“Enough to get by on.” She hesitated before adding, “There’s always a good market for clothes for big women.”
“Tell me about it.” He glanced sideways just in time to catch her frown. “I have a sister, Cindy, remember? She’s a big girl and loves nice clothes. She’s just lucky enough to be able to afford the best.”
“Nice clothes are costly.” She gazed out the side window again. “I don’t make expensive clothes. I make everyday wear.”
“Do you have a website?”
She laughed, the sound surprisingly light. “Ever the business man, eh?”
He couldn’t stop an answering grin. “When not soldiering.”
He felt her regard almost instantly.
“And how does that work for you?” she asked curiously. “You’re a soldier, yet part of the family business?”
“Only a very small part.” He switched on the indicator and turned into Paul’s street. “When I’m home on leave, I help a bit.”
“How?”
“Whatever the family wants done.” He shrugged. “It could be anything from researching companies to checking backgrounds, which Cindy normally does, to attending meetings and weighing up the opposition.”
“Weighing up the opposition? You mean making snap judgements?”
“I mean using gut instinct.”
“Huh.” Harly didn’t say anything further as they pulled into Paul’s driveway.
As Alex turned the engine off, she opened the door and slid out, closing the door behind her. Becky came out to meet them, taking Harly’s arm and steering her inside.
Paul, who’d been leaning against the veranda post, watched Alex lock the car and approach. “So, Harly.”
“Yes?” Alex stepped up onto the veranda.
Paul handed a can of Coke to him. “What do you think?”
“Think?”
“Cripes, it’s like pulling teeth from a lion.”
“Think I’ll bite you?”
“No, just really freakin’ hard to do.”
Hands in his pockets, Alex gazed out into the street.
“So,” Paul said, “Harly?”
“What about her?”
Paul gave an exasperated sigh.
Grinning, Alex crossed his ankles.
“Think she’s changed much?” Paul probed.
“We’ve all grown older.”
“Geez, you’ll be off Becky’s Christmas card list if she hears you say that.”
“I’d never be mean enough to say it to her.”
“What about Harly?”
“You’re like a dog with a bone.”
“Maybe I’m just wondering why you’re avoiding the answer.”
Alex glanced sharply at his friend. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I ask a simple question that you’ve yet to answer.”
He’d forgotten how intuitive Paul could be, and that was a mistake he didn’t mean to again forget. Relaxing his features, Alex grinned slightly. “Harly is pretty, really pretty.”
“Hmmm.” Paul eyed him sceptically.
“What else do you want me to say? She’s grown up, she seems very quiet but pleasant. And I never really knew her that well.” Not in that way, at least.
“No.” Paul took a sip from the can of Coke he held. “I guess not. She never hung around much.”
“She kind of did, actually,” Alex said. “On the fringes.”
Paul frowned. “On the fringes?”
“She was never first choice for the active games, but she used to try. Tried hard, in fact.” It was Alex’s turn to frown. Shit, memories like that he didn’t need now.
“Yeah.” Paul looked soberly at Alex. “You’re right. I’d forgotten about that.”
“I haven’t.”
“I’m not surprised. You always chose her amongst the first when we played team games, when she was there, that is.” Paul scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Reckon you always had a soft spot for Harly.”
“In some ways she reminded me of Cindy.”
“Your sister?” Paul guffawed. “Not freakin’ likely! Cindy would punch you if you didn’t choose her to be on your team. That girl didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘shy’ or ‘self-conscious’.”
“That hasn’t changed,” Alex said dryly.
“Heard she collared the Playboy Vet.”
“They’re getting married in a couple of months.”
“True? Will you still be on leave then?”
Alex shook his head. “Probably be back in Afghanistan.”
Paul looked curiously at him. “You ever want to give up the Army?”
“No. I like it too much.”
“Dangerous work.”
“I could be all manly and say, with quiet dignity, of course-”
“Of course.”
“That I’m fighting for our honour and freedom.” Alex grinned widely. “Oh, sorry, that’s what I am doing.”
“You are so modest!” Paul reached across the space and clinked his can against Alex’s. “So humble.”
“So sensitive.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“I’m hurt.”
“That’s not proof at all.” Laughing, Paul nodded towards the car that pulled up in the driveway. “Looks like Jack and Will have arrived. Time to be the dutiful host.”
“You mean you don’t just throw raw snaggers and tinnies at the guests as they pass you?”
“Becky has been partially successful at civilizing me.”
“Girl needs a medal.”
“I reward her most nights.” Paul leered. “And days if I call in.”
“Not that civilized, then.”
“Parts of the wild-man me she does like.”
“I think I’ve heard enough.”
Jack and Will came up onto the veranda bearing an esky between them.
“Brought extra drinks,” Jack said cheerfully.
“A mix of beer and soft drinks, just as Becky ordered.” Will pulled a face. “Though why anyone would want soft drink at a BBQ, I’ll never know.”
“Yeah, I wonder why,” Jack retorted dourly.
“Let me guess,” Paul said, opening the front door to let them proceed him inside. “You both tossed to see who the designated driver was tonight and Jack lost.”
“Soft drink man.” Jack shook his head in disgust. “And you can be sure Becky will do everything but give me a breathalyser test at the front gate before we leave.”
“She’s a stickler for no drinking and driving,” Paul informed Alex.
“Wise girl.” Alex held up his Coke can. “I’m driving tonight, so I’ll be sticking to soft drink.”
“Driving?” Paul’s eyebrows rose.
“Taking Harly home, remember?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Paul’s lips pursed thoughtfully. “Reaeeeeally?”
“Yeeeeeeah.”
Paul grinned. “You dog.”
“Just being polite.”
“Right.” Paul elbowed him in the side and chuckled. “Woof woof!”
“I’ll muzzle you in a minute.”
Another car bearing four occupants saved Alex from Paul’s sly digs, and he was busy greeting the two men and women he’d known from years before when he’d come on holiday.
Another two people arrived before Paul led him out to the backyard where the BBQ was already fired up, and Becky immediately collared Alex, handing him an apron and tongs.
“If memory serves me correctly, you do a mean sausage on the barbie.”
“I thought I was the guest of honour?” Alex slid the neck tie over his head.
“Nothing is for free.” Becky grinned. “Work for your supper, boy.”
“You’re a hard taskmaster.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve commandeered you an assistant.” Becky waved to where Harly was coming through the back door with a tray of raw meat.
Harly chose that moment to look up, and in the soft glow of the back
light her eyes shimmered with shadowed secrets.
Secrets he meant to expose, to get her to confess.
This was as good a chance as any to get her to relax, right before he sprung the trap.
Smiling at her, he crossed over to the BBQ amid the cheers of his friends. Tapping the tongs on the hot iron plate, he announced, “The cooking has begun!”
“It will once you actually get the meat on,” Will yelled.
“You wanted your steak charred, right?”
The comaradie among the group was easy as they sat at the two wooden tables that had been placed against each other. The backyard was well-lit, the potted plants adding greenery to the veranda. The leaves of the two big trees in the backyard rustled in the gentle night breeze.
It was peaceful.
His attention was diverted by Harly appearing at his side, the tray of raw meat in her hands. The breeze couldn’t stir a hair on her head due to her firm ponytail, but the ends of that ponytail swayed with her every step.
“How do you want to do this?”
“Pardon?” He looked from her ponytail to her face.
She looked up at him, the brilliance of her eyes caught in the lights. It didn’t take a genius to recognise the wariness in those eyes, and he mentally cursed himself for putting her on guard.
Or maybe she was just as intuitive as Paul; though that was one trait he didn’t remember her having in the past.
Smiling easily, he tapped the iron BBQ plate. “Let’s do sausages on one side, and…” He bent down a little to see what else was on the tray. “Chops on the other side.”
“Okay.” Using her fingertips, she quickly placed the meat as instructed and immediately the smell of meat hitting the hot plate filled the air, the sizzle a welcome sound.
When she went to move away, he placed one hand at her waist. “Where are you going? I thought you were my assistant.”
“I am. I’m just getting a clean tray to put the cooked meat on.” She moved away quickly.
Too quickly.
Hiding the frown that threatened to slide across his face, Alex instead smiled as Shaun and Stacey approached.
“Good to see you, man.” Shaun gave him a firm handshake.
“Long time.” Stacey stood up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Too long. You need to come back more often.”
“I try.” Alex flashed an easy grin as he rearranged the chops on the hotplate. “I find that trying to divide time between home and work cuts back on other things.”
“So what brings you back here now?”
“Just visiting, having a little R&R.”
“Reckon things have changed much?”
“You’re all older.” Alex winked.
Stacey punched him on the arm. “Not polite.”
“I can see that hasn’t changed.” Alex rubbed his arm. “You never did punch like a girl.”
Grinning, she flexed her arm to show a play of well-toned, feminine muscle. “I do kick-boxing and weights.”
“Gym junkie like Marty.”
“Your brother still hits the gym?”
“Ever since you told him what a scrawny bloke he was the last time he came down here with me.”
“He was scrawny.”
“He didn’t think so.”
“So I gather he’s still a bit of a conceited jerk?”
Alex laughed.
“Answer enough,” she said.
“So,” Shaun said. “What’s it like overseas?”
“Define overseas,” Alex replied, being deliberately obtrusive. “It’s a big place.”
“Afghanistan.”
“Hot and dusty.”
“And dangerous.”
“Yep.” Not wanting to discuss it, he inspected the chops and glanced around. “Where’s my assistant?”
A warm presence was suddenly on his other side, a clean tray held out. “Here,” Harly stated.
“Guess you don’t have many BBQs in Afga,” Shaun continued.
“Not really,” Alex said.
“Be a worry, I suppose.” Shaun shook his head. “Takes a brave man to go over there and face what you’re facing.”
Uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation, but used to being questioned, Alex just shrugged.
“So, Stacey,” Harly drawled, “Manage to talk Shaun into letting you have a baby yet?”
“No.” Stacey sent a glower in Shaun’s direction.
For the first time, Alex noticed the wedding ring on their fingers. “When did you two get married?”
“Awhile ago. Long enough to have a baby,” Harly answered.
“See?” Stacey sighed. “Even our friends think it’s time to have a baby.”
“Thanks, Harly,” Shaun growled. “Thanks a lot.” He walked away with Stacey right behind him talking about having a baby.
Alex watched as Harly turned back to the BBQ with a small smile on her face. “Thanks.”
She shrugged. “No worries. Shaun doesn’t always know when to stop asking questions.”
“Everyone is curious, it’s natural.” Alex grimaced. “But I don’t always like to talk about it. I’m here for R&R, not to rehash what’s happening over there.” He hesitated before adding, “And I have to be careful what I say.”
“All the more reason to change the subject,” she said. “How long are you planning on staying?” Her gaze remained on his hands as he deftly put the last sausage and chop on the tray.
“A week or so.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe more.” He couldn’t gauge her reaction, not when she kept looking down.
“That’s nice.” She turned away. “I’ll get the next lot of meat and the onions.”
“We’ll have to meet and have coffee while I’m here,” he added.
Her pause was brief but unmistakable. “Sure.”
Yeah, Alex thought, watching her return to the veranda and put the meat on the table to the accompaniment of delighted cheers. Sure. And I have a feeling you’ll avoid it. You, Harly Bentley, are walking on eggshells around me. And so you should be.
To his rescue she undoubtedly had come, but it didn’t change the facts of why he was in Whicha.
More acquaintances from his school days came up, effectively cutting off any further conversation with Harly as she busied herself collecting the cooked meat and helping Becky set the table.
By the time Alex took his seat, it was to find that Harly was seated at the opposite end of the table. Chatting to those sitting nearest him, Alex was able to cast a glance her way now and again while looking around the table.
Harly laughed and joked with those around her, and he marvelled at how she’d changed. A shy child and teenager, she appeared to now be at total ease with herself, confident, something she’d obviously developed as she’d matured. He admired that, wondering at the same time how far that confidence went, if she was as confident in every aspect of her life.
In the bed. No sooner had that thought trespassed into his mind than he frowned and thrust it away.
“You okay?”
He glanced around to see Paul watching him in concern. “Fine, why?”
“You didn’t look really happy about something you were thinking.” Paul studied the faces at the table, trying to see who’d had Alex’s attention.
“It was nothing.” Observing Paul’s searching gaze, Alex added, “The Jeep was acting up a bit on the way here.”
“Really?” That immediately drew Paul’s attention.
“I checked it at a service station,” Alex replied hurriedly, wary of the anticipation that lit up his friend’s face. “Nothing, and it’s been fine since.”
“Still, it should be looked into.” Paul tapped the table with one finger. “Book it into the workshop and-”
“It’s fine. Honestly.”
“Just to be safe-” His words were cut off by Becky’s hand coming over his shoulder to clap over his mouth.
“He said it’s fine.” Becky shook her head at Alex over her husband’
s head. “I swear, do not let Paul get his hands on your engine or it’ll never go again.”
“Hey!” Paul pulled her hand from his mouth amidst hoots from his friends. “I own a mechanic shop, lady.”
“Owning and knowing are two different things,” Jack said.
“Amen.” Will nodded.
“Listen here, I’m the boss-”
“And we’re the workers.” Jack leaned forward. “Workers. The mechanics.”
“I’ve never broken a car engine yet,” Paul stated.
“Never got one to work, either,” Becky said.
Hooking his arm around her waist, Paul yanked her around and onto his lap. As she shrieked, he leered. “I get your engine going every time.” And he kissed her soundly and deliberately loudly.
Becky struggled in Paul’s arms, but it was very clear she wasn’t trying very hard to escape.
The guests hooted and whistled, and laughing, Alex looked down the table to see Harly smiling.
At least, her lips were smiling, but her eyes held a hint of…wistfulness?
At that precise second her gaze shifted and caught his, and the wistfulness was gone so fast that he wondered if he’d imagined it. As he looked at her, the sound of the laughter and teasing vanished into the background.
The years seemed to slip away to another time, another night, and a lonely teenager in tears. Tears that had touched his heart and made him do something he’d never otherwise have done.
Abruptly Harly looked away, breaking the spell, and Alex blinked and sucked in a deep breath, his mind clearing instantly.
He’d never have done it, it would never have happened, and the subsequent results would never have unfolded in secret. But he’d found out, and now he was here to get the answers. Answers only Harly had, and he’d get them from her.
Tonight.
~*~
She’d felt his gaze on her regularly during the evening and it was giving her the heebie-jeebies. As a teenager he’d been pleasant to her, kind enough to always ensure that he chose her amongst the first for team games, even knowing she was more of a hindrance than a help in physical games. That she’d never forgotten, but then one evening everything had changed. It had started a downward spiral that had had explosive consequences for her.
And he’d never known, of that she made sure.
But something was off. Alex wasn’t a kind teenager anymore, blinded by his own hormones and emotions. The Alex sitting at the opposite end of the table was honed by life and conflict, and he was watching her, assessing her, and she felt it keenly even though no one else at the table noticed.
The Lawson Boys: Alex Page 3
