Commitment

Part 47

Over the next two weeks Regan kept her distance and kept her façade up. The last thing she wanted him to know was that she was carrying a torch for him. So she did her best to avoid any alone time with him. And he realised that: She was avoiding him.

It was hard watching Caro and Gray. And her professional front was challenged and her personal façade was close to crumbling. So she tried to avoid them as much as possible, because seeing them together was painful.

Caro came round often during those two weeks. And if that wasn't enough, she was clearly also a touchy-feely woman, for she was constantly draped all over him. Caro was practically joined to his hip. Not that he appeared to mind. But Regan did. She'd never poached in her life, and she was not going to start now. No chance of that, as her mind reminded her about the debacle of the near-kiss. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt, seeing them together. Even worse, her mind reminded her, was the fact that the man could pretend to like her when he barely endured her.

Seeing him with Caro, wishing it was her, rather than Caro draped all over him, ensured that wound to her heart would remain open. So she did the best to avoid any meetings with Gray. If she saw him, she ducked. If he was with his family, she would spend one or two minutes, in their company before making excuses to leave. If Gray were with Caro, Regan would say hi and move on quickly.

She arrived home late one evening to find Caro, Sam, Loretta and Gray sitting around the dining room table discussing a fundraiser day. Caro was trying to organise that event. She was setting up a small fair on the common in Waikanae, lots of little stalls with donated goods, some stalls doing the usual, tombola, raffles, various games. She had organised volunteers to man the stalls and she and others were busy collecting goods.

Loretta smiled when she saw Regan. Loretta gestured with her hand to beckon her over, "Hi Regan, come and join us. We are just brainstorming ideas of things to sell."

Regan was exhausted, but she knew that if she offered that as an excuse Gray might find a way to make it appear that she was being discourteous to Caro. So she put her bag down in the corridor, hung her coat up on the coat stand and walked into the dining room with a smile on her lips but far from her eyes.

"Have you eaten?" Sam asked with a measure of concern. He'd seen the tiredness in her eyes, and knew, given that she'd left home early that morning, that it had been a long day for her. Another long day. But he could also see that she did not want to cause umbrage. "Cause there's heaps left over. Caro thinks she has to feed an army when she brings takeaway."

Gray reviewed Regan's face and he saw that the mark of her black eye was now a shadow of the bruising. Her face still showed the marks of violence. The day after seeing her bruises, he had invested on reusable gel ice packs, disposable cold therapy ice packs and headache cooling patches, given his own experience. And because he did not see her at breakfast, lunch or dinner that day, he left it on the table with instructions for Regan. She obviously took it, which was great for his mental health. He had tossed around during the night, worried about Regan, so to find that she had taken the icepacks, ensured he could sleep and his worries about her health could be shelved for the night. Over the last fortnight, if he had a chance he would check her face, make invisible notes in his mind about the progress of the bruise and was thinking about asking her about her eye. Clearly less swelling around the eye, but the side of her face still showed the marks of her injury.

"Thanks," Regan smiled, "for the offer, but I got something earlier." She pulled out a chair and sat down, wondering how long she had to stay and pretend to be sociable, before she could make her excuses and leave.

Gray narrowed his eyes. "You got something earlier? When?"

"On the way back." Regan said automatically and looked away.