A Girl Called Tegi (11 page)

He was in the big race on Wednesday and she would be glad when it was all over. Thinking about it brought butterflies in her stomach and a prayer for his safety.

Feeling the need to get out from the enclosure of four walls, she went to her room and put on a swimsuit, covering it with her beach jacket. Then snatching up her beach bag, she left the house. The warm evening sunshine helped to melt away most of the tension inside her and she strolled along a beach deserted except for several small boys digging for bait for fishing.

It worried her to think of keeping a secret from her parents about Dorothy and the loan she had given her. But the news, if any, must come from Dorothy herself. Her sister would have no difficulty in making up some story for her parents’ benefit in her usual disarming fashion.

Only time would tell if giving her the money had been wrong. It was small consolation to Tegi, who liked everything to be above board. She kicked a pebble morosely and stared out to sea and the golden path of pure gold dancing on the water to the horizon from the sun.

At first the coolness of the water took away her breath. Then slowly it began to ripple deliciously over her limbs and her strokes grew in strength as she struck out for the open sea.

The exhilarating movements of her limbs battling against the slight swell of the water banished the feeling of depression eating into her. Her whole body began to glow and she returned to the beach pleasantly tired and refreshed.

She arrived back at the house to find the family out. Dorothy had evidently not come back. Tegi went slowly through the house thinking of Tony.

She missed him, knowing that a day without seeing him was like a year. Nevertheless, there was a lifetime ahead without him and she would have to get used to it. The empty house had a listening quality about it. Usually she enjoyed an evening on her own, because it happened so seldom.

Her parents were not the gregarious type. Her
father seldom went out much in the winter months because the cold affected his back, and her mother loved her home.

Slackly, Tegi rinsed the sea water from her swimsuit, then went round the bathroom collecting Dorothy’s bits and pieces, briefs, a bra and several used tissues cluttering up the usual tidiness of the room. Then she washed her hair, had a leisurely bath and put on a housecoat.

She was in the kitchen making a warm drink before curling up with a book in the lounge when the front door bell rang. Her heart lurched when she opened the door to see Tony standing there.

‘I’m taking you by surprise again,’ he said, in the deep voice that churned her heart. ‘May I come in?’ He stepped inside and closed the door smiling down at her glowing face. The fondant pink housecoat revealed slender golden-brown legs and her newly washed hair gleamed like copper.

She looked small and vulnerable with a sweet untouched look about her and he took his time looking her over.

Tegi thrust her hands into the pockets of her housecoat, said nervously, ‘The family are out. Was Dad expecting you?’

He shook his head, said coolly, ‘No, as a matter of fact, I have something to tell you.’

‘Oh?’ Tegi made a brave attempt to collect her wits. They were standing very close in. the small hall and she was terribly conscious of her state of undress and her face minus make-up. She made an embarrassed gesture towards the lounge.

‘You’d better come into the lounge. Can I get you a coffee or something?’

‘No, thanks.’

He followed her into the room but remained standing while she sat down. Then he lowered his long length into one of the comfortable chairs to face her.

She said defensively, ‘You haven’t brought bad news or anything, have you?’

‘Not really,’ laconically.

Restlessly, Tegi wished he would get on with what he had come to say. Sitting down with him was the last thing she wanted. Besides being nervous and tense she had a feeling of bewilderment mixed up with a pain in the region of her heart.

‘Mind if I smoke?’ he asked politely.

Tegi shook her head, wondering why he had come, and her pulses quickened as she watched him light his cigarette and exhale smoke towards the ceiling. The long brown fingers curled around the cigarette as he took it from his lips and gave her his attention.

‘I came along with the boys tonight to see your father. Unfortunately as he got up to greet us his back locked and he could not move. He is in the hospital here in Ramsey, but there is nothing to worry about. He will be back home later this evening.’

Tegi went pale. ‘Oh dear! Poor Mum—and I wasn’t here to help
!’

Tony smiled. ‘There was nothing you could do. I came back at your mother’s request to tell you.’

‘Of course. She’ll be worried about Gary. I suppose he’s out playing somewhere.’ She breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Nice to know it isn’t anything serious, and thank you for coming. How did the race go?’

‘Fine.’

She managed a pale smile. ‘I think I would like a coffee. How about you?’

‘Sure.’

In the kitchen she fumbled her way through making the drink and carried it in as she racked her brains ab
o
ut what to talk about.

Alone in the house, they had become two people shut away from the rest of the world. It was a closeness of short duration, precious moments of time that she wanted to hang on to. When Tony left it would go never to return.

She gave him his coffee, asked breathlessly, ‘Was anyone hurt in the races? I didn’t think about them. I hate it when
someone is hurt. That’s why I hope Gary doesn’t go mad on a motorbike.’

He said quietly, ‘Those who ride motorbikes regard them as a challenge. Entering a race is like climbing a mountain or crossing the ocean on a raft. Every challenge demands a quota of the highest skills in its own particular sphere. Men and boys on the whole love to live dangerously.’

‘It’s hardly fair on those women who marry their sort, is it?’ she queried stubbornly.

He shrugged. ‘If that is the kind of man they choose they are stuck with it,’ he replied philosophically. He paused, and regarded her over the rim of his coffee. ‘Will you have dinner with me tomorrow evening?’

Tegi nearly choked on her coffee, but she met his gaze steadily. Her dark eyes looked huge in her face.

‘Thanks for asking me, but no,’ she answered firmly.

He raised a dark brow. ‘Lunch, then?’

She shook her head. ‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t you like me or don’t you trust me?’ he insisted.

She shook her head as he finished the remainder of his coffee and put down his cup.

‘What is it, then? There must be a reason?’

He tapped the ash from his cigarette on to an ashtray on a low table nearby. If only you knew, she thought hollowly, how afraid I am of loving you too much in a way which would soon have me running after you like the rest of the girls whom you regard as a nuisance.

Aloud, she said, ‘We come from entirely different backgrounds. We’re like oil and water—we should never mix. You must see that?’

He smiled. ‘In my country oil runs very thin in the sun. And our water can get heated. I take it you regard me as the oil and you as the water?’

Tegi nodded. ‘You could say that.’

He shook his head. ‘I am disappointed in you, Tegi.’

‘Are you?’ she answered unhappily. ‘It happens.’

His eyes narrowed and he stubbed out his cigarette in the ash tray.

‘Suppose you give me one honest reason why you are refusing to see me again? What exactly are you afraid of?’

Heat rose from her slender throat to flood her cheeks.

‘I don’t think it’s wise, that’s all.’

His dark eyebrows lifted tantalisingly. ‘Why would it be unwise for us to meet again?’

‘Because...
’

‘This is interesting. Do go on.’ He leaned back in his chair to regard her with a dark brooding gaze.

‘Because it would, that’s all. To you, going out with a girl is just a game, and I can’t regard it as a healthy pastime for me. I’m not that kind of girl.’ She almost choked on the next words, but finally uttered them. ‘You’ll be gone at the end of the week and forget all about us, and you’ll have unsettled me into the bargain
.’

‘You mean I shall have made a lasting impression on you which you would not be able to forget?’

‘Not
... not in the way
y
ou mean,’ she was floundering beneath the probing of his gaze on her flushed face. ‘I
... I don’t intend that to happen
.
’

‘So, and how are you going to prevent it?’

He was smiling in a self-assured, arrogant fashion and Tegi stared at him with the knowledge that he was right. It was impossible ever to erase the impression he had made upon her already. But it was not love giving her a bemused, frightening feeling in her stomach. It was infatuation. She had been blinded like the other silly girls who ran after him, girls who would be in Douglas at the very moment on the lookout for Tony’s handsome dark-eyed form.

‘I don’t think this conversation is getting us anywhere, do you?’ Tegi refused to lift her eyes. ‘I’m grateful to you for coming to tell me about my father. No doubt you’ll come to see him again before you leave the island. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?’

He rose slowly to his feet and she stood up quickly. He was smiling, but his dark eyes smouldered.

‘And when I come to see your father you will keep conveniently out of the way? You are acting true to form,’ he said mockingly.

Her eyes blazed up at him. ‘What do you mean by that?’
she demanded.

‘You are afraid of me because I am so different from that friend of yours. I think you should show caution in your friendship with him. Not that he is dangerous—except about one thing. He will finally convince you that life with him is the answer to all your dreams. It is not.’

‘No?’

Tegi stood taut and angry. Her face was a wild rose colour, her eyes bright and
clear.

Tony shook his head. ‘You are to him what I am to you, however much you would like to deny it. You bring fresh life to a man who is content to plod along for his own satisfaction.’ His voice became gentle. ‘With those flashing eyes and your zest for life he will cling to you like a vampire and suck it all out.’

‘Have you quite finished?’ she asked between her teeth.

‘Not quite.’ He put his hands upon her shoulders and brought his face close to hers along with an experienced yet jaded smile. ‘Don’t do it, Tegi. Look around, but keep your innocence, because you are sweet and unspoiled—an enviable achievement in this day and age at twenty-five. Colin is not the right man for you.’

‘Thanks for the lecture
!’

She wriggled out of his grip and made for the door. He followed more leisurely and caught up with her in the tiny hall with her hand on the front door catch.

Stiffly, she said, ‘Goodbye. Thanks for coming to tell me about my father.’

‘You don’t have to thank me again. I only did what any one of my friends would have done in letting you know about him.’ Tony took his time looking over her scarlet cheeks and angry eyes. ‘I did not come just to tell you about your father. I came to ask you to see me again.’

‘And I’ve refused. If you’re exacting payment for doing a good turn, you can call again. I’m sure you’ll be very welcome—only count me out.’

Colour rose slowly from his neck to creep beneath his tan. His eyes smouldered with hidden fires of anger and his nostrils thinned.

‘Are you actually telling me that I expected payment for calling to tell you about your father? That I intended to date you for my own selfish enjoyment of your company? You are a narrow-minded little prude
,
and I am also devoid of sense for bothering with you at all. I’d like to put you across my knees and spank some sense into you. Maybe you are a good match
f
or your Colin, after all. However, here is something to remember me by.’

He moved swiftly to take her by surprise, framing her face ruthlessly with firm strong hands and claiming her lips in no uncertain manner. The kiss was a cruelly long one, hurting her mouth and her lungs as her breathing faltered beneath the pressure.

When he let her go, he glared into her stricken face.

‘I hope you find that as hard to forget as your wrong opinion of me,’ he said grimly, with commendable self-restraint.

Tegi put a shaking hand to her throat and gasped.

By that time he was out of the front door and it was closing after him. Leaning against the wall, she explored her bruised mouth with trembling fingers. The brute! How dared he imply that she was in error over her opinion of him?

Breathing deeply to replenish her lungs, she felt bruised and battered—and this from someone whose emotions she had never thought it possible to reciprocate. At least, she had aroused anger in him if not love. Love! He did not know the meaning of the word. Brutal passion was in his nature, but not love.

It was a long time after when she dragged herself back to the lounge to fling herself upon the settee and lie for some time with closed eyes. His opinion of her did not matter, she told herself over and over again. But it hurt to know that he considered her to be a naive fool when all the time she had thought herself to be sophisticated and sensible.

Before he had appeared on the scene she had been able to hold her own with men both witty and brash. But she had learned little about life. Despair lay heavily upon her like a heavy blanket. In a way Tony’s kiss, still burning on her lips, was an
eye-opener to her complacent way of life, a reminder that life was going on around her in deeper undercurrents than she had ever dreamed of.

It occurred to her that
her mother could have felt the same way about her father when she met him, the same doubts had beset her, for he had been a very attractive, very persuasive man. He still was. Goodness, her father! She had forgotten about him. She flew to the telephone.

The dulcet tones answering her call to the Cottage
Hospital were most reassuring. Yes, her father had
been admitted with a back problem, but he would be
home again that evening. There was nothing to worry
about.

Tegi had tears of relief in her eyes as she put down the receiver. She was grateful that all was well. When her father arrived home later accompanied by her mother, he looked drawn but not ill.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ he told Tegi when he had dropped into his favourite chair in the lounge. ‘As a matter of fact what happened has been a stroke of luck. Whatever had been causing the trouble in my back has disappeared. I’m free of pain for the first time since my accident all those years ago. I can’t believe it. The doctor tells me I should be all right from now on.’

The news was more than welcome to Tegi, for it meant that life would not only be easier for her father but it would be easier for her mother and the family.
It had been no fun living with someone who had been more or less constantly in pain.

She pushed her mother gently into a chair and went to make them a drink. When she returned with it to the lounge her mother said, ‘Thanks, Tegi. Did you see Tony? I sent him home to tell you about your father in case it was late when we got back. He won the race. Did he tell you?’

The next day was hectic at the bank. The town was bursting at the seams with motorcyclists and visitors for the
races. Tegi missed Colin at lunch time. His mother was coming to Douglas to do some shopping and he was lunching with her, and his father.