The Lawson Boys: Marty (16 page)

“Not to
me!”

Holly sighed.
“No, not to you.”

“My parents
will be embarrassed, my boss - Oh God, I might not have a job!
Holly, what if Mary fires me?”

“Mary won’t
fire you. She’s too proud of you for slapping Trev’s lights out.
Besides, we all know what a perv she can be.” Holly led Belle back
to the sofa, pushed her down onto the cushions and handed her the
tea cup. “Now take a good, long drink and just settle, okay?”

Taking a deep
swallow did kind of help, Belle had to admit, but when she glanced
at the window she couldn’t suppress a shudder. Oh lord, sooner or
later she had to go out and look people in the face. Humiliation,
here she came.

Holly only left
once she was sure that Belle was okay, and even though Belle
appreciated her friend’s concern, she really wanted to be alone and
it was with relief that she shut the door behind Holly.

Returning to
the lounge, she found Cleo hiding under the newspaper on the floor,
her tail twitching out from under one end and her little pink nose
peeking out the other end.

Laughing, Belle
gave her tail a gentle pull and Cleo’s paws came out from under the
paper, trying to grab her. After play-fighting with her for a few
moments, Belle gathered her up into her arms and buried her face in
Cleo’s coat. “Ah baby, you don’t care that your Mum is the scandal
of the town, do you?”

Cleo’s answer
was to bat her cheek lightly and then lick her.

Smiling, Belle
set her on the sofa and started to pick up the scattered newspaper.
When she picked up the piece containing her photo, she couldn’t
help but notice the protectiveness of Marty’s stance. Then again,
he’d known who she was and his concern could have simply been for
his parents if the truth ever got out that she’d been staying with
them.

In the act of
screwing up the newspaper, a thought struck Belle.

Mr and Mrs
Lawson. Oh no, they’d know now. Her mother’s best friend. Closing
her eyes, Belle took a deep breath, trying to battle the sinking
feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Good manners
dictated that she ring the Lawsons and apologise. Then again, why
would she? Sitting back on her heels, she chewed her bottom lip.
They hadn’t been at the wedding - apart from Marty - and they
hadn’t seemed to be great friends or anything with Trevor or his
bride’s family. Or maybe they had and…

“Crap.”
Standing up, she crumpled the newspaper in her hands and strode out
to the kitchen to hurl it into the bin. Hand on one hip, she leaned
against the kitchen counter and debated what to do. Forget it? Call
them? Apologise? Hide?

No, hiding was
what she was doing at the moment.

What if they
had been good friends of Trevor’s?

Heaving a sigh,
she picked up the phone and dialled the Lawson’s phone number. It
was with relief that she heard the answering machine click on and
coward that she was, she left a message.

“Hi, this is
Belle. I’m sure you’ve seen the newspaper by now and know what I
did. I just wanted to say I’m sorry it happened while I was staying
with you. If this causes you any problems…” She paused, biting her
lip, then continued with a sigh. “Anyway, I’m really sorry.”
Hanging up the phone, she dropped her forehead onto the counter
with a faint thunk. “Idiot. Idiot idiot
idiot
. Why did you
ring? It’s not as if they even care. Why didn’t you think
first?”

A soft paw came
snaking under her arm to tap her nose and she lifted her head to
find Cleo crouched beside her on the counter, her little face
inquisitive. Smiling, she smoothed Cleo’s fur on her back and
massaged behind her ears, the welcoming purr filling the kitchen.
“Ah, Cleo. My own true loyal kitty.” Picking her up, she snuggled
her close. “Let’s go watch a horror DVD. I need something spooky to
take my mind off things.”

And to take her
mind off the fact that sooner or later her parents were going to
ring. Coward again, she flicked on the answering machine before she
sat down. A good thing she did, because it wasn’t long and the
phone started ringing. A message from her parents, who reassured
her they loved her and not to worry about the photo, a message from
Mary stating that she was looking forward to Belle coming back to
work (bless her), one from old Mr Burtho who wanted to know if she
was free tonight for dinner (that made her shudder), and one from
old Mrs Mixen who wanted to know if she could visit sometime to
talk about ways to capture a man (that didn’t even bear thinking
about). To really make her day, there were also two heavy
breathers.

And then came
the message that startled her.

“Belle.”
Marty’s voice came through loud and clear. “I’m worried about you.
Answer the damned phone.” He paused and she stared in fascination
at the phone she’d put back on the little table near the window.
“Look, call me.” He gave his number and rang off.

Chewing one
fingernail, she stared at the silent phone. Call him? Why? It
wasn’t as if he really knew her, and why was he so worried? Did he
think she’d spill everything? What there was to spill, it wasn’t as
though there was much left, she’d already told the entire state
that she’d slept with Trevor and then proceeded to make a fool of
herself by crashing the wedding. There wasn’t much left to
tell.

Not wanting to
hear anymore, Belle turned the answering machine off and unplugged
the phone from the wall. Silence was what she needed, silence to
sit and dwell - no, she corrected herself sternly - silence to
watch her movie in peace, just her and Cleo with the world locked
outside.

Her own little
haven.

Popping the tab
on the can of Diet Coke, she settled back on the sofa to lose
herself in zombies.

“Now,” she told
Cleo, hand feeding her some cheese off the cheese and biscuit
platter she’d prepared earlier for herself and Holly. “Those people
have more to worry about.”

Shame Trevor
couldn’t have been turned into a zombie. She’d have a good excuse
then to smack him in the head with something really hard.

Shaking her
head at her morbid thoughts, she slid down further into the sofa
and kicked her heels up onto the coffee table. For an hour and a
half, she was determined to forget that the world and its problems
existed.

Chapter 5

Taking a deep
breath, Belle walked into the supermarket with Holly on her
heels.

“Right,” said
Holly. “Where’s that shopping list?”

“I think
everyone’s looking at me,” Belle muttered.

“Oh for - give
it to me.” Snatching it from her hand, Holly glanced down the list.
“Hey, this is all comfort food.”

“I need it.”
Glancing sideways, Belle saw one of the women from her street
looking directly at her while whispering to her friend. “Oh
geez.”

“You don’t need
this crap food.” Grabbing a trolley, Holly shoved the handle bar
into Belle’s hands. “Now come on. Fruit and veggie section
first.”

“Maybe I don’t
need to buy food just yet.” Belle could feel her cheeks
burning.

Holly looked
back over her shoulder. “When, then?”

“Next
year?”

“Nice try.”
Shaking her head, Holly strode away, her black boot heels clicking
briskly on the tiled floor.

Not wanting to
be left behind, Belle obediently trotted after her. She swore she
could feel
everyone
looking at her and when she glanced
around several times, there were indeed a couple of people looking
at her, but it didn’t seem too bad. Maybe Holly was right, maybe
she was making too much of it. After all, it wasn’t as though she’d
done something so terrible, was it?

Holly proceeded
to swap Belle’s comfort food list with much healthier choices.
Oranges, bananas, grapes and strawberries went into the trolley,
followed by an assortment of veggies.

The youth
loading lettuces onto the bench gaped at Belle before grinning
knowingly and looking away.

“You know,
phoning in an order would make much more sense,” Belle
suggested.

“No.” Holly
continued down the aisle to the meat section.

“I don’t need
meat,” Belle said. “I have plenty in the freezer.”

Holly looked at
her.

“Honestly.”
Belle made the scout salute.

“You weren’t a
scout.”

That just made
Belle think of Marty doing the exact same thing. “True.”

Following Holly
around the corner of the aisle, Belle came to a halt when her
trolley crashed headfirst into another trolley. “I’m so sorry.”

“Belle?” Mrs
Mixen smiled widely.

Belle groaned
silently.

“Just the girl
I want to see. You know, dear.” Mrs Mixen leaned forward, her big
bosom pressing against the low-cut blouse she wore. “We are two of
a kind.” She winked.

“Oh, I-I don’t
think-”

“Oh yes, dear.”
Straightening, Mrs Mixen beamed. “I used to bed the boys when I was
younger. My dear, I was a little bit of a…” She giggled, which just
didn’t sound right coming from an elderly woman who was old enough
to have great grandchildren. “Well,
you
know what I
mean.”

“Not really.”
Desperately, Belle tried to edge past.

Mrs Mixen
stopped her by the simple process of cutting her off with her
trolley. “Mind you, I was a lot younger when I -” Her words were
mercifully cut off by a burst of loud music coming from a nearby
mobile phone.

Normally Belle
hated that kind of thing, but right now she was relieved. “Oh yes,
well, I must go and-”

“Dreadfully
loud music.” Mrs Mixen glared at the man, who ignored her and spoke
on his phone. “Anyway, as I said dear, I-”

The specials
announcement drowned out her words.

Holly appeared
from around the corner of the aisle, her eyes widening when she saw
Mrs Mixen. She must have seen the desperate look on Belle’s face
because she immediately hurried up. “Belle, are you coming?”

“Yes, I-”

“I was just
saying,” Mrs Mixen said loudly. “Before I was so rudely cut off by
mobile phones ringing and that damnably loud announcement, that I
wasn’t as old as Belle when I lost my virginity.”

Belle’s mouth
dropped and a hot blush seared through her cheeks. Around them
several shoppers she recognised as acquaintances watched
avidly.

Holly recovered
first. Grabbing the trolley, she said brightly, “How interesting!
Now we must go. Belle, move.” She jerked the trolley away from Mrs
Mixen’s.

Relieved and
horrified all at once, Belle spun her trolley into another aisle
and hurried down it.

“Slow down!”
Holly grabbed the trolley and dug in her heels.

“Are you
kidding me?” Belle ran a hand across her burning cheeks. “Did you
hear what she said?”

“Sure. She
started being a slut early in life.” Holly’s lips twitched. “And
hasn’t stopped since.”

“That’s not
funny, Holly.” Belle could barely look at the woman who leaned past
her to get a jar of coffee.

“From my POV,
it is.”

Belle glared at
her.

“Okay, now come
on, Belle. This is no time to play the shrinking violet. So what if
Mrs Mixen says she lost her-”

“Don’t say it.”
Biting her lip, Belle shuffled aside as someone else tried to get a
packet of tea right behind where she was standing.

“Whatever. Get
over it, girl, you can’t hide forever. Now forget about her and
let’s keep going.” Holly gave the trolley a shake. “Now.”

Rolling her
eyes, Belle obeyed. To be fair, the rest of the shopping trip
wasn’t so bad, only a few people appeared to whisper about her as
she passed while most everyone else ignored her, too busy with
their own things, but she wasn’t sure she’d have braved the
supermarket if Holly hadn’t been with her. Not yet, anyway.

They made it
through the checkout and were loading the bags in the trolley when
several teenagers passed, saw her and started giggling.

Great. Belle
glared at them, which made them look hurriedly away and giggle even
more. She turned her glare to Holly.

Holly held out
her hands. “Hey, you’re going to have to learn not to be so
sensitive sometime. You might as well start now.”

“Fine. You’re
right. How bad can it get anyway?”

Out at the car
park, Holly helped her put the shopping into the boot before she
stepped back. “Right, you’re set for a couple of days. Now I have
to meet Lou and go to his parents place.”

“Thanks for
coming shopping with me.” Smiling ruefully, Belle patted her arm.
“Really.”

“No worries.”
Holly smiled. “I know you’d do the same for me.”

“You wouldn’t
care as much.”

“True. Plus I
gave my cherry to Bobby Monroe back in high school. That’ll never
grow back.”

“A little too
much information.” Belle shut the boot.

“But you stayed
up with me drinking red cordial and eating ice cream with sherbet
sprinkled on it until the sun came up while I cried.” Holly
smiled.

“Wild times.”
Belle grinned.

“Exactly.”
Holly sobered. “So, you going to be all right?”

“I’ll be fine.
I’m just being an idiot.” Belle unlocked the driver door. “This’ll
blow over and everything will be like it was before.”

“Exactly.”
Holly stepped back. “Now I have to go. Cook yourself something nice
to eat and I’ll call you later.”

“Thanks Holly.
You’re a good friend.”

Holly waved and
moved off to her own car.

Belle started
to get into the car when she noticed a piece of paper under her
windscreen wiper. Reaching around, she plucked it out and sat down
in the driver’s seat while unfolding the paper. For several seconds
she wasn’t sure what she was looking at, but then she groaned. On
it was a phone number along with ‘
Need Your Virginity restored?
Call now!
’ written on it.