The Lawson Boys: Alex (28 page)

Say what she
would, he wasn’t entirely convinced that her own parents would come
to her aid if it involved something of which they didn’t approve.
Plus, he did want to spend as much time with her as he could, that
was no lie.

Outwardly
patient, inwardly a little worried, he waited as she stared out at
yard in silence, and he’d just decided that she was going to refuse
when she looked back up at him and nodded. “I’ll see if I can get
some time off at the café, though it’s short notice. And I’ll need
to make sure my parents will feed the furries.”

His heart
leaped in combined gladness and relief. “Thank you.”

“I’ll follow
you in my car and-”

“No need,” he
interrupted immediately. “You can come in the Jeep.”

“And how do I
come back? Bus?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Confused, he
raised his eyebrows.

“Why do I need
to return in the bus?”

“Well, you’ll
be with other people if you break down…” His voice trailed off as
she sat up and turned to face him. Uh-oh, he’d said something
wrong.

“Listen, Alex,
I’ve been driving myself around for years and that isn’t going to
change. Either I follow you in my car and drive myself back, or I
don’t go at all. What’s it to be?”

“I’m just
worried about your safety.”

“And I’ll be
worried about yours, but I won’t be in a hostile country with
insurgents aiming bullets at me. You will. But do you hear me
asking you to stay behind?” When he didn’t reply immediately, her
eyes narrowed. “Do you?”

“No,” was all
he could possibly say.

“I can change
a tyre, and I’ve travelled to the city many times by myself in the
past. And I’m doing it again. Understand?”

Oh boy
.
Alex looked down at her, half amused at her annoyance but still
unable to help his protective side surfacing. “Take someone with
you. What about Mark, Maryanne’s kid?”

“Gosh, what a
good idea. He can sleep with you while we’re away together.”

Okay, so that
wasn’t his best idea.

“I’m telling
you, Alex. I drive myself or not at all.”

“I’m not going
to win this, am I?”

“No.”

“Fine.” He
sighed. “You can follow me.”

“Good.” She
settled herself back into his side.

Shaking his
head, he acknowledged that he wasn’t going to win all their
arguments. Then again, if she was the kind of woman who needed a
man around all the time, they would never have suited. That Harly
was strong enough to be able to handle being by herself was a gift
to him, for it meant he could stay in the Army as well as have her
be a huge part of his life.

Though he also
realised he’d give up anything to keep her.

Yes, she
really was a gift.

The next
evening after work, Harly took Alex to her parent’s home to give
them the spare key and last minute instructions for feeding her
beloved pets.

Alex was
sitting in the lounge waiting for her as she spoke to her mother in
the kitchen. He stood as her father walked into the room.

“Lawson.” Mr
Bentley nodded.

“Mr Bentley.”
He returned the nod and knowing there was more to come, he
waited.

“Harly is my
only child,” Mr Bentley finally said. “She doesn’t go out with men,
she lives a quiet life, but I know what’s been happening between
you two this last week.”

No doubt, Alex
thought. It was kind of hard to miss, his Jeep being at her place
every night.

Mr Bentley
fixed him with a hard look. “It’s because of the kind of girl she
is that I know you mean a lot to her. So I’m warning you, you treat
her right, you don’t break her heart, or you’ll answer to me.
Understand?”

“I respect
your warning, Sir.” Alex nodded. “I would never dream of hurting
Harly, and you have my promise that I’ll always protect her.”

“Dad!” Walking
into the room, Harly rolled her eyes. “Must you?”

“As your
father, it’s my duty.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I just want to
ensure you’re never hurt.”

Mrs Bentley
came to a stop on Harly’s’ other side and her eyes were distinctly
cold as she surveyed Alex. “I hope you mean what you say,
Alex.”

There was
hidden meaning in her words, he could feel it, and he looked from
her to Mr Bentley, but Harly’s father just smiled at him.

“I know you’d
never leave anyone in the lurch,” Mrs Bentley continued. “Would
you, Alex?”

“Mum,” Harly
objected. “Really, there’s no need for-”

“No.” Stepping
forward, Alex took her hand and pulled her to his side while
looking directly at her mother. “Let her speak her mind.”

“Honey?”
Puzzled, Mr Bentley looked at his wife’s tight expression.

“It’s
nothing.” She attempted a smile, but it was more a grimace.

Beside him,
Alex felt Harly stiffen, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.
“It’s all right.”

“Mum…” Harly
hesitated.

“I think I
know exactly to what your mother is referring,” Alex said quietly.
“Don’t I, Mrs Bentley?”

Bewildered, Mr
Bentley glanced between Alex and his wife.

Mrs Bentley
glared at Alex.

“How about I
just say it?” Alex gazed steadily at her. “Or will you?”

“Fine,” she
snapped, and looked at Harley. “I hope you’re taking precautions,
Harly, or you’ll likely find yourself in the same situation as
before.”

“Before?” Mr
Bentley echoed. “Precautions? Honey, what-”

“I’m the
father of Harly’s baby. Our baby,” Alex amended. “Our baby that
miscarried.”

Mr Bentley was
stunned. Mrs Bentley folded her arms and looked furious.

Paling, Harly
took a step to the side. “Alex, why on earth would you bring that
up now?”

“Because your
mother knows.” He kept his attention on Mrs Bentley. “She knows and
she’s throwing hints. I don’t take well to hints, and I prefer the
truth to be in the open if it’s going to be a problem with our
relationship.” He cast a glance at Harly, taking in her huge eyes.
“Trust me, Harly.”

“Trust you?”
Mr Bentley stepped forward, his hands fisted. “You made our
daughter pregnant and then left her to face the music! And you
think we should trust you
now
?”

Almost
immediately, Harly jumped in-between Alex and her father. “Dad, no!
He didn’t know! Alex didn’t know that I was pregnant!”

“How could you
not know?” Mr Bentley asked furiously.

Swiftly Alex
reached out, grabbing Harly’s hand and pulling her partially behind
him so that he alone faced the wrath of her parents.

Or the wrath
of her father, anyway, for her mother was looking at him with pure
disdain.

“Because I
didn’t,” Alex said firmly. “But if I had of known, I’d have been
here for her, on that you have my word.”

“Wait.”
Bewildered, Mr Bentley looked at Harly. “Why didn’t you tell us
Alex was the father?”

“I didn’t want
to destroy his life.” Harly clung to Alex’s hand, tears glittering
in her eyes. “I didn’t know what to do. Dad, I just didn’t know
what to do.”

“She was
afraid,” Alex interjected, placing one arm around Harly’s shoulders
and pulling her against his side. “Afraid I’d be furious if I
didn’t follow through with my plans for the Army, afraid of what
you two would say or do, afraid of everything. Jesus, she was only
sixteen!”

“So if you
didn’t know,” Mrs Bentley said bitterly, “How come you’re here now?
How did you come to know? Did Harly tell you?”

“No.” Harly
had a death grip on the back of Alex’s shirt. “Grandma wrote to
him.”

“My mother?”
Mrs Bentley looked at Harly. “She always suspected, but she
actually wrote to him?” Her eyes blazed again with contempt as she
looked back at Alex. “My mother died two years ago, Alex. So you
knew that long and still you could only come now?”

Controlling
his own anger when he really wanted to berate her furiously for
leaving her daughter comfortless during a horrific time, Alex spoke
coldly. “That letter was found by my brother behind a sideboard
when they shifted it. The date was the second January, 2010, two
years ago. He posted it straight to me. I got it five months ago,
and as soon as I got leave, I went home then straight here to front
up Harly.”

“Why now?” Mr
Bentley asked suspiciously. “All this time later it doesn’t matter,
so why come now? You have no obligation to my daughter.”

“No
obligation?” Alex looked at him with chilling composure. “Your
daughter was the mother of my unborn child.
Our
unborn
child. I wanted to know everything that had happened, and I found
out. Harly-”

“Alex, please”
Harley begged. “Don’t.”

It took some
effort, but he managed to bite off the words of condemnation. God,
he really wanted to let fly at them, ream her parents a new one,
tell them exactly what he thought of their treatment of their
daughter, but for Harly’s sake he choked the words back.

“What’s she
talking about?” Mr Bentley looked at Harly. “What, Harly?”

“Nothing.” The
back of Alex’s shirt was twisting nervously in her hands. “I lost
the baby. Grandma somehow found out. She wrote to Alex just before
he died, the letter was lost, found and he got it five months ago
and came here as soon as he could. He didn’t know, Dad. None of
this is his fault.”

“He made you
pregnant,” Mrs Bentley said sharply. “That was his fault.”

“No, that was
our
fault. I was a part of it, Mum. We did it together, only
he didn’t know the result and I did.” She sucked in a steadying
breath and Alex tightened his arm around her shoulders, seeking to
give her strength. “It happened a long time ago.”

Mr Bentley
turned his gaze to his wife. “Did you know that your mother knew
that Alex was the father?”

She sighed,
though her expression was still angry. “She guessed when Harly
avoided Alex when he next came to town for the school holidays. She
observed that Harly didn’t speak of Alex, didn’t go to join in the
team games they played in the parks. Always Harly had joined in, no
one could miss how Alex always chose her for the games, how she
always enjoyed them, but then she avoided him and the games,
avoided anything and everywhere Alex went. It didn’t take her
Grandma long to put it together, but she never told me, either,
until the day before she died.” Mrs Bentley ran one hand through
her normally immaculate hair. “She told me she’d written a letter
to Alex. The only reason I didn’t call her a fool was because she
was dying.” A tear sparkled in her eyes but she blinked it away.
“The whole sordid episode was over and done with, it was in the
past where it belongs, but then you showed up, the Lawson boy, and
here you are again, sleeping with my daughter.” She took a sudden
step forward, her eyes blazing. “Don’t you dare hurt my baby again,
Alex. Don’t you
dare
.”

“Mum, he
isn’t.” Harly tried to step forward, but Alex prevented her, just
as Mr Bentley held his own wife’s arm. “He wouldn’t.”

“No,” Alex
said, without any sympathy for the older woman. “I wouldn’t desert
her, I wouldn’t leave her to lick her wounds alone, and I wouldn’t
hide her so-called sins in shame.”

The room went
silent. Horribly silent.

“Oh no,” Harly
whispered.

Abruptly, Mrs
Bentley sought out the armchair behind her, sitting with less
dignity than normal.

“How dare
you?” Mr Bentley said furiously.

“I dare
because it’s the truth.” Alex faced him down fearlessly, showing
his contempt. “Your daughter needed you, and you weren’t there for
her. That’s the difference between us, Mr Bentley. No matter what
happens, I’ll be there for Harly.”

“Are you
saying we don’t love our daughter?” Fists clenched, Mr Bentley took
a step forward.

“Dad, no!”
Harly managed to wrench herself away from Alex and placed herself
once more before him.

Before he
could reach for her, Mr Bentley snarled, “Stand aside, Harly!”

“No!” She
braced herself, shrugging off Alex’s hand. “I love him, Dad, and if
you can’t see that, it’s your loss!”

He stopped in
shock.

“He’s right,
Dad,” she continued, her voice lowering, making her parents listen.
“You weren’t there for me when I miscarried. No one was. I made it
on my own, and I’m okay with that, I’ve made my peace with it. It’s
just going to take Alex awhile - if ever - to make his own peace
with it.”

At least she
had the sense to know that he probably wouldn’t ever come to
forgive them totally. But right then, he was proud of her for
standing up for herself, for letting them know that she knew they’d
failed her.

“Harly.”
Bewildered, her father reached for her. “We loved you then just as
much as now. You must know that.”

“I do, Dad.”
Taking his hand, she squeezed it gently. “I don’t doubt it. I never
have. You and Mum grew up in different times, among different
circumstances, and it made you both what you were, what you are. I
accept that.”

“You think we
failed you.” Her mother spoke hollowly from where she sat in the
armchair.

Crossing to
kneel beside it, Harly took her hand. “Mum, you did what you
thought was right for that situation. I don’t blame you. Your
family went through hell, you didn’t want us going through the same
thing. I understand.”

How Harly
could be so forgiving was a miracle. Or was it? As Alex watched,
her father place his hand on her shoulder, her mother raised
Harly’s hand and kissed it while tears sparkled on her cheeks, and
her smile was full of love as she gazed at her daughter. Just as
her father had love in his eyes.

Just as Harly
had love in her own eyes as she looked at her parents.

Love and
acceptance.

Alex shook his
head. He couldn’t even begin to understand what her parents had
done to her, how they could believe they’d done the best they
could, yet they did and Harly understood.