The Blinding Light (23 page)

It was Lizzy who rescued us all. Lizzy, who believed that she was pretty much the center of the universe and acted accordingly. Oh, she wasn’t mean or anything. She just didn’t have much sympathy for disabilities or hard-luck stories and said what she meant, uncaring if people were offended. Toughen up, Princess. Build a bridge and get over it. They were Lizzy’s mottos.

“So, Patrick, tell us. Why are you blind?” I cringed in horror at her bluntness but Patrick took it in his stride.

“Born that way.”

“Huh. Bad luck, I guess.” That was Lizzy’s idea of sympathy. “So do you live off the government, then?”

“Lizzy!” I threw my bottle cap at her to shut her up. “You don’t ask questions like that!”

Patrick seemed to be trying to hide his grin, but he turned to her and answered with a straight face. “No. I’m a very rich man who holds a doctorate in chemistry. I’ve several articles published in journals all over the world, I guest-lecture at a couple of universities occasionally, and I also hold down a job that pays me more than you’ll earn in the next five years.”

I turned and blinked in disbelief, but Lizzy just said, “Cool. So why are you dating a loser like my brother?”

“Hey!” I protested loudly.

Patrick calmly returned her rude volley. “Because he’s a great kisser. What degree have you just finished?”

Lizzy didn’t even turn a hair but Ellie, Luke, and Maria all turned beet red. I’m sure I did too.

“Law. Do you have any cute brothers I can date? I’d like to have a rich man at my bidding.”

“Lizzy!” This time it was both Ellie and me together. I hissed furiously in Lizzy’s direction. “Shut up now before I make you recite The Truth.”

Lizzy simply poked her tongue out at me, confident that the strangers among us would protect her from anything I could dish out. “Yeah? You and whose army?”

“I don’t need an army for The Truth,” I sniped.

“The Truth?” questioned Patrick, just like I hoped someone would. “What’s The Truth?”

Before I could answer, my three sisters in unison exclaimed in put-upon tones, “
You are the best big brother in the whole world. You are strong and handsome and smart and witty. And you are always right. I couldn’t ask for a better brother and that is
The Truth
.
”

I’m sure Luke’s mouth was catching flies on his side of the table since his jaw had dropped so low. Patrick was choking on some foreign object—or maybe it was just his tongue—but I didn’t have time to make sure he was alright. I had a victory to crow over.

I stood and clapped loudly at no one in particular, then took a bow. “See. It didn’t take an army at all.”

Peeved at being had, Lizzy huffed to her feet and stormed off toward the house muttering about needing the loo.

And that’s how our lunch continued. We razzed each other and laughed and grinned at funny stories, continuously strengthening our familial bonds. Lizzy got over her peeve pretty quickly and Maria climbed out of her shell enough to join in. Ellie made Luke cook sausages on the barbeque, and then brought out bowls of salad. Patrick got a bit subdued when it was time to eat.

I grabbed a plate and heaped coleslaw on one side and rice salad on the other and placed it in front of him. Then without making a fuss, I speared a sausage through the middle with a fork and handed it to him, leaning down to tell him quietly, “Two lots of salad on your plate that you can eat with the spoon to the right of your plate. Here’s a sausage on a fork so you can just bite the end off. Napkins to your left and I’ll grab you another snagger when you’re finished.”

No one stared or made any comments; they just carried on their conversations while we ate. When Patrick had finished his sausage, I casually threaded another one on for him from my plate and handed it over without comment. He grinned his thanks and chomped down on the end.

With Christmas only three weeks away, it was inevitable that talk turned to the coming season.

“What do you want for Christmas, Skylah?” asked Maria. “Grandma and I have to buy you a present and we need some hints.”

Skylah immediately began reciting a long list of presents she wanted, much to the amusement of the adults. When Skylah stopped to take a breath, Ellie’s question was a bit less amusing.

“So are we heading to Mum’s house for Christmas lunch as usual? Luke’s invited me and Skylah to his parents’ house for dinner.”

Lizzy grabbed another sausage from the platter and cast doubt over the company. “Mum will be back on the booze by that time. Maybe we should plan somewhere else?”

To my surprise it was Maria who sprung to Mum’s defense. “Don’t be such a drag, Liz. Mum’s doing really well and she’s really trying this time. You could give her a break and try supporting her for once.”

I didn’t know which sister to champion. On one hand, I agreed that Lizzy was being a bitch, but on the other hand, I’d seen Mum slip back on the booze more times than they had. In the end practicality won. I joined the discussion. “Well, we can’t have Christmas at my place or Lizzy’s place, so it’s either Mum’s or here. And if Ellie’s going out with Luke later, then it can’t be here unless she chucks us all out when she’s ready to leave.”

“What about going out somewhere?” asked Lizzy.

I arched a brow at her. “Yeah? When did you win lotto? I have about ten bucks in the bank and you want to go out? No, it’s better to go to Mum’s. Even if she’s drinking again, we’ve managed in the past. Besides, she’d be gutted if we didn’t. Despite everything, she’s still our mother.”

Lizzy merely shrugged, but Ellie and Maria were happy enough with the arrangement. We discussed food for our Christmas banquet. It was bound to be hot as all Hades, as Perth Christmases generally were, so we decided to have salads, cold meat, and desserts.

“I can get you a nice big ham bone for free if you want?” Luke interrupted. “My uncle’s a manager at Dorsogna, and we get a couple free. You can cook it up the day before and slice it cold for lunch.”

Ellie looked at him with puppy-dog eyes. “You could? Oh, brilliant! But only if you agree to come to Mum’s with us on the day. Would that be okay?”

I was amazed at the invitation. Obviously Luke was more than just casual if he got to come to Christmas lunch and brave the day with a possibly drunk mother. Of course, Luke’s family were locals and he’d probably had his own similar Christmases.

Luke stared at Ellie with an expression I can only describe as adoring. Why couldn’t I get a man to look at me like that? “I’d love to come, Ellie,” he replied, then swung my way. “Is Patrick coming too?”

Shit!
And just like that, I was in the spotlight. There was nothing more I wanted to do than spend Christmas with Patrick, but we hadn’t discussed that far ahead in our relationship. Would we still be together in three weeks? Were we together now? What did Patrick have planned for the day? Did he want to be with me? With his wealth he could be jetting off out of the country. He hadn’t mentioned any family apart from Max, but it didn’t mean he didn’t have any.

“Ahh….” I was lost for what to say when I felt Patrick’s warm hand grasp mine under the table and squeeze.

He turned Luke’s way and calmly stated, “Jake and I haven’t discussed it yet, but I think it sounds like a great day. I’d love to contribute something to the table, but I’m really bad at cooking so I’ll have to get Jake to make it for me. I don’t have any family, so I usually spend Christmas alone with Gregor and the radio.”

“What?” Ellie’s motherly instincts were horrified. “You spend it alone? Jake! Why haven’t you invited this man already? No one should have to spend Christmas alone. Jake is fabulous at making dessert, so how about the two of you bring two different types of dessert for the day? Lizzy can bring soft drinks and chips, I’ll bring two different types of cold meat and some nibblies, and Mum and Maria can make a couple of salads.”

And like that we were all organized.

After lunch Lizzy and Maria disappeared with Skylah to watch some kiddie movie, and Luke helped Ellie take plates into the kitchen. I scraped some plates, gathered another armload of dishes, and took them inside. Unfortunately, I disturbed a passionate embrace happening up against the kitchen counter.

“Oh, knock it off you two! A man has just finished eating,” I joked as I dumped the dirty plates.

Ellie didn’t bother to move away from Luke. She just looked at me calmly and said, “Piss off and go and kiss your own man.”

I laughed and walked outside to where Patrick was sitting, absentmindedly stroking Gregor’s head. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Oh, just Ellie. She told me I had to come outside and do this.” And without further ado, I leaned over the back of Patrick’s chair and kissed him. He tasted of beer and sausage and that essential flavor that was uniquely his. I got lost a bit and sent my tongue into his mouth, forgetting our whereabouts. It wasn’t until I heard someone clear their throat near me that I looked up in a daze and met Luke’s disconcerted expression.

He was holding three beers and flushing red, but to his credit he didn’t have any trouble meeting my eyes. “Huh,” he scoffed. “I always thought I’d be completely revolted if I saw two guys making out, but it’s not that different, is it?”

I had to laugh. “Luke, it’s completely different. If you weren’t dating my sister I’d tell you to go out and find a man and give it a go. You’ll never go back once you’ve tried it with another bloke. But since you’re seeing Ellie, I’ll instead tell you that if I ever catch you making out with anyone—guy or girl—other than my sweet sister, then I’ll take your balls and feed them to Gregor while you’re still attached to them. Got it?”

He grinned. “Got it.”

W
HEN
WE
arrived home, I made us coffee, took it out front, and we sat in the shade of the veranda, our two cushioned chairs pulled close to each other so we could casually touch when we wanted to. Summer had started, and it was already in the low thirties, but the sea breeze brought relief by early afternoon.

“You don’t have to come to Christmas if you don’t want to,” I started off, the thought weighing heavily on my mind. “I mean, you were kind of put on the spot and Christmas is nothing fancy at home.”

With accuracy that continued to amaze me, he reached over and grasped my hand, threading our fingers together in a firm grip. “Do you not want me there?”

“Of course I want you there! I want to spend all day with you, but I’m not sure if you know what you’re letting yourself into. I’m not some great catch, Patrick. My family life sucks and you don’t have to be exposed to it if you don’t want to.”

He smiled gently over at me. “I want to come.”

I kissed him lightly on the cheek, the warmth of love spreading through my body. And it was love. I couldn’t deny it for much longer. “Okay, as long as you know that you can change your mind at any moment, and if you get uncomfortable on the day, then you just let me know and I’ll get you out of there.”

“Okay.” We sat back and I idly watched a few birds dart through the branches of the fully flowering jacaranda trees. I had about another hour before I had to take off for my shift at The Tav and it was nice to sit and chill. I wondered what I could put together for Patrick to eat for dinner, because he really couldn’t cook all that well. His idea of cooking was opening a salt-laden can of something.

“Jake?”

“Hmm?” I murmured, not paying much attention. I wondered if I should put together a casserole, or if he wanted a sandwich with all the makings.

“Can you tell me about the money?”

“Huh? What?” I said, losing focus on the birds and swinging my attention back.

He hesitated, but then ploughed on. “The debt that you’re paying. You’ve mentioned it a couple of times in vague terms, but never any specifics. Can you tell me about it?”

I made lazy circles with my thumb on the back of his hand. He was pale and needed a bit more sun. I wondered if he wanted to go swimming down the river tomorrow. It would be torturous to me to watch him half naked in the water, but I was a sucker for punishment. Patrick was still waiting for an answer about the debt. Money—
ugh! It got people into so much trouble.

“My mother….” I started off, trying to work out where to start. He didn’t say anything, just waited for me to continue the story. It wasn’t a pretty story, or a happily-ever-after story. I sighed loudly and then gave him the facts. “Last Christmas my mother started seeing this loser who introduced her to this underground gambling network. She got hooked quickly. My mother’s an alcoholic and they brought you free drinks while you played. It didn’t take much to draw her in.”

I watched the birds jump around in the tree. Their lives were so much simpler. Eat, shit, mate, and then do it all again an hour later. “I don’t know how, but they loaned her so much money that she became more scared of them than the need for free booze. She came to me in February with a black eye and told me she owed nearly two hundred grand. I told her to sort out her own shit.” Yeah, that’s me, Son-of-the-Year award. “Then a week later, I came out of work to find some muscleman sitting on my car.”

“A muscleman?” Patrick queried.

“Yes. You know the type—they’ll bash your kneecaps in or whatever it’ll take for you to pay up. I told him to piss off and bother my mother. I had my life together then. I had over fifty grand in the bank waiting for me to put a deposit down on a house of my own, I had a great job that was paying decent money, and I had this beautiful, sweet ride. That car was my pride and joy. I’d sunk so much money into her. But Muscle told me that he didn’t care where the money came from, my mother or me. He just wanted it.”

“And?”

“Then he pulls out these photos. Fuck, my heart just stopped. The first photo was of Ellie at the supermarket, then there was one of Skylah waiting outside her school, and one of Lizzy getting into her car at university.”

“Shit!” whispered Patrick.

But I wasn’t finished. “The next one was of me kissing the guy I was seeing. The photo was taken by someone standing in the backyard of his house. We didn’t even know they were there. But then the last one… fuck. The last one was Maria, walking home from school. She had on her uniform and everything. This loser looks at me and then taps the picture and says, ‘She’s a beauty. Do you think she’s still a virgin? We get top dollar for virgins. If you don’t pay up, then maybe she will.’”