Lily's Story, A Bentley Sisters Novel Read online

  “Of course, I will, Sam," she said immediately. “After all, I’m not going to be able to keep myself in new coats at this rate!”

  Sam grinned, relieved that she was definitely okay.

  “We need to get you some medical attention, young lady,” Tom interrupted.

  “Oh!” Lily exclaimed. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, it just looks like a scrape and I can patch it up when I get home.”

  “Don’t even think about,” Tom interrupted before she could get any further. “I’m taking you to A&E right now to let them have a look. Sam, I assume you’re happy for us to catch up about this tomorrow?”

  Nodding, Sam said, “Of course. I’m going to give the parents of a couple of the kids whom I thought I saw tonight a call. Although,” he added with an undercurrent of resignation in his voice, “I doubt the parents will be that interested.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Tom agreed. “I can be in late morning tomorrow to catch up and maybe have an informal word with some of the likely suspects.”

  “They’re not suspects!” Lily exclaimed, horrified that it sounded like the two of them were turning this into some kind of an investigation. “You can’t bring in the police!”

  “Lily, in case it’s escaped your notice over the last few months, I am the police. Whilst I’m not proposing to launch a full investigation, I do intend to follow up on this and do everything I can to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” He held her gaze without flinching.

  “But tonight, young lady, we’re off to get that shoulder looked at properly.”

  Without another word, he looped one arm under her knees and kept the other securely wrapped around her back, and lifted her effortlessly up into his arms, careful to prevent her shoulder getting jarred in the process.

  “Sam.” He nodded at the other man before striding off to the car park to deposit a still speechless Lily in the passenger seat of his car, settling her in so she was as comfortable as possible in the circumstances. Buckling the safety belt around her, he closed the door.

  He was gone for a few moments, before she heard the back door of the car open and twisted around to see him place her bag and papers, which she had discarded in her rush to intervene, on the floor. She flushed, as she hadn’t even realised that she was missing her possessions when he had put her in the car.

  She looked over at him as he swung himself into the seat behind the wheel. “Tom,” she started.

  He raised one eyebrow at her, but said nothing, waiting for her to finish.

  “I... it’s just... well...”

  Still, he said nothing.

  She sighed. “You seem cross. I really don’t want to put you out. I can drive myself to get checked out or one of my sisters can come with me. Really, you don’t have to, that is‑” she drifted off.

  “Is that it?” he asked curtly.

  She gulped, “Um. I guess. Well, er... yes...”

  “This isn’t the place for the conversation we need to have, Lily. It can wait until we know for sure that your shoulder is fine. But don’t even think that I’m not coming with you to the hospital. End of story,” he finished, his voice steely.

  * * *

  The remainder of the journey to the hospital had been conducted pretty much in silence. Lily could feel her tension rising, and she couldn’t blame her shoulder at all!

  When Tom pulled into the hospital, he insisted on carrying her into the reception area but then marched straight past the reception desk and down a maze of corridors on the left and knocked on one of the doors. The door opened and a striking looking young man who looked to be in his early thirties stood there and beckoned them in.

  “Tom,” he said, with a grin on his face, “about time you put in an appearance!”

  A frown appeared on his brow as he caught sight of Lily’s shoulder.

  “Uh ho,” he said, “looks like someone’s taken a tumble,” as Tom placed Lily on the ubiquitous examination table that was in the corner of the room.

  “Lily,” Tom said, “this is my brother Jamie. He’s a doctor here at the hospital and can take a look at your shoulder.”

  “Your brother?” she asked, clearly astonished, “But I didn’t know you had a brother!”

  Both men grinned at her, and Tom chuckled for the first time in the last miserable hour.

  “There’s probably quite a lot you don’t know about me, little one,” he said wryly.

  Lily’s eyes widened at the unexpected endearment and the grin on Jamie’s face got even broader as he too clearly heard his brother’s words. He raised his eyebrow quizzically at Tom.

  “Okay then, Lily.” Jamie got down to business. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but we need to take a look at that shoulder of yours, so why don’t we start by getting you out of what used to be your coat?”

  As Jamie and Tom helped her out of her layers, she decided that Jamie definitely had a better sense of humour than his brother, although as she recount what had happened, the grin on his face disappeared and was replaced by a frown disturbingly similar to his older brother’s.

  “You let her run into a gang fight?” He turned to Tom, just as Lily responded hotly, “It was not a gang fight! They’re good kids!”

  Both men ignored her pointedly, and Tom frostily told Jamie, “I did not let her do anything. She was supposed to be in her classroom at the end of the day and the next thing I see from the window is her running headlong into a brawl. You can rest assured she won’t be doing anything like that again!”

  “Hang on just one minute, what do you mean, I was supposed to be in my classroom? It was the end of the day!” Lily found herself getting irritated by his presumptuous attitude even as she was lying on a hospital bed.

  Both men glared at her, as Tom said, “There’s no need for that tone. We can discuss it later, but you clearly saw me arrive and it wasn’t unrealistic for me to expect that you would either have gone home while it was still daylight or waited around for me and we could have chatted and then I would have made sure you got to your car safely. I certainly didn’t expect you to stay until it was dark and then leave of your own accord, just as the real trouble makers were gathering!”

  The tension in the air was palpable and Jamie at least made an effort to ease the atmosphere by turning his attention back to her shoulder, which was now more easily accessible to his ministrations.

  After a good ten minutes of prodding and probing, he announced that she was lucky and her shoulder was fine other than for a bad graze and he turned to get antiseptic to clean it properly.

  “Are you sure?” Tom asked, worry still clouding his face.

  “Remember those years of medical school?” Jamie pointed mockingly to the certificates framed on the wall of the room. “Yep, I’m sure.” He turned to Lily, “although it’s still going to be a bit sore for a couple of days, and you need to take care to make sure it stays clean. Okay?”

  “Sure,” she answered, “I’ll take real care, I promise.”

  “Good," he said as he meticulously cleaned the wound, being as gentle as he could when he used tweezers to remove small flecks of grit that could have caused an infection. When at last he was done and he was cleaning up, he turned back to her casually, “Are all your shots up to date, Lily?”

  “Shots?” she asked blankly, not quite understanding what he meant.

  “Vaccinations. The one I’m thinking of is tetanus. Do you get your boosters regularly?”

  She squirmed as she was forced to admit that she couldn’t even remember getting a single shot since she was a teenager, and she saw Tom’s eyes narrow fractionally and the two men exchanged a pointed look with each other.

  “Okay then,” Jamie said, “that’s easily fixed,” and he gave her the tetanus booster there and then. “All done. How do you feel?”

  “All things considered, pretty good,” she responded honestly. “My shoulder barely hurts at all. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it, and I’m sorry I was grouchy earlier.”

&nb
sp; Jamie chuckled, “Not a problem. I’m sure my brother is more than relieved that you’re feeling fine too. Now, be a good girl and look after the graze. Tom will bring you back in a couple of days for me to have a quick check.”

  “Oh, but....” she started.

  “No problem at all,” he interrupted. “I want to make absolutely sure that it heals properly and, in any event,” he added enigmatically, “if I know my brother, I have every suspicion that we’ll meet again soon anyway! Now, I have to fill out some paperwork for you.” He glanced over at his brother questioningly, “Shall I do that here,” he paused slightly and the brothers exchanged a knowing look, “or would you like a few minutes to yourselves and I can leave it for you to pick up in reception?”

  Tom replied before Lily had even had a chance to process the question, “We’ll pick it up in reception. Thanks Jamie.”

  Jamie grinned. “Thought so. Well, Lily, it was a pleasure to meet you and I’ll see you in a couple of days, if you’re still speaking to my brother by then that is!” and with that, he strolled out the door, shutting it quietly behind him.

  Alone in the small room with Tom, Lily was confused as to why Jamie had disappeared and she ease herself up from where she was seated, only to see Tom move towards the closed door and turn the lock on the inside.

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “Now, Lily.” Tom turned to her, his face implacable but his eyes still gentle, “it’s time for us to have that chat about your behaviour today.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lily froze.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, hesitantly. She knew he disapproved that she had intervened in the fight, and he had been irritable with her ever since, but she had no idea what it was that he wanted to talk to her about in such a serious manner that he had locked the door!

  He looked surprised. “Come on, Lily. You can’t seriously think that we weren’t going to have to talk about this? You could have been hurt, or worse, through your actions today. It’s pretty clear that you don’t look after yourself properly, and that,” he added grimly, “is inexcusable.”

  He moved over to where she was now half sitting, half standing, and tugged her to her feet. She looked up at him, now apprehensive more than surprised. She didn’t know quite what this “talk” was going to comprise, but her instincts told her that it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  “But...” she said, stalling for time, “really, it was fine. I wasn’t hurt. Your brother said so himself!”

  “No,” Tom corrected her. “Jamie said that you were lucky, and it was badly grazed. That all could have been avoided. You should know better than to go wading into fights. You’re not stupid, you know a lot of the kids carry knives and you know that they’re not afraid to use them. You could have shouted out, and Sam and I would have heard you, or you could have even run back to the school to get us. Anything other than running in head first without a thought to your own safety.”

  Lily flushed and hung her head. She knew he was right, but she didn’t want to admit it.

  “Someone pushed me out of the way,” she murmured. “They did try to make sure I didn’t get hurt, they really did.”

  Tom ran his hand through his hair in exasperation at her words. “Was that intentional to stop you getting hurt, Lily, or was it just so they could get a better aim at their main target? Hmm?”

  Taken aback, Lily’s head swung up and her eyes widened. She hadn’t even thought about that possibility. She had just assumed that someone had tried to protect her from the knife. She tremble and wrapped her arms around herself, as she realised how naive she had been and how easily she could have been hurt.

  Gently, Tom placed one arm around her shoulders and, using his free hand, tipped her chin up fractionally to ensure she had no choice but to meet his gaze.

  “I... I... I didn’t realise,” she whispered brokenly, not wanting to continue eye contact with him but unable to look away.

  “Do you know how worried I was when I heard the shouts from outside and saw you in the middle of what could have been a very ugly fight?” he asked her softly.

  Lily shook her head.

  He sighed. “Well, I was. Really worried. Lily, I had hoped that over the last few months we’d got to know each well enough for you to know that I would worry about you. I thought we had become friends and, perhaps, that we might become more than that to each other if you were willing to consider it.”

  Shocked, Lily gasped. She had wondered, daydreamed and hoped that perhaps he felt the same way as she did, but he hadn’t given her any indication; he’d never asked her out for so much as a drink!

  “But you never... that is, I mean, I wasn’t sure...” Lily stumbled, her cheeks now flushed a rosy pink.

  A smile tugged at his lips. “I didn’t want to come on too strong at the beginning. I knew you were new to the school and finding your feet for a while. I figured I’d give you a bit of space and make sure you were comfortable with me first. Besides,” he added, with a grin, “I guessed that you wouldn’t want me asking you out in your classroom when any of the kids could have walked in at any time!”

  Lily’s mind was spinning. Not only was the subject of her months of daydreaming telling her he was interested in her romantically, but he’d also been putting her feelings first.

  “Well?” he asked, his grey eyes looking momentarily worried at her continued silence.

  She gulped, not sure how to articulate her thoughts. “Yes!” she blurted out.

  He laughed and the glimpse of uncertainty she had seen in his eyes vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He pulled her closer to him so she was pressed up against him from top to toe, her head fitting snugly to his shoulder. “Yes, what exactly?” he asked with a smile, looking down at her.

  “I mean, yes, I thought we were friends but, well‑” she drew in a long breath, “I wasn’t sure that you were interested in anything else...” her voice trailed off.

  “Did you see me spending the amount of time I spent with you over the last few months with any of the other teachers?” he asked lightly, and chuckled at the blush that continued to creep over her, realising that she had noticed that he had been paying her special attention.

  “So does this mean that you might contemplate having dinner with me this week?” he asked.

  Her eyes shining, Lily nodded, still stunned by his words, and the fact that she remained locked in the secure circle of his arms. “Yes, I would. It would be lovely,” she answered, meaning every word.

  Tom nodded approvingly, but she noticed that his eyes cloud.

  “I’m glad, Lily. Really glad. But there’s something you should know.” Once again, he tilted her chin up to him and made her meet his steady gaze.

  “I meant what I said about your actions today; it was inexcusable to do what you did and you should know from the start that the one thing I won’t tolerate is my woman putting herself at risk.”

  Her heart pounded, whether from the glow that his possessive reference to “my woman” gave her, or at his stern look, she wasn’t sure.

  “I know, Tom. Really, I do. It was stupid of me and I won’t do it again, I promise.”

  “Maybe,” he replied, “but I think there’s one good way of making sure you remember that promise.” With those words, he deftly picked her up and turned them both around so that he could sit down in the vacant chair, and easily turned her straight over his knee, making sure that her shoulder was protected by his arm.

  Horrified at what was happening, Lily squeaked at him, “What are you doing? Stop it. This isn’t right, Tom. You can’t do this!”

  “I can, and I am, Lily,” he replied firmly, as the palm of his hand descended resolutely on her bottom and she cried out in surprise at the sharp sting that she could feel even through the protection of her skirt.

  “Ow... Tom, no!” she gasped, “Stop it, please! It hurts!”

  “I know it hurts, Lily. Maybe the sting will help you to remember never to do somethi
ng as foolish again.”

  His palm fell with a thwack. Frantically, Lily wriggled to try to escape his clutches, twisting her hips back and forth in an attempt to dislodge herself from his lap.

  “I told you, I won’t, I promise‑ please, Tom!” she cried as the sting in her bottom spread like flames under his ministrations.

  “No wriggling, Lily,” he said sternly, as he grasped both her flailing hands in one strong grip. “I intend to start this relationship as I mean to go on, and that means making sure you take care of yourself, and know that if you don’t, then I will!”

  And with those words, his hand came down in another dozen swift, sharp smacks, ignoring her protests that had rapidly turned into tears, but making sure he didn’t overdo it. He’d guessed from her panicked reaction that this was a first for her, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her away from him, but he wouldn’t be true to himself or his feelings for this tiny, beautiful young school teacher if he ignored what had happened. Besides, Lily needed to know from the outset the kind of man he was; Tom would cherish, protect and cosset the woman he was with, but there were some things he refused to tolerate, and anything that put her at risk was at the top of that list.

  Lily’s wriggles had subsided and although she was quietly crying, he suspected it was more through emotion and shock than pain, as he knew that her skirt had protected her from the full force of the spanking.

  He smoothed her rumpled skirt and tenderly stroked her back as her cries eased.

  Blinking through her tears, Lily realised that the spanks had stopped and Tom was stroking her back. Embarrassed, she struggled to get up, wanting only to flee the room and the scene of her humiliation, but a strong hand on her back prevented her.

  “No,” he said softly, “stay there, just for a few minutes.”

  Ignoring him, Lily twisted in protest at her undignified position, but was rewarded with another stinging smack to her rear.

  “Ow!” she cried in shock at his renewed assault.

  “Unless you want us to start all over again with your spanking, Lily, and believe me, I’m more than happy to do that, you’ll stay put as you were told until I move you.” Tom’s tone was firm and, although Lily couldn’t see his face, she was willing to bet that his eyes had that unflinching look in them that made her want to squirm away. “And Lily,” he added, “if we are going to start over again, here and now, don’t think for a second that I’m going to let you shield your bottom from me with that skirt again. That was a one time only concession.”