by Katie Dowe
Matt looked up, tears streaking his face. His expression took on a look of understanding and he took her hand.
"That's why you were so cold at the beginning."
Arlie nodded.
"I saw you as another man who used people like my ex did. I shouldn't have put you in the same category. I'm always telling people not to tarnish others with the same brush." She grunted. "Now I'm a hypocrite."
"After what you went through, I'm not surprised." Matt swiveled his chair towards her and he took her other hand. His hands were warm compared to hers. "I'm sorry, Arlie. I had no idea."
"How could you? Michelle's the only one who knows. Not even my work is aware of it."
If she could classify her former job as work. She had a feeling there was no way she was getting her job back, not after the extension on the extended compassionate leave.
Matt gave a self-deprecating snort. He still hadn't dropped her hands.
"We are like little children. We should be focusing on Michelle, not on hurling insults at each other. We're neglecting the person who is the most important."
Arlie was in agreement there. Instead of creating arguments and having stand-offs, they should be supporting Michelle.
"Perhaps we should concentrate on looking after Michelle together. She is carrying your baby, after all."
"Sounds like a good idea." Matt smiled. Even with tears staining his cheeks he still looked handsome. "You're a good person, Arlie."
Something jumped between them and the air suddenly heated around them. Arlie's heart hammered in her chest as she saw Matt's eyes widen, his nostrils flaring. She bit her lip and his eyes zeroed in on her mouth.
Arlie wasn't sure how to deal with the tension. It had become heated and she knew if she didn't run now things were going to get out of control. Even though Matt Prentice was a good man, she wasn't going that far with him.
She pulled her hands away and straightened her sweater.
"I'd better get to bed. Goodnight, Matt."
She hurried out the room but not before she heard Matt respond.
"Goodnight, Arlie."
*****
"You okay?"
Matt blinked and looked round. Michelle was sitting beside him, her hand on his arm. She was looking at him with a quizzical expression.
Then he remembered where they were. They were at the hospital, having a twenty-week scan. They were going to see how the baby was growing and, if possible, find out the sex of the baby. Matt felt like a bundle of nerves.
But he smiled at Michelle and brushed away her concerns.
"I'm fine. What about you?"
"Same." Michelle grinned. At twenty weeks her belly was starting to swell and there were noticeable physical changes about her as the pregnancy progressed. She looked really good pregnant. "I'm a little excited. I've never been to a scan before."
Matt had and he and Lucy had been delighted they were going to have a boy. But while he had managed to pour it all out to Arlie he wasn't prepared to tell Michelle. He gulped and forced away the sad memories.
"Are you thinking boy or girl?"
Michelle shrugged.
"No idea right now. It's your sperm that determines what gender the baby is going to be. Depends on what chromosome the sperm is carrying at the time. What do you think?"
"I don't know, really." Matt didn't like guessing anything; he always ended up wrong. He couldn't count how many bets he had lost as a college student but he knew he hadn't won any of them. "I'd like either, if truth be told. Gender doesn't matter but I would like to know." He indicated her increasing belly. "We can't keep calling your bump 'it' all the time."
Michelle laughed.
"We could just make up a name for the bump. Like Ethelred, as in Ethelred the Unready, the English King from the 900s."
"I'll pretend I know what you're talking about." Matt hadn't liked history and struggled with American history, never mind English history. "I'm a simple man, after all."
"I've noticed." Michelle teased.
Matt chuckled and gently nudged her. Michelle was good fun and they clicked. He saw her as a good friend and adored her. She would make a man really happy one day.
Then his thoughts wandered to the elusive older sister, the woman who had been plaguing Matt's thoughts for months. The one who kept running from him when things got heated but whose presence Matt cherished. He missed her when she was away from him.
"I thought Arlie would want to come along."
"She wanted time on her own." Michelle sighed. "It's a hard day for her."
"Because of her miscarriage?" Matt guessed. Michelle looked up, startled. "She told me three months ago."
Michelle raised her eyebrows, a look of understanding dawning.
"Oh. You two had some heart to heart conversations, did you?"
"You could say that."
"I thought things were better between you two."
Matt shrugged. It had been a bit more than that. He and Arlie now sat up on a regular basis talking. They knew virtually everything about each other. But whenever he broached something very personal Arlie shied away. That bastard had done a number on her.
He wished he could do something about that.
"Arlie's a great person. I haven't met anyone like her."
"That's Arlie for you." Michelle grinned. "She cares a lot. Goes with her job." She bit her lip, her expression turning worried. "But sometimes she cares too much and that leads her into trouble."
"Did it lead her to getting pregnant?"
Michelle shook her head.
"That wasn't her fault. The condom split. The pregnancy shocked her but Arlie was prepared to have the baby." Michelle's mouth twisted as she sneered, her eyes darkening. "Jason was a bastard and it's a good thing he hasn't got kids if he acts like that."
Jason. Matt had a nagging feeling that he knew who this man was. But he couldn't catch hold of the feeling. He stored this away for another time.
"I noticed she was getting a bit sad. But she wouldn't talk to me about it."
"I think I know why." Michelle put a hand over her belly. "Today is meant to be the day she was due to give birth. She would have been holding her baby about now."
Matt now understood. The last week Arlie had been getting more miserable and avoiding him for evening talks. He had wondered about that but now it made sense. She was being reminded of what could have happened to her.
Michelle put a hand on his arm and gave him a smile.
"She just needs time alone." She assured him. "She wants to deal with it herself."
Matt wished that wasn't so. He wanted Arlie to come to him for help with coping.
But that was Arlie's choice, not his. He would have to deal with it himself.
Chapter 5
Many years before, when she was barely out of her teens, Arlie had taken up running to let off steam and give her time to think. The mileage had increased steadily until she was running six miles three times a week. It kept her fit and when it wasn't her jogging day she spent half an hour bouncing on the mini trampoline.
Anything to take her mind off the fact it was meant to be her child's due date today.
Dressing in black yoga pants and a blue t-shirt, sticking white socks and blue running shoes on her feet, Arlie stuck her earphones in and turned her iPod on, putting the playlist on shuffle. Then she stepped out into the crisp morning air, waving to Bates as he patrolled the grounds, and set off.
Arlie had hated many sports as a child but she loved running. Nothing beat going along at your own pace, listening to music and letting everything settle down and feel less chaotic. She could almost run her problems away.
Almost.
Arlie ran for three miles before she realized that she was being followed. While it could have been another innocent jogger going about their business, something in Arlie's gut told her that it wasn't a typical jogger. It didn't feel right.
Her instincts kicked up a gear and she picked up her speed. Behind her, s
he heard the pounding of trainers also speed up. This made Arlie go faster. Her lungs were screaming at her to stop and take a break but she plowed on. Whoever was following her wasn't doing it for innocent reasons.
It wasn't long before she reached a line of trees. Darting into the trees, Arlie stopped and pressed her back flat against a trunk, her heart thudding hard in her ears. Propping her foot up against the tree, she dug into her sneaker and pulled out her switchblade. While she wasn't living in a rough neighborhood - it was as far the other way as you could get - old habits die hard.
Flicking the blade open, Arlie pressed closer to the tree, trying not to be loud as she gulped down air. Her brain was thudding against her skull, prompting a fierce headache. She heard footsteps approaching and braced herself, ready for a fight.
The footsteps thudded closer and closer. Then they went past. Arlie saw the retreating back of another jogger, a tall, spindly man in his fifties with balding white hair wearing a t-shirt and shorts far too big for his frame, moving at a leisurely pace up the path towards the parking lot. He didn't even look her way.
Arlie relaxed. She leaned her head back and shut her eyes, cursing herself for being so paranoid. She was just pent up because of the date. There was no one following her; it was all in her imagination.
No sooner had she lowered her guard then a hand clamped around her throat and started to squeeze.
Arlie opened her eyes on a gasp and clutched at the hand, trying to pry it off. Going into overdrive, she twisted away, the switchblade coming up. She pinned the arm of her attacker to the tree with the knife, the blade sinking into the forearm.
Her attacker screamed and pulled his arm away, taking the knife with it. Then he swung and Arlie wasn't quick enough to duck. The fist caught her under her eye and Arlie stumbled sideways. Falling, she rolled onto her hands and knees, turning to face her attacker.
But there was no one there. The person had vanished, leaving behind her switchblade discarded on the ground, the blade glistening metallic red.
Arlie straightened up and sensed someone approaching, accompanied by dog barks. Going to her knife, she crouched down as if tying her shoelaces and subtly palmed the knife, flicking the blade back into its sheath and storing it away in her sock. Her right shoulder stung as it moved.
Arlie winced as she stood, rolling her injured shoulder as a man in his mid-thirties with a white terrier trotting alongside him turned the corner. He nodded at her and gave her a polite smile.
"Good afternoon."
Arlie nodded back and walked leisurely past in the other direction, biting back the wince as her shoulder stung whenever her arm moved.
Once she was out of sight she began to run again.
*****
"A baby girl." Michelle handed back the scan photo. "You'll have your hands full with this princess."
Matt laughed and looked at the picture. His daughter had been wriggling away quite happily, even seeming to wave when they saw her picture on the screen. Already she was a little personality.
"She wouldn't be a Prentice if she wasn't." He tucked the picture lovingly into his wallet and shoved the wallet into his pocket. "My sisters were all a handful."
Michelle grinned.
"If Ma were alive she'd say the same thing about me and Arlie." She rubbed her back and rolled her shoulders. "Have you thought about any names yet?"
"Not yet. I'm still getting over the fact I'm going to have a daughter."
A son would have been great to take Charlie's place. But a daughter was what Matt secretly wanted. His little princess.
"I know about that. You've been grinning like the Cheshire cat since we left the hospital." Michelle teased. She nudged his arm. "I can see by your face that little girl is going to be spoiled rotten."
"She certainly will be."
Matt had no intentions of doing anything less. His daughter wouldn't want for nothing. She was going to get anything she wanted.
He glanced over at Michelle, who had shifted so the seat belt wasn't over her belly. She looked content, almost as excited as him when they found out the gender. But she didn't look envious at all; she looked happy with herself.
Then he realized that since becoming pregnant Matt hadn't asked her if her feelings were still the same. Women's hormones were always all over the place when it came to pregnancy.
"Are you still okay about this? It's not easy carrying a child you're not going to raise yourself."
"The money was an incentive." Michelle said lightly. But her eyes glinted mischievously. She sat back and laid a hand on her belly. "But, in all seriousness, there are people who can't have children for one reason or another. I can but I don't want kids. My career means more to me right now. I want to help all I can."
"You're a lovely woman, Michelle. I'm sure you'd want a baby with the right man."
"I'm still young. And if he comes along before my ten-year plan is concluded then I'll think about it." Michelle took her hair out of its band and pulled her locks back into a simple ponytail. "Right now I'm happy with what I've got. There's too much going on with my personal life to bring a child into the world."
Matt had rarely heard a more logical reasoning, especially from someone so young. He wished more women her age were that switched on. A lot of girls he met had their heads in the clouds, thinking money was the be-all and end-all. While Michelle was thinking about the money it was for an entirely different reason; she was down-to-earth with what she wanted.
He took Michelle's hand and squeezed it, which was returned. Michelle grinned back at him. Then she looked past him out the window and the smile died away, replaced by a frown.
"What's the matter with Bates?"
They had driven into the driveway by now and were pulling up outside the front door. Matt turned and saw Bates hurrying towards them from the house. Releasing Michelle's hand, Matt clambered out, meeting Bates as he reached the car.
"What's wrong?"
"Arlie came in from a run about half an hour ago." Bates didn't look happy. "Her top was splashed with blood and there was a cut under one eye. I think she was beaten up."
Matt felt like Bates had sucker-punched him in the stomach. Arlie had been hurt.
He tried to keep his voice calm, aware of Michelle climbing out after him.
"Did she say who attacked her?"
"No, she said she had no idea." Bates raised his hands in defense. "Don't look at me like that, sir, she refused to have an escort and I didn't see anything wrong with that."
"I'll be the judge of that." Matt would talk to Bates later about that. Right now his main concern was Arlie. "Have you called the police?"
"No. She wouldn't let me."
"That's Arlie all over." Michelle muttered. She hurried past them, touching Bates' arm as she moved past him. "I'll go to her."
She hurried into the house and Matt turned back to Bates.
"Call Perkins now. Have him get here ASAP. Arlie was attacked and I want to know who did it."
"Yes, sir."
Matt was determined to know who had harmed the woman he was starting to care about. They wouldn't get away with hurting her. Not while he was in the picture.
*****
Arlie was furious. She couldn't believe Bates had gone behind her back and called the police, even though she had assured him that she was fine. But when the chief of police had turned up and questioned her about the attack, Arlie found out that Matt had gone over her head and told Bates to call anyway.
She had been attacked but she had got out of it alive. The attacker carried more injuries than she did. She couldn't describe her attack and she had no idea who would do it. It would be a dead end for the police.
It was like nobody valued her opinion.
Michelle had come in to her and sat with her for a while, telling her about the scan and that she was going to give Matt a baby girl. While she had been trying to distract Arlie from what had happened, it had resulted in Arlie going into a deeper funk. If things had gon
e on without the attack by Jason, she would be in hospital giving birth or holding a little bundle in her arms. As it was, there was no baby and Michelle was the one who was having everything handed to her on a plate.
While she had nothing.
So when Michelle left and Matt joined her in the library after showing Chief Stephen Perkins out, Arlie was seething and looking for a fight. He stayed by the door as if he expected her to fly into a rage.
"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.
Arlie swung around on him, keeping the couch between them. She needed something to stop herself from launching herself at him. Whether to kill him or kiss him, she didn't know but having a barrier made her feel better.
"You called the police in." She accused.
"Of course I did." Matt didn't even look guilty. "You were assaulted. That's a criminal offense."
"I can take care of myself." Arlie huffed.
Matt pointedly looked at her eye, which was stinging to high heaven. She was going to have an impressive black eye in the morning.
"I noticed that." He said wryly.
"Good. Because I don't like the police getting involved. It was just someone who thought I was an easy target because I'm female and I was alone."
"Not anymore." Matt pushed away from the door and stalked towards her. "I won't stop you running but next time you go with an escort. I don't want you to be alone."
Arlie couldn't believe it. She was being treated like a prisoner. She barked out a short laugh.
"You make it sound like I can't deal with anything."
"I know you can probably deal with more than I am able to handle but I don't want you to get hurt again."
Arlie nearly faltered. Matt was looking out for her and seemed to care. But then she strengthened her resolve. That was how Jason wore her down. He lied to her and promised her the world, only to make her downtrodden and do whatever he wanted her to do.
Until she chose to stand up to him. She wasn't going that now.
"There's no need to go chivalrous on me, Matt."
Matt growled and vaulted the couch, coming to stand before her. Arlie gasped with the sudden movement but held her ground. She wasn't going to cower before him, even with his chest brushing against hers. She could feel him through the thinness of her t-shirt and her nipples tightened.
