The Lawson Boys: Alex (19 page)

One gentle
kiss, undemanding, almost sweet, and then his lips were gone.

Opening her
eyes, she looked up to find that he’d shifted back, his hands
braced on the kitchen bench top as he smiled down at her.

“We need to get
to know each other again,” he said.

“I guess
so-”

A car horn
blowing broke through her words, making them both turn to look at
the window. Buffy barked from somewhere in the hallway and then
there was a knock at the door.

“Someone’s
here.” Straightening, Harly took a deep breath and moved with
slightly trembling knees into the hall.

Part of her was
relieved at being able to put space between her and Alex, while
another was sorely disappointed. Oh yeah, she was one confused
woman.

Opening the
front door, she was greeted by her mother who kissed her cheek and
walked past her in stockinged feet, her hands full of several
grocery bags.

“Dad and I came
to check up on you,” Mrs Bentley informed her, making for the
kitchen.

Mr Bentley toed
off his shoes and walked past Harly, ruffling her hair as he did
so. “’Morning, chicken. Got the tea pot on?”

“You’ll need to
boil the kettle again.” Closing the security screen, Harly followed
her parents down the hallway. At least this diverted her attention
for awhile, something she felt she sorely needed.

To really
absorb what Alex had just sprung on her, she needed to be alone,
clearheaded, and just sit and stew in her shock. And rattled
emotions.

“My word, is
that you, Alex Lawson?” Mrs Bentley was saying as Harly walked into
the kitchen. “Look, Hal, it’s the Lawson boy.”

Mr Bentley
shook Alex’s hand. “Good to see you, Alex. Heard you were in town
for a visit. Having a break from the Army?”

“On leave,”
Alex replied easily, taking the grocery bags from Mrs Bentley and
placing them on the kitchen bench before resuming his seat at the
table and picking up the coffee mug.

Harly came up
beside her mother and watched as she started taking assorted items
from the bag. “Really, Mum, you didn’t have to do this.”

“We were
worried about you, Harly. Out here alone in the storm, possibly cut
off due to flooding.”

“I’m not
marooned, Mum. I’d have lasted a couple of days before having to
risk my life slogging through two feet of water to the nearest town
before starving to death.”

Alex
grinned.

“You know your
mother, always a worrier.” Mr Bentley tossed several tea bags into
the china tea pot.

“Your father
had me up at six am, but I told him the shops weren’t open until
eight, so he’d just have to wait.” Mrs Bentley spotted the two
plates on the table and she paused before shooting Alex a sudden
sharp glance. “Breakfast for two, dear?”

Harly knew
exactly where her mind was going and there was no way on God’s
green earth that she was going to admit it, so she hid her blush by
turning to the pantry and starting to pack away the groceries she
held. “Alex dropped by to check on me, Paul and Becky were worried.
I offered him something to eat.”

“Toast?” Mr
Bentley unwrapped a chocolate roll. “You can do better than that,
Harly. Thank goodness we came along, Alex.”

“Thank
goodness,” Alex echoed, but the fleeting glance he shot at Harly
made it clear he didn’t mean it. He returned his gaze to her
father.

“So.” Mrs
Bentley pushed the plastic bags into the bag holder behind the
pantry door while she looked closely at Alex. “How long are you
here for?”

“A couple of
weeks.”

“Then back
home?”

“For a short
visit before I go back to work.”

“Overseas?”

“Possibly.”

“So not staying
long.”

“Not long
enough.”

“I hear you’re
helping Paul while you’re here.”

“That was the
plan.” His gaze flickered briefly at Harly. “Amongst others.”

“I see.” Mrs
Bentley took two dainty cups and saucers from the sideboard and
poured hot tea into them, adding a dash of milk and sugar before
bringing it to the table and placing one before her husband and one
in front of the chair in which she sat. “And what are the other
plans?”

“Mum,” Harly
admonished.

“Sorry,
sweetie.” Mrs Bentley smiled at her, but it wasn’t totally sincere.
“Alex, I’m afraid living in a small town like this means things
happen and we all know about it. It makes someone new
intriguing.”

“That’s a
polite way to say some of us are sticky beaks.” Mr Bentley cut a
big chunk of cake and took a mouthful.

Getting up,
Harly took several small plates off the sideboard and placed them
on the table, along with little cake forks. “Here, Dad.”

Mrs Bentley
sighed as she cut a much smaller slice and put it on a little
plate. “Never mind your father, dear, I’ve tried for years to make
him more genteel but it doesn’t work.”

“I’m one of a
kind.” Mr Bentley informed her before turning to Alex. “So, I hear
your family is into businesses.”

“They are.” He
shook his head politely when Harly gestured to the cake.

“Have you seen
the clothes our daughter makes?”

Knowing where
this conversation was going to lead, Harly interrupted. “Dad, I’m
not going into big business, and Alex is certainly not going to
recommend me to his family.”

“I’ve seen
Harly’s work,” Alex said. “And I’ve already offered help, which
she’s declined.”

“And what do
you think of that?” Mrs Bentley studied him closely.

“I respect her
decision.” When Alex looked seriously at Harly, she felt warmth go
through her. “I have absolute trust that she makes the correct
ones.”

Boy, was that a
loaded answer or what?

“I think she’s
wasting her talents,” Mrs Bentley stated.

“Mum, I’m happy
doing what I do,” Harly said. “Leave it.”

“Honey, you
could be making big money.”

“I’m happy. I
work at the café, I sew for those I wish to, and I’m happy.”

Mrs Bentley
sighed. “If you say so, dear.”

Harly rolled
her eyes.

“I saw that,
young lady.”

“It’s an old
argument.” Mr Bentley licked the tip of his finger and used it to
gather the crumbs from his plate. “Both are stubborn.”

Alex
smiled.

Mrs Bentley was
still studying him closely with her lips pressed together, and it
was clear to Harly that her mother wasn’t entirely happy with his
presence.

After a couple
of minutes of Mr Bentley discussing Alex’s Jeep outside and the
performance of it, which had Harly inwardly rolling her eyes, Alex
stood up. “I must go and give Paul a hand. Nice to meet you again,
Mr and Mrs Bentley. Harly, thank you for breakfast.”

Good manners
had her getting to her feet. “No problems. I’ll see you to the
door.”

Alex followed
her out and she was more than conscious of him behind her as they
walked to the door. Before she could reach for the handle, his arm
came around her, his chest pressing against her back as he breathed
into her ear, “Allow me.”

The man would
be the death of her. The door swung open and she almost scurried
out, stepping to the side to allow him to pass her.

The door shut
again and Alex turned to face her. They looked at each other in
silence, she wondering if she should say something, and then
wondering what the heck she should say, because she hadn’t yet had
time to calmly - calm being the operative word - digest what had
transpired between them, and more importantly, what Alex had
revealed.

That charmingly
crooked grin curved his lips again and he bent down to place his
mouth close to her ear.

Heart
hammering, Harly could only stand still, unable to bring herself to
move back, not wanting to, in fact, as she inhaled deeply of his
scent. His breath tickled her ear as he said softly, “I’ll see you
tonight.” He straightened.

“Tonight?” What
the heck did that mean? Sex? Her knees went weak.

That twinkle
appeared in his eyes. “Dinner.”

“Dinner?” She
didn’t know whether to feel relief or disappointment. “Oh, right.
Dinner.” Dinner was okay. Dinner was safe. Did she want safe? Hell,
she didn’t know what she wanted. “Um…is that a good idea?” Good
grief, she sounded like an idiot.

“It’s not a bad
one.” Amusement made the crinkles appear appealingly at the corners
of his eyes.

She had to
admit, gone was the soldier with a weight on his shoulders and in
his place was the mature version of the teenage boy she remembered,
the one with the light laugh, teasing words, charm and love of
life.

What did it say
of her that both versions appealed?

“Harly?” His
expression turned quizzical.

She blinked.
“Oh, right. Dinner. Sure. I guess so.”

“Don’t sound so
worried.”

“Do I?” She
attempted a reassuring smile.

It obviously
didn’t work because he chucked her gently beneath the chin.
“Yes.”

“I’m not.”

“It’s going to
be okay, Harly.” Turning, he walked down the steps and over to the
Jeep. Opening the door, he looked across at her and smiled. “I’ll
pick you up at six.”

“Right.”
Chewing her bottom lip, she watched as he started the Jeep and
pulled out of the drive, giving him an answering wave as he went
through the gate her parents had left open. She watched until the
Jeep drove from sight.

Dinner. She’d
actually agreed to have dinner with Alex Lawson, the man who’d made
love to her so shatteringly in the depths of the night.
Whoo
boy
. Running her hand through her hair, she stared out at the
yard drying beneath the sun. She had a lot to think about and she
wished she knew who to talk to, but this was something she could
only tell someone she absolutely trusted.

“Harly?” Her
mother called from the kitchen.

“Definitely not
telling Mum,” she muttered. “Or Dad.” Maybe she should just discuss
it with Buffy, Pepper, Chuckie and Sunny. She wouldn’t get any
answers from the furries and they’d probably just go to sleep while
she was talking.

Maybe she could
talk to Maryanne, but knowing her friend she’d get all carried away
and be planning the wedding by lunchtime. She’d have to see how
desperate she got first. Maybe she could just figure it out on her
own.

Never in a
million years did Harly ever think she’d be in this position.

“Honey?” Her
father called. “Your mother is eating all the cake! You better get
in here if you want any!”

“Hal, really,”
her mother complained.

Sighing, Harly
went back into the house.

Mrs Bentley
eyed her as she walked into the kitchen. “So, the Lawson boy.”

“Yep.” Harly
rinsed the coffee mugs out and placed them on the draining
board.

“Army boys
don’t stay long.”

“They’ve got a
job to do.” Mr Bentley completely missed the undercurrents in the
kitchen.

“Why didn’t
Paul and Becky come and check on you?” Mrs Bentley ignored him.

“I don’t know,
Mum, why don’t you ask them?”

“Seems odd that
he’d come here.”

“I heard that
you had a drink with Alex in the pub the other night.” Mr Bentley
winked. “Anything you want to tell us?”

“No.” Catching
her mother’s narrowing eyes, Harly added, “We were just catching up
on old times, that’s all.” And not the kind of things her parents
would want to remember. Just the thought made Harly’s shoulders
straighten and she looked from her mother to her father. “And if it
was more, do either of you have a problem with it?”

Her parents
looked at each other.

“What?” Harly
demanded a little irritably.

“Well, he’s an
army boy, chicken,” Mr Bentley replied. “They’re away a long time.
You sure this is something you want to go further?”

“Especially
with Alex?” Mrs Bentley added.

“Why especially
with Alex?” Harly watched her mother closely. Could she have
guessed? Was it possible?

Mrs Bentley
looked away suddenly. “He has a reputation for the girls.”

“He’s not a
seventeen year old kid anymore, Mum.”
Even though I said almost
the same thing to him.

“True, but what
do you really know about him?”

“For goodness
sakes!” Harly threw up her hands. “He’s only just come back, we
caught up on old times, had a drink, what’s the big deal?
Geez!”

“You’re right,
chicken.” Mr Bentley turned to his wife. “They’re old friends,
honey. Let’s not make something about something that’s not
there.”

“Thanks, Dad.”
Harly blew out a breath of relief.

Mrs Bentley
looked dubious, but she nodded and stood up. “Okay, Harly, you know
what you’re doing. We better go; I have the gardening club this
afternoon and want to ensure that my orchids are packed carefully
to go.” Crossing to Harly, she gave her a quick kiss on the cheek
and whispered, “Just be careful, Harly. Promise me.”

“I’ll be fine.”
Harly gave her father a hug and saw them both to the front door.
“Thanks for the goodies, too.”

“Our pleasure.”
Mr Bentley pulled on his shoes and held his wife’s arm as she
stepped daintily into hers.

“Don’t worry
about closing the gate behind you,” Harly said. “I have to go to
the shops soon.”

She waved them
off before going inside, breathing a sigh of relief as the silent
peacefulness of her home surrounded her. Outside the birds sang and
from the lounge came the chime of the bell in the ball with which
Sunny was playing.

Moving into the
kitchen, Harly switched on the radio and collected the dishes. Yes,
this was what she needed. Peace and quiet, solitude, to think
things through and make decisions.

Decisions about
Alex, about herself, about where they stood.

Problem was,
she had no bloody idea, so after twenty minutes of staring out the
kitchen window, she shook her thoughts away, checked her pantry and
made a list of groceries and other items she needed to pick up, and
after securing the house, she got into her car and headed into
town.