Contract with Consequences

CHAPTER SEVEN

SCARLET’S mother was still up watching television when she let herself into the house. Which perhaps was just as well. It stopped her breaking down, which was what stupidly she wanted to do again.

Her mother looked up at her from the sofa. ‘You’re home earlier than I expected.’

Scarlet glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only just after nine.

‘Yes, well, there’s not all that much to do around here on a Sunday night,’ she said as she walked behind the kitchen counter and reached for the kettle. ‘We didn’t feel like eating or drinking any more so we went to a movie.’

‘Any good?’

‘So so,’ she said, filling the kettle with water then turning it on. ‘What movie are you watching?’ Her mother always watched a movie at eight-thirty on a Sunday night.

‘A very boring slice-of-life story which I’m just about to turn off.’ Which she did. ‘If you’re making tea, make one for me too, please.’

‘Okay,’ Scarlet said, thinking she really had to get herself to bed before the third degree began in earnest.

Janet twisted round on the sofa so that she could watch her daughter’s face. ‘I was surprised to see you getting on so well with John today.’

‘So was I,’ Scarlet agreed, quite truthfully.

‘He hardly left your side all afternoon.’ And hardly took his eyes off you as well. Though that wasn’t entirely new. Janet had always thought John had a secret crush on Scarlet when they were at school. He just hadn’t had the confidence back then to do anything about it. The man who’d asked Scarlet out tonight had been a different kettle of fish entirely. Janet had been taken aback at how good he’d looked when he’d arrived. Not all men suited having their hair cut so short but John did. He had a well-shaped head, flat ears and a handsome face. A nice body, too. All in all, a fine looking man. Unattached too, according to Carolyn.

‘You don’t think that…?’

‘No, Mum,’ Scarlet cut in forcefully. ‘That’s never going to happen between John and me, so please don’t go there.’

Janet was not about to give up that easily. ‘If you say so, dear. But what does John say? Did he want to see you some more whilst he was home?’

‘Mum, he only asked me out tonight because he can’t stand being around his father for too long. I dare say he’ll be flying back to where he came from immediately. My guess would be tomorrow.’

‘Surely he’ll stay a little longer than that after coming all the way from Brazil?’

Scarlet shrugged. ‘I doubt it. Here’s your tea, Mum. I’m taking mine to my room. I’m tired.’

Janet frowned as Scarlet went upstairs after coming out of the kitchen a few minutes later. She knew her daughter better than anyone else in this world. She could sense her state of mind, especially when she tried to hide it. Which she was doing right now.

Something had happened between her and John tonight, something which she didn’t want to talk about, something which had made her very tense. Had he made a pass? Janet wondered. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had. Scarlet was lovely looking, but she had impossibly high standards when it came to men. They only had to put a single foot wrong and they were out the door. If Scarlet hadn’t been searching for perfection in a partner, she would long have been married by now. Of course, Janet didn’t condone men who were unfaithful the way Jason had been. But a girl sometimes had to turn a blind eye to minor failings if she wanted to become a wife and mother as much as Scarlet did.

Not that it mattered now, Janet thought with a resigned sigh. She’d obviously given up on the idea of marriage. Even if John were interested, he’d be fighting a losing battle with Scarlet. All she wanted was a baby.

Janet stood up from the sofa and walked over to pick up her tea. She hoped and prayed Scarlet would fall pregnant next month.

The same thought kept Scarlet awake long after she climbed into bed. She tossed and turned, her mind torturing herself with that most horrible ‘what if?’ What if she didn’t fall pregnant next month? What then? Would she keep on trying or resort to more complicated and expensive procedures like IVF? How long could she keep doing this before she went stark, raving mad?

Already she could feel herself unravelling.

Maybe she should have accepted John’s offer. Why hadn’t she? Was it just because the idea of having sex with him terrified her? Was she so frightened of not living up to his expectations? That seemed a truly pathetic reason to knock back what was in many ways an excellent proposal. Then why, Scarlet? What are you so afraid of where John is concerned?

Her whirling mind eventually went back to that movie they’d seen tonight, with its truly cheesy ending. Surely she couldn’t be afraid of something similar happening to her? It seemed ludicrous in the extreme to think she would fall for John just because she went to bed with him.

For the umpteenth time, Scarlet sat up and punched her pillow before turning it over and slumping back down again.

‘I’m getting sick of this,’ she muttered as she stared blankly up at the darkened ceiling. ‘I have to go to work in the morning. It’s all your fault, John Mitchell. You should have minded your own business. You don’t really want to be the father of my baby. You don’t really want to be the father of any baby. So why on earth did you make such a ridiculous offer in the first place? It just doesn’t make sense!’

The man himself was thinking along those same lines as he stood at his bedroom window, staring down at Scarlet’s house as he’d done so many times when he’d been a boy, wanting to join in as she played with the other kids.

A wry smile pulled at his face. Here he was, years later, still wanting Scarlet, though admittedly in quite a different way!

Okay, so his offering to be her sperm donor had begun as a gesture of kindness, but it had quickly changed to one driven by his male hormones. He wanted her, naked and willing, in his arms, a prospect which he now realised had always been in the realms of fantasy. John only had to recall the way she’d reacted to his taking her arm tonight to know he wasn’t on her ‘ten most desirable men in the world’ list. Perhaps that was why she’d rejected his offer. That and the fact she didn’t want a selfish, self-centred commitment-phobe as the father of her baby. Much better to have some anonymous stranger.

Good one, John.

A light suddenly came on in the King house. John had no idea if it was Scarlet’s bedroom or not. But he suspected it was. She was sleepless, just like him.

Another memory suddenly popped into his head-that of his taking her arm when they’d left his parents’ party together. Scarlet hadn’t pulled away from him then. Hadn’t found his touch in any way repulsive. Then there’d been the way she’d looked at him when she’d first driven up to Gosford station earlier that day. That hadn’t been the look of a woman who found him unattractive.

Maybe he was reading this situation all wrong. Maybe there was something else bothering Scarlet. Maybe she had been tossing and turning in her bed over there, wishing now that she hadn’t rejected his offer. Because in truth it had been a good offer, far better than her having some stranger’s child. He still didn’t fancy that idea one little bit.

It suddenly occurred to John that Scarlet might eventually reconsider his offer. He suspected, however, that she would not come to such a decision lightly, or in the immediate future. To hang around home, hoping for her to change her mind, was not a bearable thought. Despite his recent discovery that he still loved his father, John still found being around him difficult. He couldn’t even escape by going surfing; the doctors said such activities were out of the question till his leg was stronger. He’d already told his mother when he arrived home that he was booked on a flight tomorrow evening, letting her think he was returning to Brazil, whereas in fact he was going to Darwin. She’d been disappointed by his early departure, but resigned.

Would Scarlet be disappointed by his early departure? he wondered. Or relieved.

He could hardly ask her now.

Another thought came to him. What if she did change her mind about his offer? She would need to know how to contact him, without having to ask his mother. No way would Scarlet do that. He knew her. She was like him in some ways-overly proud. And too independent for her own good.

Turning from the window, he made his way downstairs where everything was quiet; his parents had gone to bed some time ago. Switching on the kitchen light, he went to the drawer where his mother kept an assortment of biros, writing pads and different-sized envelopes. Selecting what he wanted, he returned to his room, switched on his bedside lamp and sat down to write. It took him several attempts before he got the wording just right but eventually he was satisfied.

Dear Scarlet.

By the time you read this I will have left. Not Australia, as my family believe. I have an apartment in Darwin where I go every winter for a few weeks’ rest and recreation. This time, however, I intend to stay longer, though please keep this information confidential. Scarlet, I presume you are determined to keep trying for a baby by your anonymous donor. And that is your right. But if it is not successful, I wish you to know that my offer is still open. I can’t promise you romance but I do promise you what I think you need very badly. Here are my mobile and satellite phone numbers so that you can contact me no matter where I am.

Your friend always, John.

He added the numbers then slipped the note into an envelope and wrote Scarlet’s name on the front, having already decided to drop the letter into her mailbox tomorrow whilst she was at work.

By the time she got home he would be long gone.

Then it would be up to her.