Читать книгу A Risk Worth Taking - Zana Bell - Страница 13

IT WAS MIDNIGHT when Adam decided to call it quits. After all, he thought wryly, tomorrow was an early start. Although he was still pissed with Sass and Cressa, the heat had gone out of his anger as he’d become absorbed in his studies. He leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his face with his hands, tired but satisfied. Despite the upsets of the evening, and the lingering jet lag, he’d still managed to get a few hours’ work under his belt. Some days he felt as though he was tilting at the moon. Other times, like now, he felt his goal was almost within his grasp.

He’d spent six long years juggling work and study to get his degree. If he cracked the MCAT in a month’s time and did get accepted into medical school, the next decade would be even tougher. He was mad to even contemplate signing away his life like this, but the desire to be a surgeon burned deep and wouldn’t let him walk away, no matter how tempted he sometimes was.

Being pinned to the spot by Cressa earlier had left him in a devilish predicament. His gallant arrival in New Zealand to allow his sister to enjoy a long honeymoon should not have backfired on him this way. He had a tingling of uneasy presentiment, but damn it, he had the right to not tell anyone about his crazy dream. If it came off, all well and good, everyone would be delighted and he’d be happy to celebrate with them all. If not, he’d want to lick his wounds alone, especially away from Alicia. A man ought to be free to make a bid for the stars without the weight of his mother’s hopes and anxieties on his shoulders; and he ought to be allowed to fail without the burden of her parental guilt. Ideally, he had to admit, he’d also like to escape having to endure public sympathy and pity. Was that so much to ask? Authors wrote novels in back rooms at midnight; inventors experimented in the hidden shelter of garden sheds. Surely he was entitled to his own privacy.

Why, then, this guilt? Why this sinking feeling because he hoped to preserve his secret for a month? After all, he’d already succeeded for six years. How ironic that he should find himself so close to being outed just when the end was in sight.

And all because of Cressa and Sass and their infernal meddling.

Pushing these thoughts to one side, Adam stretched and became aware that the house was strangely quiet. Where were Brian and Cressa? Had Brian ended up staying the night? After dinner, Adam had left them discussing plans. Thirsty, he now prowled through the house to grab a drink before going to bed. Silence. The door to the master bedroom was shut. He had a fleeting image of Brian and Cressa tucked up in the double bed, which he immediately banished. He grabbed the juice from the fridge, a glass from the cupboard and poured himself a long drink, which he downed at the sink. Craning his neck, he looked out the window. The Porsche had gone.

He put the glass in the dishwasher and closed it quietly so as not to disturb Cressa, then padded to the bathroom. The door to her room stood ajar. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help glancing in. The room was empty. That is, its occupant wasn’t there, but her possessions had commandeered the space. Her helmet perched on the desk; her red jacket lay slung over the back of the chair. Her big black boots had been kicked off to one corner. Her bag occupied the lower bunk, its contents strewn across the duvet. An iPod and her cell phone out on the pillow of the top bunk.

Something caught his eye through the window and he moved into the unlit room to look closer. Moonlight illuminated the garden, casting shadows under the trees and turning the harbor to beaten silver. A shadowed silhouette stood by the water’s edge. She raised her arms to twist her heavy hair into a knot on top of her head, then waded into the silver water. It was too dark to tell if she wore a wetsuit or not. She got in up to her knees and hesitated. He wasn’t surprised. He’d dipped his hand in the water earlier today and it had been freezing. She waded deeper. When the water reached her hips, she slid down, and all he could see was a tiny black head with silver ripples widening about her. She was either brave or crazy.

At the same time she looked very alone in the beautiful scene. The vision stirred something in him. Then she turned and began to wade swiftly out. No wetsuit, then.

He shot out of her room, racing to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get out of her way. Her toiletries bag was already there, toothbrush set in the mug next to his. Her shampoo alongside his. And her towel, thrown over the rail, partially covered his.

He was in bed when he heard soft footsteps go past his room. The shower went on. The water would feel good on icy skin. Smoothing away goose bumps.

Relaxing muscles tensed with cold. Releasing clenched teeth into a sigh of pleasure.

He dropped an arm over his eyes, trying to banish the all-too-vivid images, and groaned. His worries about spending a month alone with his mother seemed laughable compared with the predicament he now faced. Thank you, Sass! He should have kept his big mouth shut. He thought back to the clear-headed resolutions he’d made that morning. Clear-headed but, he now realized, hopelessly naive.

Okay. He could cope with the four weeks in New Zealand. He could cope with having a job for a few days. But Cressa was a whole different problem. He’d seen how she was already taking over the house. There was no way he could allow her to hijack his thoughts, his desires and his precious, fast-disappearing time in the same insidious but thorough manner. He could not—would not—allow his body to betray his mind at this stage.

Distance. It was all about keeping the hell away from her. She’d soon get the message.