Commitment

Part 76

There was a silence as they both looked at each other. Her words echoed into the silence. He got to his feet and moved away from her bed as the red flush in his neck moved to his cheeks.

She was running on fumes, and now that she had run out, she sagged against her pillows and closed her eyes. She still ached all over. Again, she wanted to curl up and go to sleep. She bit down on her lip. Allowed the spasm to work itself through her body. She was just pleased that the number of spasms had reduced over the last few hours. She closed her eyes and winced.

Gray missed the wince in her face, as he was looking out of the window and he said quietly, "I will help." He turned around to face her.

She opened her eyes and Gray could see from her incredulous look that she thought he needed his head read. "You want to help me? Now?" She asked in a more moderate and sighed, hugging her midriff hoping it would contain the impending contraction. "Apparently," She grimaced, "I am a piece of work!" Winced again, as she battled the spasm. "Take advantage of people's poor situations!" Spasm over, she inhaled and sank into her mattress. "Remember that?" She sighed, and looked at him, "In any case, you have a job. A full time job."

He took a deep breath, and thought this was not the right time for this discussion. "I'm sorry Regan." He said softly and moved back to her bed.

"Great." She shrugged. "Fine."

"I did not know your circumstances when you shared your home with us. I didn't know about you working to generate my wage. I don't understand why didn't you tell me?" He stood at the bottom of her bed. She just closed her eyes and shrugged again. Pride, she thought. Or vanity or just plain embarrassment. And in any case, she was not well enough to argue. He glanced across at her, "Look, Regan, I will sort this." He moved.

She snorted and opened her eyes. "How?" She flicked him a derisive look. How would he help her? He had a job. A decent job. Had spread rumours, well, ok, facts. But no one would work for her, given that reputation.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Gray asked quietly. But he knew the answer to that question. No doubt, approaching an arrogant man, and telling him she had no money was unlikely in any situation. Not helped by the fact that this particular arrogant man painted her as a selfish miser.

"Tell you what?" Demanded, almost breathily, and caught sight of the movement in her peripheral vision as he came closer.

"That you were strapped for cash? Didn't tell me when I worked for you?"

She glared at him. "I guess you'd tell people if you were strapped for cash? Have you asked your new employer about his financial situation?" She challenged and for the first time during this encounter he saw real emotion in her eyes before she once again erected the barriers. He needed those barriers to come down.

"You could have told me you were working as a locum to cover my wage." And she could hear the concern that laced his voice.

"Oh, no mean when you called me a miser? Yes, I can imagine you would accept that. A selfish woman doing locums."

"You could have told me when I asked for money? Or explain why we couldn't have shearers? There were lots of times when you could have told me."

"Have you ask your employer? About where he gets your wages? Why he wants x, or y? Or not want x or y!" She huffed. "And, I'm not looking for charity. Now. Or then." She snapped. It was one thing wanting this man to like her, but she was not willing to settle for charity.

"I'm not offering any." Came the swift response. Then he repeated. "You could have told me." He still did not understand why she took on his family when she barely had enough to support herself. He felt guilty about the fact he forced her into further debt.