Commitment

Part 41

He came and perched beside her. He raised a hand and took her chin between his thumb and index finger, and lifted her head. "What happened?" He asked again. He tipped her head sideways to look at the bruise and used his torchlight to help him to see the bruise. If she was not going to be up front about her injuries then he was going to check!

Regan sighed softly, "Do you mind!" She moved backwards but he moved forward and he kept hold of her chin. "Look, I'm fine, really." She was tempted to shove him, by put her hands on his shoulder and push! But probably a bit like a gnat pushing an oak tree. "Let go of my chin!" She opted for a jab to his shoulder using her finger. "Let go!" Nothing happened, he was still peering at her face. She opted for a different strategy, "It just looks worse than it is, and this must bring back bad memories for you and your..."

Her sentence registered instantly. Concern was replaced with surprise. She'd come up here to spare him and his family. His heartbeat raced again. For different reasons. How is it that a woman he had treated with so little courtesy, could continue to be kind to him? He interrupted her statement, he let go of her chin, "That's why you are out here, instead of eating at home?" He interrupted as her actions made sense. He was having a great deal of difficulty figuring this woman out. She wasn't the high maintenance rich bitch. He felt like a jerk. "You don't want to upset us." As he said the words he realised they were true. After all they'd done to her, she was still putting their interests first. Still trying to ensure she caused them as little pain as possible. He sat in disbelief. He left his torch beside him, still on, to add to the light from Regan's torch.

Regan squirmed. She hated being so transparent. Especially after that dinner fiasco, she made a decision – she would remember they are co-tenants not friends. She will maintain a good working relationship and not seeing them as anything other than co-tenants. But it had been difficult. Living with three other adults in such close proximity. "Upset you all? No, it's a lovely evening, I thought I would do something romantic and sit beneath the stars..."

"Romantic?" He snorted. Not exactly romantic, sitting beneath the stars, alone, he thought. "Really? Sitting alone!" He challenged softly. His eyes softened. She had come out here to spare his family and him from revisiting bad memories.

"Yes. It is."

"Sitting in the middle of nowhere? On your own?"

"Nothing wrong with that." She stated defensively. "I've done it loads of times." And if that wasn't sad and desperate, she wasn't sure what was! But at least it gave her a chance to sit and regroup. At this spot she could usually recharge her batteries because of its connection with the Jones family. She was fairly sure that link was what gave her strength. This spot reminded her that there were people who cared about her, people who loved her. People who she loved.

"It has nothing to do with the fact that you didn't want Lore, granddad or even me to see your face. Because they and I told you about our experience." Gray pushed wanting her to admit to that. She shrugged. So much for not causing them pain. She was pretty sure her appearance might trigger bad memories to resurface. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt these people.

Regan fobbed with her usual, "I like it here. I often have dinner here! It is my favourite place!"

Gray poked his tongue into his cheek, and his eyes held her eyes hostage. Silence. He was tempted to laugh when he saw the mutiny in in her one, open,eye! The other was practically shut due to the swelling.

"What happened?" He asked. "Regan?" He prodded when he realised that he was going to have to drag every detail from her. She wasn't going to tell him anything otherwise. "Regan, what happened?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, of course it does! And you should be at home, with an ice pack on that eye!" He waited for a second, before he repeated, "What happened, Regan?"