Zo Page 9

  Dearest Lynette,

  you are well on your way to becoming one of the most powerful women in Australia. Didn’t I tell you that she lived within you? And here she is! I could always see that woman in you, even when you were an angry Form 1 girl who wanted to be left alone. Of course, I would be just as proud if you had chosen to avoid law and politics and taken a cleaning job or work in a factory, as you are remarkable whatever you do. You are more than your career, you are more than your mistakes and your successes, you are more than what others see in you. Whatever you do with your life, you are amazing.

  I know you, Peter, Sandy, and Andrew will remain friends until the end of your days, and I trust that you will always be there for each other. I hope that, in some small way, I have helped you create lives that will make a difference. That has been the purpose of my life. I was never meant to love someone in this time, or have children, or even know great happiness, but I did need to help my friends free themselves of the chains that may have weighed them down, so that they could soar free in the skies.

  The man I love – the one you can’t believe in – once said that if he could be judged by those he helped raise up to greatness, then he would be seen as Magnificent…he was. He felt that it was not enough to achieve for oneself – we are obliged to lift those around us. I do hope that you will remember me as someone who helped lift you up. If so, I will have honoured him.

  If I was a plant, you, Peter, Sandy, and Andrew are my petals – the most beautiful and colourful part of my life. The part human eyes find most attractive. I hope people will look on the magnificence of the petals and just admire that. I would not want them to understand the journey of the flower – it is enough to say that your splendour was my purpose.

  I choose now to live in private with my two lives entwined. I will not be in peace as I have read the history books, and I know what awaits my love, so I must live every second with him that I can. I understand why you would believe I am insane, although your belief hurts so much that it twists my heart, but what else could you think? That is the logical conclusion. I want to tell you more, but there is always so much to tell and so much not to tell. I cannot share the secrets of this life and risk losing your love, so I go to live in a quiet place where my two lives can coexist without alarming others, where my ocean of emotion can wash away my shores until all the sand has gone. A place where my friends will not find me and try to repeat that ‘treatment’.

  In ‘that other life’, my love remained behind closed doors, hidden from public and family, with only our closest friends knowing of this Great Secret, and I had hoped that, in this life, I could share the secret. But no. It remains untold. The greatest love story of all time, a love that transcends distance and language, time, and life, and which death will not defeat, but I cannot share it with you. I was – am – insanely in love, but I assure you, I am sane. I do not need drugs or counselling, hypnosis, or anything else, to convince me that this is not real. It is. It just is. I hope that, one day, the words in this letter will prove to you that it is real, and I also trust that you will not feel too much guilt for your actions, as you have only done what any rational person would, so rest easy on those decisions.

  Farewell my friend. I love you so much. I am so proud to see you make a difference, to see you act with integrity, morality, and a conscience. If at any time life knocks you down, I will be there for you – for all of you. But since I cannot share Zo with you, I must let you go ahead without me. I hope we have the chance to meet again, but if we don’t, please know that I am with the love of my life: my eternal love.

  My love to you – always. Like the strands on a rope, we remain entwined.

  Ally.

  Nick slowly folded the pages and placed them back in the envelope. There didn’t seem to be words that were adequate to comfort the sad-eyed woman opposite who wore sorrow like a cloak around her shoulders. He understood that Ally had changed her life and enabled her to achieve so much, and Lynette felt that she had failed her. There was both guilt and grief in her eyes as she returned his gaze. She had allowed him to see behind the protective walls she had raised, and he hoped he would prove worthy of the trust she had placed in him. Without knowing Ally, he had the sense of the waves of her emotional ocean pounding him.

  He leaned forward, placed the envelope on her lap, and gently took her hand in his, ‘I’ll get you to her as soon as possible. You haven’t failed her, you know.’

  ‘Yes, I have,’ she sighed, her heart heavy. ‘We all did. We trapped her once, like a wild animal in a cage, and she escaped from us. Then we were living our dreams, and we left Ally to her delusions. We did try to find her - we all put in to pay for someone to look for her for years but she vanished. Only Peter kept looking. He never gave up. God, he loved her so much.’

  ‘You’re there for her now. You all are.’

  ‘If we’re not too late. Peter said she wants to be with him – the man who doesn’t exist. That means she wants to die, and she’s very good at getting what she wants.’

  ‘If the man in her delusion is half the man she says he is, he won’t want her to die. He’ll want her to live.’

  Lynette looked at him as the significance of his words sunk in. A smile slowly moved her lips as she realised that Nick was right. Real or imagined, the Zo whom Ally loved would never want her to give up on life.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Lamore Crew Together

  Kamekura Private Hospital, Queensland. May, 2019

  Lynette and Nick sat in the one of the reception rooms at Kamekura watching the medical staff run into the gardens with trolleys and equipment. He met her eyes in question, and she shrugged an answer. Who knew what sort of emergencies took place in a wellness centre?

  The nurse who had met them at the front desk told them that Peter was expecting them, but was currently unavailable. She promised to inform him they were there, and said she was sure he’d attend to them as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Daintree Room was ready for them. She led them along a bright, cheery coloured corridor that made Lynette want to skip and sing with chirpiness, and left them alone in a reception room after indicating where they could find refreshments and snacks.

  ‘If I was a celebrity tripping out on drugs,’ said Lynette as she looked around the spacious rainforest themed room, ‘I think this would probably be quite calming.’

  Murals of trees, palms, and ferns were on all walls, giving the impression that they were in a small clearing of a forest that extended far beyond the boundaries of the room. The large windows overlooked a courtyard of palms and ferns, and an abundance of healthy plants in hangers around the room, lent a three-dimensional aspect to the painted jungle. Paintings of leafy branches extended from the trees on the walls out across the ceiling, with deep blue sky and clouds behind them. The sounds of running water, bird calls, and humming insects played softly from hidden speakers, and the air had a flowery, tropical scent to it. The bamboo furniture toned in perfectly with the atmosphere of the room.

  ‘I want a room like this,’ Lynette smiled at Nick as she turned around, her shoes half buried in the grass-green carpet.

  ‘You can want one,’ he winked at her, ‘but I’m going to get one. In fact,’ he took his phone out and started to take a 360-degree photo, ‘I’m sending this to one of my assistants right now, and I’ll have one just like it when I get home.’

  Lynette laughed at him, ‘Oh my God, talk about impulse buying!’

  ‘Don’t ever take me to the Thoroughbred sales,’ he raised his brows and gave her that lopsided smile that was beginning to tug at her heart. ‘I have more useless racehorses than I know what to do with because they looked at me and made me feel they wanted to come home with me. I think it’s because they know they’re slower than molasses on a cold day and want to live out their days on my farm, rather than run last in a few races and end up as cat food.’

  ‘I read you had a lot of racehorses,’ said Lynette, quietly surprised to discover ano
ther soft side to his character, ‘but I didn’t realise they were impulse buys after they made googly eyes at you.’

  ‘Yep, lots of them. All slow. But not one of them will end up in a tin. I’m hoping that, one day, a fast horse will look at me and ask to come home.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have taken you as a sucker for a sluggish horse,’ she narrowed her eyes, suspecting he could be teasing her.

  He stepped closer to her so that she had to look up at him. Taking her hand in his, he raised it to his lips, sending her heart racing. ‘Yep. Slow horses and fast women. Absolute sucker.’

  Lynette’s mouth twitched in humour at his words. She hadn’t thought of herself as a fast woman. ‘So, where do I fit in?’

  ‘You’ve created a whole new category all of your own,’ he drawled, his breath warm on the back of her hand.

  ‘I’m not sure whether to be flattered or scared by that.’

  ‘How about you be flattered, and I’ll be scared,’ he smiled down at her, his brown eyes intense with emotion.

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ she joked, stepping back, both from him and the force of the moment. The emotions battering around inside her head and chest were alien things. She would examine them later.

  Changing to a lighter note, she continued, ‘So, where will you have your rainforest room built? Not at your office, I hope – it might make your business associates a little bit jumpy if they feel as though they’re about to be attacked by jungle predators or head hunters.’

  ‘That could actually be a good strategy,’ he pointed out, glancing around the room as though imagining adding snakes and cannibals to the décor. ‘But, no. I’m doing up my main country house – where all the slow racehorses are – and I think this would work.’

  ‘And it could be amusing to see which of your guests recognise it from here, and assume that you were here for some sort of problem.’

  ‘Horse hoarding, perhaps?’ he suggested.

  Lynette pursed her lips as though seriously considering the notion, then shook her head. ‘No, not that. Obviously, you’re here for sex addiction. At least, that’s the rumour I’ll be spreading.’

  ‘I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think I’m flattered by that diagnosis.’

  ‘You may be expected to prove it to me, though,’ she said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

  ‘Here and now?’

  The expectant look on his face made her chuckle. ‘Not here, not now. I’m embarrassed enough to think of becoming a part of the clichéd Mile High Club, without adding to it by having sex where we could be interrupted at any moment.’

  ‘So old fashioned and sensible,’ he smirked, thinking of the uninhibited lover she’d been at 30,000 feet.

  ‘I’d rather think that I’m simply not an exhibitionist,’ she countered, then looked out the open door as another two staff members hurried past. ‘I wonder where Peter is? Something’s going on out there.’

  ‘Give him half an hour, and then we can check at the front desk.’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ she said as she relaxed into one of the comfortable cane armchairs. ‘While we wait, why don’t you tell me a bit more about your childhood – you’ve heard enough about mine.’

  ‘Never enough,’ he said, his voice like fingers caressing her soul, ‘I could listen to your memories for a long time yet.’

  Lynette hoped that they would have a long time, but she suspected that their relationship would be short. Intense, but short. That caused a pang in her chest as she realised that she didn’t want short, she wanted…more.

  Twenty minutes later, the nurse from the front desk returned, accompanied by a vision of perfection in a sapphire blue skirt and jacket, white silk shirt, and extraordinarily high shoes that looked like sex-for-feet. For a few seconds, Sandy L. Martin’s face was a mask of emotionless beauty as her gaze took in the rainforest room, her thoughts carefully hidden as she regarded the jungle. Then she saw Lynette sitting in one of the arm chairs, her grey eyes twinkling as she admired the exquisite movie star.

  In the blink of an eye, Sandra transformed from the poised diva to a jubilant friend. A teenage squeal burst from her mouth and she jumped into the air, clapping her hands excitedly, an expression of delight melting her features into happiness.

  ‘Lynette! L.M.! Lynny-Mo!’ she ran through a list of names she used for her school friend in years gone by.

  Lynette rose from the chair and ran to Sandra, opening her arms wide to envelop the petite star in a hug, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around.

  ‘It’s so great to see you!’ said Lynette, putting her friend down and holding her hands on either side of her face. ‘You look amazing!’

  ‘So do you!’

  ‘Pfft,’ Lynette, waving away the compliment as though swatting at a fly, ‘I look jet-lagged, you look ready for a photo shoot with Glamour – as it should be.’

  They both fell silent for a few seconds, looking at each other with smiles on their lips and love in their eyes. Without needing to say the words, they understood that friendship knew no boundaries of time, and the bond they had as teenagers remained as strong now as it was when they spent most of their waking hours together. Their lives had diverged, and they wore many different layers of life over the teens they had been, but when they looked at each other, they recognised the girl each had loved so dearly, and still loved.

  ‘God, I forgot how good it feels to see you,’ said Sandy, tears pricking her eyes as she was able to drop her guard without fear of repercussions, ‘it’s just so bloody comfortable.’

  ‘I know,’ Lynette grinned and sighed, ‘like putting on comfy old slippers that feel perfect.’

  ‘Old slippers,’ Sandy chuckled and gave her another hug, and cast her gaze over Lynette’s shoulder at Nick who had risen to his feet, as any well-mannered gentleman would when a female entered the room. Her sharp green eyes met the dark chocolate of his and he gave a slight nod to acknowledge her.

  Squeezing Lynette’s hand teasingly, her husky voice murmured in Lynette’s ear, just loud enough for Nick to hear, ‘My, oh my, who’s this long, cool drink of delicious?’

  ‘Miss Martin,’ he said with his smoothest Texas voice, ‘a pleasure to meet you.’

  Releasing Lynette, Sandy looked Nick up and down, taking in his casual jeans and open necked white shirt which, to a trained eye like hers, were clearly expensive. ‘Likewise, I’m sure…’ she hesitated and looked at Lynette, waiting for the introduction.

  Lynette wondered how she should introduce him. They had known each other for a day, so did she introduce a friend of twenty-four hours to a friend of almost fifty years as, my good friend or perhaps business associate since that was also true? Maybe her good Samaritan. Or lover. ‘This is my new bestie,’ she opted for a teen expression from their past, ‘Nick Carter. He flew me over from France in his plane after Peter called.’

  Pursing her lips and raising one questioning brow, Sandy looked from one to another, ‘You say ‘new’. How new?’

  Nick flashed one of his charming smiles. ‘We met yesterday, Ma’am, and things kinda accelerated from there.’

  Noting the uncharacteristic blush on Lynette’s cheeks, Sandy couldn’t contain a chuckle, ‘Accelerated? Honey, a man flies you in his plane from France to Australia after just meeting you, I’m thinking you accelerated right through the sound barrier and made it to an Enterprise Warp Nine.’

  Nick raised a hand and gently touched Lynette’s cheek, looking down at her with the fondness of someone who had loved her for decades, ‘Not bad for a first date, eh?’

  ‘It probably seems a bit crazy…’ Lynette began but Sandy stopped her.

  ‘Hey, Lynny-Mo, our Ally spent her life in love with someone who’s dead so, let me tell you, falling for this gorgeous hunk of Texas seems about the sanest thing you could possibly do. And I sure hope you have fallen for him.’

  ‘We only met yesterday, Sandy.’

  ‘What’s that got to do with anything? He’s go
rgeous, he’s got a plane, and he looks at you as though you’re the best thing since chocolate and alcohol, speaking of which, I’m dying here – any Fosters in that fridge to wash Hollywood out of my throat?’

  Lynette chuckled and glanced at the fridge, ‘With all the rehabilitating alcoholics here, hon, maybe beer won’t be the drink of choice in the fridges.’

  ‘Peter knew I was coming, he’ll have a beer for me.’

  She was right. Lynette found a bottle of Fosters at the back of the fridge with a little note on a chain around the neck stating, ‘For Sandy’. Twisting off the lid with a satisfying ‘pssht’ sound, Lynette handed it over.

  ‘Australia, I’m home!’ sighed Sandy. Raising the bottle in salute, she downed half the bottle in an unbroken series of gulps and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth when she paused. ‘Nearly as good as comfy slippers.’

  ‘Never could take to beer or rum,’ Lynette shook her head, ‘and you never liked it that much from what I remember.’

  ‘Nup, didn’t like it much at all. Still don’t, but it tastes like Australia, so it feels right to have a bottle when I get home. And it helps get rid of the memory of spending so long on a plane.’

  They discussed their flights for a minute before Sandy asked if Peter had seen them yet.

  ‘Apparently he’s busy,’ explained Lynette. ‘We’ve seen medical crews rushing about so not sure what is happening.’

  ‘I hope no one tried to top themselves,’ said Sandy before stopping, a look of worry on her face as she and Lynette thought the same thing. ‘Peter did say that Ally wanted to die. God, I hope that’s not why he’s missing.’

  ‘I’m going to find out.’ Lynette headed towards the door, only to have Nick stop her and tell her to stay with Sandy. He would ask.