in an open wound and anger flared inside her, fuelled by disappointment so profound she thought it might break her in two.

“What kind of proof?” she asked with all the calm she was able to muster.

“I haven’t been told the details. Apparently somebody saw you take it.”

Every word he said increased her anger.

Still trying to remain calm, she asked, “Who?”

“They won’t tell.”

“My word against the other person.”

“Persons.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “More than one?”

He nodded, still avoiding her gaze.

“This is ridiculous. Erik, I would never steal money. It’s…it…Well, it’s not ethical.”

Again, he simply nodded.

Finally, she gave in to the tears that had threatened for the last few minutes. Stealing? It was against her whole nature. It was against everything she believed in.

“Do I get a say in this?”

He sighed and finally met her gaze. “Yes, but until then you’re on leave without pay.”

“I’ll never find a job again, you know that. Even when they find the person behind the whole set up.”

Erik stood, raking his hand through his hair. “I threatened to quit as well.”

“No,” she wanted to scream, but the sound wouldn’t escape her throat. “You can’t do that. Please, Erik, promise me to let me fight my own battle.”

He let out a long breath. “I’ll fight with you. Come on over tonight and we’ll figure out where to go from here.”

Shaking her head, she stood as well and walked to the front of her desk. “There’s not much to figure out. I’ll hand in my resignation this afternoon.”

“That’s an odd way to fight.”

“I have done no wrong. To accuse me of stealing without talking to me is not an environment I’d like to work in.”

Erik stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug. “You’re not giving up that quickly, are you? I thought you liked it at least a little bit.”

Tamara let out a long sigh as she put a bit of distance between them. “I do. I honestly do. But—” She hesitated. “I’m not sure how to explain it, and perhaps it doesn’t even make sense, but I’ve come here for a fresh start, yet, all I’ve done is move everything a couple of hundred kilometres to the east. Who knows? Let’s take this as fate and start something new.”

Erik nodded. “It doesn’t really make sense to me, but I think the last brain cell in the far left corner understands.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yes. One hundred percent.”

He placed a kiss on the top of her head and said, “I’ll still keep my ears open if someone needs a first class accountant.”

She choked back a laugh and wanted to say thanks, but deep inside she knew a simple thanks wouldn’t be enough.

“Need a lift?”

Shaking her head, she replied, “I’ll be all right. Remember, I’ve been through worse.” Tamara smiled, but even she knew it was a weak one. “I’ll see you tonight. Now go and do whatever it is a coach does.”

He nodded. “See ya tonight.”

Tamara took a deep sigh, grabbed a tissue, and wiped away her tears. It took her all of twenty minutes to pack up her belongings and close the office door behind her.

With her head held high, she walked past Cindy and out the front door. It was only when she stepped into her bedroom half an hour later that she broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Tamara curled up into a ball on the bed and cried until she stopped shaking. Letting her heart bleed out in tears, she sobbed until her entire body ached. It took a long time until her cries faded and her breath steadied. She took a tissue and blew her nose before sagging back into the pillow. Her head throbbed, and she felt a heavy emptiness in her chest.

An hour later, she stood in the kitchen making a cup of tea and some lunch. She didn’t feel like any food, but knew she had to eat. Completely overwhelmed by the events of the morning, her gaze went to the phone a couple of times, feeling the urge to call her mother.

But she resisted, still needing to come to terms with it herself, trying to understand what had happened and why.

***

Oliver followed the smell of bacon and eggs into the kitchen. Initially awkward, he’d come to appreciate having his parents in his house. It was a big burden on Benjamin, his dad, having to care for his wheelchair bound wife as well as for Oliver, but his father wouldn’t complain.

“Ready to go?” Ben asked.

Oliver sat down. “Give me ten minutes to have breakfast.”

Diane, his mother, came closer and placed a hand on his arm. “You shouldn’t rush your meals.”

Oliver smiled. “Give me twenty.” Then he turned to his mother. “Will you be okay on your own?”

“Sure, I will,” Diane replied. “I’ve got Hazel and Sarah coming over for lunch.”

He laughed. Of course they would come. Hazel and Diane had been friends for as long as he’d known Tyson, Hazel’s grandson, and he was sure they still kept the weekly phone calls going.

Later that day he sat next to his dad staring across the lake, fishing rod in his hand, waiting for a bite. It wasn’t his favourite pastime. The disgusting, slimy bait, and the smell of the fish—it just wasn’t for him.

But he did it for his dad.

And sometimes even for Tyson, who occasionally headed out to a lake to get away from everything. It wasn’t his thing either, but since his dad had died, he found something close to peace in fishing.

“How’s Mum going?” Oliver asked without taking his eyes off the water.

“Your mother is doing fine.”

His father’s deep voice sounded relaxed and honest. Oliver exhaled the breath he’d been holding.

“Son, what’s done is done. Most certainly, she would’ve wished to be able to run in the backyard with the kids, but she’s nothing if not adaptable.”

Even though his father’s words were meant to ease his guilt, his heart was still aching.

“You need to move on,” his father continued. “You need to live your life, otherwise your mother won’t be able to move on, either. It’s a vicious circle.”

Oliver nodded and looked up. He met his father’s gaze and remembered those days when he was a kid and in trouble, how these eyes had scared the crap out of him, and there had been many days when he’d been in trouble. Today, his father’s eyes seemed distant, but warm and caring.

“I’m sorry you’ve got so much work now.”

Ben chuckled. “Work? Your mum and I have learnt to talk and it’s been wonderful.” His gaze went back to the lake. “I don’t think we’ve been happier.”

It surprised Oliver to hear that. His parents had always been a happy couple. There’d been a rough patch in their relationship when they had moved to the States. Diane hadn’t been able to adjust as easily as everyone else, but she’d managed, yet in the end, Ben had agreed to come home earlier.

“You’re trying to ease my guilt?”

His father’s deep chuckle made him smile. “Not at all, son. Not at all.” Ben sighed and was quiet for a while. Oliver left him to his thoughts.

“It was hard to see her struggle when she came out of hospital,” he finally said, his voice nearly breaking. “She felt helpless and useless. But most of all she was petrified at the thought she wasn’t able to look after you.” He paused again. “You had just lost your girlfriend, and she was angry about the fuss everyone made about her, getting her home and adjusted to the new life. It hurt her so much that you got neglected.”

Oliver’s eyes stung. He hadn’t known. He’d never seen it that way. “I thought she couldn’t forgive me for what happened.”

“Son, she knew it wasn’t your fault.”

Oliver’s gaze went back to the lake and the few ripples on the water as he thought about his father’s words. All this time he had believed his mother blamed him for not being able to walk anymore. He’d been afraid to bring up the subject. Afraid to say sorry. Too afraid to even look into her eyes. He’d come to understand Ben’s words that talking had brought them closer together and vowed he’d make a start as well.

“I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t want to know. You were scared. Like when you were a little boy and you avoided the garden shed with every excuse in the world. You should’ve told me the reason, but you’ve never been good with words.”

Oliver laughed. “That bloody movie scared the hell out of me. Little creepy spiders in the garden shed that killed young boys.”

Ben laughed as well. “Is that what it was?”

Oliver nodded. Yes, it’d been as simple as that.

A fish took the bait on Ben’s line, and a brief battle began. That small creature swam in all directions, and Oliver saw his dad’s effort to keep the line taut, but in the end, he lost the battle.

“What a shame. For a minute, I hoped to have fish for dinner.”

Oliver laughed. Ben hated fish.

***

Tamara walked into the bathroom and threw some cold water in her face. Her eyes were red and swollen. She applied some cream on her face before heading back downstairs. When she saw the phone on the kitchen table, she felt the urge to call her parents again, but knew she wasn’t ready to talk about it, yet. She thought of her friends, who would listen to her, but with an aching heart, she accepted the fact that she’d stopped contacting them a long time ago and that now wouldn’t be a good time to rekindle that friendship.

She could call Oliver.

Shaking her head, she assumed he’d be busy with Cindy. She remembered Markus’ words.
It’s not what it seems
. It seemed quite obvious to her, though.

Markus.

With a sigh, she admitted to herself how much she liked him. She liked his smile. With another resigned sigh, she grabbed a piece of chocolate cake out of the fridge, as well as the phone, and went to her lounge room. There was nothing on TV so she muted it, but let the pictures flicker to distract her. Skimming through the contacts on her phone, she stopped at Oliver’s number. Should she?

She did.

“Oliver Dempsey’s residence. Hazel speaking.”

She’d been so nervous about calling Oliver it took a moment to sink in that it wasn’t him on the phone.

Tamara hesitated, her palms moist from the adrenaline rushing through her.