Mattâs voice was very soft. âAre we more than good friends?â
âIf we were just good friends, it wouldnât matter that our lives were so complicated or that we only got to see each other when there were other people around, would it?â
âI did warn you.â Mattâs voice tickled Toriâs ear. âI knew it was quite likely Iâd fall in love with you.â
âBut I didnât think Iâd fall in love with you.â Tori twisted in Mattâs arms so she could see his face properly. Could touch it again. âThis is a disaster, Matt.â
But Mattâs expression looked anything but dismayed. âAre you saying youâre in love with me?â He seemed to get the answer he wanted from her touch, and turned his head to press a kiss into her palm.
Dear Reader
Teenagers seem to be experts in creating conflict, donât they? And sometimes it is for no reason other than trying to assert their own independence. I am well aware that even living with oneâs own dearly loved teen can be a fraught business, and Iâve done my research on a daily basis for some time now! How much more difficult would it be to live with someone elseâs teen? Especially for someone who has good reason to vow never to contemplate trying?
Tori grew up with the repercussions of extending a family to include unrelated children. Some were happyâsuch as the relationship with her foster sister, Sarah (A MOTHER FOR HIS FAMILY)âbut others were much less happy and contribute to the issues facing Tori and Matt in this story. I enjoyed exploring those issues. I enjoyed the resolution even more. Hope you do, too.
Happy reading!
Alison
âOHâ¦MY God!â
Victoria Preston had, as usual, timed her journey carefully to avoid the kind of traffic hassles commuters around Auckland, New Zealand were having to face these days.
This scene of total chaos was the last thing she had expected to see on her way to work.
This was no traffic hassle.
This was a disaster!
It must have happened only seconds ago, while Tori had been singingâno, shouting happilyâalong with the song rattling the windows of her ancient VW Beetle, just before sheâd rounded the bend onto the downhill stretch that led to the bridge across the river.
Another car was pulling to a halt on the other side of the bridge, but Tori was officially the first on the scene as she killed the engine on her car and leapt out.
And what a scene!
A logging truck lay twisted across the road, blocking the narrow bridge. The driverâs cab had smashed through the concrete side of the bridge and now hung sideways in mid-air, one giant wheel still spinning slowly. Tori could see the bloodstained, starburst pattern of cracks in the windscreen and a figure slumped over the oversized steering-wheel. The only thing holding the cab above the water, a good twenty metres below, was the twisted coupling holding the cab to a platform now only half-full of huge logs of wood.
The spilt logs had done serious damage to the car the truck must have been trying to avoid hitting as it had come off the one-lane bridge. One had also taken out a minibus, which had presumably been travelling behind the car. The van-style bus lay tipped on an angle to one side, with the weight of a massive tree trunk crushing its side doors.
Tori could see a face in the driverâs compartment of the van. It was the face of a young child and the sound of screaming suddenly cut through the stunned silence that had been the ominous background during the few seconds it had taken Tori to size up the situation and realise the magnitude of this disaster.
âIâve called an ambulance.â The shout from the bridge on the other side of the logging truck was barely audible. âHow does it look from your side?â
âNot good.â Tori was moving towards the minibus. âCall the emergency services again. Tell them itâs a multi-casualty incident.â
âHow many people?â
âDonât know yet,â Tori shouted back. âIâm about to find out.â
The child in the van was screaming too loudly to hear Tori. She could see a woman in the driverâs seat, her face covered in blood, moving her arms feebly. At least she was moving, which was more than the driver of the logging truck appeared to be. Another child could be seen, huddled in the gap between the two front seats. He or she was crying, adding to the muted sounds of distress coming from within the vehicle, but that child, too, was clearly breathing adequately.
Tori couldnât see any further into the rear of the minibus. So far she had counted four patients, two of whom were seriously injured. How many more people were trapped in the back of the van? And there was yet another vehicle involved in this crash.
âIâll be back in a minute!â Tori tapped on the intact windscreen of the van and the child in the front stared in wide-eyed terror. âYouâll be all right, sweetheart. Just hang on for a bit. Iâll be back.â