Bending the Rules

by Margaret Watson

  “May I help you?”

  “I’d like to talk to the person who’s been working here for the longest,” he said easily. “I’m looking for an old friend who used to work here, and I’m hoping someone will remember her.”

  The young woman frowned for a moment, thinking, then she nodded. “That would probably be Mrs. Montgomery. I’ll see if she’s available.”

  Emma and Harley were looking at the framed certificates on the wall. Emma must have felt his gaze, because she stepped closer. “Do you want us to wait out here?”

  “Maybe I should talk to her first,” he said. “I don’t want Harley to hear anything that might upset her.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Emma said in a low voice. “Come and get Harley after.”

  “And you,” he said without hesitating. “I want you in there, too. You’re part of Harley’s life, you were Sonya’s friend, and you should hear it, too.”

  Emma looked startled, as if she hadn’t expected that, then nodded. Smiled. “Thank you, Nathan. I’d like to be there.”

  The receptionist came out and said, “Mrs. Montgomery said to bring you back.”

  Nathan’s heart began racing. She might not even remember Sonya.

  But she did. Nathan introduced himself and told the older woman he was looking for information about Sonya Michaels.

  “Sonya,” she said, as she studied him. “I haven’t heard from her in years.”

  “She...she passed away suddenly a couple of months ago,” Nathan said. “And it’s complicated. I’m her daughter’s father.”

  The woman narrowed her eyes at that. “I thought you looked familiar. Sonya talked about you all the time.” The woman’s mouth was a thin, tight line. “She had no family. And the guy who got her pregnant had disappeared. Wasn’t around for her pregnancy. Or when her daughter was born.”

  “Not by choice. She never told me she was pregnant.”

  “You never asked, either.”

  “No. I didn’t.” If he’d remembered having sex with Sonya, he would have. He hoped. “I can’t change that now. All I can do is find answers for Harley.”

  “I told Sonya...” Mrs. Montgomery pressed her lips together. “I told her you had a right to know she was pregnant, but she was adamant. She refused to tell you.”

  Had Sonya had that much contempt for him? Had she recognized what a screwup he was? Nathan swallowed. “Here’s the thing. Harley is here with me. She wants to know why her mother never told me about her. And I have no answers. I was hoping someone who knew her might have an idea.”

  Mrs. Montgomery nodded slowly. “I can tell her that.”

  But she wouldn’t have told him? “Is it...will it be easy for Harley to hear? I don’t want you to lie to her, but if it’s something that will hurt my daughter, you can tell me and I’ll figure out a way to tell Harley.”

  Some of the tightness around the woman’s mouth eased. “You care about your daughter.”

  “Of course I do.” No matter what happened with Harley and Emma, Harley was part of him. Part of his family.

  “What I’ll tell your daughter won’t upset her. Go ahead and bring her in.”

  A few moments later, Nathan stood back and allowed Harley and Emma to enter the office. Emma hung back, as if she thought she was intruding, so Nathan took her hand and drew her inside.

  “This is Harley,” he said. He put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder, squeezed when he felt her tension. Then he drew Emma forward. “And Emma Sloan. She’s Harley’s guardian. Sonya’s best friend.”

  “Ellen Montgomery. Nice to meet both of you.” She gestured to chairs in front of the desk. “Have a seat.”

  She smiled at Harley. “I remember when you were born. All of us who worked with your mom were so excited. And you were a beautiful baby with your red frizzy hair.”

  Harley touched her hair self-consciously and studied the woman. “You worked with my mom?”

  “Yes. This is a small office. Everyone knows everyone else.”

  Nathan cleared his throat. “Harley wonders why her mother never said anything to me about being pregnant. Do you have any idea?” he asked.

  “I know exactly why.” Mrs. Montgomery leaned toward Harley. “Your mother loved your father very much. She’d been in love with him for years. Talked about him all the time.” She glanced at Nathan. “We all knew that when you came into the office, we had to let Sonya help you.”

  From the expression on Mrs. Montgomery’s face, she hadn’t approved of Sonya’s crush on him. Embarrassment, regret and sorrow twisted together inside him. How could he not have known that Sonya was...attracted to him? How blind and unfeeling had he been?

  Ellen Montgomery studied him. “Sonya knew what had happened with your parents. She knew you’d dropped out of school and were responsible for your younger brothers and sister. That you were running the family restaurant. I guess you must have told her.”

  Nathan nodded, although he had no idea. The idea that Sonya had been infatuated with him shamed him. He’d never seen it. Even now, he didn’t really remember her.

  Harley leaned forward in her chair, hanging on every word. It was sad that she had to hear this story from a stranger.

  “Anyway, when Sonya found out she was pregnant, she decided not to tell you. She said you had enough to cope with, and she didn’t want to add another burden.”

  “Harley wouldn’t have been a burden,” he said fiercely.

  “Of course not. But Sonya was convinced she was doing you a favor. She said that after your life got straightened out, she’d get in touch with you. I guess she never did.”

  “No. She didn’t.”

  Harley shifted in her chair and looked at her lap. Her hair fell across her face, but Nathan saw her lip quivering. Without thinking, he reached over and took her hand.

  Her startled gaze jumped to his. She swallowed. Then she gripped his hand so hard his bones hurt. He edged his chair closer to hers and held on.

  “Your mother was several years older than your father, Harley. More...settled in her life. She knew what she wanted, and she wanted you. She was certain she could raise you on your own, without worrying your father.”

  Mrs. Montgomery’s eyes shifted from him to Harley. The ice in them had begun to thaw. “I suspect that the older you got, the harder it became for your mother to tell your father about you. It would be so difficult to tell a man that he had a child he’d never known about.”

  What if Sonya had contacted him and he couldn’t remember sleeping with her? He wouldn’t have believed her. How would he have reacted? Honorably, he hoped. But he wasn’t sure.

  He turned to Harley. “Do you have any questions for Mrs. Montgomery?”

  She clung to his hand. “Was my mom...was she happy she was going to have me?”

  The woman smiled. “Honey, she was ecstatic. She was so careful while she was pregnant—no coffee, no alcohol. She paid attention to what she ate, took her vitamins. She couldn’t wait until you were born—she said you were a part of your father that she’d always have.”

  “What did she do here? For work, I mean.”

  “She was one of the department secretaries, just like I was. We made copies of tests, helped the students when they had problems, assisted the professors. Different stuff on different days.”

  “Thank you,” Harley said, standing abruptly. “For telling me about my mom.” Harley’s voice was thick, as if she was trying not to cry. She squeezed his
hand hard, then let go and rushed to Emma.

  Emma folded Harley into her arms. “We’ll go for a walk while you finish talking to Mrs. Montgomery,” Emma said softly.

  With Harley’s face buried in Emma’s shoulder, the two of them walked out of the office. Emma was so good with Harley. Patient. Loving. Tender. Nathan watched until they were out of sight, then turned back to Mrs. Montgomery. “I have a few more questions.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  NATHAN TOOK A DEEP BREATH.

  “I need to know what happened that night,” he said. “I don’t remember a thing.”

  The frost came back to Ellen Montgomery’s expression. “I suspected as much. Sonya said you were very drunk when she ran into you at Kam’s Bar. She was concerned, so she sat down with you, and your story poured out.”

  “I was drunk?” So drunk he couldn’t remember sleeping with her?

  “Yes. And she thought she was in love with you.” The woman’s tone hardened. “She knew you weren’t coming back. But she had to have one night.”

  It was so much worse than he’d suspected. Harley could never, ever know.

  He didn’t want Emma to know, either. He didn’t want to see her scorn, the contempt she would try to hide.

  He closed his eyes. He’d come back to Champaign to get his stuff and withdraw from school. He’d gone to Kam’s and gotten drunk. Had sex he couldn’t remember. Made a baby he hadn’t known about for thirteen years.

  One more disastrous consequence of his parents’ death.

  Not disastrous, he corrected himself. Harley wasn’t a disaster. Just one more thing that changed his life. Took away options.

  One more impulsive decision come home to roost.

  “Was her...did she have a hard pregnancy?”

  “No, what I told your daughter was the truth. After her initial shock, she was thrilled.”

  “I would have helped her,” he said quietly. “With money, if she wouldn’t accept anything else.” Would he? He wanted to think so. But he’d been so grief-stricken, so terrified, so overwhelmed, that he might not have. And even now he didn’t have a record of good decision-making.

  “Sonya thought you would have helped her. Me? I had my doubts.” Mrs. Montgomery’s voice hardened again. “I don’t know how you could have looked at Sonya and not seen that she was desperately in love with you. You had sex when you were drunk, and you should have known better.”

  “Yes. I did. And there are no excuses.” He stood up, debated holding out his hand and decided against it. She wouldn’t shake it. “Thank you for talking to Harley.”

  “I’d do anything for Sonya’s daughter.” But not for the loser who got her pregnant.

  * * *

  AS HARLEY POKED at the whipped cream on her hot chocolate, she glanced around at the college kids sitting in the cafeteria of the Union and tried to act cool. Like she came here all the time. Like maybe she was one of them.

  She wondered if her dad and mom had come here, when they were dating.

  Emma was watching with that worried look on her face, so Harley hunched her shoulders. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she muttered. “It was sweet to hear about my mom and...my dad.”

  “It was your father’s idea,” Emma said. “You should thank him.”

  “He wouldn’t have suggested it if he didn’t think it would be okay with you.”

  Emma’s face got red and she choked a little on her hot chocolate. “We never talked about this, Harley. It was Nathan’s idea.”

  Harley got that funny tingle in her stomach, the same one she’d gotten in the office when her da...Nathan held her hand. “I’m glad my mom was so careful when she was pregnant. I guess she really did want me, even if she didn’t tell Nathan about me.”

  Harley was angry at her mom for that, and it made her feel guilty. But her mom should have told him. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe they would have gotten married. Been a family.

  “Of course she wanted you.” Emma put her hand over Harley’s. Held on when Harley’s began to tremble. “I could tell that as soon as I met you.”

  Harley shrugged. “She could have had an abortion. Since she didn’t, I always figured she did. Want me. But it was nice...” Nice to hear it.

  Harley crumbled a piece of the blueberry muffin sitting untouched on her tray. “I liked it when Mrs. Montgomery said she loved my dad, and that’s why she didn’t tell him. She should have, though.” She rubbed her finger through the tiny purple crumbs.

  “So what do I do now?” Harley brushed the crumbs away and took a deep breath. “Am I supposed to, like, live with him?” The idea was both scary and kind of cool. She could go to the restaurant and cook with Marco. But she didn’t want to leave Emma.

  Emma set her hot chocolate on the tray, and a little splashed down the side of the cup. “Do you want to live with Nathan?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.” Harley’s eyes stung and she stared at her cup. Maybe her dad and Emma would, like, get together. That would be awesome. “He’s nice and I like him, but I hardly know him. I like living with you. But maybe my mom wanted me to live with him.”

  “Harley, listen to me.” Emma tightened her grip on her hand, and Harley clung to her. “Your mom didn’t make Nathan your guardian. She could have done that, but she didn’t. So I think this is exactly what she wanted. For you and Nathan to get to know each other. To get used to each other. Figure out together what you want.

  “It’s okay not to make a decision,” she continued softly. “Okay to take your time. The three of us will figure it out together.”

  Harley didn’t want to choose. “Yeah?”

  “Yes,” Emma said firmly. “You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I promise you. Except maybe do your homework and clean your room.”

  Harley sat up straight and rolled her eyes. “That’s so lame.” But the pain in her chest eased a little. She pressed her finger into the muffin crumbs on the tray and licked them off. Broke off a bigger piece of the muffin and stuffed it in her mouth. “I’m starving.”

  Emma’s phone buzzed with a text, and she smiled as she glanced at the screen. “It’s your dad.” She texted him back, then set the phone on the table. “He’s on his way.”

  * * *

  NATHAN CLUTCHED HIS cup of coffee too tightly, even though its heat burned through the paper cup, and made his way toward Emma and Harley. Harley’s shoulders weren’t hunched and tense anymore. She was actually smiling a little. Emma touched her hand, said something, and Harley rolled her eyes.

  Some of the tension drained from Nathan’s shoulders, as well. He’d screwed up, done a horrible thing, but something good had come out of the mess. He had a great kid.

  Something good had come out of the mess he’d made at the restaurant, as well. His family was closer than ever. Patrick had found the love of his life and moved back to Chicago. And Marco...his baby brother had grown up a little.

  Maybe if Nathan could fix things with Harley, he could fix things at the restaurant, as well.

  “Hey,” he said, forcing a smile as he sat down between Emma and Harley. “I see you found the best hot chocolate on campus.”

  Harley took another sip, which left a faint mustache on her lip. He wanted to lean forward and wipe it off, but he kept his hands wrapped around his coffee. He was still hesitant to touch her. Unsure if she would welcome it, or flinch away.

  “Yeah, it’s good,” she said, licking off the mu
stache. “But I bet you never drank any when you went to school here. I know what college kids drink.”

  Nathan leaned forward. “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “Beer.” Harley shot him a knowing look. “Denise, in my algebra class, has a brother who goes here. He’s a freshman, and he drinks beer.”

  “He’s pretty stupid, then,” Nathan said, a little more forcefully than he might have before his conversation with Ellen Montgomery. “First of all, it’s illegal. And second, getting drunk can get you into all kinds of trouble.”

  Harley reared back. “Hey, don’t yell at me about it. I don’t even like beer.”

  “How would you know?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emma lean forward, watching him. As if she could see his shame.

  As if realizing she’d said too much, Harley gave him a typical teenage shrug. “I tried some of Mom’s once. It was disgusting.”

  “Good. That’s good.” He frowned. Leaned closer to her. “Do kids at parties ever offer you beer? Or wine? Or...other stuff?”

  Harley scowled at him. “My mom wouldn’t let me go to those kinds of parties. God! It was so embarrassing! If I was invited to a party, she’d call the kid’s parents and give them the third degree. Then when she dropped me off, she’d come into the house! To talk to the parents.”

  “She was being a good mother,” Emma said quietly. “She met the parents because she loved you.” A shadow filled Emma’s eyes. “Some parents don’t care enough to check on what their kids are doing.”

  Nathan wanted to know what put that darkness in Emma’s expression.

  “I didn’t get invited to any of the good parties after she did that a few times,” Harley said, her voice sullen.

  Thank God. “I think ‘good parties’ is a matter of opinion,” Nathan said. “Kids can get into a lot of trouble before they realize it.”

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  Nathan’s gaze met Emma’s, and he saw the same resolve that resonated through him. Harley wouldn’t be going to any of “those” kinds of parties. Not on her watch.